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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

In Memory of
W. ROBERT BLUM, JR.
Gift of
MR. AND MRS. W. ROBERT BLUM

FREDERICK THE GREAT,

HIS

COURT AND TIMES.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION,
BY THOMAS CAMPBELL, ESQ.,

.AOTHOR OP

THE PLEASURES OF HOPE."

VOL. III.

LONDON:
HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER,
GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1843.

LONDON :
F. SHOBERI, JUN., 51, RDFERT STREET, HAVMARKET,
PRINTER TO H.R. H. PRINCE ALBERT.

CONTENTS OF
THE THIRD VOLUME.

CHAPTER XXVI.
Campaign of 1756 — The Prussian Army enters Saxony — Attempts at
negociation on the part of the King of Poland — Frederick enters Dres
den — The Saxon Army encamps in a strong position near Pima , which
is blockaded by the Prussians — Conduct of Count Bruhl — His Ward
robe — His Political Career — Royal Picture-Gallery — The Queen of
Poland — The Emperor Francis ; his character, and manifestoes against
Frederick — Seizure of the Saxon State-Papers — Grounds for believing
that Saxony was not a party to the confederacy against Prussia — Popu-
"""¦-v larity of the King at Dresden — The Austrians take the field — Frederick
marches to Bohemia to meet them — Battle of Lowositz — Retreat of
Marshal Browne, the Austrian commander — Distresses of the Saxons at
Pima — Abortive attempt by Browne to relieve them — Frederick rejoins
the blockading Force — Surrender of the Saxons — Their Incorporation
with the Prussian Army — The King makes Dresden his head-quarters
for the winter — His Occupations in the Field .... 1
CHAPTER XXVII.
Campaign of 1757 — Proceedings of the Diet of Ratisbon against Frede
rick — Activity and Schemes of Austria and France — Frederick's Allies —
The Queen of Poland and Countess Bruhl — Sufferings of Mecklenburg —
Affair of Glasow — Forces of the Belligerent Powers — The Prussians
enter Bohemia — Battle of Prague — Death of Marshal Schwerin — The
Austrians seek refuge in Prague — Blockade of the City by the Prus- '
sians — Abortive-attempts of the Austrians to escape — Furious Thunder
storm — Bombardment of Prague — Sufferings of the inhabitants — Care
lessness of the Austrian Generals — Expedition of Colonel Mayr in South
Germany — Frederick leaves Keith before Prague and marches to meet
Daun — Battle of Kollin — Stipulations of the Secret Treaty between
France and Austria .  32
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Campaign of 1757 continued — Dejection of the Prussian Army after its
defeat at Kollin — The King proceeds to Prague and raises the Blockade
— Despatch of Sir Andrew Mitchell, relative to the disaster at Kollin —
Letter from the King to Lord Marischal on the same subject— Exulta
tion at Vienna — Death of General Manstein — The Austrian General,
Loudon — Death of the Queen-mother — Grief of Frederick — Extracts
from Letters of his to d'Argens — Letters from the Margravine of Bay
reuth to Voltaire — Duplicity and Malignity of the latter — Disastrous
Retreat of the Prince of Prussia from Bohemia through Lusatia —

IV CONTENTS.
Destruction of Zittati — Displeasure of Frederick with his Brother —
Narrative of the latter — He retires from the Army — His Death and
Character  74
CHAPTER XXIX.
Campaign of 1757 continued — Military Operations in Western German)' —
Action at Hastenbeck — Retreat of the Duke of Cumberland — Convention
of Kloster-Zeven — The Russians enter Prussia — Battle of Gross-Jagers-
dorf — Retreat of the Russians — Their savage excesses — The Swedes
overrun Pomerania — Marshal Lehwald retakes nearly all their conquests
— Frederick advances from Lusatia against Daun — Intercepted Cor
respondence of the Queen of Poland — The King transfers his Army to
the Duke of Bevern, and marches against the French and the Troops of
the Empire — Action at Jakelberg, and death of Winterfeld — Grief of the
King for the loss of that Officer — His firmness — Seydlitz surprises the
French at Gotha — Occupation of Berlin by the Austrians and Russians
— Noble sentiment of the Duke de Crillon — Battle of Rossbach — Defeat
and flight of the French — Courtesy of the King to the Prisoners — Wan
ton barbarity of the French — Extracts from Letters of Frederick's, rela
tive to his situation — Effects of the Victory of Rossbach . . 97
CHAPTER XXX.
Campaign of 1757 continued — The King marches to the relief of Schweidnitz
— Keith makes an incursion into Bohemia — Surrender of Schweidnitz to
the Austrians — Defeat of the duke of Bevern near Breslau — Surrender of
that city to the Austrians — Frederick hastens to Silesia — His Address to
his Officers — Battle of Leuthen — The King surprises a number of Aus
trian Officers at Lissa — He retakes Breslau — The Prussians recover Lieg
nitz — Prince Charles resigns the command of the Austrian army — Ingra
titude of count Schaffgotsch, primate of the Catholic church in Prussia —
Treachery of the Abbe de Prades — Father Gleim ; his Songs of a Prussian
Grenadier — Gothe's picture of family dissensions excited by Frederick's
popularity — Enthusiasm manifested for the King in England — Duke Fer
dinand of Brunswick ; his military operations .... 126
CHAPTER XXXI.
Campaign of 1753 — The general enthusiasm in behalf of the King facili
tates the recruiting of the Prussian Army — Provincial Militia — Plan of
Frederick's Enemies in this Campaign — Operations of Duke Ferdinand
of Brunswick — Flight of the French across the Rhine — Battle of Crefe.ld
— English troops sent to join the Duke — Advantages gained by the French
— The Saxon Corps — Operations in Silesia — Reduction of Schweidnitz
by the Prussians— Yederick makes an incursion into Moravia, and lays
siege to Ollmutz — -'he Austrians intercept a large Prussian Convoy, and
oblige the King to raise the Siege — He retreats to Bohemia, and thence
to Silesia — The Russians, under Count Fermor, again take possession of
East Prussia, and force the Inhabitants to swear allegiance to the Em
press — Their Cruelty — The King hastens to meet the Invaders, who bom
bard and destroy Ciistrin — His visit to that place — Battle of Zorndorf —
Loyalty of the Prussians to their rightful Sovereign — Frederick makes

CONTENTS. V
the Saxons swear allegiance to him — Plot of the Russian Prisoners
at Ciistrin — Secret Treaty of December 1758 between France and
Austria  164
CHAPTER XXXII.
Campaign of 1758, continued — Frederick repairs to Saxony — Operations
of Daun, the Austrian commander-in-chief — Battle of Hochkirch —
Death of Field-marshal Keith — Behaviour of Frederick — Death of the
Margravine of Bayreuth — Efficacy of Occupation in alleviating mental
afflictions — Frederick, joined by Prince Henry, enters Silesia, relieves
the fortress of Neisse — Gallant defence of General Treskow, and noble
behaviour of his Wife — Daun marches to Saxony, and threatens Dres
den — Decisive Conduct of Count Schmettau, the commandant — On the
approach of Frederick, the Austrians retire to Bohemia — Count Schla-
berndorf, Directing-Minister of Silesia — Distinctions conferred on Daun
for the unprofitable victory of Hochkirch — Sentiments of the Pope on
the occasion — Frederick's Satires on his Enemies — His Resources for
prosecuting the War ........ 196
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Campaign of 1759 — Incursion of the Prussians in Poland — Prinde Sul-
kowski — Operations of Duke Ferdinand in Western Germany — Battle of
Minden — Cowardice of Lord George Sackville — Retreat of tbe French
to the Lahn — Actions of Fulda and Dillenburg — Plan for the Operations
of the Allies — Incursions of the Prussians into Moravia and Bohemia —
The Russians advance upon Brandenburg — General Wedel appointed
dictator of the army opposed to the Invaders — Is defeated by them at
Ziillichau — Frederick goes in person to meet them — Disastrous Battle of
Kunersdorf — Despondency of the King, who resigns the command to
general Finck — Major Kleist — Surrender of Torgau and Dresden to the
Austrians — Inactivity of Soltikof, the Russian commander-in-chief — Jea
lousies of the two imperial Generals — The King is joined in Silesia by
Prince Henry — The latter draws Daun to Saxony — Operations of the
King for recovering Dresden — Capitulation of General Finck at Maxen
— Frederick passes the winter at Freiberg — Letters to his Friends re
specting his situation — Duplicity and Malice of Voltaire — The King's
Literary Occupations  1 . . 223
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Frederick endeavours to raise enemies against Austria in Italy — He com
municates his desire for Peace to the hostile Powers — His Resources for
prosecuting the War — Plans of the Allies for the^Campaign of 1760 —
Loudon foiled in an Attack on a Prussian DetacF«ent — He attacks and
destroys Fouque's Corps near Landeshut — Pillage of that Town by the
Austrians — Loudon surprises Glatz — Hard case of Father Faulhaber —
Loudon bombards Breslau, which is relieved by Prince Henry — The
King marches for Silesia ; but turns off to Dresden and bombards it — ¦
On hearing of the Disasters in Silesia, he again sets out for that Pro
vince — Severity of the King to the Regiment of Anhalt-Bernburg —
His critical situation — Despondency of Prince Henry — Battle of Lieg-

Vl CONTENTS.
nitz — The Regiment of Bernburg retrieves its character — The King's
Account of his Difficulties — He marches to join Prince Henry . 268
CHAPTER XXXV.
Campaign of 1760 continued — Expedition of the Russians and Austrians
against Berlin — The City capitulates to the Russian General Count Tott-
leben — Disinterested Conduct of Bachmann, the Russian Commandant —
Patriotic Services of Gotzkowski — Unpleasant situation of the Berlin
Newspaper-editors — Frederick hastens to the Relief of his Capital — Re
treat of the Enemy — The Russians retire for the Winter beyond the Vis
tula — Frederick's Operations for recovering possession of Saxony — His
determination to conquer or perish — Reflections on the King's resolution
to put an end to his Life rather than submit to disgrace — Battle of Tor-
gau — Imminent personal Danger of the King — The Spent Ball — Blucher
— De l'Homme Conrbiere — Death of George II. — Frederick passes the
Winter at Leipzig — His Occupations and Amusements — Extracts from
Letters to the Countess de Camas — The King and his Dogs . 298
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Campaign of 1761 — Noble Spirit of General Saldern — Plunder of the
Palace of Hubertsburg, by command of Frederick — Quintus Icilius —
Operations in Western Germany — State of the Hostile Armies in Silesia
— Prussian Camp at Bunzelwitz — Inactivity of the Russians and Aus
trians — Loudon surprises Schweidnitz — Treacherous plot of Baron War-
kotsch, for delivering Frederick into the hands of the Austrians — Em
bassy to the King from the Khan of Crim Tartar)' — His Negociations
with the Porte — Reduction of Colberg by the Russians — Change in
the English Administration ; Bute, as Prime Minister, declines re
newing the Subsidiary Treaty with Prussia — Gloomy Prospects of
Frederick — Anecdote illustrative of the Enthusiasm of his Subjects in
his Cause  . 326
CHAPTER XXXVII.
State of the Prussian Army at the close of 1761 — Change produced in the
King's disposition by external circumstances — Death of the Empress
Elisabeth of Russia, and Accession of Peter in. — Favourable change in
Frederick's affairs — Peace between Russia and Prussia — Treacherous
Polic) of Lord Bute — The Emperor Peter; his enthusiastic admiration
of the King — The Empress Catherine — Peace between Prussia and Swe
den — Tardiness of the Austrians to recommence hostilities  Literary
Occupations of the King — He is joined by Czernitschef with a Russian
Corps — Dethronement of Peter III. — Czernitschef receives orders to leave
the King, and return to Poland — Battle of Burkersdorf — Friendly dispo
sition of the Empress Catherine — The King besieges aud recovers
Schweidnitz — Operations in Saxony and in western Germany  England
concludes a separate Peace with France — Duke Ferdinand resigns the
command of the allied Army — Expedition of General Kleist  Prepara
tions for a new Campaign— Peace between Prussia and Austria  Return
of the King to Berlin — Losses of the belligerent Powers . 358

FREDERICK THE GREAT,

HIS

COURT AND TIMES.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Campaign of 1756 — The Prussian Army enters Saxony — Attempts at
negociation on the part of the King of Poland — Frederick enters Dres
den — The Saxon Army encamps in a strong position near Pima, which
is blockaded by the Prussians — Conduct of Count Briihl — His Ward
robe — His Political Career — Royal Picture-Gallery — The Qneen of
Poland — The Emperor Francis ; his character, and manifestoes against
Frederick — Seizure of the Saxon State-Papers* — Grounds for believing
that Saxony was not a party to the confederacy against Prussia — Popu
larity of the King at Dresden — The Austrians take the field — Frederick
marches to Bohemia to meet them — Battle of Lowositz — Retreat of
Marshal Browne, the Austrian commander — Distresses of the Saxons at
Pima — Abortive attempt by Browne to relieve them — Frederick rejoins
the blockading Force — Surrender of the Saxons — Their Incorporation
with the Prussian Army — The King makes Dresden his head-quarters
for the winter — His Occupations in the Field.
While Frederick was taking the steps detailed in the
last chapter for obtaining from the Austrian cabinet a
categorical declaration of its intentions in regard to peace
or war, his army was concentrating itself on the Saxon
frontier. Before he commenced hostilities, however, he
made a third attempt to ascertain the decision of the court
of Vienna : but all further answer was refused in a haughty,
contemptuous manner, and in terms very uncommon be
tween crowned heads. The moment the courier arrived
VOL. in. B

2 COURT AND TIMES OF
with this intimation, Frederick fell like lightning upon
Saxony. Knowing that he should have nothing to fear
from the Russians, he had merely assembled a corps of
observation under marshal Lehwald, near Konigsberg :
while1 he purposed to attack the Austrians in Bohemia
with two armies. Schwerin was at the head of one of
them, 27,000 strong, in Silesia. The other, consisting of
67,000 men, was divided into three columns. The first,
under duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, which had been
cantoned in the environs of Halle, entered the Saxon
territory on the 29th of August, 1756, on its march to
Leipzig. The second, which broke up from Potsdam, to
proceed by Wittenberg and Torgau to the left bank of
the Elbe, was accompanied by the king himself with
marshal Keith, and prince Maurice, the gallant son of
the old Dessauer. The third column, under the duke of
Brunswick-Bevern, crossed Lusatia, and took post on
the right bank of the Elbe.
The Saxons, taken by surprise, were wholly unpre
pared to resist the invader. On the same day that he
entered the electorate, he issued a manifesto from his
head-quarters at Juterbock, declaring that he had come
solely by way of precaution, in order that he might not
again have to apprehend from the Saxon troops what
they had endeavoured to do to his prejudice during the
last war. Count Maltzahn, his ambassador in Dresden,
made a communication to the same effect to the king of
Poland, promising at the same time that strict disci
pline should be observed ; and the latter replied that he
reckoned upon this with the greater confidence, as he had
not the least participation in the quarrel with Austria.
The Saxon general O'Meagher met the king on the 81st

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 3
at Seyda, with the same declaration. Frederick assured
him of all possible forbearance, and told him, he was
sorry that the king of Poland followed so implicitly the
counsels of a man [count Briihl] whose malicious dispo
sition he was too well acquainted with, and whose dan
gerous schemes he could prove by written evidence. On
the 1st of September the Prussians crossed the Elbe,
and began to fortify Torgau. On the 4th, lord Stor-
mont, the English minister at Dresden, came, in the
name of king Augustus, to repeat the message brought
by O'Meagher, and to propose a complete neutrality.
Frederick gave no decided answer. He wished to gain
time, and not to cause the Saxon troops to be sent to
Bohemia. He, therefore, merely replied that the pro
posal did not suit him ; and that, as for himself, he had
no proposals to make. Next day, lord Stormont brought
a letter from Augustus, complaining that contributions
were demanded, that the Saxon coffers were seized, that
the fortifications of Wittenberg were demolished, and that
the Saxon officers and privates found there were made
prisoners. Frederick rejected the proffered neutrality,
saying, that He was obliged to secure the course of the
Elbe on account of supplies, and he sincerely wished
that the route to Bohemia lay through Thuringia, so
that he might have no occasion to burden Saxony. On
the 10th, he entered Dresden, fixing his head-quarters
outside the city, near his army, in the garden of the
countess Moszczenska, where the magistrates and all the
persons of distinction paid their respects to him ; while
the king sent marshal Keitli to the queen of Poland, to
acquaint her in the most polite manner with his arrival
and that of his army.
b 2

4 COURT AND TIMES OF
The Saxon army, amounting in the whole to 17,000
men, with 150 pieces of cannon, had, on the approach
of the Prussians, concentrated itself near Dresden, and,
on the 2d of September, taken a strong position and
encamped near Pirna. Thither king Augustus repaired
on the following day, with the princes Xavier and Charles.
The Swiss guard alone remained in Dresden. Frederick
continued to hold out hopes of a compromise, till he had
enclosed the camp of Pirna on all sides. His army in
Saxony amounted to nearly 70,000 men. With rather
more than half this force the Saxons were cut off, with
out hostilities, from any communication with their coun
try. General Dyhern had fortified the naturally strong
position in such a manner that a surprise was impossible.
It was therefore concluded that Frederick would not stop
to make himself master of this advantageous position,
but push on with his whole army for Bohemia. That
he might blockade and starve out the Saxon army was
an idea which never occurred to any one. The king, it
is true, was in great haste ; but, having convinced him
self that it would be impossible to reduce the Saxons by
main force without great loss, and knowing that their
army was provisioned only till the 20th of September,
and could not break through without the greatest risk,
he relinquished the intention of an attack for a blockade,
cooped the enemy up more closely, and strove to pre
vent the approach of the Austrians by abattis and other
means, as the troops were not numerous enough to form
a cordon of sufficient strength, twenty miles in circum
ference, around the Saxon camp. The Prussian force
engaged in this service amounted to 40,000 men, at first
under the command of the king himself, and afterwards

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 5
of the margrave of Schwedt and prince Maurice of An
halt. Ferdinand of Brunswick and marshal Keith were
despatched with the rest of the army to meet the
Austrians, who were approaching from Bohemia.
On entering the Saxon capital, Frederick declared that
he had taken possession of the electorate only in trust ;
accordingly, pillage and violence were strictly forbidden.
But though he had given a formal assurance that private
property should be respected, count Briihl had sent away
many of his effects from his residences : these the Prus
sians seized without the knowledge of the king, regard
ing the conduct of the Saxon minister as a doubt of the
fulfilment of the royal promise. The countess Briihl
complained to the king, who directed the matter to be
investigated, and the property in question to be restored.
" At the same time," he wrote to her, " I cannot help
reminding you that this circumstance would not have
happened if you, as well as your husband, had not taken
it into your head that my army had come to Saxony for
no other purpose than to rob you. I beg you to relin
quish an opinion so unjust to me, and to be assured that
I shall never approve such proceedings, which are as
discordant with my intentions as they are incompatible
with my honour ; and that I would rather overlook all
former hostility manifested against me than revenge my
self in this manner." The minister's mansion, however,
was fated to be turned into a guard-house. The most
remarkable part, perhaps, of its contents was the ward
robe, in which were found, according to the report of
an eyewitness, " 60 swords, 80 canes, 322 snuff-boxes,
528 suits of clothes, 600 pair of boots, 800 pair of shoes,
and materials of various kinds not made up enough to

6 COURT AND TIMES OF
clothe three towns." One room was filled entirely with
wigs. Frederick, when he saw them, exclaimed — " What
a number of wigs for a man who has no head !"
Augustus was in fact only the nominal, Briihl the
virtual, sovereign of Saxony. Without holding any high
office, he had been the personal favourite of king
Augustus II. It so happened that, at the decease of
that monarch, which took place unexpectedly at Warsaw,
the crown of Poland and the crown jewels were in
Briihl's custody : with these he hastened immediately
to Dresden, delivered them to the new elector, and was
extremely active in securing for him the succession to
the Polish throne. Augustus III. had granted his
favour to count Sulkowski ; Briihl, not feeling strong
enough to oust the minister, courted his friendship, and
shared with him the duties of government. Having
married the countess Kollowrath, who enjoyed the
favour of the queen, he succeeded, through the influence
of the latter, in displacing Sulkowski. Appointed prime
minister in 1748, he neglected no means of securing the
confidence of the king, and contrived, with astonishing
address, to keep aloof all who wished to approach him.
Not a lacquey was engaged for the king's service without
Briihl's approbation. If his majesty was going to
chapel, the way thither was previously cleared of spec
tators. The king expected his minister to keep up a
brilliant and expensive establishment ; and Briihl ful
filled this wish to the utmost extent. He had two hun
dred servants, and his guard of honour was better paid
than the king's ; his table was the most sumptuous, his
wardrobe the most splendid, his domestic arrangements
the most magnificent. " Briihl," said the king of Prussia,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 7
" had more suits of clothes, watches, lace, boots, shoes,
and slippers, than any man of his time. Caesar would
have classed him among those frizzed and perfumed
heads from which he had nothing to fear." Augustus III.
was not Caesar, and with that weak sovereign Briihl
was every thing. Never had prince a more servile mi
nister. Briihl was always in his train : he passed whole
days about his person without uttering a word, while the
listless monarch sauntered about smoking, and looked
at without seeing him. " Briihl, have I money ?" was
the incessantly reiterated question. In order to be able
to answer it in the affirmative, the minister drained the
public coffers, loaded the country with debts — nay, even
reduced the military force, so that, as we have seen, on
the entrance of the Prussians, Saxony had only 17,000
men under arms.
One of Frederick's first visits, after his arrival in
Dresden, was to the celebrated picture-gallery. Lost
in admiration, he paused long before particular master
pieces. The inspector of the gallery trembled for the
safety of his charge ; he already beheld in imagination
the best pictures travelling to Berlin. " I suppose,"
said the king, at length, inquiringly, " that I may be
permitted to have copies made of some of these paint
ings?" These words dispelled at once the sad fore
bodings of the inspector.
The queen of Poland, Marie Josephine, eldest daugh
ter of the emperor Joseph I., whom Sir Charles Hanbury
Williams describes as " ugly beyond painting, and mali
cious beyond expression," had not accompanied her
husband to the camp at Pirna, but remained with the
electoral prince in Dresden. Though she was Frederick's

8 COURT AND TIMES OF
irreconcilable enemy, he personally conducted himself
not as a foe to the elector, but as his friend and ally.
He left her and her son in unmolested possession of the
palace and the marks of royal state, and sent them the
most polite messages. The queen, in return, invited
him to dinner, and offered him the use of her chamber
lains to attend upon him, but he declined these civi
lities. Scarcely a- day passed without her sending to
make inquiries after the king's health, accompanied with
assurances of friendship, while, at the same time, she
was in constant communication with the Austrian ge
nerals, to whom she transmitted, by various ingenious
stratagems, all the intelligence she could collect con
cerning the state and movements of the Prussian army.
The emperor Francis, whose ruling passion was the
accumulation of wealth, stooped to any means and en
gaged in any speculations to gratify it. He drew large
sums from his Tuscan dominions, and is even said to
have conveyed from Florence and disposed of many of
the crown jewels collected by his predecessors, the mag
nificent Medici. The money derived from these sources
he employed in commercial enterprises, in the establish
ment of manufactories, and in loans at usurious interest
and on good security, even to the government of his
wife, who never suffered him to interfere in public
affairs. " Surrounding him," says Horace Walpole,
" with the frightfullest maids of honour she could select,
she permitted him to hoard what she never let him have
temptation or opportunity to squander." He undertook
the commissariat of the imperial army, farmed the cus
toms of Saxony, in association with count Bolza and a
tradesman named Schimmelmann — nay, contracted, on

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 9
the breaking out of the present hostilities, for the sup
plies of forage and flour required by the troops of the
king of Prussia, who was at war with his wife.
From a prince entirely swayed by such sordid senti
ments, the anathemas and denunciations levelled by him
as head of the empire against Frederick came with a
peculiarly ill grace. No means were omitted by the
court of Vienna to prejudice the king in the public
opinion. All the causes of his attack were wisely
passed over, while the attack itself was represented in
the blackest possible colours. The empire was inun
dated with mandates, appeals, exhortations, intended to
rouse it to a general war against the Prussian monarch.
But the masterpiece of all these manifestoes was a
Dehortatorium, a warning, addressed to the king, by
the same head of the empire, who was assisting to fill
the Prussian magazines, and who most paternally ad
monished Frederick " to desist from his most audacious
and culpable rebellion to pay all the costs to the king
of Poland, and to return home quietly and peaceably."
In another of these state-papers " all the generals and
other military officers of the king of Prussia were com
manded to abandon their unrighteous master, and not to
participate in his heinous transgression, upon pain of ex
posing themselves to the vengeance of the head of the
empire." Frederick could not remain indifferent to this kind of
attack. In order to his defence, he was desirous of ob
taining the original state-papers deposited in the archives
of the palace of Dresden, copies of which were already
in his possession, lest his enemies might allege that the
latter were false, and that he had been deceived by his

10 COURT AND TIMES OF
agents. The archives were deposited in three rooms
communicating with the private apartments of the
queen, who had the only key to them. General Wylich,
whom Frederick had appointed commandant of Dresden,
was ordered to secure the papers in question. He sent
major Wangenheim on this errand. The queen posi
tively refused to deliver the key. Wylich himself then
repaired to the palace, but she plainly told him that he
should not obtain the papers without the employment of
force ; and, as his master had declared to the world that
he would not use any violence, all Europe would not
fail to exclaim against the outrage. " Besides," she
added, " you will yourself be the victim. Depend upon
it, your king will not scruple to sacrifice you to his own
honour." With these words, she clapped her back
against the door of the archives, in the attitude of de
fending the entrance ; and not till she was assured by
the commandant that he had orders to use force, did she
desist from her opposition. The door was then broken
open, and all the original papers of the Saxon cabinet
since the peace of Dresden, forming together more than
forty volumes, ready packed to be sent off to Poland,
were secured and transmitted to Berlin. From these
documents, Hertzberg drew up in a week that celebrated
memorial, written to demonstrate the perfidious designs
of Frederick's enemies, to which the king gave with
his own hand the epithet of raisonne. The court
of Austria itself could not deny the facts which were
there disclosed.
It is, however, but justice to Saxony to admit that
I have not been able to discover any satisfactory proofs
that the court of Dresden had acceded to the alliance of

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 1 1
the two imperial courts against Frederick. Count Herz-
berg, the author of the Memoire raisonne, goes no fur
ther in reference to this subject than to say, " It is true
that the court of Saxony deferred from time to time
its formal accession to the treaty of Petersburg."
The same statesman in his subsequent Refutation of
the Remarks on the Manifestoes of the King of Prussia,
which Remarks had been published on the part of
Austria, does not venture to represent the malevolent
intentions of the Austrian and Saxon court, alleged to
have been discovered, as having been fully proved : he
merely says, " that the connexion between the danger
ous designs of the courts of Vienna and Dresden, which
have been successively discovered and almost all proved
by original documents, shows that the information in
question deserves the highest degree of credibility, and
demonstrates with evidence the reality of the danger
which has been pointed out."
A pamphlet recently published at Leipzig, containing
diplomatic documents hitherto inedited,* illustrative of
the causes of the war, furnishes strong grounds for
assuming that count Briihl, the Saxon prime minister,
and count Flemming, the Saxon ambassador at Vienna,
were both unacquainted with the progress of the nego
ciations between the imperial courts, and with the secret
tendency of the treaty of alliance with France of the
2d of May, 1756. " I begin to suspect," writes the
ambassador in plain terms in a despatch of the 17th of
July, 1756, " that they mean to do without us, in order
that they may not owe us any obligations." Again he
* The title is : Einige neue Aktenstiicke, iiber die Veranlassung des
siebenjahrigen Krieges, undder in Folge desselben entstandenen Allianzen.

1 2 COURT AND TIMES OF
writes : " Studied as are the terms in which count
Bestuchef has wrapped up these overtures, it appears,
however, from his saying he flattered himself that he
as well as count Kaunitz might be able to put an end
to their reserve, that there is some important secret be
tween the two imperial courts." The nature of their
connexion was of course only matter of surmise.
Another despatch of the 28th of July shows that
Flemming was still without positive information on
this point : " The king of Prussia," he writes, " may be
persuaded that he will not be disturbed or attacked,
during this year at least, since I am sure that at present
there is no concert, and still less any, plan formed either
with France or with Russia for invading the Prussian
dominions. Still, from all that I remark, I cannot but
conclude that this court [that of Vienna] must be quite
sure of the friendship and the attachment of Russia." -
Lastly, after the irruption of the Prussians into
Saxony and the seizure of the papers kept in the privy
cabinet, Briihl writes on the 20th of September as fol
lows : " Besides this, the king of Prussia has caused
the cabinet to be opened by force, and the papers by
which he now pretends to justify his outrageous pro
ceedings to be carried off. The seizure of these papers,
which we could never have expected on the part of a
prince who does not declare himself an enemy, is infi
nitely grievous to us ; and it is certain that, though the
king of Prussia has seen that we have not pleaded his
cause, still he will not find that we had entered into
any concert against him, since this is not the case."
If, however, the Saxon cabinet had just cause for
inclining to the side of the enemies of Prussia, in the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 1 3
existing state of political affairs, still the minister must
be severely censured for having neglected the means
that ought to have been employed to ward off the
threatened danger. The statesmanlike views and spirited
advice of Flemming furnish an honourable contrast
with the apathy and helplessness of Briihl. In the de
spatch of the 17th of July, 1756, the ambassador, after
using the expression already quoted, proceeds : " I
hasten to acquaint your excellency with my suspicions,
though they may not be wholly founded, that you may
be able to think timely of remedies. In my humble
judgment, there are but two which are adapted to our
views, to the wants of our country, and to the criti
cal junctures which threaten and which perhaps may
not very soon be over : a good army, capable of acting
and commanding respect from this court ; 30,000 men,
and perhaps fewer, would render us this essential ser
vice : a sincere and close friendship with Russia would
do the rest."
Such are the grounds upon which the author of the
pamphlet founds the conclusion that Saxony had taken
no part in the confederacy against Frederick, and
that the government was entirely ignorant of the cir
cumstances and the result of the negociations which
had taken place between Austria and Russia, and
between the former power and France. " The king of
Prussia," he adds, " needed a pretext for anticipating
the undeniably hostile designs of the two imperial
courts : the occupation of Saxony seemed advantage
ous to him ; he boldly set about it, and then strove to
justify it as well as he could to the world by his mani
festoes and declarations."

14 COURT AND TIMES OF
The pamphlet in question affords, I think, internal
evidence that it is the production of a Saxon ; and as
I have not set myself up for the apologist of the Prus
sian monarch, but aspire only to the character of his
impartial historian and biographer, I wish to allow all
the weight they deserve to the arguments of his enemies
as well as to those of his friends.
Frederick, during his residence in Dresden, attended
divine service at the Protestant church, gave frequent
balls, masquerades, and concerts, at which he excited
admiration by his excellent performance on the flute, and
seemed, though superintending negotiations and military
affairs, to be wholly occupied in gaining the hearts of
the Saxons by his gaiety, good-humour, and winning
manners. The principal persons of the country attended
his levees, and many of them were invited to his table ;
while the strict discipline observed by his troops in
creased his popularity.
When the king took up arms, the court of Vienna
was extremely backward in its preparations. The cabinet
of the empress imagined that it had abundance of time ;
but when tidings of the events in Saxony arrived, states
men and military commanders exclaimed in astonish
ment : " Who could have thought it !" All the troops
that marshal Browne could collect by the end of August,
in the camp at Kolin on the Elbe, were 25,000 infantry,
and 7000 cavalry : the Hungarian and Transylvanian
levies were on the road ; and orders were issued for
raising those of Brabant and Italy. On hearing that
Frederick had entered Saxony, Browne detached general
count Wied, with 4000 hussars, cavalry, and grenadiers,
to Aussig to observe him ; while prince Piccolomini,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 15
with a corps of 17,000 foot and 5000 horse, assembled
in Moravia, was to oppose Schwerin, who was penetrat
ing from Silesia into Bohemia by way of Nachod, with
26,000 men. The king himself thereupon replaced
duke Ferdinand of Brunswick at Cotta, and sent him
forward as his advanced guard to Bohemia.
The Saxons, in taking their strong position at Pirna,
had materially deranged Frederick's plan of operations.
Winterfeld had represented to him all the advantages
which might be gained by a rapid march upon Prague,
and advised an attack of the position, more especially as
the camp was not then entrenched, and the Saxons were
in want not only of ammunition but also of provisions.
The king was loth to hazard the lives of some thousands
of his brave fellows : he considered that Augustus and
Briihl were much too fond of indulgence to submit to
fast long, and this notion maintained its ascendency over
his mind. Had the king followed Winterfeld's counsel,
it is possible that much blood might have been spilt, but,
on the other hand, the war might perhaps have been
abridged by some years.
It was not long, it is true, before impatience began to
pervade the Saxon camp : its result was, that king
Augustus opened a correspondence, in which he made
proposals of neutrality. From former experience, Fre
derick knew what reliance was to be placed on Saxon
promises ; but he waited till one division of his army
had driven back the Austrian advanced posts on the
Bohemian frontiers. He then broke off the negociations,
sending Winterfeld to the king of Poland, to represent
to him that the vicious politics of his minister had re
duced him to such a situation, as to preclude him from

1 6 COURT AND TIMES OF
pursuing a middle course ; that, on the contrary, the
existing state of things left him no other choice than, in
alliance with Prussia, to oppose the ambitious designs
of the house of Austria. Augustus turned a deaf ear
to these overtures, and solicited an opportunity to retire
to Poland, so that Frederick found himself left to his
own unaided efforts.
The Saxons had been shut up in their camp for three
weeks, as much to their own discomfort as to the annoy
ance of the king on account of the delay. Their only
hope was that of being relieved by the Austrians. The
court of Vienna made, in fact, every exertion to afford
them succour. No sooner was Browne in marching con
dition, than he debouched from the mountains, towards
the end of September, with 70,000 men, and appeared
in the vicinity of Lowositz. The moment Frederick
received intelligence of his approach, he left the blockade
of the Saxons to the margrave Charles, and hastened with
24,000 men to join the army under marshal Keith, at
Aussig. On the 26th, the king took the command of the army
in the camp of Johnsdorf, a position which he found to
be most unfavourable for a battle. He lost no time,
therefore, in breaking up with his troops, and went to
meet Browne, whose pontoons had at length arrived, fully
resolved to risk an engagement in order to prevent the
Austrians from penetrating into Saxony. To observe the
enemy with the more safety, Frederick marched, on the
29th September, with his advanced guard to Tiirmitz,
where he received certain intelligence that Browne was
preparing to pass the Eger, and to advance upon Lowo
sitz. The king then formed his army into three columns,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 1 7
under Keith, the prince of Prussia, and marshal Gessler,
directing them by different routes upon Welmina. On
the 30th, when the Prussians reached the heights of
Aujest, they beheld the Austrian camp in the plain of
Lowositz. This position the Austrians had taken the
same morning, after passing the Eger by bridges of boats,
thrown across at Budin and Doran.
The Prussian army spent the night of the 1st of Octo
ber on the elevated ridge between Woparna and Prisen,
before Welmina ; but Frederick deemed it necessary to
push on with the advanced guard to the defile between
the hills of Lowos and Radostitz, and occupied those two
hills, which command the whole plain south of Lowositz
as far as the Eger, and which the Austrians had neglected
to secure. It was midnight before the Prussians had
taken the positions allotted to them, and the columns
passed the rest of the night close to one another in
marching order.
The Austrians were almost twice as numerous as their
adversaries, and favoured, moreover, by a very advanta
geous position. Browne supported his left wing on a
deep swamp, and covered half his army so completely by
this and other accidents of situation, that there was no
fear of a successful attack on that side : the right ex
tended to the small town of Lowositz and the Elbe. He
posted in the town his best infantry and a great quantity
of artillery, and planted a strong battery before it ; but
yet he had not availed himself of all the advantages that
he might have secured. After a most fatiguing march,
the king was in time to occupy the great defile between
the lofty hills of Lowos and Homolka, leading to the
plain of Lowositz, with six battalions, and to anticipate
VOL. III. C

18 COURT AND TIMES OF
his adversary in this operation. Through this defile the
Prussians had to march up. The wide space in which
they then moved obliged the king to draw up his little
army in four lines, and to support its wings upon the
high hills. While the left drove the Croats out of the
vineyards, in which Browne had posted them, the right
advanced upon the hill of Homolka. Two different
attacks made by the Prussian cavalry were baffled by the
heavy fire poured into their flanks by the artillery from
Lowositz and Sulowitz.
A thick fog enveloped both armies for several hours,
during which Frederick conceived that he had only
Browne's rear-guard before him, till the discomfiture and
retreat of his cavalry, with the loss of nearly a thousand
of its number, convinced him that it was the whole Aus
trian army with which he had to deal. The Prussian
cavalry was of no further use in this engagement, the
horses being not only exhausted by the two disastrous
attacks, but having had neither fodder nor water for
thirty hours.
The fog having cleared off about noon, Frederick was
enabled to observe the Austrian line of battle from the
Homolka. He resolved to trust the fortune of the day
to his infantry, much as he had reason to spare it on
account of the smallness of its force. Tempelhof relates
that Frederick, after reconnoitring the enemy's position,
determined to attack Lowositz from the Lowos, whereas
all the other reports leave no doubt that he was only bent
on maintaining his position, and that the Austrians were
the assailants, being encouraged by the advantage which
they had gained over the Prussian cavalry to attack the
left wing on the hill of Lowos.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 19
Browne had drawn together the flower of his troops
near Lowositz. Colonel Lascy, with three battalions
and six grenadier companies, first attempted to storm
the hill of Lowos, while a detachment of Croats was
directed by Welhota upon the left flank of the Prussians.
The situation of the latter was the more critical, as some
of the regiments posted here, though supplied with sixty
rounds of ball-cartridge, had wholly expended their am
munition in an action which had already lasted six hours,
The duke of Bevern, who commanded in this quarter,
was informed of the circumstance, and asked what was
to be done, Lascy and his troops being already half way
up the hill. " For what purpose," exclaimed the duke,
" have the lads been taught to charge with fixed ba
yonets ?" No sooner was the idea suggested, than it was
carried into execution. The Prussians poured like a
mountain torrent upon the enemy, overturning all before
them. Lascy was wounded in this attempt, and part of
his troops were driven into the Elbe. Lowositz was set
on fire, and all who defended that post were obliged to
make a precipitate retreat. This decided the victory
about three o'clock in the afternoon.
Preuss tells us that, when the Prussian infantry took
Lowositz, not only had the cavalry quitted the field, but
Frederick himself, on receiving intelligence that the left
wing had expended all its ammunition, that it had sus
tained considerable loss, and that the enemy was conti
nually reinforcing his troops in the vineyards on the
Lowos, had given up the day for lost, and retired with
the garde du corps to the village of Bilinka, half way to
Welmina, where major Oelsnitz, who had highly dis
tinguished himself, overtook him with the news of the
victory. c 2

20 COURT AND TIMES OF
As little more than the Austrian advanced posts bad
been engaged, Browne effected his retreat in excellent
order, the Prussian cavalry being too much exhausted
to pursue the enemy. The force of the Austrians ex
ceeded 40,000 men ; Frederick had only 24,000, but a
much more powerful artillery, the fire from which, as well
as from that of the Austrians, was incessant. The loss
of the Prussians is stated by Gaudi at 2864, killed,
wounded, and missing ; and it is curious that the Aus
trians admitted the loss of one less than the same number
of men, 475 horses, two standards, and three pieces of
cannon. It was at the commencement of this battle, immedi
ately after the first unsuccessful charge of the Prussian
cavalry, that a garde du corps, covered with blood and
without hat, came galloping straight towards the king,
who, with his retinue, had posted himself on a rising
ground. He strove to turn his horse, but to no pur
pose ; some of the king's aides-de-camp, therefore,
placed themselves in the way, and stopped the animal.
The rider was angry at their interference. " I will
turn my horse, I'll engage, without any help of yours."
So saying, he turned about to dash again upon the
enemy. " My dear fellow," cried the king, " stop and
have your wound bound up. Your horse, too, is wounded
on the head." " Why, your majesty," replied the man,
" I have no fear that the devil will fetch me, and the
jade has four sound legs yet." With these words he
was preparing to gallop off. " Wait one moment," said
the king, and, taking his handkerchief from his pocket,
gave it to an aide-de-camp, and ordered him to bind up
the man's head with it. " I thank your majesty," cried

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 21
the garde du corps ; " you will never get your handker
chief again ; but you shall be paid for it, and I will be
revenged." Away he galloped direct for the enemy.
When the battle was over, as this man did not appear in
his rank, the king was curious to learn what had become
of him. After long search, he was found dead upon the
field, having received many cuts and shots, and grasping
his discharged pistol in his right hand. The king's hand
kerchief was still about his head ; and near him lay two
Austrian horse-soldiers, one of them dead, the other
severely wounded. " That fellow," said the latter to
those who came to look for the man, " had the devil
himself in him. He cut away, in his turban, at such
a rate that nobody durst go near him. A ball brought
him down at last, and then, he shot my comrade
here." The king surveyed the body with emotion for
some time, and exclaimed : " That fellow deserved a
squadron !"
The victorious army remained upon the field of battle.
The king took up his head-quarters at Kinitz, and
caused the defile near Welmina to be immediately occu
pied. Browne kept his troops under arms in the posi
tion which he had taken immediately after the battle-.
The king, apprehensive of a new conflict, was disposed
to retreat at night, on account of the superior force of
his antagonist ; but Oelsnitz, who had been promoted
for his share in the victory, dissuaded him from the in
tention, and about midnight a deserter brought tidings
of Browne's retreat. The marshal caused the bridge
over the Elbe, at Leitmeritz, and that across the Eger,
to be broken down behind him, and next day took pos
session of his old camp beyond the latter river, alleging

22 COURT AND TIMES OF
want of water as a plea for his retreat, though, in his
report of the engagement, he admits that his right wing
was supported on the Elbe, and his left on the ponds of
Tschischkowitz. On the 2d, Frederick removed his head-quarters
to Lowositz ; he rewarded 47 officers, from captains
up to colonels, with the order of Merit ; and on the
3d the victory was celebrated with Te Deum and feuos
dejoie. In a letter written the day after the battle to
Schwerin, the king admits that he " has not found in
the enemy the Austrians of old." From what occurred
yesterday, he adds, " I see that these people only aim at
involving us in fights of posts, and that we must take
care not to attack them precipitately. They are more
artful than they formerly were, and you may believe me
when I assure you that, unless one can bring a great
quantity of heavy artillery against them, it will cost
innumerable lives to beat them. Never," he continues,
" have my troops performed such prodigies of valour
since I have had the honour to command them, both
cavalry and infantry ;" and in another account of the
battle he says : "I see from this effort what my troops
are capable of doing."
The Austrians, on the other hand, are said to have
exclaimed, while looking at their wounds : " We have
met again with the old Prussians !" It is worthy of
remark that Browne released the Prussian officers who
were taken prisoners, and the king followed his chival
rous example.
On the other side of Bohemia nothing of consequence
had taken place. Schwerin had encamped, on the 22d

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 23
of September, at Aujest, near Konigingratz ; while Pic-
colomini occupied a position that was unassailable, at
no great distance, looking carelessly on while the Prus
sians carried off all the forage they could find in the
villages, in sight of the Austrian camp, and levied
supplies and contributions wherever they could. Such
was the situation of the two armies, till Schwerin re
turned, on the 20th of October, to Silesia.
By the retreat of Browne to Budin, Frederick had
indeed thwarted the original design of the Austrians to
penetrate into Saxony and relieve the army of the king
of Poland, which was still blockaded at Pirna ; but he
was too weak to attempt anything against the enemy.
He, therefore, contented himself with strengthening
his camp by fortifications, and observing the Aus
trians. To advance and cross the Eger was out of the
question, as, in that case, he would have exposed
his rear to the Austrian corps stationed at Leitmeritz.
The results of the battle of Lowositz rendered the
situation of the unfortunate Saxons encamped near
Pirna more hopeless than ever. Closely blockaded by
40,000 Prussians, stationed on both sides of the Elbe,
who cut off all supplies, they had not the least chance
of success if they attempted to break through the line
of their adversaries. In this time of distress, the Saxons
exhibited the most striking proofs of loyalty and devo
tion to their sovereign ; though it must be admitted that
he had done nothing to deserve such attachment, but,
on the contrary, imposed heavy burdens on his Pro
testant country, for the maintenance of a luxurious
Catholic court and prodigal courtiers. So much the
more praiseworthy is the fidelity with which the nation

24 COURT AND TIMES OF
in general, and the military in particular, adhered
to the person and cause of the sovereign in this trying
emergency. The troops composing the force at Pirna had been
assembled in the greatest haste. Horses of all sorts
had been put in requisition for drawing the artillery,
and artisans and labourers taken as drivers of the train ;
hence arose great confusion and disorder. By the ex
press command of Briihl, the army was supplied with
provisions for four days only ; and supplies, which were
on the way, were left behind. The idea entertained was
that a convention of neutrality, or a speedy retreat to
Bohemia, would render the expense of collecting stores
of this kind unnecessary. On the 10th of September,
when the blockade of the camp was formed by the Prus
sians, it contained scarcely a fortnight's provisions. The
king and his court would not submit to any abridg
ment of their usual enjoyments; and on this account
the rations were at once reduced one third. The selfish
monarch took good care to provide for his personal
comfort ; for, at his request, Frederick allowed him to
send a cart to Dresden once a week to fetch supplies for
his own table.
A participator in the distress which the faithful
Saxons had here to endure for five weeks has left a
simple, natural, and affecting picture of their suffer
ings, in his diary, from which I shall make two or three
extracts. " September 19. We had been scarcely ten days in
the camp, when the infantry ceased to be allowed any
more rations, but each was obliged to keep his horse
alive as well as he could. Accordingly, the horses were

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 25
turned out to graze, and each of them had to provide
for his own subsistence ; nay, at last, it went so far, that
the rations of the cavalry also were cut off; of course
they too were forced to turn out their horses, and these
absolutely ate up the moss which grows on the dry hills,
so clean that, as there was no pasturage left, their riders
were obliged to go into the woods and gardens, and
pluck leaves, and also green twigs from the trees, to
feed their cattle with them. The allowance of bread
for the men was likewise reduced ; for, instead of receiv
ing six pounds every three days as formerly, they now
had but four. The most plentiful thing was meat ; but
not a morsel of any vegetable was to be had. We
hoped, from day to day, that the Prussians would leave
us and march off to Bohemia; for, as we saw so
many troops constantly marching in different columns
towards Bohemia, we concluded that those which were
blockading us would not stay long, but soon follow the
others." " October 3. Things grew worse and worse every day;
for the horses which were turned out to grass, finding
nothing more to eat, dropped down and died of hunger,
which was lamentable to see. Out of a total of some
thousands, several hundred dropped in this manner;
some of them died immediately, but others rolled about
and could neither live nor die ; some even got up again,
ate the mould for very hunger, dropped again, and
kicked, and struggled, and rolled about till they died.
Each soldier was now forced to make shift six days with
four pounds of bread ; of meat they could get what
they wanted, as the peasants in general disposed of their
cattle."

26 COURT AND TIMES OF
" October 13. We had crossed the Elbe in a thick
fog, with the intention of attempting to break through
and join the Austrians. The fog turned to very heavy
rain, which lasted for two days and nights. Provisions
were extremely scarce ; for the little there was in our
old camp we had entirely consumed, and taken nothing
with us, because we had been assured that, as soon as
we were across the Elbe, we should fall in with the
Imperialists and find plenty of every thing. As this
was not the case, we went into the fields to collect any
cabbage-stalks that were still standing there, and boiled
them without salt or other seasoning. But, as these
scarcely sufficed to appease our hunger for the first day,
we had to starve for it on the following days. Bread
was not to be had, even if we would have paid ten
dollars for a mouthful. During the last days, so much
as a florin and a dollar was paid for a single cabbage-
stalk. Meat was no longer to be got for money."
Browne had, so early as the 22d of September,
acquainted Count Rutowski, the commander-in-chief
of the Saxon army, that he intended to descend the
Elbe, for the purpose of supporting the Saxons in an
attempt to break through the Prussian lines on the right
bank of the river. The day fixed for this joint opera
tion was the 12 th of October. Though he had since
lost the battle of Lowositz, and would gladly have de
ferred the execution of this plan for a few days, yet,
on learning the extreme distress which prevailed in the
Saxon camp, he determined to adhere to the original
design. Having reinforced general Macguire at Leit-
meritz, he left count Luchesi in command of the camp
at Budin, and set out on the 7th of October with 8000

FREDERICK, THE GREAT. 27
men and twenty pieces of cannon, crossed the Elbe in
boats at Raudnitz, in spite of the bad weather and
wretched roads arrived on the 9th at Kamnitz, and, in
the afternoon of the 11th, was, according to his pro
mise, on the heights between Lichtenhain and Mitteldorf,
about three miles from Schandau. On the evening of
that day, the Saxons were to have thrown a bridge of
boats across the Elbe, under the guns of the impregna
ble fortress of Konigstein, near the village of Thurms-
dorf ; but they could not accomplish that purpose till
the following night. The Saxons, exhausted with
hunger and cold, actually crossed the river in the night
of the 13th; but the violence of the wind prevented
Browne from hearing the two guns fired at Konigstein,
as the preconcerted signal that Rutowski was ready for
the attack. He wrote that same night to inform the
Saxon commander that he could not wait for him later
than nine on the following morning, and he actually
quitted his position at that hour, to return to Bohemia.
Rutowski, having crossed the Elbe, broke down the
bridge, and, pursued by the Prussians, lost his rear
guard, baggage, and half of his artillery. The state
of his troops was truly pitiable. " All the ravines and
rocks," says the writer whom I have already quoted,
" through which we had to pass, were occupied in great
force by the enemy ; and Browne, from whom we ex
pected assistance, was gone. We had passed seventy-
two hours, for forty-eight of which it had been raining
incessantly, without bread and provisions, in the open
air, and under arms. Few had any other food than the
roots of vegetables, which had been long consumed;
boiled hair-powder, seasoned with gunpowder, was a

28 COURT AND TIMES OF
treat ; and wood, [sawdust, I suppose,] was the fodder
of the horses."
All hopes of succour were at an end. King Augustus
and count Briihl, enjoying themselves in ease and secu
rity at Konigstein, gave orders for a desperate attack.
All the generals, on the contrary, agreed that they had
no other course left but to treat with the enemy. The
conqueror prescribed humiliating conditions. Famine
and distress compelled submission. Rutowski invited
general Winterfeld to the Saxon camp, and on the 14th
agreed upon an armistice, which was proclaimed to both
armies just at the moment of the king's arrival at the
camp of Struppen. He had left Lowositz on the pre
ceding day, having only just then heard of Browne's
expedition. Next morning, Winterfeld brought the
king's answer to the articles of capitulation. His
proposal that the Saxons should join him and march
against Austria was rejected : they chose rather to
surrender themselves prisoners of war. On the 16th,
the capitulation was exchanged, and on the following
day, the king crossed the Elbe by the bridge of boats
at Raden, to wait on the heights of Waltersdorf for
the Saxons, who marched that morning from Ebenheit.
Before they reached Raden, they halted to form into
regiments, for the purpose of crossing the river, taking
the oath on the other side, and marching to Struppen.
All the regiments were obliged to lay down their arms.
Frederick himself met them, rode along the ranks, and
when the Saxon generals took off their hats as they
came up to him, he courteously bade them welcome,
and invited them to dine with him. A liberal allowance
of bread was distributed among the half- famished

FREDERICK. THE GREAT. 29
soldiers. The officers rejected the most advantageous
offers of service, and were allowed liberty to go
wherever they pleased, on giving their word of honour
not to serve against Prussia. The privates and subal
terns were forced to swear fidelity to the Prussian
colours. Those who were not to be intimidated into
compliance were distributed among the Prussian troops ;
with the rest were formed ten new regiments, to which
were assigned new uniforms and new commanders. The
impolicy of this measure was soon apparent ; for the
Saxons, who had borne their deplorable fate with such
fortitude, that scarcely one hundred deserters had gone
over to the Prussians during the blockade, were filled
with implacable hatred against their conquerors, seized
the first opportunity of deserting in whole divisions,
and either returned home or sought some other service.
The same spirit animated the recruits, to the number of
9000, raised in Saxony in the following spring to com
plete those regiments.
King Augustus, who had witnessed from Konigstein
the captivity of his army, solicited passports from
Frederick ; and on the 20th of October, accompanied
by his two younger sons and count Briihl, he left that
fortress, which was declared neutral, for Warsaw. The
queen, and their eldest son, the electoral prince, with
his consort, would not quit Dresden. Frederick wrote
a polite farewell letter to the king of Poland, whom
he addressed, " Sir, my brother," and took care that
his majesty should receive no molestation on his journey
from Prussian troops.
Frederick now returned to Bohemia, and marched his
army into Saxony, where it took up its winter quarters.

30 COURT AND TIMES OF
Schwerin also quitted his camp on the 21st of October,
and led his troops into winter-quarters in Upper and
Lower Silesia ; while Winterfeld and Lestwitz kept up
the communication between the two armies, in the line
from Zittau to Hirschberg and Landshut. Marshal
Browne also put his army into winter-quarters, and
went to Prague ; while Piccolomini's troops were can
toned in Bohemia and Moravia.
Frederick, having made Dresden his head-quarters,
organised the administration of the Saxon territories,
levied recruits, and lived exactly as he was accustomed to
do in Berlin. He read, composed verses, played on the
flute, went to operas, concerts, and assemblies, and
even attended a sermon delivered by superintendent
am Ende, in the church of the Cross, on the text :
" Render unto Cassar the things that are Csesar's, and
unto God the things that are God's," and was so well
pleased with it that he sent the preacher a present of
champagne, requested him to publish the sermon, and
accepted the dedication. He visited the Catholic church
also to hear Hasse's music. The rich treasures of art
in the Saxon capital were left untouched ; and it was
only by permission of the court of Dresden that Frede
rick had a copy of Battoni's Magdalen made for him,
and that he visited the Japanese palace. It is true
that he would have been glad to see the queen follow
her family to Poland ; but she would not stir, and died
in Dresden in November, 1757, after her court had,
with her knowledge, endeavoured to put Meissen and
Dresden into the hands of Frederick's enemies. The
only revenge taken by the philosopher of Sans-Souci
was on count Briihl, as one of the instigators of this

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 31
unhappy war. His mansions, Belvedere, near Dresden,
Nischwitz, near Wurzen, and Grochwitz, near Hertzberg,
suffered severely; and at a later period, Pforten,
another of his seats in Lower Lusatia, was burned
by a detachment of hussars sent by the king for the
purpose. In the field, Frederick was even more indefatigable
than in time of peace. On his arrival at head-quarters
after a march, his first care was to post the vedettes
and to inspect the camp ; the maps and plans were
then spread out; and, when he had accurately ac
quainted himself with the ground, he instructed some
of his hussar officers how to spy out the enemy. Then
came his cabinet councillors, Eichel and Coper. The
rest of his time till dinner was devoted to his journal.
If any thing occurred at the advanced posts, he hastened
thither himself, and interrogated deserters. At table,
gaiety and good-humour prevailed, as in quiet times ;
but the conversation mostly turned upon military mat
ters. After dinner, the cabinet councillors came again,
and when the army halted for a few days, the reader
was at hand to entertain him. For supper, the king
was accustomed for some time to take soaked biscuits,
with French cheese and Tyrolese wine, and to sleep
five hours. If any thing, however trivial, occurred at
the advanced posts, the officer on duty had orders to
cause him to be waked. Two horses were kept con
stantly saddled for such occasions. During the whole
war, Frederick never used a tent, and he would put up
with the meanest cottage, if it was but in communica
tion with one wing of his army.

32 COURT AND TIMES OF

CHAPTER XXVII.
Campaign of 1757 — Proceedings of the Diet of Ratisbon against Frede
rick—Activity and Schemes of Austria and France— Frederick's Allies—
The Queen of Poland and Countess Briihl — Sufferings of Mecklenburg-
Affair of Glasow— Forces of the Belligerent Powers — The Prussians
enter Bohemia — Battle of Prague — Death of Marshal Schwerin — The
Austrians seek refuge in Prague — Blockade of the City by the Prus
sians — Abortive attempts of the Austrians to escape — Furious Thunder
storm — Bombardment of Prague — Sufferings of the inhabitants — Care
lessness of the Austrian Generals — Expedition of Colonel Mayr in South
Germany — Frederick leaves Keith before Prague and marches to meet
Daun — Battle of Kollin — Stipulations of the Secret Treaty between
France and Austria.
Frederick's enemies had neglected no means to swell
the ranks of his opponents. They accused him of
violating the law of nations, of disturbing the peace
of the continent, because he had not suffered himself
to be taken by surprise, of committing unheard-of
atrocities ; in short they did all but brand him as a
robber against whom the whole world ought to unite.
The Aulic Council in Vienna commenced a formal pro
cess against the king, for the purpose of causing him to
be put to the ban of the empire, that is to say, proclaim
ing him to have forfeited his dominions and his dignity
as a sovereign, and getting an army of execution sent
against him by the Diet. According to ancient custom,
Dr. Aprill, an imperial notary, was sent to Plotho, the
Prussian envoy at Ratisbon, with two citizens as wit
nesses, to serve upon him, as the king's representative,
what we should call the bill of indictment, and a sum
mons to appear before the tribunal of the fiscal. Plotho
refused to receive the papers, and thrust the bearer of

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 33
them out of doors. As this interruption of the forma
lities delayed the process, France advised that the
antiquated resource of the ban should be relinquished,
and that in its stead the Diet should set in motion a
numerous army against Prussia. This recommendation
was followed ; and the German princes were required
to furnish their respective contingents for the purpose
of forming an imperial army of execution, the command
of which was given to prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburg-
hausen. In the resolution of the Diet for raising this
army, it was called a hasty or rather hastening (eilende)
army of execution ; but in the public notification of
that resolution, by a whimsical typographical error,
arising from the omission of a single letter, the Ger
man word eilende was changed into elende (signifying
wretched, miserable,) and all its operations proved that
a more characteristic epithet could not have been found
for this contemptible force.
To instigate France to increased exertion, the court
of Vienna reinforced the influence of Pompadour with
the complaints of the dauphiness, a daughter of the
unfortunate king of Poland's, and with the persuasions
of marshal Belleisle, a hoary intriguer. The empress
Elizabeth of Russia was only in want of means to
afford active proof of her enmity to the king of Prus
sia ; to remove that obstacle, Maria Theresa borrowed
of France two millions of dollars, which she transmitted
to the czarina. In Sweden, the Diet, likewise bribed
by French gold, declared against the king, upon the
pretext that Sweden had guaranteed the peace of West
phalia. Austria even strove to disseminate the notion
that Frederick was aiming at the overthrow of the
VOL. III. D

34 COURT AND TIMES OF
Catholic religion. By such means the princes of Ger
many were induced to grant the empress-queen an
auxiliary force of 60,000 men, to which was given the
appellation of an imperial army of execution. Russia
promised to furnish 100,000 men, France 150,000, and
Austria the same number. Sweden was to take the
field with 40,000 ; while the Netherlands, Denmark,
and Poland, took no part in the crusade. Frederick's
dominions were again partitioned before-hand : Austria
was to have Silesia, Russia the Prussian provinces,
Sweden Pomerania, Saxony Magdeburg and Halber-
stadt, and France stipulated for the Westphalian pro
vinces ; the rest the king was to be allowed to retain
if he made proper submission.
Frederick was not without respectable allies : En
gland, duke Charles of Brunswick- Wolfenbiittel, whose
sons held commands in the Prussian army, the land
grave of Hesse-Cassel, the duke of Gotha, and the
count of Biickeburg. By the treaty of January 11th,
1757, the king united himself more closely with Great
Britain, and the English nation was filled with the
warmest enthusiasm for him. Pitt, then secretary of
state, whose master mind exercised so powerful an in
fluence on public affairs during this war, omitted no
opportunity of expressing, either in public or private,
his sense of the importance of this alliance, and his
warm admiration of the Prussian monarch. Thus in
March he writes to Sir Andrew Mitchell : "I feel the
most grateful sentiments of veneration and zeal for a
prince, who stands the unshaken bulwark of Europe,
against the most powerful and malignant conspiracy
that ever yet has threatened the independence of man-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 35
kind." Still the cabinet of St. James's never supported
Frederick so powerfully as it might have done, neither
did it send a squadron to the Baltic, as stipulated in
the fourth article of this new treaty. When he found
that his plans for the energetic defence of Germany
were not listened to in London, and the mission of
general Schmettau to Hanover on the same account
produced no effect, he was obliged to abandon Wesel
for the purpose of concentrating his force. Saxony,
meanwhile, was so administered by a Prussian war-
directory that it was chiefly the rich resources which it
afforded, together with the English subsidies, that sup
plied him with the means of carrying on the war with
half of Europe. During this first winter, Saxony had to
furnish flour, fodder, and horses, to pay a considerable
war contribution, to levy 9000 recruits ; all the military
stores were conveyed to Magdeburg ; the salaries of
the electoral functionaries were greatly reduced, many
cut off entirely; and Schimmelmann, the merchant
who was afterwards minister of Denmark, purchased of
the king Saxon porcelain to the amount of 200,000
dollars. The king endeavoured at the same time to remove
some dangerous enemies from Dresden. We have seen
that the queen was obstinately bent on remaining in
the Saxon capital, where she might possibly find oppor
tunities to revenge herself on Frederick for the humilia
tions to which she and her family had been subjected.
He was informed that the Austrians purposed to sur
prise the neutral fortress of Konigstein, in concert
with the Saxon commandant; and it was discovered
that the queen and the countess Briihl were engaged
d 2

36 COURT AND TIMES OF
in a treacherous correspondence with the enemy. The
latter was ordered to leave Saxony. She was ex
tremely reluctant to comply, and, in answer to her
repeated remonstrances, the king thus wrote : " The
suspicion against you, madam, is too strong for me to
suffer your presence any longer in Dresden. Do not
imagine that I am to be offended with impunity.
Nothing would be easier than to revenge myself if I
pleased : but I am content to let people know that
I have it in my power to do so. Let both your hus
band and yourself beware of tiring out my patience,
or you may feel the terrible consequences of your
conduct. I will nevertheless intimate to you that the
queen, the Austrians, and the French, are planning the
downfall of your husband. If you will take the trou
ble to investigate the matter, you will find that this
is founded on truth. This communication is not made
because I desire your friendship : I despise it too much,
and have means of .conquering my enemies, both open
and secret, without being obliged to have recourse to
meanness and cruelty."
Mecklenburg was suffering at this time still more
severely than Saxony. The duke had insisted at Ratis
bon more warmly than any other prince of the empire
that Frederick should be put to the ban. The Prussians
thereupon entered his country, but the duke fled, and
his unoffending subjects had to suffer for his folly.
They were compelled to furnish fodder, cattle, a contri
bution of some millions, and 16,000 recruits.
Frederick having, in the month of November, per
formed a pilgrimage to the field of Liitzen, memorable
for the death of his favourite hero, Gustavus Adolphus,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 37
where he stayed some hours, while a survey of the
ground was made by engineers, repaired in the first
days of January to his own capital. Here he passed
only eight days, from the 4th to the 12th, and then
returned to Dresden, the centre of his cares. Having
ordered the reserves in Pomerania, originally destined
for marshal Lehwald, to join the troops in Saxony, he
hastened towards the end of January to Hainau in
Silesia, to concert with Schwerin the plan of the ensu
ing campaign.
During the whole winter, the two hostile armies
enjoyed almost undisturbed repose. The prisoners of
war were exchanged at Peterswalde, and bloodless
skirmishes occasionally took place. An affair of rather
more consequence, when Lascy attempted to surprise
the Prussian posts in Lusatia, cost major Blumenthal of
prince Henry's regiment his life. Infinitely more injuri
ous was the aversion already manifested by the Saxons
to the Prussian service. Excited and encouraged by
Frederick's enemies, many even of the officers forfeited
their word, and were received with open arms by the
Austrians. Towards the end of March, the Prussian head-quar
ters were fixed at Lockwitz. Here occurred a circum
stance which excited a great sensation. The king had
taken a soldier named Glasow into his service as
chamber-hussar, and afterwards made him his valet de
chambre. He placed great confidence in this man, and
even entrusted him with the care of his privy purse.
Glasow was suddenly sent off to be imprisoned in
Spandau, without any official intimation of his crime.
Surmise was not long in deciding its nature. Archen-

38 COURT AND TIMES OF
holtz, the historian of the Seven Years' War, and many
other writers after him, relate as an undoubted fact,
that Glasow had formed the atrocious design of poison
ing his master with a cup of chocolate, that other
persons were acquainted with this intention, and that
the secret was revealed by one of them. Some, with
a more poetical imagination, represent the attendant,
disconcerted by the piercing look of the monarch, throw
ing himself with the poisoned chocolate at the feet of
his master, and confessing his guilt. The reader will
rejoice with me, for the honour of human nature, to learn
that this story is pure fiction. Glasow had made an
improper use of the king's seal, and, with the assistance
of the keeper of a coffee-house, named Vblker, forged
several orders in the name of his master. Glasow died
in the fortress before the expiration of his twelve months'
imprisonment. This circumstance shows how little Frederick cared
about the stories circulated respecting him. No prince,
perhaps, was ever more misrepresented, slandered, and
vilified in print ; yet he steadily pursued his course, re
gardless of these effusions of private rancour. But he
did not always disdain to defend himself from political
charges, especially when they had a tendency to make
the world believe that he was actuated by designs of
ambition and conquest. Thus, on the 1 6th of January,
1757, he caused a pamphlet to be burned by the hand
of the public executioner in Berlin, in which the author
pretended to furnish incontestable proof of his right to
the kingdom of Bohemia. Since 1741, indeed, several
malicious publications of this kind had appeared, setting

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 39
up claims in behalf of the Prussian monarch to terri
tories belonging to other princes.
Frederick calculated that all his enemies would not
be ready for some time to act jointly against him, and
upon this assumption he founded his plan of operation.
He hoped, by a sudden attack on the Austrian army in
Bohemia, to gain all those advantages which he had
been unable to obtain in the preceding year. To this
end he strove to encourage a belief that, not feeling him
self strong enough to attack, it was his intention to wait
for the enemy in Saxony. To heighten the illusion, he
caused Dresden to be fortified. His real object was to
lull the Austrian generals into security, and to induce
them to form magazines on the Bohemian frontiers.
Thus too, when duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, as go
vernor of Magdeburg, reminded the king that this for
tress was in want of many things which would be indis
pensably necessary in case of a siege, Frederick replied
that he hoped the duke was not under any apprehension
of a siege of Magdeburg, as they must all be put out
of the way before such a thing could happen. " Adieu,"
he wrote to the same prince, on another occasion : " with
firmness and vigilance, with energy and prudence, we
will drive the devil himself out of hell, if there is one."
The Prussian army, amounting, at the commence
ment of the war, to 154,000 men, was increased during
the winter to 210,000, including about 22,000 Saxons,
whose patriotism, it is true, soon taught them the way
to Poland. The imperial army, too, was so considerably
reinforced that an old warrior could not refrain from
saying : " With this army the king of Prussia would

40 COURT AND TIMES OF
drive the devils themselves out of hell." " Ay," re
plied another Austrian, "but with his own he would
drive them all into it again, if twice as many of them
as there are of us and our allies were marching against
him." The numerical force of the armies actually brought
into the field by the belligerent powers in 1757 was as
follows : Austrians 143,000, French 134,000, Russians
100,000, troops of the empire 32,000, and Swedes
22,000, forming a total of 431,000. To oppose these
Frederick had but 152,000 men, besides 45,000 English
and Hanoverians — that is altogether no more than
197,000; but he counterbalanced this excessive dis
proportion by those powers of genius concentrated in his
single person, by which he imparted harmony and unity
to his operations, while his adversaries, acting separately,
crossed and paralyzed each other's efforts.
The king committed the defence of Prussia to marshal
Lehwald, and the protection of Pomerania to general
Manteuffel. The rest of his army destined to take the
field was thus distributed : in Silesia and the county of
Glatz 33,000 men under Schwerin ; the duke of Bevern
with 22,000 in Upper Lusatia; 36,000 under the
king in person near Dresden ; and prince Maurice with
18,000 in the Saxon district of Voigtland. The Aus
trians, on their part, had collected 36,000 men in
Moravia, under marshal Daun ; 20,000 near Reichen-
berg under count Konigseck ; 50,000 near Budin, under
Browne, who was to advance upon Dresden ; and 20,000
at Eger, under the duke of Ahremberg, who had direc
tions to march through Voigtland, and to effect a junc
tion with Browne and Konigseck, near Dresden.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 41
It was originally proposed that the chief command of
the imperial forces should be conferred on Browne, a
commander of great experience and reputation ; but,
through the personal influence of the empress-queen, her
brother-in-law, duke Charles of Lorraine, whose previous
ill success had deprived him of the confidence of the
troops, was placed at the head of the Austrian army.
Browne was to assist him. No precise plan of opera
tions had been determined upon, but it was generally
admitted that an attack would be made upon Saxony
and Lusatia. Considerable magazines were accordingly
formed at different points of the Bohemian frontiers.
When, in the beginning of March, duke Charles pur
posed to concentrate the distant regiments, Browne and
Neipperg opposed that intention. The former even
wished that Frederick might be induced to make some
attempt, conceiving that it could only be ruinous to
him : and, as duke Charles was detained by illness in
Vienna, no precautionary measures were for the present
adopted by Browne, though warned by prince Kaunitz,
who recommended a rational defensive.
The four Prussian divisions broke up between the
18th and the 21st of April, to penetrate at so many
different points into Bohemia, with a view to cut off in
detail the scattered corps of the enemy, or to drive them
back upon Prague, to decide by a victory the fate of
that capital, and to pursue the beaten foe into the Aus
trian provinces. According to Frederick's calculations,
his whole force was to be collected in the environs of
Prague on the 5th of May. He himself entered Bo
hemia by way of Aussig ; Maurice marched direct for
Eger : and as the duke of Ahremberg was concentrating

42 COURT AND TIMES OF
his corps there, Maurice suddenly turned about, and
proceeded through the passes which the enemy had neg
lected to occupy, by way of Commotau to Linay, where
his division joined that of the king. The duke of
Bevern's column, which was to have joined Schwerin's at
Turnau, on the Iser, came by the way upon Konigseck's
entrenched camp near Reichenberg, attacked it under
very disadvantageous circumstances, and stormed it in
spite of batteries, ditches, and abattis. The enemy fled
with the loss of a thousand men, several pieces of can
non, and three standards, to Liebenau, where, secured
by the defiles from further pursuit, Konigseck rallied
the fugitives. Schwerin, who had crossed the Elbe at
Konigshof, was on the point of turning the beaten ge
neral, when the latter retreated upon Prague, abandon
ing the magazine at Jung-Bunzlau, with several millions
of florins, to the Prussians.
Meanwhile the king was advancing upon Prague, to
attack Browne and drive him from his strong position
at Budin, before Ahremberg should bring him reinforce
ment. Having crossed the Eger, the imperial general,
fearing lest he should be cut off from Prague, retreated
upon that city, closely followed by Frederick, and was
on the 30th of April at Tuchomie*rschitz. Here prince
Charles, who had arrived at Prague on the preceding
day, joined the army. Browne approached him with
tears in his eyes. " I am very unfortunate," said he;
" I wish I were dead." The enemy, he continued, was
advancing, and they must absolutely attack him. The
duke strove, in vain, to cheer him ; indeed despondence
pervaded the whole army. All the generals were of
opinion that they ought to fall back upon Prague, lest

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 43
the Prussians should get thither before them, and cut off
their communication with the magazines in the rear,
with the corps of Konigseck and Serbelloni, and with
part of Bohemia. Browne alone, intent on seeking
death, was for attacking the enemy, as the advantage of
the ground was on the side of the Austrians ; but his
advice was not adopted. On the 1st of May the Aus
trian army retired upon Prague, the left wing under
duke Charles in person, the right under Browne. The
former passed through Prague, and encamped at Nusle,
on the right bank of the Mulde ; the latter crossed the
river below the city, and took post at Malleschitz : the
two divisions numbered 45,000 men. Count Thiirheim
occupied Prague, which, however, was utterly destitute
of the means of resistance.
The Austrians had taken so favourable a position that
it would have been very difficult to come at them. Their
left wing was supported upon the hill called the Ziska-
berg, and protected by the works of Prague ; a declivity
of several hundred feet covered the centre ; the right
wing occupied an eminence, at the foot of which lay the
village of Stjerbohol, and this was the most accessible
point. Frederick impatiently awaited the arrival of
Schwerin. He had but few troops, and the strong Aus
trian army opposed to him might have handled him
roughly. No sooner was he joined by the marshal than
the king informed him, on the 6th of May, that he was
determined to attack prince Charles without delay ; that,
to render the victory complete, prince Maurice should
throw a bridge of boats across the Mulde above Prague,
cross the river with the whole right wing of Keith's
corps, which was blockading what is called the little

44 COURT AND TIMES OF
side of the city, and fall upon the rear of the enemy,
while he himself (the king) would attack him in front
and flank. Schwerin and the other generals would have
dissuaded him from the execution of this plan, which
they thought too bold. The marshal's troops had made
a long march and were fatigued : the ground on which
the battle was to be fought seemed unsafe, and had not
been sufficiently examined. Frederick, however, silenced
all scruples by observing that it was necessary, under
all circumstances, to attack, adding, " the freshest eggs
are the best." Schwerin, now seventy-three years old,
with that youthful vivacity for which he was remarkable,
pulling down his hat over his brow, exclaimed, " Well,
if a battle must be fought to-day, I will attack the Aus
trians at once on the spot where I see them." It was
with difficulty that he was restrained from an act of
precipitation ; the king having directed general Win
terfeld first to reconnoitre minutely the position of the
enemy's right wing.
In executing the commission, Winterfeld is said to
have examined but superficially the ground on which the
right wing of the Austrians was drawn up. According
to his report, it was possible enough to get at the enemy
there ; but his opinion would have been greatly modified,
had time and circumstances permitted a more particular
examination. Near the village of Stjerbohol ran a small
stream, in which ponds were formed by means of dams.
These ponds had been let off, and the ground sown with
oats, to serve at first as food for the young carp with
which these ponds were to be stocked again after the
harvest. The oats gave the appearance of solid ground to
spots which were afterwards found to be deep quagmires.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 45
At nine in the morning, the Prussian left wing marched
in silence along the declivity to attack the enemy's left.
As soon as the Austrian commander perceived this, he
ordered up the cavalry and part of the infantry of the
left wing, to give a warmer reception to the Prussians,
when their cavalry should have advanced between the
narrow passes and the swamps near the village of
Bichowitz. After a most difficult march, the Prussian
eavalry, nevertheless, took up a position in a plain,
which, cooped up by the village and a pond, left them
but just space sufficient and at the same time covered
the two wings. Thrice they charged the Austrian ca
valry, and at length threw them into confusion. So
dense a cloud of dust had enveloped the combatants
during these three attacks as to produce great confu
sion * two Prussian regiments even fired upon one ano
ther. In vain did prince Charles strive to rally his
beaten troops : he was hurried away by the fugitives,
and so exhausted by excitement of mind and bodily ex
ertion that he fell senseless from his horse. Seized with
violent cramp in the stomach, he was carried to Nusle
and bled ; but the Austrians were driven from that place
by the Prussian cavalry, and it was not till all was lost
that the prince was able to return to the field of battle.
Meanwhile, the first eight grenadier battalions of the
Prussian left wing advanced across meadow-grojund to
wards the enemy. They had to contend with the greatest
difficulties before they could reach him, sometimes sink
ing up to their knees in mud and swamp, at others
having to march upon narrow dykes and paths scarcely
a yard wide : so that it was impossible for them to form
till they arrived at the plain near Stjerbohol. They had

46 COURT AND TIMES OF
yet to pass a ravine, and to proceed a little distance, in
order to join the advancing army. They had been or
dered by Schwerin and Winterfeld, who commanded
them, to push rapidly forward without firing. They
were gallantly following their leader, when, just as the
first grenadiers issued from the ravine upon the glacis
like ground, a tremendous fire of canister-shot mowed
down rank after rank. At first the brave grenadiers
continued to advance ; but when Winterfeld, at the head
of Schwerin's regiment, sank wounded from his horse,
and the fire grew fiercer, they turned in confusion and
fell back. " When," relates Winterfeld, in a narrative
in his own handwriting, " in a few minutes I came to
myself, and lifted up my head, I saw none of our men
near or about me, but all behind me in full retreat.
The enemy's grenadiers had halted about eighty paces
from me, not venturing to pursue us. I got up as
quickly as my weakness permitted, and overtook our
confused masses : but neither entreaties nor threats
could induce a single man to turn his face towards the
enemy, and still less to halt. In this embarrassment I
was found by the field-marshal, while the blood was
streaming from my neck. As I was on foot, and none
of my people about me, he gave me the led horse which
he had with him."
The Austrian grenadiers did, however, attempt to
pursue the beaten Prussians, and Browne himself was
riding before them to lead them on to victory, when a
cannon-ball shattered his right leg. He fell from his
horse, and, like prince Charles, was carried insensible
from the field. Hence the Austrian army was, during
the greatest part of the battle, without any commander-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 47
in-chief ; so that there was no unity of purpose, each of
the generals of divisions acting independently of the
rest. The veteran marshal Schwerin, seeing with deep
chagrin his own regiment giving way, called to the men
and induced them to halt. Snatching from captain
Rohr the colours which he had taken from an ensign
for the purpose of rallying the troops, he cried, " Come
on, my lads !" and the brave Prussians, accustomed to
obey the orders of their beloved commander, were ready
to follow him. But scarcely had they formed for a new
attack, scarcely had Schwerin advanced a dozen steps
with the colours in his hand, when he sunk to the ground
pierced with five balls, and the colours covered the body
of the dying hero. Most of the officers were soon killed
or wounded. The troops again gave way, and twelve
field-pieces and several pair of colours fell for a short
time into the hands of the Austrians.
Frederick now put himself at the head of the left
wing. His second line, consisting of fourteen battalions,
had formed anew. Sixteen pieces of heavy cannon and
howitzers played from the heights of Lower Potschernitz
upon the enemy. The Prussian centre had advanced un
molested, and threatened the left flank of the Austrian
right wing, which, seeing its own cavalry in flight, turned
quickly about, and, unable to maintain its former posi
tion, fled after the beaten cavalry. The impetuosity of
the attack of the Prussians was irresistible. The troops
were inflamed to fury by the fall of Schwerin, and the
commanders of brigades dismounted and led their heroes
on foot to meet the enemy.
The duke of Bevern had meanwhile passed the defile

48 COURT AND TIMES OF
of Hostawitz, and, after driving back the enemy in a
most sanguinary conflict, he advanced upon Malleschitz
and took a battery beyond that village, which, however,
his troops were obliged to abandon to the Austrians
under Konigseck.
The attack of the Austrian right wing upon the Prus
sian left produced a gap in the enemy's order of battle,
into which the king immediately penetrated with his
right wing. While prince Ferdinand of Brunswick
stormed the principal Austrian redoubt on the height
of Hlopetin, and pursued the fleeing foe along the tops
of the hills, prince Henry proceeded against three
entrenched Austrian divisions, which, possessing such
important advantages of ground, and seconded by a far
superior artillery, sought to maintain their position.
But general Manstein, with Wedel's, Fink's, and Canitz's
grenadiers, and the regiments of Itzenplitz and Man
teuffel, was not to be deterred by any obstacles. These
heroes, with lowered arms, ascended the heights against
the entrenched enemy, and it was not till they could
discern the white of their eyes that they used their
muskets, and then with such effect that the Austrians
immediately fled. Seven redoubts were stormed, after
a sanguinary conflict ; and when the regiment of Itzen
plitz was checked in the pursuit of the enemy by a
broad, wet ditch, and was preparing to cross it by
means of poles, prince Henry, crying, " Follow me, my
lads !" instantly leaped with his horse into the ditch,
when the whole regiment waded through and pursued
its victorious career in wet clothes. The storming of
the redoubt on the height of Hlopetin cost Winterfeld's
regiment a thousand men, and, notwithstanding this

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 49
loss, it would not desist from the attempt. " Com
rades!" cried the grenadiers of prince Maurice and
Manteuffel, " stop ! Let us come on ! You have won
honour enough !" and, presently, they too covered the
blood-stained field, till at length prince Henry's brigade
took the redoubt.
The flank fire of this battery, being turned against
the Austrians, soon dislodged them from that position,
so that Bevern was enabled to retake the redoubt near
Malleschitz, and the resistance of the retreating Austrians
became fainter. Four times Konigseck strove to main
tain himself ; every new height afforded him occasion to
form a new line of battle : but the Prussians steadily
followed him, so that his only chance of protection was
in Prague.
The left wing of the Austrians still occupied its ori
ginal position on the Ziskaberg, without having fired a
shot, or drawn a sword. These now sought to make
head against the advancing Prussians. A cavalry attack,
though not without a severe sacrifice, gave the infantry
time to draw up before Wolschau in several lines. The
Prussian cuirassier regiment of Schbnaich now advanced
from Malleschitz, and was on the point of charging the
enemy, when, by some unaccountable accident, the
Prussian infantry fired upon it. The Austrians, taking
advantage of the confusion occasioned by this circum
stance, threw themselves into Prague with less loss than
they would otherwise have suffered. Their left wing
poured in horrible confusion through the gates, which
were not wide enough to admit the pressing throng, while
the beaten right wing fled to Beneschau. Vineyards
and gardens prevented the pursuit. The cavalry of the
VOL. III. E

50 COURT AND TIMES OF
Prussian right wing could not come up in time, owing
to the difficulty of the ground, while that of the left lay
too drunk to be fit for battle around the casks of the
sutlers in the camp of the Austrians. Zieten assured
the king that he had not above a hundred sober hussars
at his disposal : they had been celebrating, in their way,
their victorious attack, by which the first success had
been gained.
About three in the afternoon the bloody conflict ter
minated. The Prussian army extended from the Ziska-
berg to Branik, on the Mulde, above Prague, enclosing
that city. Its success would have been more important,
if prince Maurice, of Keith's corps, had thrown a bridge
over the river, as the king had directed, or only crossed
it with the cavalry, and fallen upon the rear of the routed
enemy. As it was, all that Keith could do was to place
his troops in the best manner for preventing the escape
of the Austrians from Prague to the left bank of the
Mulde. It was here that Seydlitz, then only colonel of
the regiment of Rochow, had nearly lost his life in the
Mulde, when, to ascertain whether it really was impos
sible to ford the river, he attempted to pass it, and sank
with his horse up to the holsters in a quicksand. He
was saved by his men, who adored him, at the risk of
their own lives, and soon became one of the most distin
guished leaders of the Prussian army.
The loss of the Austrians amounted, according to their
official account, to about 13,000 men, and above 400
officers ; but, according to Frederick's statement, it was
not less, including prisoners, than 24,000. Field-marshal
Browne died of his wounds on the 25th of June. A
great number of pontoons, the baggage and tents of the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 51
army, 71 standards, and 33 pieces of cannon — according
to the king's account, 60 pieces — fell into the hands of
the conquerors.
The numerical loss of the Prussians was little short
of that of the enemy, and far exceeded it in importance.
" The loss of the Prussians," says the king, " amounted
to 18,000 men" — according to the report of the general
staff, 12,169 men, and 340 officers — "besides field-
marshal Schwerin, who alone was worth 10,000. His
death withered the laurels purchased with such valuable
blood. On that day fell the pillars of the Prussian
infantry." Among these were, besides Schwerin, gene
rals von Amstel, Herault, Schbning, and Blankensee;
colonels the duke of Holstein-Beck, Manstein, Rohe,
baron Goltz, Sydow, Winterfeld, and Lbben, most of
whom were mortally wounded, and died soon after the
battle. Generals Fouque, Winterfeld, and Plettenberg
were very severely wounded, but recovered. The offi
cers had certainly done their duty in the most exemplary
manner. " Those about the king," says Kiister, who
was then chaplain of a regiment, " spoke with admiration
of his personal intrepidity. One of them had his arm
shattered, and the other received a ball which lodged in
the breast-bone. Both fell insensible close to the king.
They assured me that, when they came to themselves,
and were told that the king was alive and well, all their
pains were greatly alleviated."
Schwerin, who had learned the art of war in the
school of Marlborough and Eugene, had been in the ser
vice of Holland and Mecklenburg before he entered in
1720 into that of Prussia. Frederick, as we have seen,
took him for his instructor and adviser in the wars of
E 2

52 COURT AND TIMES OF
Silesia. Kind and affable to his soldiers, whom he called
his children, Schwerin was celebrated, long after his
death, in popular songs and books ; and some of the
former are still sung by the Prussian soldiers. It would
almost appear that he had a presentiment of his approach
ing end ; for, ten days before the battle, he thus wrote
to his wife : " God, who has manifestly led us so far, will
continue to assist us. If the enemy does not give way,
I shall vigorously oppose him, that I may conclude my
career happily, and end it with honour, for which I pray
to God fervently every day, and also that he may grant
you health and preserve you." The body of the hero
was found with difficulty among the heaps of slain and
wounded, conveyed to the Margaret convent outside the
city of Prague, and laid before the altar. There Fre
derick gazed with evident emotion, and tears in his eyes,
at his deceased general. " Schwerin," he says, in that
passage of his works which has just been quoted, " still
possessed all the fire of youth, notwithstanding his ad
vanced age. Deeply mortified, he saw the Prussians
obliged to give way, and with extraordinary courage
opposed the enemy."
The remains of the field-marshal were conveyed to his
estates in Pomerania, and deposited in the family burial-
place at Wusseken. Frederick honoured the memory of
the veteran hero by a marble monument in the Wilhelms-
Platz in Berlin, and even his enemies did him justice.
When the emperor Joseph II. was holding a review near
Stjerbohol, in September, 1776, he had a triple salute of
small arms and cannon fired by five grenadier battalions
on the spot where Schwerin fell, and, at each discharge,
himself and all his officers respectfully took off their

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 53
hats. On the same spot, some Prussian officers erected,
in 1824, a pyramid of red marble as a monument to
Schwerin. The colours which the hero was carrying
when he fell are preserved at St. Petersburg as a sacred
relic. How they came into the hands of the Russians
is not known ; perhaps at Kunersdorf.
In the night which succeeded the sanguinary battle of
Prague, upwards of 50,000 fighting men, including the
garrison, with 140 pieces of cannon, were cooped up in
that capital. Through general Krockow, whom Fre
derick sent the same evening to summon the place, he
learned the force of the Austrians in the city, and con
ceived what Napoleon has characterised as " one of the
boldest and most prodigious plans that ever was con
ceived in modern times," namely, to repeat at Prague
what he had executed at Pirna, starve the Austrian
army into surrender, and then, annihilating the last
troops of the empress, dictate peace on the ramparts of
Vienna before his other enemies had completed their
armaments. He therefore enclosed the strongly fortified
city by a line fourteen English miles in length, on both
banks of the Mulde. He himself on the right bank, and
Keith on the left, distributed the troops in the most
judicious manner for preventing the escape of the enemy.
Above and below Prague, two pontoon bridges were
thrown across to preserve the communication, and forty-
eight redoubts sprang up out of the earth around the city.
On the 9th of May, colonel Straus, with a thousand
brave Prussians, stormed the Ziskaberg, which was
scarcely a thousand paces distant from the works ; but
this conquest, won with considerable ease, cost the
Prussian commander his life. Such, however, was the

54 COURT AND TIMES OF
irresolution of the leaders, and the despondency of the
Austrian troops, that, though the 50,000 men shut up
in the city included 4000 horse and 1400 artillerymen,
abundantly supplied with arms and military stores, they
suffered themselves to be closely blockaded for several
weeks, without seizing any occasion to escape a disgrace
ful captivity, and never thought of forcing a passage,
but only once or twice of sneaking away.
At first Frederick was without siege-artillery ; the
communication between the different divisions of the
Prussian troops was incomplete, and it would have been
easy to break through, and to effect a junction with
Daun, who now commanded Serbelloni's corps, and had
advanced to Bbhmisch-Brod. Preparations for this pur
pose were several times made. In the night of the 14th
and 19th of May, the Prussian posts were disturbed;
but the enemy, finding them upon their guard, on the least
motion in the Prussian camp, relinquished all thoughts
of a serious attack, and returned to the city, concluding
that their plan had been betrayed.
On the 17th, the Prussian siege-artillery arrived, and
preparations were instantly made to bombard the city.
Duke Charles resolved to make an attempt to get away
in the night between the 23d and 24th. But this time
his intention was really betrayed to the Prussians by a
deserter; and when the Austrians, 12,000 strong, sallied
from Prague, about ten o'clock, against the left wing of
Kleist's corps, the besiegers were quite ready to receive
them. The darkness of the night, in which their attacks
on the Prussian redoubts were made without concert,
still more their own blunders and neglect, since, for
instance, the soldiers who had to climb walls in the gar-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 55
dens were not provided with ladders, the confusion in
which the grenadiers fired upon their own troops, toge
ther with the bravery and presence of mind of the
Prussians, frustrated this attempt also ; so that, after
a nocturnal conflict of four hours, the besieged were
obliged to return to the city with the loss of a thousand
killed and as many wounded.
On the 29 th of May, the Prussians had completed their
preparations for bombarding just at the moment when a
tremendous thunderstorm brought frightful hardships
upon both besiegers and besieged. A deluge of rain
which accompanied the storm swelled the Mulde to such
a degree, that it overflowed its banks to the distance of
a hundred paces, inundated the camp of the Prussians,
and carried away their baggage and the two pontoon
bridges. The flood did not less damage to the people
of Prague, pouring into their magazines and cellars, and
spoiling their provisions. Now, when the pontoons,
beams, and planks carried down by the current pro
claimed that the communication between the divisions
of the Prussian army on both banks of the river was
totally destroyed, would have been the moment when an
attempt of the besieged to force their way out might, if
ever, have succeeded. But the Austrians were too
busily occupied in saving the provisions threatened by
the water to think of such an attempt at that time, and
the bombardment meanwhile opened by Frederick threw
a fresh obstacle in their way.
Scarcely had the thunder ceased when, about mid
night, a rocket gave the Prussians the signal to open
their fire. A terrific night for Prague ensued. The
inhabitants, alarmed by the flood, were lamenting the

56 COURT AND TIMES OF
loss of their provisions, when the peals of the artillery,
and the shower of red-hot balls, threatened them with
new calamities. From the Ziskaberg and two other
points, three hundred bombs and eight hundred red-hot
balls were thrown into the city, and produced con
flagrations in different places. The shrieks and lamenta
tions of the terrified inhabitants were heard in the
Prussian camp. Defenceless men, women, and children
fled from their burning homes, and were crushed in the
streets by the falling bombs, or wandered about without
shelter, exposed to the horrors of war. Numbers
wished to leave the city, where death threatened them
in so many different forms — disease, famine, fire, inun
dation, bombardment. The churches were filled with
the dying; the starving people complained in the
streets ; flames were ascending in all quarters to heavdn;
and the fugitives were not safe any where from the
balls, which fell now in one place, and now in another.
In the next and the following night, the horrors of
these scenes were infinitely aggravated. By the violence
of the flames, which could not be quenched in some
parts of the city, whole streets were converted into
ruins. In the space of three weeks more than 180,000
bombs and red-hot balls were thrown into the city.
The new town and the Jew's town were totally de
stroyed ; nine hundred houses had already been reduced
to ashes. The people of Prague bestowed particular
care on the church belonging to the palace, which was
set on fire upwards of thirty times during the siege,
and saved as often through the vigilance of one of the
canons. The silver coffin of St. Nepomuck, the patron
saint of Bohemia, and the other valuables of the church,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 57
were removed to a place of safety. The citizens, under
these severe trials, implored the general, but to no pur
pose, to put an end to their miseries by a speedy
capitulation ; and Frederick refused permission for their
departure. To no purpose did the Austrians drive out
of the city 12,000 famished houseless wretches; the
power of inhuman war compelled Frederick, the philan
thropist, to send back these children of despair, in order
that increasing famine might force his enemies to a
more speedy surrender.
It was not till the morning of the 2d of June that
the besieged ventured to make a sally from two different
sides. That from the Wissehrad totally failed, as the
Prussian batteries could reach the flank of the Austrians
and render it impossible for them to form their troops :
but on the little side some advantages were gained, and
the assailants even stormed part of a redoubt, in which
they took three pieces of cannon. It was a gratification
to the dying field-marshal to learn that it was his son,
colonel Browne, who, by his valour and judicious mea
sures, won the only trophies on this occasion, though
he, too, was compelled to return to Prague.
Prince Charles, adhering to the instructions which he
had received from Vienna, ventured upon no further at
tempts against the Prussians, " The honour of the whole
nation," wrote Maria Theresa, " and of the imperial
arms, depends on the resolute defence of Prague ; nay,
the salvation of the whole Roman empire is at stake.
Field-marshal Daun will come to your relief; his army
is receiving daily reinforcements. The French, too, are
in full march ; and so, by the help of God, the state of
the sufferers will soon assume a different aspect."

58 COURT AND TIMES OF
Meanwhile, famine and misery increased from day to
day in the populous city. The ready money of the
wealthiest inhabitants was already exhausted, and tin
coins were made for the purposes of ordinary life.
Though the fire of the besiegers had not destroyed the
principal magazine of the Austrians, there was a dearth
of the most indispensable necessaries ; and even horse
flesh began to be scarce, when famine destroyed the
animals by hundreds. The generals in Prague, indeed,
felt none of the hardships of war. They lived in safety
in a massive building, the windows of which were se
cured by planks and bulwarks, in the Clementinum, the
Jesuits' College ; and their well-supplied tables, their
social games and amusements, and even the ceremonies
of the mass, with which they are reported to have dis
pelled their mortal ennui, must have formed a strong
contrast with the famine in the streets, the exhausted
state of the starving garrison, and the prayers of the
wretched inhabitants. One might be disposed to regard
such accounts as the inventions of national animosity,
but Archenholz, who furnishes these particulars, appears
to be but too well informed on the subject ; for he tells
us that the hereditary prince of Modena was an honour
able exception to the other generals, by his beneficence
and goodness of heart towards the distressed and
wounded, and that he deserved by his active piety the
blessings and attachment of all the necessitous — a piety
widely differing from that of Charles of Lorraine, of whom
he only says, that he attended mass every day, and that
he neglected to perform none of the external duties of
religion. It has even been asserted that, at the very
commencement of the blockade, the preservation of the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 59
city, exposed, from the negligence of the garrison, en
gaged in exercises of penance, to a surprise by the
Prussians, was owing solely to the vigilance of a monk.
This man is said to have watched from an observa
tory the movement of a Prussian column towards the
north side of the city, and to have given such warning
to the Austrians as induced them to take precautions
against an attack in that quarter. This anecdote, if
authentic, bespeaks at any rate the unparalleled care
lessness of the disheartened Austrian army, as well as
the daring spirit of the Prussians, who deemed it pos
sible, even in broad day, to surprise a city defended by
50,000 men.
Meanwhile, colonel Mayr, who, in the preceding win
ter, had raised a partisan corps in Lusatia, set out with
his own troops, Kalben's corps, and 200 Szekely hussars,
in the whole about 1,500 men, on a daring expedition,
which struck no little terror into the princes of South
Germany. The news of the battle of Prague, which
nearly dissolved the army of execution, followed by the
appearance of Prussian troops, who gave themselves
out for the advanced guard of a corps of 20,000
men, scattered the diplomatists composing the diet of
Ratisbon in all directions. The elector of Bavaria,
who had not only urged the expediency of extreme
measures against Frederick, but promised to send a
separate auxiliary corps to the Austrians, protested
against the march of Prussian troops into his dominions.
Regardless of his complaints, Mayr destroyed the
enemy's magazines in the circle of Pilsen and the Upper
Palatinate, levied military contributions wherever he
came, even in Niirnberg and Bamberg, broke down

60 COURT AND TIMES OF
bridges, and did all the mischief he could to the enemies
of Prussia. The elector of Bavaria and several other
princes sent envoys to Frederick ; the whole empire
inclined to his side ; and the French,' staggered by the
victory of Prague, might probably have changed their
line of politics, had not the king been destined so soon
to experience the fickleness of Fortune.
The detention of the Prussian army before Prague
was as mortifying to the king as to the inhabitants of
that unfortunate city. He lost through it, as in the
preceding year at Pirna, valuable time that was not to
be retrieved. Threatening intelligence reached him from
Westphalia and Prussia: on the one side, 100,000
French were advancing ; on the other, the like number
of Russians; while marshal Daun, with an army in
creased to 54,000 men, was at Bbhmisch-Brod, and
might, with that force, easily raise the blockade of
Prague. So early as the 9th of May, Frederick had
sent Zieten, with 43 squadrons, to observe the Austrian
army, and afterwards detached the duke of Bevern for
the same purpose, with a corps which, including Zieten's
cavalry, amounted to about 17,000 men. Before this
so inferior force, Daun retreated beyond Kollin, and
even to Kuttenberg, leaving only 7000 under Nadasdy
at the former place. This corps was of course inade
quate to the protection of the magazine at Kollin,
which, after an unsuccessful action, it was obliged to
abandon to the Prussians. Daun, in obedience to his
instructions, continued to retreat, and Bevern, reinforced
to 24,000 men, drove the Austrian advanced guard from
all its positions as far as Kuttenberg.
Frederick, filled with overweening confidence by his

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 61
knowledge of the Austrian plan of operations, which
had been betrayed to him, and most unaccountably
underrating the strength of Daun's corps, which he
regarded as numerically inferior to that of Bevern, re
commended the offensive to the latter. But, when
informed of the real state of things, he was aware that
Daun might, by two days' march, place him between
two fires and accomplish his destruction. To prevent
such a catastrophe, he resolved to take all the troops
that could possibly be spared from before Prague, to
join Bevern, and to give battle to Daun, a victory over
whom must necessarily lead to the surrender of the
city. Accordingly, transferring the command of the
blockading army to marshal Keith, he set out with
10,000 picked troops to join the corps of the duke of
Bevern, and to execute in person those plans for which
the latter had not felt himself strong enough.
On the 13th of June, Daun advanced upon Kutten
berg, Bevern fell back to Kollin, and was joined, on the
following evening, at Kaurzim, by the king. His army,
reinforced by prince Maurice with six battalions and
ten squadrons, now amounted to 34,000 men. On the
16th, the imperial general, with an army of 54,000,
had encamped in a very strong position at Krich-
enau, protected by ponds and marshy meadows, which
rendered him unassailable. Here Frederick discovered
him at noon on the 1 7th ; and, resolving to risk an
attack on his left flank, encamped in the evening between
Kaurzim and Wrptschau.
On the right of the road, coming from the little town
of Kollin, on the left bank of the Elbe, extends a plain
farther than the eye can reach. On the left is a gentle

62 COURT AND TIMES OF
eminence, which, near the village of Chotzemitz, forms a
kind of knoll. From the right side of this eminence,
when you face it, runs a long deep ravine with pre
cipitous sides, opening, at a considerable distance, into
a valley between hills. On the left, also, this eminence
subsides into a narrow valley enclosed by steep hills,
and in the rear only it gradually slopes to level ground.
In the evening of the 17th, Daun changed his position,
so that his right wing occupied the above-mentioned
knoll, and the rest of his army was covered by the ravine
running to the left. Hence, on the morning of the 18th,
nothing was to be seen of him, so that it was uncertain
what might be his intention. To the king a battle was
desirable ; he resolved, therefore, to go to Kollin, where
he knew that he should find enemies. General Treskow
started at five in the morning, with five battalions and
twenty squadrons, to open the march and to cover it
against the Croats at Planian. He took the village.
Zieten followed with four battalions and thirty-five
squadrons, and then the rest of the army ; while Man-
teuffel's grenadier battalion was left behind at Kaurzim
with the baggage.
From the heights beyond Planian, the king perceived
Daun's army most advantageously drawn up in order
of battle on the heights behind Chotzemitz. The bat
teries of his numerous artillery were so placed as to sweep
the foot of the heights. Frederick, bent upon a decisive
engagement, continued his march along the Emperor's
Road to the inn called the Golden Sun, where the army
halted at ten in the morning, on account of the intense
heat. The cavalry dismounted. The king and all the
generals entered the house, and went up stairs to recon-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 63
noitre the enemy's position from the windows of the
room on the left. In an hour Frederick opened the
door of the opposite room. " I have made the disposi
tions for battle," said he, to the assembled aides-de
camp. " I have ordered General Hiilsen, with seven
grenadier battalions, to march forward on the Emperor's
Road ; the whole army, bearing to the left, is to follow
him, to ascend the heights and to endeavour to turn the
right wing of the enemy, in order to support Hiilsen
more effectively. When he has commenced the attack,
the cavalry of the left wing is to take a position at
a suitable distance in his rear, and not to attack the
enemy till he has begun to give way. As the right
wing is to refuse, most of its cavalry also is to go to the
left wing."
Daun was on the height behind Brzistwy, and guessed
the king's intention. He, therefore, reinforced his right
wing, so as to form a strong line on a spot where
his antagonist expected to find only a weak flank ;
and he gave orders that the troops should not leave the
heights, even if the attack of the Prussians should be
repulsed. It was half past one when Hiilsen attacked Krzeczhorz.
The king halted the main body of the army to await
the result of the attack of the advanced guard, and paid
no attention to the remark of prince Maurice that the
army ought to continue its march in order to reach the
destined point of support of the left wing. Hiilsen met
with a vigorous resistance, and the king sent three
grenadier battalions to strengthen him ; but, before
their arrival, he had taken the village and seven pieces
of cannon. On pushing forward, he found Daun's re-

64 COURT AND TIMES OF
serve advantageously posted, and waited for the king
before he ventured upon a further attack. Frederick
was still halting, till he heard that Zieten had driven
back and was pursuing Nadasdy. He then gave orders
to advance. Prince Maurice again remonstrated. He
observed that the movement could not succeed; that
the left wing was still too far from the intended point
of support ; that in this manner it would be impossible
to gain the enemy's right flank, but that they would
come direct upon his strong front. The king repeated
his order, and, as Maurice still remonstrated, Frederick
drew his sword, and, with threatening look, angrily
asked the prince whether he would obey or not. Ac
cordingly, the infantry marched up opposite to the
height of Chotzemitz, nearly parallel to the front of the
Imperialists, about 1500 paces from Hiilsen. The king
immediately ordered the left wing to advance. General
Manstein was again instructed not to engage with his
brigade and the sixteen squadrons on the right wing;
and General Pennavaire was to remain with twenty
squadrons at the foot of the height of Brzistwy, till the
infantry should have gained an advantage.
In order to reach Hiilsen, prince Maurice was obliged,
in advancing, to bear to the left, which was difficult
under a heavy fire of artillery. Two of Hiilsen's grena
dier battalions had taken the Oak Wood, and eight
others had gained ground upon a great battery situated
on the right, which was likewise taken before Maurice
came up. The first line of the enemy was giving way ;
and the battle might possibly have been won, had Zieten
and Pennavaire supported Hiilsen's efforts. The favour
able moment was lost; the Prussian grenadiers were

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 65
dislodged from the Oak Wood ; and Zieten, attacked
by Nadasdy, who had been reinforced, was driven back
to Kutlirz. By some, the inactivity of Zieten's troops
at this critical moment is ascribed to an accident that
befel their commander. These relate that, while the
general was encouraging his men to renew the attack,
a case-shot from the Austrian batteries grazed his head,
and carried away his cap. Insensible from the contusion,
he was falling from his horse, when he was caught by
a cornet, placed upon another horse, and afterwards in
the carriage of prince Maurice, where he recovered his
senses and remained till the battle was over.
Meanwhile, just as Hiilsen and prince Maurice were
making their attack, general Manstein, most unseason
ably and contrary to orders, attacked the village of
Chotzemitz, thus depriving the left wing, at the decisive
moment, of the requisite support, besides crippling the
other battalions of the right wing. It was now past
three o'clock. Hiilsen and prince Maurice maintained
most gallantly the height which they had ascended,
when two lines of Austrian cavalry appeared upon their
left flank; these retired, when Pennavaire at length
advanced by command of the king; but his ten
squadrons of cuirassiers were in their turn obliged
by the fire from the Oak Wood to fall back behind
Krzeczhorz. Seydlitz, in the sequel one of the most distinguished
generals of cavalry in the Prussian army, appeared here
for the first time at the head of a brigade. By the
king's order, he hastened to the support of this point
with the regiments of Rochow's cuirassiers and Nor-
mann's dragoons, overthrew an Austrian infantry regi-
VOL. III. F

66 COURT AND TIMES OF
ment at the first charge, dispersed two of cavalry, and
broke into an infantry regiment of the second line and
took its colours : but the fire from the Oak Wood, from
which the Austrian cavalry advanced upon his left flank,
obliged him also to fall back with his exhausted troops
behind Krzeczhorz.
Pennavaire brought up his cuirassiers a second time,
to support Hiilsen's left flank by a bold attack ; but,
though the king himself was at their head, they were so
disheartened that they fled at the first shots fired from
the fatal Oak Wood, without halting till they were
beyond the Emperor's Road.
It was now four o'clock. The discomfiture of the
Prussian cavalry had left Hiilsen and prince Maurice to
their own unaided efforts on the blood-stained height
between the Oak Wood and Chotzemitz. For two
hours the brave Prussians had maintained their ground,
in spite of the tremendous fire of the enemy. Their
ammunition was now expended ; and no fresh troops
were at hand to relieve them or to keep up the line with
the main body of the army, so that, completely isolated,
they were exposed every moment to flank attacks.
But if Hiilsen was not supported by the rest of the
Prussian army, this was owing to the alteration made
by the king in his dispositions and the untimely ardour
of general Manstein. Instead of making the army pro
ceed further to the left upon the Emperor's Road,
Frederick had, after Hiilsen's first successes, led his
whole force against the Austrian front ; and while his
brave fellows were there attempting in vain to climb
the steep acclivities, he was unable to support Hiilsen
at the right time. " These attacks," says the Austrian

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 67
veteran Cogniazo, " were of no advantage to the enemy,
though frequently repeated with all imaginable spirit
and intrepidity. I mean not to say that they were
baffled chiefly by the far greater bravery of our troops ;
for it was not very difficult for us to repulse attacks
which, under such extraordinary and almost insuperable
difficulties of the ground, could not be made but in
broken divisions, and without order or combination.
Neither the Prussians nor the Austrians can boast that
they ever saw the white of each other's eyes. We saw,
in fact, nothing but the tin caps shimmering above the
high corn ; and as often as these brave unfortunate fel
lows had climbed a third or mid-way up the steep hill
with incredible toil, they were received and hurled back
again by a regular fire from the infantry, and a tremen
dous shower of case-shot from the batteries crossing in
all directions."
Troops might, it is true, have been drawn from the
Prussian right wing for the support of Hiilsen, had not
these also involved themselves in a most destructive
conflict. We have seen that, at the time when Hiilsen
and prince Maurice were making their attack on the
great Austrian battery, Manstein had taken three
battalions from the centre to attack the village of
Chotzemitz. Captain Varenne, one of the king's aides-
de-camp, had observed in riding past the general :
" Those Croats ought to be driven out of Chotzemitz."
This accidental expression the brave and ambitious
Manstein took for an order from the king; and of
course not only were more battalions involved in the
battle, but the advance of the whole right wing was
rendered indispensable : so that these troops were fight-
F 2

68 COURT AND TIMES OF
ing on most unfavourable ground, without the least
hope of success, at the critical moment when they were
needed in another place. They stormed Chotzemitz,
indeed, with great loss, and then Manstein advanced
against inaccessible heights, where in the space of an
hour he lost 1800 out of 3000 men.
Meanwhile prince Maurice, who strove in vain to
restore the communication in the Prussian line of bat
tle, perceived five squadrons of cuirassiers not far from
his weakened and exhausted troops. These were
sent, after the failure of Seydlitz and Pennavaire, to
support the infantry and to make head against the
Austrians till succours should arrive. But no sooner
had Maurice led them through the intervals of his infan
try towards the Austrian grenadiers, than they were
saluted with a most furious fire of case-shot, and
fled, throwing into confusion the regiments of prince
¦Henry and Bevern, and hurrying them along in their
precipitate flight. Taking advantage of this disorder,
the Saxon lieutenant-colonel Benkendorf broke in with
two squadrons among the Prussian infantry : the other
Saxon regiments followed, and attacked in front and
rear the fourteen battalions of the Prussian left wing.
With a fury increased by the disgrace of Pirna, they
cut down the Prussians, disheartened, exhausted, and
fleeing in confusion. " This is for Striegau !" they
shouted, plying their sabres without mercy — " this for
Pirna !"
Frederick, in a state of desperation, had led his cavalry
six times against Daun's positions ; but as often had it
been repulsed. He strove to rally the fugitives. His
eyes flashing with indignation, and pointing to the bat-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 69
teries, he exclaimed : " Blackguards, do you expect to
live for ever !" His body guard and prince Henry's
regiment still continued the conflict after the others had
fled. Whenever they were broken, the squares again
closed, and the enemy's horse who had penetrated into
them paid for their temerity with their lives. But at
length the incessant fire levelled whole ranks, so that
out of thousands only a few hundred survived. Thus
perished the flower of his army, with which he had
till then achieved exploits all but miraculous.
Frederick collected on the Emperor's Road a small
body of the fugitives. With music playing, he was
advancing at the head of forty men towards a battery,
in hopes that his example would excite to imitation ;
but those few forsook him when the enemy's balls began
to whiz about their ears. His aides-de-camp alone re
mained near him. Still he rode on, till major Grant, who
had just returned from London as bearer of the news of
the victory of Prague, or, according to other accounts,
Mitchell, the English ambassador, asked : " Is your
majesty going to storm the battery by yourself?" The
king halted, reconnoitered the enemy's position once
more with the telescope, and then coolly rode off to the
left wing to give the duke of Bevern orders for the
retreat. Convinced that the battle was irretrievably lost, the
king sent for the duke of Bevern and prince Maurice,
and directed them to lead the retreating army through
the pass of Planian to Nimburg, and there to cross the
Elbe. He himself, accompanied by his garde du corps,
rode forward for that place. But, before the troops
could be withdrawn from the field of battle, another

70 COURT AND TIMES OF
sanguinary conflict took place. Daun had ordered his
left wing to proceed to Brzesan ; and the Prussians of
the right wing under Bevern, listening only to the sug
gestions of their valour, fell upon the enemy, in spite
of the most tremendous cannonade. The regiment of
the guard alone lost 24 officers and 475 men, and the
regiments of Maurice and Kalkstein, 2,100. The heroic
regiment of Meinecke dragoons charged eight times, and
though it was almost entirely destroyed, it saved the
infantry, which was enabled to quit the field while it
kept the Austrian cavalry in check. About seven
o'clock this wing left the field, without being pursued,
but in great confusion. Seydlitz and Pennavaire had
retired along the Austrian front to Planian, and the left
wing retreated to the same place. Zieten alone, having
repulsed three attacks by Nadasdy, kept his ground on
the field of battle till night, when he too retired un
molested. The loss of the Prussians on this disastrous day
exceeded 13,000 men, including 326 excellent officers,
and the flower of their infantry, besides 45 pieces of
cannon and 22 pair of colours ; but their greatest loss
was that of confidence in their own strength and invin
cibility. The conqueror lost only 8,110 men.
Frederick himself appeared overwhelmed with despon
dency. When he beheld the remnant of his fine regiment
of guards, which was reduced to 250 men, the tears
came into his eyes. " My lads," said he, with forced
cheerfulness, " you have had a sad day of it ; but only
have patience ; I will make amenSs for all." In stop
ping to water the weary horses in the way to Nimburg,
the king first felt the want of refreshment. An old

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 71
horseman, with wounds yet bleeding, took up some
water with his hat, and handing it to the king, said :
" Drink, your majesty. After all, a battle is but a
battle. But 'tis well you are alive. God Almighty is
alive too, and he can give us the victory another day."
Frederick looked kindly at the man and drank out of
the hat ; he then pursued his way to Nimburg. On
another occasion, a grenadier comforted the king in this
manner : " What signifies it if the empress has for
once gained a victory ! The devil will not fetch us the
sooner for that."
On reaching Nimburg, he was seen seeking a resting-
place where he might reflect undisturbed on his situa
tion. Seated on the side of a well, lost in thought, he
was found drawing figures with his stick in the sand.
Like Marius of old on the ruins of Carthage, Frederick
here mused over the fortunes of his country. All the
hopes of a speedy peace, generated by his previous suc
cesses, were destroyed at one blow. But his counte
nance soon displayed the expression of a tranquillity of
mind, which failed not to have a beneficial influence on
those about him ; and when he rose with cheerful look
and issued his orders, any one would have taken him
for the victor instead of the vanquished. " I conclude,"
Says Walpole, in one of his letters at this time, " the
next we hear of him will be a great victory ; if he sets
at night in a defeat, he always rises next morning in a
triumph." While Frederick was thus engaged in the field, his
enemies were busy in the cabinet planning the division
of his dominions among them and other territ6rial
changes. On the 1st of May, a secret treaty between

72 COURT AND TIMES OF
Austria and France was concluded and signed, the prin
cipal stipulations of which were these.
France shall furnish 105,000 men and 10,000 Bava
rian and Wirtemberg troops as an auxiliary force to the
empress Maria Theresa.
It shall pay to Austria a yearly subsidy of twelve
million livres.
It guarantees to Austria the restitution of Silesia,
the county of Glatz, the principality of Crossen, and
the addition of such districts as are suitably situated for
the empress.
The duchy of Magdeburg, the principality of Hal-
berstadt, and the circle of the Saal, were promised to
the king of Poland, as elector of Saxony, by way of
indemnity for the losses sustained from the invasion of
the king of Prussia ; and that king was moreover to
be obliged to cede Hither Pomerania and his Westpha
lian provinces.
Austria, on her part, promised, as soon as she should
be in possession of Silesia and the other provinces
assigned to her, to cede to France in the Netherlands
the principalities of Chimay and Beaumont, the towns
of Ostend, Nieuport, Ypres, Fumes, Mons, Fort Knoque,
and a district of a league round it.
In like manner, the empress ceded to the Infant
Don Philip, duke of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla,
all the rest of the so-called Austrian Netherlands,
with the exception of the duchy of Luxemburg, where
the fortress was to be demolished at the expense of
France. Don Philip, on the other hand, ceded the above-men
tioned duchies to the court of Vienna.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 73
Such were the gains which, in the confidence of their
strength, Frederick's powerful foes reckoned upon mak
ing by their league to crush him. We shall see how
soon the indomitable spirit, skill, and perseverance of
the man whom they had in imagination already trampled
in the dust, baffled their united efforts, and compelled
them to abate their ambitious pretensions.

74 COURT AND TIMES OF

CHAPTER XXVIII.
Campaign of 1757 continued — Dejection of the Prussian Army after its
defeat at Kollin — Tbe King proceeds to Prague and raises the Blockade
— Despatch of Sir Andrew Mitchell, relative to the disaster at Kollin —
Letter from the King to Lord Marischal on the same subject — Exulta
tion at Vienna — Death of General Manstein — The Austrian General,
Loudon — Death of the Queen-mother — Grief of Frederick — Extracts
from Letters of his to d'Argens — Letters from the Margravine of Bay
reuth to Voltaire — Duplicity and Malignity of the latter — Disastrous
Retreat of the Prince of Prussia from Bohemia through Lusatia —
Destruction of Zittau — Displeasure of Frederick with his Brother —
Narrative of the latter — He retires from the Army — His Death and
Character. Extreme was the dismay of the whole Prussian army
after the defeat at Kollin : the spell of its invincibility
was broken. The troops, especially the infantry, who
had lost 12,000 out of 18,000 men, marched in sullen
silence across the Elbe to Lissa, whence they were to
continue their retreat to Prague. Their baggage was
saved by colonel Manteuffel, through the negligence of
Daun, who, though he had proved himself an able
general during the battle, knew not how to follow up
his victory. Instead of pursuing active measures for
the total destruction of his beaten adversary, he con
tented himself with returning to his old camp at
Krichenau, and singing Te Deum for his glorious vic
tory. Many of the Prussians, nevertheless, abandoned
their colours, and quitted an army which they deemed
devoted to ruin. In the night after the battle, nine
hundred deserters presented themselves at the Austrian

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 75
advanced posts, and the army before Prague lost, in like
manner, one thousand men in a single night.
Frederick, leaving the relics of his garde du corps in
Alt-Bunzlau, arrived before Prague on the 19th of June,
and was still so low-spirited that he was obliged to
leave the necessary preparations for retreat to his bro
ther, prince Henry. In the blockading corps the news
of the disaster had produced the utmost consternation.
" I was witness," says Retzow, " of the extraordinary
dismay of all the generals assembled there. They, who
were wont to be so proud of their own valour and the
discipline of their troops, could scarcely disguise their
feelings. A silence of some minutes was the sure sign
of extreme despondency : the prince of Prussia alone,
otherwise so mild in disposition, broke out into loud
lamentations over the conduct of his royal brother."
The prince had been adverse to the war from the first.
He hated in Winterfeld one of its prime movers, and
would have been glad if Frederick had not relinquished
his alliance with France. So far back as in October, 1 756,
he wrote to the marquis de Valori, the French ambas
sador in Berlin, that " his children would probably be
the victims of these injudicious measures : " and now he
expressed his apprehensions loudly and unreservedly.
Officious persons reported his words to the king, who
withdrew his confidence entirely from his brother.
Frederick at first attributed his disaster to prince
Maurice, to general Manstein, and to disobedience to
his orders. On the Sunday after the battle, in the
camp at Leitmeritz, Kiister, chaplain to the staff, was
directed not only to employ in his sermon all the rational
arguments of religion to raise the depressed courage of

76 COURT AND TIMES OF
the troops, but also to reprove most unsparingly both
officers and privates who had behaved ill on the day of
battle for neglect of their duty. At the same time, colonel
Balbi intimated to the chaplain that an accurate re
port would be made to the king of the manner in which
this order was fulfilled. The task was none of the
easiest, as this sermon was to be delivered in the tent
of prince Maurice, who immediately afterwards vindi
cated himself in such a manly and straightforward
manner, that in less than an hour the guard of honour,
which had been withdrawn from him, was restored.
" The king," writes Sir Andrew Mitchell, in his de
spatch to his court, " ascribes the loss of the battle to the
ardour of his troops, who, contrary to his orders, attacked
the enemy in front : for, according to his directions,
the Prussian left wing alone should have attacked the
right of the Austrians in flank. This was done with
great success : the Prussians took some batteries, ad
vanced two hundred paces beyond them, gained the
enemy's flank, and threw them into great confusion.
The king's intention was, in case of emergency, to draw
troops from his right wing to his left ; and if the former
had remained in the position assigned to it, it would
have kept the Austrian left wing in check, so that it
could not have acted. But the good effect of these
dispositions was totally frustrated by the ardour of his
troops in the centre. When these perceived the success
of the left wing, they were desirous to participate in
the victory which they considered as certain, and at
tacked a village, situated a little to the left of the
Austrian centre. They took it ; and thus the whole
Prussian right wing was drawn into the fight, and ex-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 77
posed to the fire of the batteries  Unaccustomed to
reverses, the king probably relied too much on his good
fortune. Eight victories that he had won — so he himself
admitted — had given him a notion that the Austrians
might be dislodged from the most advantageous posi
tions ; and, in fact, any one must be more than man if,
after such a series of victories, he could be wholly free
from presumption."
On cool consideration, the king discovered and ac
knowledged that he was himself in fault. Three days
after the battle, he thus writes to Lord Marischal in
Neufchatel : " The imperial grenadiers are admirable
troops. One hundred companies defended a height
which my best infantry could not take. Ferdinand,
who led it, made seven attacks, but in vain. The first
time, he gained possession of a battery, but could not
keep it. The enemy had the advantage of a numerous
and well-served artillery, with which the Prussian alone
is capable of competing, I had too few infantry. All
my cavalry were present, and stood by inactive, except
ing a single attack, which I made with the horse and
some pieces of cannon. Ferdinand advanced without
firing ; so much the less did the enemy spare their fire.
They had two heights, two redoubts, and an astonishing
artillery. Some of my regiments were entirely de
stroyed. Henry performed prodigies. I trembled for
my worthy brothers. They are too bold. In truth, I
must have more infantry. Success, my dear lord, fre
quently inspires us with a dangerous confidence. Twenty-
three battalions were not sufficient to drive 60,000 men
from an advantageous position. I shall know better
another time. Fortune on tbat day turned her back

78 COURT AND TIMES OF
upon me. It was no more than I might have expected :
she is a female, and I am not galant. She declared
herself for the ladies who are at war with me. What
say you to the league against the margrave of Branden
burg? How the great Frederick William would be
astonished, if he could see his great grandson battling
it with the Russians, the Austrians, almost all the Ger
mans, and a hundred thousand French to boot ! I know
not whether it will be a disgrace to me to be conquered ;
but this I know, that there will be no honour in having
conquered me."
The same sentiment is expressed by Voltaire when
alluding to the contest in which the Prussian monarch
was engaged. " Louis XIV. has been admired," he says,
" for having resisted the united force of Germany,
England, Italy, and Holland; but we have seen in our
days an event incomparably more extraordinary than
that — a margrave of Brandenburg alone, and single-
handed, making a successful resistance against Austria,
France, Russia, Sweden, and the greater part of Ger
many. This is a prodigy, which can be attributed only
to the discipline of the troops and the superiority of
the general who commands them. Chance may gain a
single battle : but when a weak power resists so many
strong ones for the space of seven years, and in an open
country, and is able to repair the greatest reverses, this
cannot be the work of good-fortune. It is, indeed, in
this point that the war of which we are about to
treat differed from all that had hitherto desolated the
world." Great was the exultation in Vienna for the victory of
Kollin. Entertainments, illuminations, medals, promo^

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 79
tions, and increase of pay, expressed the joy of the
court and the people at the discomfiture of their foe,
to whom they hoped this stroke would prove fatal. In
honour of the victory, the empress founded the order of
Maria Theresa, as a reward for valour ; and marshal
Daun was directed to make such promotions in the
army as he thought fit.
On the 20th of June the blockade of Prague was
raised. The unfortunate inhabitants, after a great part
of their city had been destroyed, and the calamities of
war had been aggravated to the utmost, beheld the
enemy march away from their entrenchments in the
best order, without any particular loss, excepting that
of the wounded and deserters. That portion of the
army under the king himself proceeded without mo
lestation to join the corps of the duke of Bevern near
Lissa. Marshal Keith, who did not quit his camp before
Prague till the afternoon of the same day, was pur
sued by duke Charles, and in a warm action with him
had 400 men killed and wounded. When the king was
quitting the corps of the duke of Bevern, he left gene
ral Winterfeld as superior in command to the duke.
The general asked for a reinforcement. " In my opi
nion," rejoined the king, " the army is strong enough :
do not you command them." At his departure, he rode
away to a little distance, then suddenly turned back,
leaped from his horse, and said to Winterfeld : "I had
almost forgotten to leave you your instructions. I have
nothing more to say than — Take care of yourself for
my sake."
The next concern of Frederick was to recruit the
beaten army left at Nimburg under the command of

80 COURT AND TIMES OF
prince Maurice. The king thereupon led one part of his
force to Leitmeritz ; the other, which encamped on the
27th at Jung-Bunzlau, on the right bank of the Iser,
was expressly ordered not to fall back any further upon
Zittau. The command of this corps was transferred on
the 29th to the prince of Prussia. In this position the
Prussian army remained three whole weeks waiting to
see what steps the enemy would take.
Daun and duke Charles meanwhile continued inactive
in their respective positions, and it was not till eight
days after the victory which they neglected to follow
up, that they united their forces in the vicinity of
Prague. Their light troops, under Nadasdy and Loudon,
then ventured on some petty enterprises — the former
ehiefly aiming at intercepting the communication be
tween the two Prussian camps, about forty miles dis
tant from each other; the latter scouring the high
roads. While thus engaged, Loudon fell in with general
Manstein, whose left arm had been shattered in the
battle by a musket-ball, and thirty other wounded offi
cers, proceeding by the king's command from Leitme
ritz to Dresden. They had arrived on the 27th of June,
under an escort of 200 Saxons, at Welmina, when they
were met by Loudon and his Pandours. They might
perhaps have effected their retreat to Leitmeritz ; but
Manstein was weary of a life which, after the fault
that he had committed, held out no very agreeable
prospect. Determined to defend himself to the last
extremity, he ordered the convoy to draw up on the
next height. The Pandours appeared, and the escort,
unwilling to risk their lives for a few Prussians, ran
away. Manstein prepared to defend himself; and, as

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 81
he would not hear of surrender, he was cut down by
the Pandours.
Laudon, or Loudon, whose name will hereafter appear
among the most conspicuous of the Austrian generals,
was of Scottish extraction, but born in Livonia. He en
tered the Russian army, and had seen a good deal of
service, when he was dismissed with the rank of captain.
During the first Silesian war he obtained a commission
in Trenk's Pandours. He fought in Bavaria and on the
Rhine, at Hohenfriedberg and Sorr, but, having in
curred the enmity of his commander, was obliged to
quit the Austrian service, on which he denounced Trenk,
and caused him to be confined in a fortress, where he
died. After living many years in poverty and obscu
rity, Loudon obtained a majority in a Croatian regi
ment, married, and embraced the Catholic religion.
He next became lieutenant-colonel of the light troops
sent to the assistance of the army of the empire. Ar
riving in Browne's camp the day after the battle of
Lowositz, he had the fortune, on the 8th of October,
with 800 Croats, to surprise the Prussian major Strozzy,
with a detachment of green hussars, who lost a number
of men killed and horses taken. This was the first suc
cessful attempt of the Austrians against the Prussians,
and opened the career of glory to the enterprising com
mander. After the battle of Kollin, he was promoted
to be major-general : his commission fell into the hands
of Frederick, who forwarded it to him with a most
flattering letter of congratulation.
The defeat at Kollin was the commencement of a
series of misfortunes, which deeply afflicted the Prussian
monarch. While encamped at Leitmeritz, he received
VOL. III. G

82 COURT AND TIMES OF
intelligence of the death of his adored mother, on the'
28th of June, at Mon Bijou. Frederick had, as we have
seen, always manifested the fondest affection for this
princess, and lightened her widowhood by the most du
tiful attentions. His grief for her loss was, therefore,
expressed in every possible way. " The king," writes
Sir Andrew Mitchell, on the 2nd of July, " has seen
nobody since the arrival of the mournful tidings, and I
hear that he is deeply afflicted. His sorrow is certainly
sincere, for never did man give more proofs of duty and
affection than he has shown to his mother on every occa
sion, and never did mother more deserve the love of all
her children." Again he writes on the 4th of July : " The
king sent for me yesterday ; it was the first time that
he spoke to any one since the news of his mother's
death. I was deeply touched to see how he indulged
his grief, and gave way to the most tender, filial senti
ments, while calling to mind the manifold obligations
which he owed to his mother, how she suffered, how she
bore her sufferings, how much good she did to every
body, and what a comfort it was to him that he had
contributed to make the latter part of her life easy and
agreeable." In the later years of his own life, the king
often recurred to this painful subject. In 1779, in a
conversation with Garve on happiness, he asserted that
he had experienced, in his time, the acutest sorrows
of the heart, " adding," says Garve, " in a tone of
kindness and familiarity more affecting than I had
known him use in any of his conversations with me,
' Did you know what I felt, for instance, at the death of
my mother, you would see that I have been unhappy as
any other, and more unhappy than others, because I have

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 83
had more sensibility.' " In his works, also, Frederick
has erected monuments of gratitude to his mother.
The manifold afflictions of this period are painfully
expressed in his letters to d'Argens. " Consider, my
dear marquis," he writes to him in June from Leitmeritz,
" that man is more sensitive than rational. I have read
the third canto of Lucretius over and over again ; and
have found nothing in it but the necessity of evil and
the insufficiency of the remedy. The alleviation of my
sorrows lies in the daily business that I am obliged to
go through, and in the incessant occupations which the
number of my enemies imposes upon me. Had I been
killed at Kollin, I should now be in a port where I
should have no more storms to fear. Now I must be
tossed upon a tempestuous sea, till some small spot in
the universe affords me that ease which I have not been
able to find in this world. Farewell, my friend. I wish
you health and every kind of happiness that I have not."
Again he writes to the same friend from Leitmeritz
on the 19th of July : "Look upon me, my dear mar
quis, as a wall in which, for two years past, Fate has
been battering a breach. I am shaken on all sides.
Domestic misfortunes, private sorrows, public distresses,
fresh impending annoyances — such is my daily bread.
Do not imagine, however, that I shall give way to them.
Were all the elements to be dissolved, I would bury my
self under their ruins with the same coolness that I am
at this moment writing to you. In such trying times,
one must provide one's-self with bowels of iron and heart
of brass, in order to divest one's-self of all sensibility.
Now is the time for stoicism. At this moment the poor
disciples of Epicurus would not have a word to say for
G 2

84 COURT AND TIMES OF
their philosophy. The next month will be a terrible
one, and very decisive for my poor country. I, for my
part — firmly resolved to save or to perish with it — have
contracted a way of thinking suitable for such times and
circumstances. Our situation is to be compared only
with the times of a Marius, a Sylla, the triumvirates,
and the most cruel and atrocious scenes of the civil
wars. You are too far distant to form any conception
of the crisis in which we find ourselves, and of the hor
rors which surround us. Consider, I beseech you, the
exceedingly dear persons that I have successively lost,
and the adversities that I see advancing with hasty strides.
What is wanting to place me completely in the situ
ation of tormented Job ? My otherwise weakly constitu
tion withstands these storms, I myself know not how ;
and I am astonished at my own endurance in situations
which, three years ago, I could not have contemplated
without shuddering. This is indeed a letter in which
you will find little joy and little consolation ; but I pour
out my whole heart, and write more to ease it than to
entertain you. Philosophy, my friend, is good for
alleviating past and future evils, but it falls short when
employed against the present."
Before I return to the events of the war, I must ad
vert to the margravine of Bayreuth, the beloved sister
of Frederick, whose letters to Voltaire express in the
liveliest manner the impression made by that unlucky
day and its results on the female relatives of the king,
but at the same time the generous sympathy which they
felt for him. On the 19th of August she writes : " I
am in a frightful situation, and shall not survive the ruin
of my house and family. That is the only comfort

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 85
which is left me. You will have some fine subjects for
tragedies." On the 12th of September, she pens this
doubly beautiful testimony : " Nothing is left me but
to follow the destiny of the king, if it is unfortunate. I
have never pretended to be a philosopher ; but I have
done my best to become one. The little progress that
I have made has taught me to despise grandeur and
wealth ; but I have found in philosophy nothing that
can heal the wounds of the heart, excepting the means of
ridding ourselves of our troubles by parting with life.
The state in which I am at present is worse than death.
I see the greatest man of the age, my brother, my friend,
exposed to the greatest danger. I see my whole family
exposed to storms and perils, my native land torn in
pieces by a ruthless foe, and the country in which I
live threatened, perhaps, with similar danger. O that
Heaven would visit me alone with all the evils that I
am here describing to you ! I would endure them with
fortitude." And how did Frederick find his friends in these
days of adversity — Finckenstein, Winterfeld, countess
Camas, d'Alembert, but above all d'Argens ? all faithful
and sympathizing. At the head of the traitors must be
placed Voltaire. The former exchange of ideas between
him and the king was too gratifying to both not to have
been long since renewed, but the arrow still rankled in
the wound of the poet ; he did homage to the conqueror
of Prague, after he had enlisted with his pasquinades
under the banners of the foes of Prussia. On the 13th
of September, 1756, he thus wrote to count d'Argental :
" Madame Denis hopes that 24,000 French will soon
pass through Frankfurt ; she will recommend to them a

86 COURT AND TIMES OF
certain Monsieur Freytag, the agent of the Solomon of
the North, who at times takes it into his head to order
soldiers with fixed bayonets into a lady's bed-chamber.
I wish marshal Richelieu commanded this army. After
the French have beaten the English, they will surely be
able to overthrow the ranks of the Vandals."
A similar vein of gall and venom runs through all his
letters to Richelieu himself ; for instance, that of the
6th of October, 1756, in which he relates that Frederick
invited him to Prussia four months before, holding out
to him, at the same time, magnificent promises. On the
10th of October, he wishes to inform the marquise de
Pompadour, through Richelieu, that the king was not
accustomed to pay her any compliments, but that Maria
Theresa had a month before spoken of her in terms of
the highest praise. Nay, more — in a letter to Richelieu,
of the 1st of November, he boasts of having invented a
destructive machine to be employed against Frederick's
army. To the margravine of Bayreuth he nevertheless
wrote, on the 8th of February, 1757 : " The king, your
brother, has had the goodness to write me a letter, in
which he assures me of his gracious favour. My heart
has always loved him, my mind has always admired him,
and I believe that I shall admire him still more. The
empress of Russia wishes to have me in Petersburg, to
write the life of Peter I. ; but Peter I. is no longer the
greatest man of this age, and I will not go to a country
whose army the king, your brother, will beat. — I know
not whether the ministerial change in France has yet
reached your royal highness. It is believed that the
abbe de Bernis will have the greatest confidence. You
see what comes of writing pretty verses."

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 87
A tone of enmity to Frederick pervades likewise all
Voltaire's letters to d'Alembert. They show no sym
pathy with his misfortunes ; nay, on the 6th of Decem
ber, 1757, he writes — "He will lose his own dominions,
together with the countries which he has conquered."
He had, in fact, had the insolence to prepare the king
for cessions, and to offer him comfort on the prospect of
being obliged to submit to them. Hypocritical friend
ship is indeed occasionally expressed by his pen, but his
heart had no share in it : for, at the same time that the
king was dedicating to him his best poems, on existence
and non-existence, and on the duties of princes, he was
thus writing to d'Argental : " I have enjoyed the revenge
of consoling the king of Prussia, and that satisfies me.
He beats and is beaten, and will be ruined, without a
new miracle. It were better for him to be a philoso
pher, as he boasted of being." Lastly, with the malig
nity of a demon, he calls the king, in all his letters
written after the 12th of December, either to d'Alem
bert or to other acquaintance throughout all France,
nothing but Luc, in allusion to an odious charge against
Frederick, probably of his own fabrication, which it is
impossible for me even to hint at.
The two imperial generals, after uniting their forces,
agreed to direct them against the corps of the prince of
Prussia, which was destined for the defence of Silesia
and Lusatia, and which we left encamped at Jung-
Bunzlau. On the first of July they crossed the Elbe ;
Nadasdy was already within five miles of the Prussian
camp. Unable to resist the superior force of the enemy,
the prince was obliged to fall back, which he did, but
not by the direct road to Zittau, according to the inten-

88 COURT AND TIMES OF
tions of his royal brother. At Bbhmisch-Leipa he took
a strong position behind the Pulsnitz, while Zittau and
Gabel were occupied by several battalions. On the 14th
of July, Daun and duke Charles, having crossed the Iser,
advanced to Niemes, within five miles of the left flank
of the prince of Prussia, which they turned and gained
a day's march towards Gabel. Here was posted general
Puttkammer, with four battalions and 500 hussars, to
protect the convoys coming from the magazines at Zittau
to the Prussian army. Having defended himself with
the greatest obstinacy for three days against the at
tacks of 20,000 men, he was obliged, as no relief arrived,
to surrender, with his detachment of 2000 and- seven
pieces of cannon. After the loss of this position, the
prince could not maintain his ground at Leipa. To pre
vent the capture of his magazines, he was forced to con
tinue his retreat to Zittau by circuitous routes of such
difficulty that the loss of the baggage was inevitable.
Many of the troops, exhausted by efforts, privations,
and hardships, fell ill on the march ; others forsook
their colours in sight of the enemy. The army was five
days in advancing less than 25 English miles ; for, in the
hills of Lusatia, the roads were so narrow that the wag
gon-train was obliged to halt every moment. Besides,
hourly actions were taking place with the light troops
of the enemy. The drivers of the train unharnessed the
horses, broke in pieces the pontoons and baggage-
waggons, and blocked up the way against the artillery
which followed, till it could be cleared again with great
labour. More than 2000 men deserted in this short
distance ; the provision - carriages, all the pontoons,
and even many of the ammunition-waggons were lost,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 89
and the last spark of confidence was of course extin
guished. When arrived on the 2 2d before Zittau, they found
the enemy already posted on the Eckartsberg, and took
a strong position opposite to them. General Schmettau
had succeeded in throwing himself into the town, and
in despatching, with Winterfeld's assistance, a convoy
of provisions to the famished Prussians. Schmettau
had again quitted the place, leaving there colonel Die-
recke, with four battalions. The main army of the
Austrians at length arrived on the 23d, and bombarded
the town so violently that they set it on fire, and in a
short time four-fifths of the houses, including the Prus
sian magazine, were reduced to ashes. Colonel Dierecke
defended the place till the destruction of the magazine
had rendered it of no value ; and, unable to endure the
excessive heat caused by the conflagration, he would
have retired, but, through the treachery of a Saxon bat
talion, which opened the gates to the Austrians, he was
made prisoner with 250 pioneers. The rest of his men
effected their escape and joined the Prussian army.
Zittau was at this time the next most important
commercial town to Leipzig in the Saxon dominions.
It was the seat of many manufactures, and its destruc
tion is considered an act of wanton cruelty on the part
of duke Charles, as it possessed scarcely any means of
defence. The damage done by it to Saxon subjects was
estimated at ten millions of dollars ; while the Prussians
lost provisions sufficient for the supply of 40,000 men
for three weeks.
The prince of Prussia now proceeded without moles
tation, by slow marches, to Bautzen. The disasters

90 COURT AND TIMES OF
which he had experienced called the king to his support.
Having crossed the Elbe at Pirna, and there left prince
Maurice, with 10,000 men, to protect Dresden against
Loudon, he marched with the rest of his force to join
his brother at Bautzen, where he arrived on the 29th of
July. Frederick treated the prince, to whose blunders
and incapacity he attributed the losses which he had sus
tained, with unmitigated contempt, and the generals of
his corps came in for their share of the royal indigna
tion. General Warnery, who himself belonged to the
corps of the prince, and cannot be reckoned a panegyrist
of the king's, calls this retreat " one of the most disas
trous that ever was made ; that cost more than a battle,
merely because it was conducted contrary to all rules
and to common sense. It deprived the Prussian army of
more than 10,000 men." Perhaps this may moderate
the censure that we might be disposed to pass upon
Frederick's anger, though we may acquit the prince for
having, contrary to better conviction, by the express
command of the king, tarried too long in Bohemia, and
consider him chargeable only with having, on false re
ports that the Emperor's Road was intercepted, marched
in a curve along narrow, stony, hollow ways, allowing
the enemy to get before him by the direct route.
The account given by the prince himself of the con
duct of Frederick on this occasion is interesting.
" About ten o'clock, the king came to the right wing
of our army. He was accompanied by the life-guard
and some quarter-masters, whom he directed to mark
out the camp for the regiments which he had brought
with him. I mounted my horse and went to him, with
dukes Augustus William of Bevern and Frederick of

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 91
Wirtemberg, and the principal generals. As soon as
the king saw us, he turned his horse, and continued for
a quarter of an hour in that position. But at length he
was obliged to turn about, to make way for the quarter
masters. I went up to him to pay my respects. He said
not a word, neither did he condescend to look at me, and
hardly took off his hat. The duke of Bevern and the
other generals were no better received. He called ge
neral von der Goltz, and said to him — ' Tell my brother
and all his generals, that were I to do what is right, I
should have all their heads off ! ' This was a most un
pleasant compliment. Some of the generals were dis
concerted, others piqued, and these last made a joke of
the matter. I learned that the king had forbidden the
regiments which he had brought with him to hold any
intercourse with those under my command, alleging that
my officers and soldiers had lost all courage and all sense
of honour. He drove from his presence general Schulze,
whom I had sent to him for the parole for my army.
And when I carried him myself the lists and reports of
the army, he snatched them out of my hand and turned
his back upon me. General Schmettau received orders
to keep out of the king's sight, and to go with the first
opportunity to Dresden. After this degrading treat
ment, I resolved to leave the camp and to go to Baut
zen. Next morning I wrote the following letter to the
king : —
" ' My dear brother — The letters you have written to
me and the reception which I yesterday experienced,
sufficiently indicate that in your opinion I have lost
honour and reputation. This grieves without humbling
me, as I have nothing to reproach myself with. I am

92 COURT AND TIMES OF
certain that I have not acted from obstinacy. Neither
did I follow the advice of persons incapable of giving
good counsel, but have done all that I thought most
beneficial for the army. All your generals will do me
this justice. I deem it useless to solicit you to let my
conduct be investigated — for that would be doing me
a favour. Of course I must not expect it. My health
is impaired by the fatigues of war, and still more by
vexation. I have taken lodgings in the town to recruit
myself. I have requested the Duke of Bevern to lay
before you the reports of the army. He can explain
every thing. Be assured, my dear brother, that not
withstanding the misfortune which bows me down, but
which I have not deserved, I shall never cease to be
devoted to the state, and, as a faithful member of it,
my j°7 will be perfect when I hear of the happy issue
of your enterprises.'
" The king gave me the following answer in his own
handwriting : — ' My dear brother — Your misconduct
has been extremely injurious to my affairs. It is not
the enemy, but your vicious measures, that occasion all
my vexation. My generals are inexcusable, whether
they gave you such bad advice or suffered you to take
such injudicious resolutions. Your ears are accustomed
only to hear the words of flatterers. Daun did not
flatter you, and you see the consequences. In this me
lancholy situation, I have nothing left me but to prepare
myself for the utmost extremity. I will fight, and if
we cannot conquer, we will all perish together. I com
plain not of your heart, but of your incapacity and your
want of judgment to choose the best means. He who has
but few days to live needs not dissemble. I wish you

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 93
more prosperity than I have had, and that all the mis
fortunes and unpleasant circumstances which have be
fallen you may teach you to manage important matters
with more care, reason, and resolution. The greater
part of the disasters which I foresee proceed from you
alone. You and your children will suffer from them
more than I shall. Be assured, nevertheless, that I
have ever loved you, and that in these sentiments I
shall die.'
" I thought it best not to make any reply to this
letter, but requested permission,, through colonel Len
tulus, to go to Dresden. The king answered that I
might go wherever I pleased."
Thus ended the military career of Prince Augustus
William, eldest brother of the king, and heir presump
tive to the crown of Prussia. After living some time at
Dresden, the unfortunate prince went, at the beginning
of October, to Leipzig, and then retired to Oranienburg,
his residence near Berlin, where he died on the 12th of
June, 1758, deeply lamented and respected by his bro
ther Henry and those officers of the army who were
united by a particular bond of attachment ; whereas,
the party of Winterfeld and Fouque were implicitly
devoted to the sovereign. Not even the tidings of his
death seem to have reconciled Frederick with his
brother, who, though no doubt deeply mortified by the
treatment which he experienced from the king, is
erroneously said by some to have died of a broken heart ;
for the surgeons who opened his body found all the
nobler parts in a perfect state, but on the left side of
the head six ounces of extravasated blood. In 1 744,
during the siege of Prague, his head had been hurt by

94 COURT AND TIMES OF
a fall from his horse, and since that time he had fre
quently complained of pain on that side of the head
which had received the injury. An army surgeon,
named Puchterl, was the only medical attendant of the
prince till the end of May, 1758, when the derange
ment of the stomach by ewes' milk, pancakes, and cher
ries, and the accession of a tertian fever, caused doctors
Meckel and Muzel, the two most eminent physicians in
Berlin, to be called in. They entertained very different
views respecting his complaint. Their report calls the
dangerous fall a secondary cause of death, though
Meckel thought nothing of it ; and the medicinal coun
cillor Augustin, who published a highly interesting
statement of the case, is of opinion that the prince died
through the skill of the doctors.
The king, when he heard of the death of his brother
Augustus William, appeared to be little more reconciled
to him than at first. When lieutenant Hagen, the
prince's aide-de-camp, brought him the melancholy
tidings, Frederick coldly asked : " What disorder was
it that my brother died of?" " Grief has shortened the
prince's life," replied the officer. The king turned his
back upon him. Hagen was remanded to the regiment
from which he had been taken at the commencement
of the war, and fell at Burkersdorf.
The prince of Prussia was rather tall than short, and
well made : he was a capital horseman, excelled on the
violoncello, and was fond of painting, in which he re
ceived instructions from Pesne. The sciences, especi
ally mathematics and metaphysics, had improved his
mind, and the works of the best writers his taste. Noble
manners and virtues rendered him a universal favourite.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 95
We have seen how desirous his father was to divert the
crown from the head of his eldest son and to appoint
Augustus William his successor; and he created for
him, in 1731, the dignity of stadtholder of Pomerania,
which has since devolved to each succeeding heir to the
throne of Prussia. He served, during the Silesian wars,
so much to the satisfaction of his royal brother, that
Frederick dedicated to him, in 1751, his Memoirs of the
House of Brandenburg ; and in that dedication he ex
pressed with touching fondness, in the face of the whole
world, the high hopes which he cherished of the heir to
his crown. Augustus William, whose consort it will be
recollected was sister to Frederick's queen, left three
children — Frederick William, the successor of the great
king ; Henry, the especial favourite of the latter ; and
Wilhelmine, married to the Stadtholder of Holland.
Another prince, born after his death, lived but a few
months. Frederick selected his own old preceptor,
marshal Kalkstein, to superintend the education of the
other two sons, and on the 21st of June, 1758, he thus
wrote to him from the camp at Prosnitz : " My dear
marshal, a series of misfortunes, which has pursued me
for some years past, has bereft me of my brother, whom
I fondly loved, notwithstanding the vexation that he
occasioned me."
Much of that unsparing rigour with which Frederick
treated his brother must undoubtedly be ascribed to his
personal situation at the time and its influence upon his
temper. He was certainly wrong in imposing upon the
prince a task to the performance of which perhaps
none but his own powers were adequate. We have seen
how keenly he was affected by his mother's death,

96 COURT AND TIMES OF
which happened only ten days after the disastrous battle
of Kollin ; and the subsequent reverses of his armies
were not likely either to raise his spirits, to allay
irritation, or to bespeak indulgence. Only five weeks
back the empress had trembled in her capital ; now her
proclamations were calling upon the people of Silesia to
submit again to her sceptre. That province was unpro
tected ; new enemies were arming on all sides, and of
his own troops Frederick had lost 50,000 in four
months. The bravest of them had fallen before Prague
and at Kollin ; the survivors were disheartened ; while
hostile forces, advancing on two opposite sides, threat
ened to wrest from him his hereditary dominions and
Saxony. Great allowance must therefore be made for
the king, if, under these trying circumstances, he did
manifest undue acrimony against his unfortunate bro
ther ; especially when it is known that in this time of
tribulation he more than once expressed his determi
nation not to survive his ruin, and wrote these memo
rable words: " Pour moi, menace du naufrage,
Je dois, en affrontant l'orage,
Penser, vivre, et mourir en Roi."
" Let tempests threat, impending ruin lower,
Still be it mine as king to think, live, die 1"

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 97

CHAPTER XXIX.
Campaign of 1757 continued — Military Operations in Western Germany —
Action at Hastenbeck — Retreat of the Duke of Cumberland — Convention
of Kloster-Zeven — The Russians enter Prussia — Battle of Gross-Jagers-
dorf — Retreat of the Russians — Their savage excesses — The Swedes
overrun Pomerania — Marshal Lehwald retakes nearly all their conquests
— Frederick advances from Lusatia against Daun — Intercepted Cor
respondence of the Queen of Poland — The King transfers his Army to
the Duke of Bevern, and marches against the French and the Troops of
the Empire — Action at Jakelberg, and death of Winterfeld — Grief of the
King for the loss of that Officer — His firmness — Seydlitz surprises the
French at Gotha — Occupation of Berlin by the Austrians and Russians
— Noble sentiment of the Duke de Crillon — Battle of Rossbach — Defeat
and flight of the French — Courtesy of the King to the Prisoners — Wan
ton barbarity of the French — Extracts from Letters of Frederick's, rela
tive to his situation — Effects of the Victory of Rossbach.
While Frederick was scarcely able to make head
against the Austrian force alone, his two other formi
dable foes were advancing to overwhelm him. A French
army of 100,000 men, penetrating into Germany on the
north-west, had taken possession of Cleves, Wesel, and
East Friesland, in the beginning of April. Their prin
cipal rendezvous was Cologne. Here count d'Etrees,
the ablest of marshal Saxe's pupils, arrived early in
May, and encamped on the 26th, with his whole force,
near Miinster. The duke of Cumberland, who had col
lected the allied troops at Bielefeld, with instructions
to protect the electorate of Hanover, retreated before
the French across the Weser, and left d'Etrees master
of all Hesse. At length, on the 26th of July, the two
armies met near the village of Hastenbeck, south-east
ward of Hameln ; and, though the hereditary prince of
Brunswick and the Hanoverian colonel von Breitenbach
VOL. III. H

98 COURT AND TIMES OF
had won the victory, the duke would not keep his ground,
but relinquished the field of battle to the beaten enemy,
and continued his retreat to Stade, on which the French
exultingly took possession of the territories of Hanover
and Brunswick.
It is a remarkable circumstance, that at Hastenbeck
neither of the hostile commanders seems to have been
seriously desirous of gaining laurels. While the one was
intent only on running away, the other showed no dis
position to do any thing at all. It was not till d'Etrees
received hints from his friends in Paris, that if he meant
to earn any fame he had no time to lose, as the duke de
Richelieu was already appointed to supersede him, that
the equivocal victory was in a manner forced upon him ;
and, on the 7th of August, the new commander arrived
at Miinden to reap the convenient fruits of it. Richelieu
immediately detached the prince de Soubise, a favourite
of the king's mistress, the marquise de Pompadour, with
25,000 men to Erfurt, to join the army of the empire, and
to drive the Prussians out of Saxony, while he himself
pursued Cumberland, who fled without stopping, to Stade.
The tide of war had now rolled so near to the Danish
territory, that the court of Copenhagen could not expect
a more favourable occasion either to join the rest of Eu
rope against Prussia, or generously to assist Frederick
in his distress. But the minister, count Bernstorf, hated
the court of Berlin, and his sovereign, Frederick V., hated
war. With these dispositions, the Danish monarch un
dertook the office of mediator, and count Lynar, governor
of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst, who resided in the for
mer town, was directed to negociate a truce between the
French and the allied armies. This was an easy task,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 99
for Cumberland had run away from the lists. Richelieu
had something else to do than to seek battles. So ex
cessive was his rapacity, that his own soldiers were scan
dalised by it, and called him by no other name but " Le
petit Pere la Maraude ;" and so far was he from wishing
to conceal the fruits of his numberless extortions during
his six months' command, that he built with them a splen
did palace in Paris, which, to his disgrace, is called, to this
day, by the people, " Le Pavilion d'Hannovre." In short,
on the 8th of September, the pious Danish mediator con
cluded the convention of Kloster-Zeven, according to
which the troops of Hesse, Gotha, Brunswick, and Biicke-
burg returned to their respective countries, while the
Hanoverians were to remain quietly at Stade, on the
right bank of the Elbe. Nothing further was stipulated,
and the approval of the two great courts was not even
waited for. Neither, indeed, could it reasonably be ex
pected, as both Richelieu and Cumberland had betrayed
their employers. The former prepared for an incursion
into the principality of Halberstadt, while the latter
hastily shipped himself for England without permission.
The duke of Cumberland, the second, and, after the
death of the prince of Wales, the only son of George II.,
had been from his youth the favourite of the king. The
deeper was his majesty's chagrin at the signal disappoint
ment of his hopes on this occasion. He received his son
with freezing coldness, and publicly observed, " Here is
my son, who has ruined me, and disgraced himself." But
this was not the first time that he had branded his name
with infamy. The cruelties practised by him after the
victory of Culloden had for ever crushed the party of the
Pretender, but had gained him the execration of all hu
ll 2

100 COURT AND TIMES OF
mane minds. On the 15th of October, he resigned all
his military appointments, and died in 1765 without issue.
What different views may be taken of the same thing
is proved by a letter from count Lynar to his father-in-
law, Henry XXIV. Reuss, count of Plauen, who resided
at Kostritz : " The idea of concluding this convention
[that of Kloster-Zeven], was an inspiration of Heaven.
The holy Spirit has given me power to stop the progress
of the French, as Joshua of old did that of the sun.
Almighty God made me his unworthy instrument to pre
vent more of this Lutheran, this precious Hanoverian,
blood from being spilt."
Meanwhile the Russians, on the opposite side of the
Prussian dominions, showed much more activity than
their allies in the West. Their army, about 83,000
strong, broke up in May, under the command of field-
marshal count Apraxin, and advanced in four columns
-towards the Prussian frontiers. Three of these columns
proceeded through Poland, the fourth marched through
Samogitia upon Memel. ¦ That fortress was taken after
a bombardment of five days, and served the enemy for
an excellent place d'armes. The invaders pursued their
course to Wehlau, and during this march committed
atrocious cruelties. The Prussian marshal Lehwald, a
veteran of 72, who had no more than 22,000 men at his
disposal, was charged with the defence of the country.
He was posted at Insterburg. Notwithstanding the infe
riority of his force, he resolved, on the 30th of August,
to attack the enemy in his entrenchments near Gross
Jagersdorf. The Russians, on perceiving his intention,
set fire to the villages situated before their front, that the
smoke rising from them might conceal their movements.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 101
. Lehwald drew up his army in a line of battle running
parallel to the Russian camp, and meant to have planted
heavy cannon on a height which had been found unoccu
pied on the preceding day ; but the enemy had antici
pated him, and already taken possession of the height.
Military skill and discipline compensated the Prussians
for their inferiority in number. Their cavalry on both
wings drove back the enemy's horse upon their infantry,
but the wings were too well covered to permit them to
follow up the advantage. The Prussian infantry then
advanced to the attack, and its left wing, penetrating
the ranks of the Russians, took a great quantity of artil
lery. The right wing, which should have made the real
attack, was less successful ; being turned, its flank was
completely exposed to the enemy's line. The confusion
arising from this circumstance was not a little increased
when the second line, which afterwards advanced, unable
to distinguish friend from foe, on account of the smoke
from the burning villages, fired upon the first line. The
battle had lasted ten hours : more than 6000 Prussians
lay dead or wounded on the field of battle, when Lehwald
issued orders for the retreat, which was effected in the
best order.
A week afterwards, Apraxin quitted Prussia, which
his troops had completely drained, retaining possession
of Memel and its environs only. A favourable circum
stance had occasioned this retreat, which the public at
that time could not account for. Frederick's mortal
enemy, the empress Elizabeth, was attacked by so dan
gerous an illness, that there was no prospect of her reco
very. Under these circumstances, Bestuchef, the high
chancellor, at the instigation of the grand-duke Peter,

102 COURT AND TIMES OF
an enthusiastic admirer of Frederick's, recalled the
Russian army : English gold probably contributed to
this effect. Lehwald pursued the Russians to the fron
tiers. They left behind them 15,000 sick, 80 pieces of
cannon, and a great quantity of camp equipage. Plun
der, murder, conflagration, and other savage excesses,
marked their route. They hung innocent inhabitants
from trees, ripped open their bodies, tore out their hearts
and their intestines, cut off their noses and ears, broke
their legs, fired villages and hamlets, formed a circle
round the burning houses, and drove back their fleeing
inmates into the flames. Their wanton brutality was
especially wreaked on the nobles and the clergy : these
they tied to the tails of their horses, and dragged them
after them, or stripped them naked, and laid them upon
blazing fires — nay, they were very near devouring them
into the bargain. Their senseless revenge was exercised
even on the dead ; they opened the graves, and scattered
abroad the mutilated corpses. The small-pox ridded
Prussia of the Calmucks, the most savage of these can
nibals. Being attacked by this disease, with which they
were unacquainted, and swept off by thousands, the rest
hurried back without orders to their own country : a few
only continued with the army, and accompanied it in the
sequel to Germany.
No sooner was Prussia cleared of this enemy than a
Swedish force of 22,000 men, under the command of
baron Ungern Sternberg, landed in Pomerania. In the
struggles between the two great political parties of that
time, known by the designation of the hats and the caps,
the former, which sided with France, and was led by
count Gillenborg, had gained the ascendency over the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 103
latter, headed by count Horn. The senate, therefore,
under the influence of France, but upon the pretext of
guaranteeing the peace of Westphalia, resolved upon
this expedition against Prussia, notwithstanding the close
family alliance between the sovereigns of the two coun
tries. This army pushed forward across the Peene ;
and, as the garrison of Stettin, about 8000 strong, under
general Manteuffel, could not leave that place without
danger to the province, Demmin, Anclam, Usedom, and
Wollin, fell into the hands of the enemy. For the rest,
the Swedes were content with levying military contribu
tions and plundering the defenceless inhabitants ; while,
at the same time, they were as timid as hares. At the
commencement of the campaign, one of their divisions
had penetrated into the Ukermark. One night five pos
tillions, in the uniform of hussars, armed with pistols,
fired into a wood where several hundred of these plun
derers were lurking : seized with a panic, the whole
detachment fled to Prenzlau, and excited such conster
nation there, that the army evacuated the Ukermark on
the following day. In October, Lehwald, who was re
lieved from the Russians, advanced against the Swedes,
wrested from them nearly all their conquests, and forced
them to take shelter under the guns of Stralsund. As
the marshal had been obliged to send part of his small
force to join the new-formed allied army under duke
Ferdinand of Brunswick, he was not able to reduce An
clam and the fort of Peenemunde till the following
March. Individual members of the senate at Stock
holm made the severest remarks on the useless operations
of the Swedish army, which was continually changing
its generals ; and in 1758, count Palmstierna thus wrote

104 COURT AND TIMES OF
to count Hamilton, who then commanded it : " You
sneaked like a fox into the enemy's country, and ran
out of it again like a hare."
We left Frederick in Lusatia, whither he had re
paired from Bohemia on learning the disasters that had
befallen his brother, the prince of Prussia. He was oc
cupied for a fortnight in procuring fresh supplies of pro
visions. Then, threatened on the right by the French,
on the left by the Russians, he first advanced against
Daun. At Bernstadt he learned that Nadasdy was at
Ostritz, and despatched general Werner against him.
The hostile commander himself narrowly escaped ; his
baggage and its escort were taken ; and among the for
mer were found original letters from the queen of Poland
at Dresden, proving the existence of treacherous designs,
and these the Prussian commander, general Fink, showed
to her in her own handwriting. In his manuscript auto
biography, that officer relates how painful it was to him
to observe the communication kept up by the queen,
by letter and by confidential persons even, with Frede
rick's valet, the perfidious Anderson. Countess Ogilvie,
gouvernante of the queen of Poland, with many other
persons of her household, were obliged to quit Dresden ;
countess Briihl was sent under escort to Poland ; and
Schbnberg, one of the pages, to Berlin. But neither
these examples nor urgent remonstrances could deter
the queen from prosecuting her intrigues.
Meanwhile Daun maintained his inassailable post near
Eckartsberg. The king had no time to lose. He knew
that the French were in Erfurt, Cumberland at Staade.
Magdeburg and the Old Mark were threatened by the
French ; Rosen and his Swedes had crossed the Peene .

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 105
the troops of the empire were advancing upon Saxony,
and Bavaria and Wirtemberg coming to reinforce the
Imperialists. As Daun was not to be drawn from his
position, the king returned to Bernstadt, encamped on
the heights between Jauernick and the Neisse, beyond
which Winterfeld's corps extended to Radmeritz, trans
ferred his army of 36,000 men to the duke of Bevern, and,
conceiving the frontiers of Silesia to be thus sufficiently
covered, he marched with 18 battalions and 30 squadrons
to meet the French, under Soubise, who had formed a
junction with the troops of the empire commanded by the
prince of Hildburghausen, and with a corps of Austrians.
After the king's departure, Bevern encamped on the
Landeskron, near Gorlitz, while Winterfeld's detach
ment was on the Jakelberg or Holzberg, on the other
bank of the Neisse, near the village of Moys. On the
7th of September the two generals held a conference at
Gorlitz. Nadasdy seized the opportunity to attack the
Holzberg. Winterfeld hastened thither to avert the
annihilation of his corps, but in vain : he was himself
mortally wounded. The action cost the king 1900
men and many brave officers; but the consequences
were still more deplorable than the disaster itself. On
the following day Bevern broke up his camp, marched
by Naumburg to Liegnitz, weakened himself by de
tachments amounting to 15,000 men, and continued to
retreat before Daun and prince Charles of Lorraine as
far as the Lohe, near Breslau, while the enemy took
post opposite to him near Lissa.
Frederick had, meanwhile, gone to Dresden; and,
having united his corps of 12,000 men with the 10,000
under prince Maurice, had proceeded to Naumburg, and

106 COURT AND TIMES OF
across the Saale to Buttstadt. It was during this march
that tidings reached him nearly at the same time of the
death of his friend and of the convention of Kloster-
Zeven. " I shall find means," he exclaimed, " to make
head against the multitude of my enemies, but I
shall find but few Winterfelds again;" and tears
trickled from his eyes. Richly did the deceased officer
deserve this regard by his indefatigable zeal and his
unbounded devotedness to his sovereign, with whose
patriotic ideas his own exactly coincided. The rapidity
with which the king had raised him to the highest mili
tary ranks, and the unlimited confidence that he placed
in him, had no doubt excited jealousy and envy. At
any rate, there were not wanting those who were ready
to speak ill of him, especially the brothers of the mo
narch. The prince of Prussia was on his death-bed
when he received intelligence that Winterfeld had
fallen. " Now," said he, " I shall die much more con
tented, since I know that there is one bad and dangerous
man less in the army ;" and in his last moments he ex
claimed : " My life is drawing to a close ; the latter part
of it has been full of afflictions, but Winterfeld is the
man who has shortened it." Wherever party-spirit
prevails, there will be prejudices on both sides ; but
even Winterfeld's enemies say that he rushed upon
death in despair, because he could not conquer ; and
the tears of a great king over such a sacrifice ensure im
mortality to the victim.
On the 14th of September the king arrived at Erfurt.
The vainglorious enemy began already to retreat,
and deemed themselves fortunate to find a strong
position near Eisenach. Without pursuing them, Fre-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 107
derick remained near Erfurt with 10,000 men, and sent
duke Ferdinand of Brunswick with 4000 into the prin
cipality of Halberstadt to drive out the French, and
prince Maurice with 8000 to Saxony, to observe the
movements of the Austrians between the Mulde and the
Elbe. With this insignificant force he waited three
weeks in his position near Erfurt, to see what prince
Soubise would attempt against him.
As for the convention of Kloster-Zeven, Frederick
thus expressed himself in a letter to duke Ferdinand :
" The disgraceful convention which the duke of Cum
berland has been misled by the Hanoverian ministers to
conclude is another unlucky circumstance for me ; how
ever, we must do our duty." In this letter he could not
state what he might himself attempt ; but the duke was
directed, " in case all cords should break," to throw
himself into Magdeburg. " In our situation," he wrote
to the same prince on the following day, September 21st,
" we ought to feel convinced that each of us is equal to
four other men." But the feelings of his soul are most
clearly expressed in the poems composed during this time
of tribulation, the finest that he ever wrote, especially
the incomparable epistle to d'Argens, commencing :
" Friend, now the die is cast !" and the noble effusion
addressed to Voltaire on the 9th of October, in answer
to his arguments against a voluntary death, concluding
with those expressive lines already quoted :
" Let tempests threat, impending ruin lower,
Still be it mine as king to think, live, die !"
The same spirit breathes in the Elegy addressed by the
illustrious poet to his country — " O, my beloved people,
whose welfare is the object of all my wishes, whose hap-

108 COURT AND TIMES OF
piness duty commands me to study, I see thee surrounded
with dangers ! Thy lamentable condition deeply afflicts
and bows me down. How gladly would I forget the
splendour of my rank, how gladly would I spill every
drop that circulates in my veins, to help thee ! Yes, to
thee belongs this blood, and my agitated heart cheer
fully offers the vital stream as a sacrifice to my country !"
It was this noble spirit that saved the state, near as it
was brought to the brink of perdition.
But though the courage of the king was upheld by a
generous confidence in his own powers, he despised not
the insinuating arts of flattery. He knew Richelieu's
political sentiments ; he knew that he was, like the cele
brated cardinal of his name, an enemy to the house of
Habsburg, and an admirer of the philosopher of Sans-
Souci ; he wrote him a soothing note, and addressed to
him a poetical epistle, in which he is styled the peace
maker, the preserver of Genoa, the conqueror of Mi
norca. Richelieu actually entertained the proposals for
peace, submitted by the king on the 7th of September,
and referred them to his court, which, influenced by
revenge, refused to listen to them. Nothing daunted by
this rebuff, Frederick sent colonel Balbi, disguised as
amtmann, to Richelieu's camp, with a present of 100,000
dollars for the duke, with whom he had made some cam
paigns in Flanders. If peace was out of the question,
still this well-timed bribe gained some alleviation for the
Prussian territories, and Richelieu remained inactive.
When Frederick marched from Dresden, on the 12th
of September, for Erfurt, Soubise retreated to Eisenach.
The king followed him, cleared Gotha from the enemy,
and left Seydlitz, who had been promoted to the rank of

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 109
major-general for his services at Kollin, with 1500 horse,
to observe the enemy, that he might himself approach
nearer to the Elbe, for the protection of his threatened
capital. Seydlitz took a position between Gotha and
Erfurt. On the 19th, Soubise and Hildburghausen ad
vanced with 10,000 men to Gotha. They were met by
Seydlitz, who drew up his cavalry in such a manner as
to make the enemy believe that the whole force of the
king was opposed to them. They turned about and fled,
evacuating Gotha with the utmost precipitation. Seyd
litz entered the town, and he and his officers sat down in
the ducal palace to the dinner prepared for Soubise and
his staff. So sudden was the surprise, that the French
left behind them all their baggage. The booty exhibited
a curious collection of the numberless articles employed
for the toilet: — pommades, perfumes, powdering and
dressing-gowns, bag-wigs, umbrellas, parrots : while a
host of whining lacqueys, cooks, friseurs, players, and
prostitutes, were chased from the town to follow their
pampered masters to Eisenach. Three officers and J 50
soldiers were made prisoners. Unimportant as was this
surprise in itself, it was remarkable for the judgment
and resolution of the Prussian commander, and for the
confidence with which it inspired the cavalry. On this
account, the king, in his History of the Seven Years'
War, treats with particular complacency of this event ;
which furnishes a proof, he remarks, that the talent and
intrepidity of a general are more effective in war than
the number of the troops. Seydlitz, fearing lest he
should be surrounded, quitted Gotha on the 22d of
September, to rejoin the king, and the town fell again
into the hands of the French.

110 COURT AND TIMES OF
Towards the conclusion of this year, a foe that in past
ages had been deemed the most formidable of any was
foiled in a manner which appears almost ludicrous. This
was the ban of the empire, which the imperial Aulic Coun
cil assembled at Ratisbon was making the most strenuous
efforts to get voted against the king. On the 14th of
October, the advocate of the council repaired, in the cha
racter of an imperial notary, with two witnesses, to the
residence of baron Plotho, the Prussian ambassador at
Ratisbon, to serve him with fiscal citation or summons,
requiring the attendance of the elector and margrave of
Brandenburg, to hear and see himself put to the ban of
the empire, and deprived of all his territories, fiefs,
grants, rights, immunities, and expectancies. Plotho
received the notary in his dressing-gown ; and the lat
ter described the interview in an official document to
this purport : — " And his excellency baron Plotho flew
into such a violent passion that he could no longer con
trol himself, but, with trembling hands and flushed face,
and extending both arms towards me, at the same time
holding the citation in his right hand, he exclaimed —
' What ! you think to serve it, do you, scoundrel ! ' I
replied that it was my duty as notary, and I must exe
cute it. Nevertheless, he fell upon me with the greatest
fury, seized me by the fore-part of my cloak, and cried,
' Will you take it back ? ' As I declined to do so, he
forcibly thrust the citation under the breast of my coat,
and, still holding me by the cloak, pushed me out of the
room, and ordered two of his servants who stood by to
fling me down stairs." The ban of the empire had in
fact become like the anathema of the Vatican, an anti
quated, ineffective formality, when launched against a

FREDERICK THE GREAT. Ill
sovereign of Frederick's spirit and genius ; and his sub
sequent victories caused the Aulic Council to drop all
further proceedings.
Meanwhile a corps, detached from the French main
army in Westphalia, was advancing through Hesse upon
Langensalza ; and reports arrived that an Austrian par
tisan corps was penetrating from Upper Lusatia into the
Mark. The king therefore left Erfurt, and, crossing the
Saale near Naumburg and the Elbe at Torgau, marched
to Annaberg, where he learned the fate of his capital.
Four thousand Croats, under general count Haddik, be
longing to the Austrian corps in Upper Lusatia, com
manded by general Marschall, had appeared before Ber
lin on the 16th of October, and demanded a ransom of
300,000 dollars. The garrison of the city consisted of
only five weak battalions of provincial militia, two of
which, with their leader, major Tesmar, were cut in
pieces at the Silesian gate, while general Rochow, the
commandant, who had made no dispositions for resist
ance, with the others, escorted the queen and the royal
family to Spandau. The sum required by Haddik could
not be raised within the specified time : he then increased
his demand to 500,000 dollars, but was at length con
tent to take 185,000. No sooner was Haddik in pos
session of his booty, than he retired precipitately to
Cottbus. A few hours afterwards, Seydlitz arrived with
3000 cavalry to the relief of Berlin, and he was followed
the next day by the whole corps of prince Maurice.
With a view to cut off Haddik's retreat, the king had
taken a position at Hertzberg, where he remained some
days to learn what were the further intentions of the
French, by which he should himself decide whether to

112 COURT AND TIMES OF
oppose them or to go to Silesia and protect Schweidnitz
against Nadasdy. Unforeseen events intervened, and he
did neither. After the departure of the Prussians from
Erfurt, Soubise had crossed the Saale and was approach
ing Leipzig, where marshal Keith had the most urgent
need of assistance. He declared to the magistrates that
he was determined to defend himself to the last man,
and to burn down the suburbs if the enemy should ap
proach any nearer. The magistrates accordingly sent a
deputation to the prince of Hildburghausen and Sou
bise, intreating them not to come nearer to the city.
Meanwhile the king hastened forward, and arrived in
Leipzig on the 26th; prince Henry and prince Maurice
joined him with their corps on the following day, and
duke Ferdinand on the 28th. He had thus collected an
army 24,000 strong, composed of troops, which only a
week before had been widely dispersed in Saxony, the
Mark, and Magdeburg.
On the 30th of October, the king, dividing his army
into two columns, marched with one of them, and took
up his head-quarters at Liitzen, while the other, under
Keith, proceeded to Merseburg. On the morning of
the 17th, the duke de Crillon was to retreat with 17
French grenadier companies across the bridge of Weis
senfels, and to occupy certain cantonments. The bridge
was set on fire, but Frederick was, with his advanced
guard, at the heels of the French. Crillon had
posted two trusty officers, Canon and Brunet, on an
island in the Saale, which had a communication with
the left bank, to observe the Prussians ; while he himself,
with the rest of his officers, sat down to breakfast on
the greensward. Brunet presently came to him, and

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 1 1 3
asked if his men might shoot the king of Prussia, who
could be seen by them, from their ambush, close to the
pillars of the destroyed bridge. Crillon handed a glass
of wine to Brunet, and sent him back to his post with
this remark : "I placed you and your comrades there
to see that the bridge was properly burned down, not to
kill a general who might come singly to reconnoitre ;
still less the sacred person of a king, which ought always
to be respected. "
The Prussians, having found all the bridges over the
Saale destroyed, were obliged to construct others of
boats, by means of which they passed that river on the
2d of November at Halle, Merseburg, and Weissenfels ;
and, on the morning of the following day, the corps
under the king, prince Maurice, and marshal Keith,
concentrated themselves in the camp on the heights of
Braunsdorf. The enemy had encamped behind the
brook near Mucheln. Frederick reconnoitered his posi
tion, which was injudiciously chosen. His hussars
penetrated, out of bravado, into the midst of the French,
and carried off horses and even soldiers out of the
tents. He resolved to attack the following day : but
in the night Soubise changed his position, and encamped
opposite to the king in a better, where he had thrown
up redoubts, which rendered the attack far more
difficult. Frederick then took a strong camp between
Bedra and Rossbach.
On observing this retrograde movement, Soubise
pushed forward his pickets with artillery, and can
nonaded, but without effect. All his trumpeters, drum
mers, and fifers, were ordered to play, as after a victory,
to the annoyance of the brave Prussians. Some of the
VOL. III. I

114 COURT AND TIMES OF
French officers, indulging their national vanity, re
marked : " It is doing Monsieur le marquis de Brande-
bourg too much honour to carry on a sort of war with
him ;" and their commander, reckoning upon not merely
defeating but taking the king and his whole army,
despatched a courier to Paris to announce his certain
captivity. Early in the morning of the 5th of November, count
de St. Germain, with 6000 men, took post at Grbst,
opposite to the camp of Rossbach, to cut off the Prus
sians from Merseburg ; while the army itself moved to
the right upon Buttstadt to turn their left flank, and to
fall upon their rear, as soon as they should attempt to
retreat to Weissenfels. Seydlitz started very early, with
the hussars and a detachment of Meyer's partisans, to
reconnoitre the enemy, but was prevented by a brisk
cannonade from the heights of the village of Schortau.
About eleven in the forenoon, the enemy were seen
striking the tents, and marching off to the right.
Frederick conceived that they were retreating upon
Freiburg, and was for attacking the post on the heights
of Schortau, under the idea that it was the rear-guard.
Captain Gaudi, who had been charged to watch the
enemy from the castle of Rossbach, where the king had
his head-quarters, perceived that the enemy were not
retiring, but approaching. Angry at this false intel
ligence, as he considered it, he went, with all his gene
rals, to the uppermost rooms. It was some time before
he could convince himself that Gaudi was right; and
he formed on the spot the plan for the attack. It was
now half-past two. " Forward ! " was the word of com
mand given, and by three o'clock there was not a man

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 115
in the village. Soubise had reached Buttstadt with the
heads of his columns.
The Prussians, about 22,000 strong, appeared to be
hastening back to Kayna on the Merseburg road. The
enemy, amounting to 64,000, cannonaded. Frederick
posted his little army behind the Janus hill, on the right
of Rossbach. Seydlitz, with the whole of the cavalry,
formed the advanced guard. He was to turn the cavalry
of the enemy's army, and to fall suddenly upon the
heads of their columns before they had time to form.
The two armies marched side by side, and approached
nearer and nearer to one another. Frederick occupied
the Janus hill ; Soubise moved through the valley. The
Prussian battery, under colonel Moller, played with
decisive effect ; that of the enemy, in the hollow, was
inefficient. By singular accident, a great number of hares were
enclosed between the two armies ; terrified by the sound
of the cannon, these timid animals attempted in vain to
escape either on one side or on the other. One of the
first balls fired by the French killed one of these hares
before the front of the Prussian troops, on which these
jocosely cried out : " We are sure to beat — the French
are killing one another ! "
Seydlitz had now turned the right of the enemy be
fore they were aware. Halting with his brave squadrons
on the height, he perceived a favourable moment, and
resolved to attack without waiting for the infantry.
Riding forward to some distance in front of his
squadrons, he flung his tobacco-pipe into the air, as
a signal for the attack. For some minutes two Austrian
cuirassier regiments withstood the Prussians, man to
i2

116 COURT AND TIMES OF
man, and horse to horse : they were supported by two
French regiments only : these brave fellows were almost
entirely cut off. The infantry of both armies was yet
in march, and their heads were only five hundred paces
apart. The king was rather further from Reichardts-
werben, which he was anxious to reach. Keith was
sent thither, with the five battalions which formed the
second line, while Frederick himself kept approaching
nearer and nearer to prince Soubise. Daring and skill
on the one hand, heavy, irresolute, lifeless masses on
the other, left the vital question for Prussia not long
undecided. By six o'clock, the cavalry had dispersed
the confused crowd of the enemy's infantry ; and night
threw a veil over their precipitate and ludicrous flight.
The king's right wing, under duke Ferdinand of Bruns
wick, had not quitted the morass of Braunsdorf ; the
troops of the empire had taken to their heels after a
few rounds of artillery ; and ten Prussian battalions
had not fired a shot. Only seven of the king's bat
talions had been in the fire. An hour and a half sufficed
to decide the victory. The fugitives ran in lamentable
disorder to Freiburg, and crossed the Unstrut. Five
thousand prisoners were taken ; among these were
5 generals and 300 officers ; besides 67 pieces of can
non, 7 pair of colours, 15 standards, and a great quan
tity of baggage. Altogether the loss of the allies
amounted to 10,000 men; that of the conquerors to
165 killed, and 376 wounded.
In wretched plight the runaways fled through Thurin-
gia towards their own homes, the troops of the empire
by way of Erfurt, the French by Weissensee, and with
such breathless liaste, that the last of them reached

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 1 1 7
Langensalze, 52 miles from the field of battle, on the
7th. The road to Erfurt was strewed with cuirasses
and cavalry boots, with muskets and fragments of wea
pons. It is asserted that two Prussian dragoons made
prisoners of more than one hundred troops of the em
pire, who were attempting, in their flight, to hide them
selves in a garden. Many of them dispersed over the
country of Eichsfeld, plundering wherever they went,
till the peasants collected and took summary vengeance
upon them. The fugitives then assembled at Nord-
hausen and Heiligenstadt, whither they were summoned
by bills posted in the villages.
Frederick returned solemn thanks to his army for
this victory. From the youngest major-general, Seyd
litz was deservedly promoted to lieutenant-general. His
very enemies, the officers whom he had been instrumental
in making prisoners, could not help remarking, " Ce
garcon etait ne general," If Seydlitz reminds us of
the most brilliant period of Rome's military glory, so
his romantic character raises him to an elevation which
few of Frederick's generals attained. Independent and
victorious, as at the head of his centaur squadrons, we
see bim at court, and at the table of the king. Great
by his own merit, he was ready to award the laurel to
the feats of others. General Meiuecke, his senior in
the service, and like him, wounded at Rossbach, was
a worthy partner in the honour of the victory. Seydlitz
was charged to assure him of the king's favour ; but he
told him at the same time that he should never forget
the respect which he owed to one of the bravest officers,
who was older than himself, and whose friendship he
was anxious to possess.

118 COURT AND TIMES OF
Balke, appointed in 1761 chaplain-general of the
army, owed that post to the recommendation of general
Seydlitz. The conversation at the king's table turning
one day on the battle of Rossbach, Frederick declared
that for this victory he was chiefly indebted to Seydlitz
and his regiment. The general rejoined, that not only
had the officers and the regiment, but also Balke the
chaplain, laid lustily about them ; and that the latter,
buckling on a spare cavalry sword, had undauntedly
charged along with the men. " The devil he did !" ex
claimed the king ; " then he deserves to be rewarded for
it too. The chaplain-general is just dead, and he shall
have his place."
Frederick was far from retaliating upon the enemy
the arrogance shewn towards himself. When the cap
tive officers were introduced to him the day after the
battle, in the new camp whieh he had taken at Burg-
werben, he addressed them thus : " Gentlemen, I cannot
yet accustom myself to consider the French as my ene
mies." This courtesy won all hearts. He perceived a
handsome young man, with one arm in a sling, inquired
his name and rank, and said : " You are wounded, I
see." — " I owe this wound to your majesty's brave
cavalry," replied the officer, in the most complimentary
manner. " It procures me the happiness of seeing
closely so great a monarch as your majesty." — " I am
sorry for you," said the king ; " but I hope you will
soon recover; and, that we may see one another the
oftener, will you dine with me to-day ? "
Another prisoner, lieutenant-general count de Mailly,
received permission to go to Paris on his parole. "In
the following year, when he solicited a prolongation of

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 119
his leave of absence, Frederick thus wrote to him : " I
grant you further leave of absence the more cheerfully,
because it affords me pleasure to render service to a man
of merit, and because I have always thought that the
untoward events which befall kings should be as little
injurious as possible to private persons. Take as much
time as you require to arrange your affairs. Should the
cabinet of Vienna become rather more pliable, as I have
reason to expect, and consent to a cartel, you might
wholly spare yourself a disagreeable journey, as the ex
change might take place without your shifting your
place of abode."
According to Thiebault, many of his countrymen
taken at Rossbach proved themselves wholly unworthy
of the favour that Frederick was disposed to show them.
He says that prince Henry sent the three hundred
French officers taken prisoners on that occasion to Ber
lin. All of them were admitted at the queen's on court-
days. Some of the younger in particular behaved with
the greatest indecency, cracking and eating nuts even
behind her majesty's chair, and flinging the shells on
the floor. The queen never would complain of this
conduct. But they posted up, in several quarters of
the city, a list of the ladies of the court, with the prices
at which, as they alleged, their favours might be bought.
Their swords were then taken from them again, and they
were sent to the fortress of Magdeburg, a punishment
in which the queen had no hand, but which proceeded
from the government alone.
Many years after the battle, the inhabitants of the
neighbourhood erected a monument in memory of this
victory, and which, at the same time, recorded the

120 COURT AND TIMES OF
atrocious inhumanities committed by the French on de
fenceless Germany. Napoleon, when he viewed the
field of Rossbach, ordered this monument, a pillar, to be
removed to Paris, and set up near one of the churches.
On the 30th of May, 1814, the day before the first
entry of the allies into Paris, the invalids rushed out
of their hotel, and flung the pillar into the Seine,
that it might not fall again into the hands of the Prus
sians. After the battle of Leipzig, however, several
Prussian officers caused a new iron pillar to be set up on
the field of battle.
The dastardly conduct of the troops of the empire at
Rossbach drew from the Prussian monarch a piece of
pleasantry that is worth recording. A few days after
the battle, Frederick asked one of his generals at table,
which of the princes of Germany lived in the most mag
nificent style. Some of the company guessed one, some
another, but none of them hit upon the right person.
" It is the prince of Hildburghausen," said the king at
last, " for he keeps 30,000 runners."
The enthusiasm kindled throughout all Germany in"
behalf of the Prussian monarch by this seasonable vic
tory is not to be described. It was universally hailed
as a national triumph over foreign hordes, which had
proved themselves, whether among friends or foes, more
destructive than a cloud of- locusts, more savage than
the most ravenous beasts. Of the two, indeed, their
allies perhaps suffered most from their wanton bar
barity. " It is not the Prussians," says a Saxon memoir
of that time, " who have laid waste our fields, our vine
yards, and our gardens ; it is not the Prussians who have
trampled down our growing crops, who have robbed us

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 121
on the highway, who have plundered our houses, who
have carried off and destroyed our provisions. It is not
the Prussians who have desecrated our churches, and
made a mock of all that is sacred. No, it is our friends,
the French and the troops of the empire, our so ardently
wished-for deliverers, who have plunged us into these
miseries." Whatever they could not consume or carry
away, was destroyed or rendered useless. They broke
in pieces household furniture, casks and other vessels ;
tore up papers and books ; ripped open beds, and strewed
the feathers over the fields ; and slaughtered cattle which
they could not remove, and left them to putrify in the
deserted farmyards. Twenty villages around Freiburg
were rendered desolate, because the French had sojourned
in them. Nor were the private soldiers alone to blame
for these wanton excesses, of which their officers set
them the example. Thus it is related that the marquis
d'Argenson, who commanded the French in Halberstadt,
whenever he was about to leave a house in which he
lodged, was accustomed to break in pieces the furniture,
and to destroy the looking-glasses with a diamond. Of
the manner in which the clergy were treated by these
marauders, some idea may be formed from this fact. An
engraving of the time represents a clergyman in full
paraphernalia upon all-fours on the ground, while a
French officer is stepping on his back to mount his
horse. The circumstance happened at Weichschiitz,
near Weissenfels ; the clergyman's name was Schren.
But, lest these statements, as coming from Germans,
may be thought exaggerated, let us hear the account
given of the cowardice and rapacity of the French by an
undeniable witness, one of their own superior officers, the

122 COURT AND TIMES OF
same count de St. Germain whom we have just seen
taking part in the battle of Rossbach. Writing to his
friend Du Verney, in Paris, on the 11th of November,
he says : "I head a band of robbers, of murderers, who
deserve to be broke upon the wheel, who ran away at
the first musket-shot, who are always ready to mu
tiny  Never did army behave worse : the first
cannon-shot decided our discomfiture and disgrace :"
and on the 19 th of the same month he writes : " The
country is plundered and laid waste for thirty leagues
round, as if fire from heaven had fallen upon it : our
marauders have scarcely left the very houses standing. I
have had much to suffer from the licentiousness and wan
tonness of our troops ; I hope the court will put an end
to the disorder. Strong remedies are required, and if
the knife is not put to the root of the evil, we must ab
stain from war. Our loss in the battle has not been so
considerable as the regimental reports at first repre
sented. One was said to have lost 80 officers, and has
really lost but four or five ; they have all made their ap
pearance again in from five to eight days ; and so the
soldiers in proportion. Would you believe that an en
sign, with his colours and five or six soldiers, has got to
Gbttingen, and that kettle-drums which have been thrown
away have been picked up there ? I should never have
done, were I to attempt to relate all the circumstances
of this kind. The country for forty miles round was
covered with our soldiers: they plundered, mur
dered, violated women, robbed, and committed all pos
sible abominations. Had the enemy pursued us briskly
after he had thrown me into confusion, he might have
annihilated our whole army. No doubt he had no wish

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 123
to do so : and it is certain that the king of Prussia
issued orders to spare our men and to crush the Ger
mans. His hussars have sent back several of our sol
diers, after treating them kindly. It is impossible
to add to the generosity and the delicacy which he
has shown to our prisoners. When they sent their
letters unsealed, requesting that they might be for
warded, the king said : ' I cannot accustom myself to
consider you as my enemies, and have no mistrust of
you ; so seal your letters, and you shall receive the an
swers unopened.' He also assured them that he should
have no rejoicings on account of the victory ; that it
grieved his heart ; that, for the rest, the French were not
well commanded, and that, as they had not been in
order of battle, they could not bring their valour to
bear. We are going into winter-quarters in the country
of Hanau. To me it seems no very good policy to lay
waste Hesse. The Empire is incensed against us ; it is
with great chagrin and dissatisfaction that it sees some
of its members crushed. I still think that we are en
gaged in a bad war, and that it would be best to put an
end to it. It cannot end well if it lasts any time."
" Let it not be imagined," writes the same officer,
" that king Frederick is hated in the empire — very far
from it. Even in Saxony he has at least as many
friends as enemies : the peasants there have even turned
their arms against us and fired upon us."
All that count St. Germain here writes concerning the
treatment of the French by the king is nothing but the
truth ; for, in the preceding September, he had di
rected duke Ferdinand to release captive officers of that
nation on their parole, but to treat the privates well

124 COURT AND TIMES OF
and to cajole them, because he did not imagine that
the French would do any thing extraordinary. A strik
ing instance of his particular attention to them was ex
hibited in the visit which he paid, in passing through
Leipzig, on the 11th of November, to the wounded ge
neral Custine, whom he took such pains to cheer under
his misfortunes, that the captive warrior, raising him
self on his death-bed, exclaimed : " Ah, sire ! you are
greater than Alexander ; he tortured his prisoners, you
pour oil into the wounds of yours !"
To one of the most implacable and persevering of his
enemies Frederick could not forbear showing some re
sentment. The queen of Poland, regardless of the
warnings she had received, still continued her corre
spondence with the king's enemies. Fresh letters of
hers were intercepted; these Fink, the Prussian com
mandant of Dresden, was ordered to read to her himself;
and, as she had written, among other things, that the
Prussians would gain no more victories, the king ordered
guns to be fired on account of his victory at Rossbach
behind the Catholic church and also behind the palace ;
and Te Deum to be sung in the open place near the
Catholic church, almost under the very windows of the
queen. The intelligence was believed to have accele
rated the death of this princess, whose health had for
some time been very precarious. Her mortification
was extreme. Having dismissed her attendants one
night in very low spirits, she was found dead in her bed
next morning.
The letters written by the king about this time furnish
matter for reflection. To d'Argens he writes from Tor-
gau, the 15th of November: " This year, my dear mar-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 125
quis, has been a terrible one for me. I venture to attempt
the impossible in order to save my dominions ; but, in
truth, I have more need than ever of the assistance of
good luck." Then, adverting to his victory as an intro
duction to a more cheerful tone, he proceeds : " I have
made a terrible quantity of verses, which, if I live, you
shall see in winter-quarters, or, if I perish, I will leave
them to you. Your countrymen have committed cru
elties worthy of the Pandours ; they are execrable plun
derers. Farewell, my dear marquis ; you are probably
at this moment in bed ; take care not to grow fast to it ;
and recollect that you have to pay me a visit in winter-
quarters. Meanwhile, you have plenty of time to rest
yourself, for I know not where I shall be able to see you.
I have the lot of Mithridates, only I have not two sons
and a Monima. Farewell, my amiable idler."
Though the king could assume this light strain, he
was quite aware of his critical situation. On the 12th
of November he wrote to his friend and cabinet minister,
count Finckenstein : " This is a commencement of suc
cess, but a great deal more is necessary." Thus, too, he
remarks, in his history of this war, that the battle of
Rossbach had merely afforded him the liberty to seek
fresh dangers in Silesia. But his victory had produced
other and more important effects. Richelieu quitted his
camp near Halberstadt, and retired to the electorate of
Hanover ; the allies, ready to lay down their arms, re
sumed courage, so that the Brunswickers, Hessians,
and Biickeburgers, were ready to take the field, when
Frederick, at the solicitation of George II., sent duke
Ferdinand to command them.

126 COURT AND TIMES OF

CHAPTER XXX.
Campaign of 1757 continued — The King marches to the relief of Schweidnitz
— Keith makes an incursion into Bohemia — Surrender of Schweidnitz to
the Austrians — Defeat of the duke of Bevern near Breslau — Surrender of
that city to the Austrians — Frederick hastens to Silesia — His Address to
his Officers — Battle of Leuthen — The King surprises a number of Aus
trian Officers at Lissa — He retakes Breslau — The Prussians recover Lieg
nitz — Prince Charles resigns the command of tbe Austrian army — Ingra
titude of count Schaffgotsch, primate of the Catholic church in Prussia —
Treachery of the Abbe de Prades — Father Gleim ; his Songs of a Prussian
Grenadier — Gbthe's picture of family dissensions excited by Frederick's
popularity — Enthusiasm manifested for the King in England — Duke Fer
dinand of Brunswick ; his military operations.
The numerous prisoners taken in the pursuit of the
French after the battle of Rossbach having been sent off
by way of Leipzig to Magdeburg and Berlin, Frederick
set out on the 12th of November with 14,000 men for
the relief of Schweidnitz, while his brother Henry and
duke Ferdinand observed the French force under Riche
lieu. Keith, who, with scarcely 6000 men, was destined
to remain in Saxony, marched from Merseburg to Chem
nitz, in order to facilitate the progress of the king, who
was harassed by an Austrian corps of twelve to fourteen
thousand men under Marschall. He then made an incur
sion into Bohemia, collected stores of all sorts, demanded
military contributions, and destroyed large magazines
between the Elbe and Eger. Loudon hastened by forced
marches from the vicinity of Gieshiibel, and threw him
self into Prague, while Marschall left the king to proceed
unmolested, and hastened from Bautzen and Zittau to
Bohemia. Keith's force was supposed to be much greater
than it really was. Having destroyed the magnificent

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 127
bridge over the Elbe at Leitmeritz, he commenced his
retreat, and reached Chemnitz on the 5 th of December.
The Prussian commander, having not only accomplished
all the immediate objects of this incursion, but essentially
promoted the operations of the king in Silesia, distributed
his little force along the whole frontier of Bohemia for
the defence of Saxony.
The king, having scared Haddik from Lusatia, pursued
his march without molestation. Meanwhile the Prussian
arms were experiencing severe reverses in Silesia. We
left the army of the duke of Bevern, to whom the defence
of that important province was committed, and that of
prince Charles of Lorraine, in the environs of Breslau.
Here both parties continued inactive for nearly five weeks.
The Austrians had Schweidnitz in their rear, and were
fearful lest that fortress might prove dangerous to them
in case of defeat. It became a serious question with
them whether they should, before the end of the year,
make any further attempt for the re-conquest of Silesia,
or retire at once to Bohemia. Shame forbade the latter
course. Nadasdy was sent with 30,000 men to reduce
Schweidnitz. The trenches were opened on the 27th of
October; on the 10th of November, the third parallel
was completed. The garrison made several successful
sallies, and, though great part of the town was destroyed
by bombs, the enemy had not yet taken any of the works.
The imperial general, impatient of delay, determined to
storm. In the night of the 11th, a general assault was
made. The governor, major-general Seers, and the next
in command, were so intimidated, that they surrendered
themselves prisoners of war, with nearly 6000 men, be
fore the face, as it were, of the duke of Bevern (observes

128 COURT AND TIMES OF
the king), who should have averted such a misfortune.
The military chest, containing 236,000 dollars, a con
siderable magazine, 180 pieces of cannon, with a great
quantity of powder and ammunition, fell into the hands
of the Austrians, who by this conquest became masters
of the mountains and of all the passes leading to Bohemia.
Nadasdy, having left a garrison in Schweidnitz, rejoined
prince Charles with the rest of his force. The imperial
general, whose army was increased by reinforcements
of Bavarians and Wirtembergers to 80,000 men, now
resolved to make a decisive attack upon the 30,000
Prussians opposed to him, and to put an end at once to
the campaign, perhaps to the war.
The Prussians occupied a fortified camp between Cosel
and Little Mochber. Three villages in front of it were
entrenched and occupied by troops. The right flank was
covered by abattis, and the left by entrenchments. In
the night of the 22d of November, prince Charles made
his dispositions for the attack, and before daybreak the
Austrians advanced in three columns, provided with
fascines and other materials for storming. A thick fog
favoured the attempt. The cannonade commenced about
nine in the morning, at a great distance, and with little
effect. The Austrians attacked at four different points,
while Bevern, who expected the principal attack on his
left flank, had drawn thither the greatest part not only
of his cavalry but also of his artillery, so that the Aus
trian artillery in the centre was thrice as numerous as
the Prussian. Another blunder of Bevern 's was that he
had not opposed the passage of the river Lohe by the
Austrians, but expressly ordered that part of their army
should be suffered to cross it ; and, lastly, his redoubts

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 129
were so far apart, and situated so low, as to do no material
injury to the enemy.
Nadasdy, who commenced the attack on the Prussian
left wing, could not make any impression on Zieten, who
was opposed to him. The latter commanded a separate
corps of about 8000 men ; and his hussars and dragoons
behaved with such intrepidity, as very soon to cool the
courage of the Croats, Hungarians, and Wirtembergers.
The conflict was more obstinate and sanguinary at the
centre and on the right wing. The centre of the Aus
trians, advancing to the Lohe, opened a cannonade, which
lasted three hours, dismounted the Prussian batteries,
and covered their passage across a bridge, the construc
tion of which was finished by one o'clock. The resistance
of the Prussians under general Schultz was now of no
avail. The king's brother, prince Ferdinand, whose horse
had been already killed under him, seized the colours of
his regiment, and repeatedly led it on, together with the
prince of Prussia's regiment, to charge with the bayonet,
till both were almost entirely destroyed.
Pennavaire's fifteen squadrons of cuirassiers now came
up, but were twice repulsed, and Pennavaire himself
wounded. Though Bevern led them in person to the
second charge, they were thrown into confusion, owing
to the intersected ground, and the tremendous fire of the
Austrians. Generals Lestwitz and Ingersleben made an
obstinate stand at Schmiedefeld against a superior force
of the enemy, who for an hour could not gain a foot of
ground ; but, threatened on the flank by the corps of
the enemy, which had overpowered general Schultz, they
were obliged to abandon the redoubts from Schmiedefeld
to Hbfchen, and retreated to Little Gandau.
VOL. III. k

130 COURT AND TIMES OF
The Austrian centre now advanced at the charge-step
upon Gandau, where Bevern had with some difficulty
formed a line of 14 battalions. Though it was growing
dusk, both armies fought with renewed fury. A regular
fire checked the progress of the enemy, who at one point
were even driven back to the Lohe.
In their attack on Pilsnitz, the Austrians, in spite of
redoubled efforts, were thrice repulsed with great loss
by the effective fire of the foot-jagers posted in the
abattis. But neither their valour nor that of the corps
of Brandeis availed to retrieve the fortune of the day :
Bevern was in want of troops at the threatened points,
especially cavalry, which he ordered up from his left
wing ; but, before they arrived, the firing, which had
been kept up without intermission the whole day, sud
denly ceased at all points. The Prussian commander
now meditated a decisive night attack, by which he hoped
to regain the advantages which he had lost in the day ;
but, returning from a conference on the subject with
Zieten, he found that his troops had quitted their posi
tions without orders ; and the right wing, indeed, was
already beyond Breslau. He had no course left but
to follow the rest of the troops, and, covered by Zieten,
to quit the field of battle, where the enemy remained for
the night. Leaving 5000 men, under general Lestwitz,
in Breslau, the remainder of the Prussian army took a
position beyond that city. In this sanguinary engage
ment, it had lost, according to the king's account, 80
pieces of cannon and 8000 men ; but, according to
Gaudi's, 36 pieces of cannon and 6174 men.
The immediate consequence of this defeat was the
surrender of Breslau. On the 24th of November, gene-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 131
ral Lestwitz capitulated on the first summons. The royal
coffers and 98 pieces of cannon fell into the hands of
the Austrians. It was stipulated that the garrison should
have free egress from the city, but, out of the 5000 men
who composed it, only 182 remained true to their
colours ; all the rest accepted the bounty offered by the
Austrians. Early in the morning of the same day, the duke of
Bevern, riding out with a single groom upon pretext of
reconnoitring, approached so near to the Austrian ad
vanced posts that he was taken prisoner. Frederick
considered this captivity as voluntarily incurred to avoid
the account to which the duke knew that he should be
called. The conjecture appears more than plausible.
Bevern must have recollected the harshness with which
the king treated his own brother : and what sort of
reception could he expect from him after the loss of all
Silesia ! The court of Vienna paid him great respect,
and soon released him, as a relative of the imperial
family, without exchange. Frederick sent him in dis
grace to his government, Stettin, where he had occasion
in the following year to display his patriotism against
the Swedes, and also to form in Pomerania, according to
ideas of his own, battalions of recruits for completing
the army. Towards the conclusion of the war, when
the king recalled him to active service, he further dis
tinguished himself.
General Kyau, on whom the command of Bevern's
army now devolved, marched with it up the Oder to
Glogau, and was followed by Lestwitz, with the handful
of men brought by him from Breslau. Crossing the
river under Zieten's guidance, they then went to meet
k 2

1 32 COURT AND TIMES OF
the king, and formed a junction with him at Parchwitz.
Kyau and Lestwitz were both punished with confine
ment in a fortress ; Seers, the late governor of Schweid
nitz, on returning from captivity, was dismissed from the
service. The tidings of all these disasters reached the king at
once. Frederick, who in adversity never forsook his
army and his people, pursued his course, undaunted by
the discomfiture of his generals and the diminution of
his forces, and regardless of the severity of the season.
It is two hundred miles from Leipzig to Parchwitz,
where he was met by Zieten with the first regiments of
Bevern's army, and that distance he had performed with
14,000 men in 17 days without magazines. His corps
was always in cantonments, and those upon whom the
soldiers were quartered had orders to supply them with
the best. Full of the recollections of Rossbach, these
warriors soon communicated their own high spirits to
their Silesian comrades, whom the king treated in such
a manner that I gladly avail myself of his own words
to describe it. " The troops," says he, " which crossed
the Oder near Glogau to come back, could not form a
junction with those of the king before the 2d of Decem
ber. They were disheartened and depressed by their
previous defeat. The officers were touched in the point
of honour : they were desired to recollect their former
achievements ; means were employed to dispel the melan
choly ideas, whose impression was still fresh ; recourse
was even had to wine to cheer their dejected minds.
The king addressed the soldiers, and directed them to be
supplied gratuitously with provisions. All possible ex
pedients that time admitted of were practised to revive

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 133
that confidence without which it is vain to hope for
victory. Their countenances began to put on a more
cheerful look, and those who had beaten the French at
Rossbach persuaded their comrades to take courage. A
little rest recruited the strength of the soldiers, and the
army was ready on the first occasion to wipe away the
stain of the 22d of November. The king sought that
occasion, and he soon found it."
On the 4th his troops took Neumarkt, together with
a great quantity of provisions belonging to the enemy,
and prevented Daun from occupying the heights behind
that town. Frederick was determined to attack and
to bring on an engagement. It was represented to him
that the enemy's army was twice as strong as his. " I
know it," he replied, " but I have no other alternative
than to conquer or perish. I am determined to attack
them, were they even on the top of the church-steeples
of Breslau." Charles of Lorraine expected to annihi
late the king. Daun advised him to be cautious and to
maintain his position behind the Lohe ; while count
Luchesi said, in order to flatter the prince : " The Berlin
parade " — so he contemptuously denominated the Prus
sians — "will give your highness very little trouble."
The Imperialists quitted their secure camp on the Lohe,
advanced upon Lissa, and rejoiced the king by taking a
position which greatly facilitated his design. " The
fox has crept out of his hole," said he to prince Francis
of Brunswick ; " now I will punish his impertinence."
We know that in the most critical moments great
commanders have by sudden inspirations inflamed the
courage of their compatriots to the highest degree of
enthusiasm. " Forty centuries look down upon you from

134 COURT AND TIMES OF
the summits of these pyramids," said Bonaparte to his
soldiers, before his victory over the Mameluke Beys.
" England expects every man to do his duty," was the
electric signal of the inimitable Nelson to his fleet at
Trafalgar. Both touched with masterly skill the national
feelings of their men. Frederick, who possessed an
irresistible power of language, could not let slip the all-
decisive moment, without pointing out its importance in
a wonderfully impressive address. Assembling his gene
rals and staff-officers on the road between Neumarkt and
Leuthen, on a spot still marked by a birch tree, he made
a speech which Retzow, one of those who heard it, re
ports in these words : —
" ' It is known to you, gentlemen, that prince Charles
of Lorraine has taken Schweidnitz, defeated the duke
of Bevern, and made himself master of Breslau, while
I was forced to arrest the progress of the French and
of the troops of the Empire. Part of Silesia, my capi
tal and all my military stores there are in consequence
lost, and my misfortunes would be complete, did I not
place unbounded confidence in your courage, your forti
tude, and your patriotism, which you have proved on so
many occasions. I acknowledge with the deepest feel
ings of my heart these services rendered to the country
and to me. There is scarcely one of you who has not
distinguished himself by some great and honourable
deed ; I flatter myself, therefore, that on the present
occasion you will not fail to do all that the State has a
right to demand of your valour. That moment is at
hand. I should think that I had done nothing, if I
were to leave the Austrians in possession of Silesia.
Let me then apprize you that I shall attack, against all

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 135
the rules of the art, the army of prince Charles, nearly
thrice as strong as our own, wherever I find it. I say
nothing about the number of the enemy, nor the import
ance of the position which they have chosen ; all this I
hope the intrepidity of my troops and strict obedience
to my dispositions will strive to overcome. I must
venture upon this step, or all is lost : we must beat the
enemy, or all perish before his batteries. So I think —
so will I act. Make known this my determination to
all the officers of the army ; prepare the common sol
diers for the scenes which will soon ensue, and tell them
that I feel authorised to require of them unconditional
obedience. If you consider that you are Prussians,
you will certainly not render yourselves unworthy of the
name; but, should one or other of you be afraid to
share all dangers with me, he shall have his dismission
this very day, without incurring the slightest reproach
from me.'
" This speech," continues Retzow, "thrilled the blood
of the heroes present, kindled in their bosoms fresh
ardour to distinguish themselves by surpassing bravery,
and to sacrifice blood and life for their great sovereign,
who remarked this impression with extreme satisfaction.
A solemn silence, which succeeded on the part of his
auditors, arid the enthusiasiri which he could read in
their faces, assured him of the entire devotedness of
his army. With a complacent smile, he then pro
ceeded :
" ' I felt convinced beforehand that not one of you
would forsake me : I reckon therefore on your faith
ful aid and on certain victory. Should I fall, and
not be able to remunerate you for the services you

136 COURT AND TIMES OF
have rendered me, the country must do it. Now go
to the camp, and repeat to the regiments what I have
said to you.' "
Thus far Frederick had employed the tone of persua
sion in order to excite the enthusiasm of his hearers ;
but now, convinced of the irresistible power of his
words, he was again the king, and announced the pun
ishments which he should inflict on those who neglected
their duty.
" ' Any regiment of cavalry,' said he, ' which does not
immediately charge the enemy when it is ordered, shall
dismount immediately after the battle and be turned
into a garrison regiment. The battalion of infantry
which, be it where it may, begins to hesitate, shall lose
its colours and swords ; and shall have the lace cut off
its uniform. Now, gentlemen, farewell ; in a short time
we shall either have beaten the enemy, or we shall never
see one another again !'
" So well did the great king understand the rare art
of at once awakening confidence and instilling obedi
ence. His eloquence, and a peculiar emphasis which he
laid upon certain expressions, were so irresistible that —
I will boldly maintain — even the rudest and the most
unfeeling, nay even those who might have well-founded
reason to be dissatisfied with him, could not help being
filled with enthusiasm for him, when they heard him
speak thus from the heart. The feeling which the king
had kindled in the assembly was soon communicated to
all the other officers and soldiers in the army. The
Prussian camp rang with sounds of rejoicing. The old
warriors, who had won so many battles under Frederick
II., shook hands and promised faithfully to support one

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 137
another, and they besought the young not to shun the
enemy, but, in spite of resistance, to confront him boldly.
There was afterwards to be perceived in each a certain
inward feeling of confidence and firmness — usually the
happy omens of victory. With impatience the troops
awaited the order for breaking up ; and this little army,
picked men it is true, went cheerfully and contentedly
to meet its fate. What could not the king accomplish
with such troops, and what did he not effect by his
fertile genius !"
Thus far Retzow. Another account informs us that
when Frederick desired those who were afraid to leave
his army, deep emotion was visible in the faces of his
faithful officers. Major-general Rohr was so affected
that tears trickled down his cheeks. The king, touched
at the sight, embraced him and said : " My dear Rohr,
I did not mean you !" Profound silence prevailed for
some time, till a staff officer emphatically exclaimed :
" A scoundrel who does that ! We are all ready to lay
down our lives for your majesty !"
Frederick had occupied Bevern's camp with 33,000
men and 167 pieces of cannon. Daun and Serbelloni
advised the Austrian commander to await the king's
further movements, but Prince Charles, agreeably to the
suggestions of the more fiery spirits in his army, ad
vanced with 60,000 men to meet the Prussians. On the
4th of December he crossed the Schweidnitz water, with
the intention of pushing on to Parchwitz, and covering
Liegnitz. The march of the king disconcerted him.
The Austrian army, drawn up in order of battle between
Nypern and Leuthen, passed the night under arms.
At half-past four on the morning of the 5th, the

138 COURT AND TIMES OF
Prussian army broke up in four columns, headed by
the king himself. The troops, as they marched, struck
up a religious morning hymn, accompanied by the
regimental bands, beginning, as literally as I can render
it, thus : — Grant that I do whate'er I ought to do,
What for my station is by Thee decreed ;
And cheerfully and promptly do it too,
And when I do it, grant that it succeed !
An officer asked the king if he should stop their
singing. " Not upon any account," replied Frederick ;
" with such men God will certainly give me the victory
to-day." On a similar occasion Gustavus Adolphus had,
above a century before, himself composed and sung the
German hymn commencing : " Verzage nichf du Hauflein
klein." " Be of good cheer, my little band."
At Borna the king fell in with a line of cavalry which
had been pushed forward under the command of general
Nostitz. It was attacked with impetuosity, dispersed,
and for the most part taken by the Prussian cavalry.
The brave Nostitz, chagrined at this disaster, rushed
upon the sabres of the Prussian hussars, and received
fourteen wounds, of which he died two days afterwards.
Among the prisoners was a Prussian hussar, who had
deserted a day or two before. " Why did you leave
me ?" said the king to him. " Indeed, your majesty,"
replied the grenadier, a Frenchman by birth, " things
are going very badly with us." " Come, come," re
joined Frederick, "let us fight another battle to-day:
if I am beaten, we will desert together to-morrow;" and
with these words he sent him back to his colours.
From a hill near Heide the king reconnoitred the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 139
enemy's position, which was now exposed to view from
the centre to the left wing. The right was hid by the
coppice of Guckerwitz. The Austrians, alarmed for
their right wing, against which the first attack of the
Prussians seemed to be directed, immediately reinforced
it by the reserve from the centre and part of the cavalry
on the left wing. But no sooner had the Austrians
weakened their left wing than, to their great astonish
ment, they saw the whole Prussian army wheel to the
right, executing their evolutions with as much precision
as if they were on parade, and disappearing behind the
range of the Radaxdorf hills. Daun conceived that it
was retreating. " The Prussians are off," said he ;
" don't disturb them !" Presently, however, they were
again descried advancing between Lobetinz and Strieg-
witz, and threatening by this march the weakened left
wing and the flank of the enemy. Frederick himself
was stationed at the windmill of Lobetinz, where he
could overlook the movements of the army and make
the necessary dispositions for the battle. The king's
intention was to lead his whole army against the
enemy's left wing, then to wheel about, to overthrow
that wing, but to keep back his own left with such
caution as to prevent the occurrence of the fault that
had been committed at Prague and Kollin, and contri
buted to the disastrous issue of the latter engagement.
On the left wing of the Austrians were placed Wirtem-,
bergers, Bavarians, and Hungarians, who were pushed
forward to the pine-wood of Sagschiitz. Wedel made
the first attack upon these at one o'clock, with three
battalions and ten pieces of artillery ; he advanced in
spite of the enemy's fire, and drove them off. He then

140 COURT AND TIMES OF
moved to the right, and, supported by prince Maurice,
attacked a battery, near which the Wirtembergers and
Bavarians had rallied, with such irresistible fury, that
the latter threw away their arms and fled to Leuthen ;
while the rest of the troops strove to rally once more
behind Great Gohlau. But, as the left wing of the
Prussian army moved on in close line, and its advanced
guard had extended itself considerably to the right, it
turned the Austrians in snch a manner that six bat
talions were soon in their rear, and all the efforts of the
enemy to wrest their advantage from the Prussians
proved utterly vain. On the contrary, the divisions, as
they came up singly to the field of battle, were inva
riably thrown into confusion and put to flight. By
this time too the Prussian cavalry of the right wing had
overcome the difficulties of the ground, swamps, and
ditches, between Sagschiitz and Gohlau, and fallen upon
Nadasdy's dragoons. The garde du corps and gensd'armes
first attacked the flank of the Austrians, annihilated the
regiment of Modena, and took 2000 prisoners, chiefly
runaway Wirtembergers and Bavarians. Zieten's hus
sars, eager for the fight, now came up from the third
line without orders, and fell upon the confused masses,
which fled without stopping to the wood of Rathenau,
where they attempted to rally.
Thus was the enemy's left wing, upon which th&
Prussians contrived to fall with a superior force, routed
at the first onset ; and in this instance Frederick's tac
tics had produced a brilliant result. The Austrians,
however, collected their artillery behind Leuthen, and
hastened to send reinforcements to the left wing. In
order to gain a position parallel to the front of attack,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 141
their right wing was obliged to advance ; Luchesi, with
the cavalry of that wing, pushed on towards Heide ; and
the Austrian infantry closely concentrated itself in front
of Leuthen.
Meanwhile the Prussian army moved forward en
echelon, the battalions fifty paces apart, the right wing
a thousand paces in advance of the left. Falling with
dauntless intrepidity upon Leuthen, it took the village,
and captain Mbllendorf dislodged the enemy from the
churchyard, which was strongly occupied. Here victory
wavered for a painful half hour. Not only had the bat
talions separated in passing through the village, so that
it was difficult to re-unite them by means of the suc
ceeding echelons, but a tremendous fire of case-shot,
which received the left wing of the Prussians as they
came up behind Leuthen, made six battalions give way,
and neither by persuasions nor threats could they be
induced to keep their ground. At length, when lieu
tenant Retzow met the fugitives with a fresh battalion,
his father, the general, succeeded in renewing the en
gagement at this point, and leading his troops up to the
enemy. The Prussians were thereby enabled to keep
possession of Leuthen. Here the heavy artillery made
a dreadful carnage. Near the windmills of Leuthen the
Austrians were posted at least one hundred deep, and
the balls from a Prussian battery of heavy artillery,
falling upon these dense masses, swept down whole ranks.
Still they stood firm, and maintained their ground in supe
rior number. The victory, indeed, hung as yet upon a hair;
and, had not general Driesen come up with the cavalry,
the Prussians, in spite of the advantages which they
had won thus far, must have lost the battle, especially

142 COURT AND TIMES OF
as the Austrian right wing had not fired a single
round. It was already four o'clock, when general Luchesi,
having advanced to the heights of Leuthen, saw the left
flank of the Prussians exposed and prepared to fall upon
it. The advance of the Prussians upon Leuthen had been
till then concealed from his view by the range of heights
between Radaxdorf and Leuthen, and he could not yet
perceive the cavalry of their left wing, which, to the
amount of fifty squadrons, having been inarched up be
yond Radaxdorf, slowly moved on by the side of the in
fantry. At the moment when Luchesi was wheeling to
the left upon the flank of the Prussians, Driesen fell fu
riously upon him. Turning him with ten squadrons, he
directed the Bayreuth dragoons against his flank, and sent
Puttkammer's hussars into his rear, while he himself at
tacked in front with thirty squadrons. This most sea
sonable attack, which annihilated the Austrian cavalry;
or at least drove it from the field, decided the victory.
Luchesi was killed on the spot : his troops fled to Lissa.
This was a sign to the infantry, so closely pressed at
Leuthen, that all was lost ; and, like them, the yet un
touched troops of the right wing, who had not even been
engaged, flung away their arms, abandoned the artillery,
and fled to the bridges, pursued by the Prussian hussars.
Great numbers were cut in pieces or taken.
The regiments of Wallis and Durlach still maintained
their position on the windmill-hill before Leuthen ; but,
when general Meyer, with ten squadrons, fell upon their
rear, while the infantry attacked them in front, those
brave fellows yielded to superior force, and were mostly
made prisoners. The Austrians fled at all points in wild

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 143
disorder, and Nadasdy alone, with the left wing beaten
at the beginning of the conflict, covered in some degree
the retreat. Thus had Frederick's tactics, seconded by
the heroism of his gallant army, won a most brilliant
triumph, after a battle of four hours. It cost the con
querors 6000 men killed and wounded : 7400 of the
enemy strewed the field. Twenty thousand prisoners,
116 pieces of cannon, 51 pair of colours, and 4000 bag
gage-waggons were the trophies of the day.
The king lost no time in making amends to prince
Maurice of Dessau for the injustice with which he had
treated him at Kollin, when he threatened him for sup
posed disobedience with his sword, which he never drew
but on that disastrous day ; and he took his own pecu
liar way of doing so. He went to the prince, on the field
of battle between Leuthen and Frobelwitz. " I congra
tulate you on the victory, Mr. Fieldmarshal," said Fre
derick. Maurice, engaged with matters of professional
duty, did not pay particular attention to the terms of
the king's salutation. " Don't you hear ?" said he, in a
louder tone ; " I congratulate you, Mr. Fieldmarshal."
The prince now comprehended his drift, and thanked
him for the unexpected promotion. So highly did the
king appreciate the service rendered by Maurice in this
engagement, that he acknowledged — " You have assisted
me in this battle as no one ever yet assisted me" — a de
claration which, shortly before his decease, the prince
deposited in the archives of his house.
An old general was complimenting the king on the
victory he had gained. — " That," replied the king, em
phatically, " is the work of a higher power." — " Yes,"
replied the veteran, " and of your majesty's excellent

144 COURT AND TIMES OF
dispositions." — " Nay, nay," rejoined Frederick, " it is
all one."
The same feeling evidently pervaded the brave Prus
sian soldiers. W#hen night had put an end to the battle,
and they were still under arms in the field, surrounded
by dead and dying, a grenadier began singing the hymn,
Nun danket alle Gott — " Now let us praise the Lord" —
and was joined by all the 25,000 warriors who had sur
vived the bloody day. A sublimer Te Deum, methinks,
was never performed since it became the fashion for
men to offer thanksgivings to the God of peace and
mercy for enabling them to slaughter thousands of their
fellow-creatures. When the king saw the field of battle, and the dead
and wounded exposed to the inclemency of a December
night, he ejaculated, " When will my tribulations cease !"
Numerous traits of individual heroism exhibited on this
day have been recorded. " Brother soldiers," said a mu
tilated grenadier, rising, with the assistance of his mus
ket, to his comrades as they passed him, " fight like
brave Prussians. Conquer or die for your king."
Another, who had lost both legs, was found smoking
his pipe on the field. "What signifies my death!"
cried he, taking the pipe from his lips ; " is it not for
my king that I die !" Colonel Byla, commander of the
fuselier regiment Old Wirtemberg, being very severely
wounded, some of his men hastened to him, to carry
him off the ground. " Go, my lads," said he, " and do
your duty. I am provided for."
Frederick, as it may easily be supposed, had not
spared himself on this decisive day. A party of fifty
green hussars, picked men, commanded by lieutenant

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 145
Frankenberg, accompanied him from early morning in
his excursions. " Hark you, Frankenberg," said the
king to that officer, " in the battle that we are about to
fight to-day, I shall be obliged to expose myself more
than usual. You and your fifty men are to be my
escort. You must not quit me, and take care not to let
me fall into the hands of the canaille. If I fall, throw
your cloak over me immediately, and send for a carriage
which will be found behind the first battalion of the
guard. Put the body into the carriage, and say not a
word to any creature. The battle will continue and the
enemy be beaten."
Attended by a single page carrying his telescope, the
king rode to a hill a little to the right of Borna, where
he alighted, and looked through the glass which rested
on the shoulder of the page. Frankenberg, agreeably to
the directions which he had received, was not with the
rest of the king's retinue, but close behind him. " Nay,
nay," cried Frederick, motioning him back with his left
hand, " that was not what I meant. Keep further off
here." When the army had marched up, the heavy cavalry of
the first brigade was posted opposite to the churchyard,
where the Austrians had one of their strongest batteries.
In front of it were drawn up their light cavalry and nu
merous flankers to decoy the Prussians the more readily
to the attack. To ascertain what sort of ambuscade was
here prepared, prince Maurice ordered some flankers to
be sent to this point : the Austrians imprudently fired
upon them Avith their heavy artillery, and thus betrayed
their design. The prince was about to withdraw his
flankers, when the king came up. " No, no," cried Fre-
VOL. III. L

146 COURT AND TIMES OF
derick ; " your highness is wrong ; those shots are in
tended merely to alarm. Follow me, my lads !" The
flankers collected around him, and he led them back to
their former position. " Here," said he to them, " be
have like gallant fellows ; I will soon send you succour."
The enemy kept up his fire, and Maurice observed to
the king, that this position was too dangerous for him.
" Indeed, that is true," replied Frederick, coolly ; " but
I hope soon to drive them back."
After the battle, the king was apprehensive lest the
enemy might make a stand beyond the Schweidnitz
water : he therefore asked which battalions had a mind
to go with him to Lissa. Manteuffel's and Wedel's
grenadier battalions and the Bornstadt regiment imme
diately declared themselves ready to accompany him.
Zieten insisted that the enemy had not made a formal
retreat, and that it was only their last regiments which,
at nightfall, had fled in disorder. " I know," rejoined
the king, " that they are beaten, wholesale and retail,
and it will be so much the easier for us to occupy the
bridge near Lissa this very night. — How many charges
have you left ?" he asked, turning to the artillery-men.
"About twenty." — "That is enough. Come along;
and you, Zieten, stay with me. But send on some of
the hussars with you about thirty paces before us. We
will speak loud, that they may be guided by the sound
in the dark. — Hark ye, hussars, I shall have guns fired
now and then, but they shall not do you any harm : the
gunners shall take out the quoins of mire, and fire at
the greatest possible elevation, so that the balls may
fly further and rustle in the air, to keep the enemy on
the run  You have heard what I said, gunners ;

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 147
I shall always be close to you, and tell you when to
fire." On reaching the village of Sahra, a light was per
ceived in the public-house ; and, as it was so dark that
a man could not see his hand before him, the king
ordered a lantern to be brought. The landlord, afraid
of losing his lantern, brought it himself. The king
ordered him to walk by the side of his horse and to lay
hold of his stirrup. The party now proceeded along a
dyke planted on each side with willows, and the king
learned all that he wanted to know of his guide, who
was an honest fellow of the Protestant confession, and
not a little alarmed when he found at last that it was
the king with whom he had been talking.
While the party observed profound silence, in order
not to lose a word of the simple account of the country
man, which was far from favourable to the Austrians, it
had approached within three hundred paces of Lissa.
A number of musket-shots were suddenly fired from a
distance of thirty paces : these were chiefly directed at
the lantern, which almost touched the ground, and
wounded the legs of several of the horses. " Out with
the light !" was now the order, and away they scam
pered right and left between the willows into the dry
meadows. " But, good God, my dear Zieten," said the king,
" this could not possibly have happened, if the hussars
had, according to orders, kept thirty paces in advance."
The fact was that they too, wishing to hear the land
lord's story, had kept as close as possible to the king,
so that they had not perceived the post till the enemy
fired, and immediately ran away. l 2

1 48 COURT AND TIMES OF
The king might, it is true, have sent forward a couple
of squadrons and battalions, but it is probable that he
omitted to do so, lest he should harass the already ex
hausted troops. 'He now ordered one of his aides-de
camp to ride back speedily and to fetch up the above-
mentioned grenadier battalions, adding that he was per
fectly satisfied with the valour they had shown that
day ; that he wished them to take their quarters with
him for the night at Lissa ; and that every private
should receive a dollar in addition to his pay.
While Frederick was giving these orders, several
officers rode forward with the hussars, and came back
reporting that they had been close to Lissa, but seen
nothing of the enemy. The king now waited for the
two grenadier battalions, and entered Lissa at their
head. All was quiet, but many lights were observed in
the houses on either side. The king, still preceding the
grenadiers, having his retinue by his side, came to a
spacious place near the chateau, and about sixty paces
from the bridge across the Schweidnitz water. Out of
some of the houses came Austrian soldiers, with bundles
of straw on their backs : they were seized and taken to
the king. They told him that on the other side of the
bridge was posted a captain with 150 men, who had
orders to cover the bridge with straw, and to set it on
fire upon the approach of the Prussians. This state
ment was presently confirmed ; for the captain, apprised
of the circumstance, ordered his men to fire, and several
grenadiers were wounded beside and behind the king.
" Fall back," cried the artillery-men, " let us have a
slap at them too !" Those on horseback moved close to
the houses, lest they should run the same risk from

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 149
friend and foe. The gunners gave the enemy several
rounds, and the grenadiers fired over them. At this
moment a brisk fire was opened upon the Prussians
from the windows of all the houses : it was returned
by the grenadiers. All were shouting and commanding
at once. " Gentlemen," said the king with great com
posure, " follow me ; I'll tell you what to do."
He thereupon turned to the left over the drawbridge
leading to the chateau, followed by most of his aides-de
camp. Scarcely had they reached the door, when seve
ral Austrian officers, with candles in their hands, rushed
down stairs and out of the lower rooms to seek their
horses, which were waiting for them in the open place
before the chateau. The king alighted with his attend
ants. He accosted the enemy's officers with the greatest
sang-froid. " Good evening, gentlemen," said he. " I
dare say you did not expect me here. Can one get a
night's lodging along with you ?"
The Austrians were completely surprised. The prin
cipal generals and staff-officers, taking the candles from
the inferior officers and grooms, courteously lighted the
king up stairs into one of the first rooms, and, on enter
ing, presented themselves to the king, who inquired the
name and rank of each and entered into conversation
with them. A great number of Prussian generals suc
cessively entered. Frederick asked in surprise whence
they came, and was informed that his whole army was
marching upon Lissa. A misconception had occasioned
this movement, which was most opportune for the king.
Friends and foes were supplied with the best accommo
dations that the place afforded ; for it is scarcely neces-

150 COURT AND TIMES OF
sary to observe that all the Austrian officers were made
prisoners. The baron, to whom the chateau belonged,
now made his appearance. " I am very hungry indeed,"
said the king to him ; " I should like to have something
to eat."
The baron was under no little embarrassment, for the
Austrians had consumed every thing that was to be got
both in the chateau and in the village. There was no
other way but to collect what they had left, and make a
sort of ragout with these remnants, to which the king
sat down in high spirits and with an excellent appetite.
He conversed meanwhile with his host, who waited upon
him. All at once he looked stedfastly at him and signi
ficantly asked : " My dear baron, can you play at
pharao ?" The baron hesitated, for the question had no
sort of connexion with the previous conversation. He
knew that the king was an enemy to games of chance,
and timidly began : " When I was young  " — " Then
you know," cried Frederick, interrupting him, " what
Va banque is. That is the game I have been playing
to-day." Having finished his frugal meal, the king thanked the
generals who came to him for the parole in the most
gracious terms for the new proof they had given of
their zeal and valour, which he said would transmit their
names to the latest posterity. "After such a day's
work," he added, " rest is sweet," and retired.
The loss of the Prussians in superior officers was
not so great as might be expected. Major-general Kleist,
colonel By la, and major Auerswald were found among
the slain ; and the brave major-general Rohr died of

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 151
his wounds on the 12th of November. The total loss
of the Prussians amounted to about 6000, including
200 officers.
The Austrians had 3000 killed, 6000 wounded, and
lost 8000 prisoners, 116 pieces of cannon, 51 pair of
colours, and 4000 carts and waggons. Luchesi, Otter-
wolf, and prince Stolberg, were among the slain ; Haller,
Maguire, Lascy, prince Lobkowitz, and Pressack, were
severely wounded ; and Nadasdy and O'Donnell be
came prisoners of war.
Napoleon, who insists that in regard to tactics Frede
rick never did any thing but what had been practised
by generals ancient and modern in all ages, admits
that " the battle of Leuthen serves to immortalize the
moral character of Frederick, and to prove his ex
traordinary military talents ;" and in another place he
calls this victory " a master-piece of movements, ma
noeuvres, and resolution, which would alone suffice to
immortalize Frederick and to rank him among the great
est generals."
Night favoured the retreat of the beaten army,
Zieten, with his hussars, pursued the fugitives to
Bohemia, taking a great quantity of baggage and
many prisoners, and that general and Fouque, who
had succeeded to the command of Winterfeld's corps,
completely cleared the open country of the Aus
trians. Schweidnitz alone, with a garrison of 7000
men, remained in their possession. Colonel Werner
scoured Upper Silesia and occupied Jagerndorf and
Troppau. The king himself marched on the 6th of
November from Lissa, and invested Breslau. The city
was occupied by a very strong garrison, commanded by

152 COURT AND TIMES OF
general Sprecher. On being summoned, he not only-
refused to give up the place, but erected several gibbets
for those who should talk of surrender. The trenches
were opened on the 10th; the ditches began to be
frozen ; and a bomb, falling upon a powder-magazine,
blew up a bastion with 800 men. Apprehensive of an
assault, Sprecher capitulated on the 19 th, in compli
ance with the orders of the commander-in-chief. The
garrison, consisting of 12,000 men, with 5000 sick and
wounded, became prisoners of war; and 81 pieces of
cannon, besides those belonging to the fortifications, fell
into the hands of the Prussians.
During this short siege, Frederick had his head-quar
ters at the house of a peasant at Rothkretscham. The
cold was intense, and the troops pulled down barns,
stables, and houses, to procure fuel. The dragoons even
fell foul of the woodwork at head-quarters, regardless
of the remonstrances of the officer on duty. The latter,
finding himself obliged to resort to violence, ordered
out the guard. " The first man," said he, " who dares
touch a piece of wood shall be fired at." The soldiers
laughed, conceiving that he was not in earnest. Frederick
heard the noise and called the officer to inquire what
was the matter. On being told, " That is not the right
way," said he. " Wait a moment ; I will soon put a
stop to the mischief." He went outside the door.
" Dragoons," said he, " if you go on in this manner, I
shall have the snow coming in upon my bed : I am cer
tain you would not wish that." — Thenceforward the
king's quarters were not molested.
On the 22d of December, the king attended the
thanksgiving sermon preached by inspector Burg in the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 153
church of St. Elizabeth at Breslau : his gratitude to
God and his joy were equalled only by his modesty.
" Your friendship," he writes to d'Argens, " misleads
you. I am only a schoolboy compared with Alexan
der, and not worthy to loose the latchets of Caesar's
shoes. Necessity, the mother of all invention, has set
me to work, and instigated me to employ desperate
remedies for desperate evils."
The Prussians recovered Liegnitz on the 20th of De
cember, so that all Silesia was again in their possession,
excepting the fortress of Schweidnitz, which the king
ordered Fouque to invest, as the winter season pre
vented a formal siege.
Meanwhile prince Charles of Lorraine, mortified by
the severe animadversions and the cutting sarcasms
called forth by his disasters at Vienna, resigned the
command of the Austrian army and retired with general
Sprecher to Brussels. Out of the army under his com
mand, Daun took back no more than 37,000 men to
Bohemia. With these he drew a cordon along the
frontiers of Silesia, and went into winter - quarters.
Zieten did the same on the Prussian side, while Frede
rick, with the main army, wintered in the environs of
Breslau. Prince Henry commanded in Saxony, and
Keith covered the frontier of that country against the
Austrians. We have seen what paternal kindness Frederick mani
fested for Silesia, and what pains he took to gain the
affections of the inhabitants of all classes, both high and
low. When fortune seemed for a moment to favour the
arms of the former ruler, many, of the Catholic clergy
in particular, hastened to renounce their allegiance to

154 COURT AND TIMES OF
the new sovereign. But Frederick was most grieved,
perhaps, by the ingratitude of a man who was indebted
to him for his elevation. This was count Schaffgotsch,
whom he had appointed to succeed cardinal Sinzendorf,
as prince-bishop of Breslau and primate of the whole
Catholic church in his dominions. Frederick, moreover,
conferred on him the order of the Black Eagle, and
assigned him apartments in the palace at Potsdam.
Even in 1757 Schaffgotsch had visited the king at
Hainau, and accompanied him to Dresden. But though
the pope himself had exhorted the bishop to show, in
every way, his loyalty to a sovereign so well disposed
towards the Catholic church, he repaid Frederick's
bounty with such ingratitude that the Austrians them
selves could not help expressing their reprobation. When
the Imperialists had taken Breslau, the recreant bishop
not only expressed the utmost contempt for the Prussian
monarch, but trampled under foot the order with which
he had invested him. When the balance turned in Fre
derick's favour, Schaffgotsch, feeling himself unsafe in
his diocese, retired to Moravia. In January, 1758, he
wrote from Nicolsburg, to assure the king of his attach
ment. " I shall leave you to your fate," replied his
majesty, " convinced that such inexcusable conduct as
yours will draw upon itself the punishment that it de
serves. You will not escape either the divine wrath or
the execration of men ; for, corrupt as they may be,
they are not so depraved as not to abhor the ungrateful
and traitors." Repulsed by the court of Vienna, Schaff
gotsch resided during the war partly in Rome, partly in
Moravia. His revenues were sequestrated. At the
peace of Hubertsburg he was permitted to return to

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 155
Silesia, but Oppeln was assigned for his residence. The
administration of the episcopal possessions was dis
solved; but when, in 1766, the bishop removed clan
destinely to the Austrian territory, the king ordered
his revenues to be again sequestrated, and forbade the
clergy to hold further communion with him. The pope
then appointed an apostolical vicar.
The king was well aware of the enmity of a great por
tion of the Catholic clergy of Silesia to his government.
The joy of the friars there on the surrender of the city
to the Austrians was equalled only by their consternation
when it was retaken by Frederick. Knowing their sen
timents, he contented himself with quartering the Aus
trian prisoners of war upon the convents. He sent them,
at the same time, this message. " As I know that the
Austrians are your bosom friends, I wish to afford you
the pleasure of supplying their wants. I am persuaded
that you will take great care of these, your good friends ;
but, to induce you to pay them still greater attention,
I shall require of you 20 dollars for each of your guests
who is not forthcoming."
Another person who about this time proved himself
unworthy of the king's kindness was the Abbe de Prades.
Frederick, on the recommendation of d'Alembert, had,
in 1752, appointed this man successor to d'Arget in the
office of reader ; and in 1757 he was just about to confer
on him a rich prebend in the cathedral of Breslau, when
it was discovered that he was plotting to betray his
royal patron to the French. In fact, de Prades con
victed himself in a etter written by him in 1756 from
Potsdam to the marquis de Valori, French ambassador
in Berlin. He was sent to Magdeburg for some time,

156 COURT AND TIMES OF
lived subsequently at Glogau on a benefice that was
given him there, and died in 1782. Le Cat succeeded
him in the post of reader, or rather of private secretary,
for such Thiebault assures us Le Cat actually was. Fre
derick, he says, was fond of reading himself, and the
person whom he kept as reader had no other duty to
perform but to listen to him. Besides, he adds, Le Cat
had a weak, faint, and disagreeable voice, whence
Thiebault doubts whether he ever read any thing to the
king excepting the letters which were given to him to
report upon ; " at least," says he, " I can affirm that,
whenever the king could not read himself, it was I who
read to him when he was in Berlin, and this I have done
even when Le Cat was present."
It is not possible to describe the enthusiasm which
Frederick's fortitude under adversity and his recent
brilliant successes kindled not only in his own do
minions and throughout Germany, but in almost every
country in Europe. His achievements inspired the poets
— they were celebrated by Schubert, Rammler, Wieland,
but above all by Gleim, who has been justly denominated
the Tyrtseus of Prussia. Father Gleim, as he is com
monly called by the Germans, is a man of whom some
notice is indispensable in the memoirs of the great king.
Born at Ermsleben, in the principality of Halber
stadt, in 1719, Gleim studied, under many privations
from his straitened circumstances, at Halle ; and then
accepted the office of domestic tutor in the family of
colonel Schultz at Potsdam, where he became acquainted
with prince William, son of the margrave of Branden
burg Schwedt, who took him into his service as secre
tary. It was at this time that Gleim became acquainted

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 157
with Kleist, afterwards celebrated in Germany as the
author of a poem on Spring : they soon became intimate
friends, and so continued till Kleist's death. In 1744
the second Silesian war parted them, and deprived Gleim
of his kind patron, who fell before Prague. In the fol
lowing year he entered as secretary into the service of
the old Dessauer, but soon quitted him on account of
what he regarded as an act of unnecessary cruelty : the
prince, namely, caused a Jew, who in Gleim's opinion
was perfectly innocent, to be hanged on the 6 th of
December, 1745, in the camp near Dieskau, merely be
cause he suspected him of being a spy.
After passing two years in Berlin, where he published
his first poetical works, Gleim was appointed, in 1747,
secretary to the chapter of the cathedral of Halberstadt.
There he came into contact with most of those eminent
writers to whom German literature owes its revival;
and with many of them he contracted a close friendship,
for friendship was the element of his life. His Military
Songs, which have made his name more popular as a
poet than any other of his compositions, celebrated the
splendid achievements of the great Frederick, in a tone
and with a fire and energy surpassed, perhaps, only by
the spirit-stirring strains of Theodore Kbrner. These
pieces, written in the character of a Prussian grenadier,
the author transmitted to Kleist, who circulated them
in the army to which he belonged ; and they were soon
universally diffused and sung, not by the soldiers only,
but by the people in general ; though they were not
published in a collective form till 1 778.
On the 22nd of December, 1785, their author was
admitted to an interview with the king ; and on leaving

158 COURT AND TIMES OF
the palace he said to duke Frederick Augustus of Bruns
wick : " Oh ! how I wish that I had the old hat which
the king wore when I spoke with him !" The duke
promised to procure it for him after Frederick's death,
and kept his word. Not many days after the decease
of the king in the following August, this hat was for
warded to the poet, with a letter from the duke, certi
fying that it was the same which the king had upon his
head the morning before he expired.
Respecting the above-mentioned interview, Gleim ob
served profound silence, not only towards the public, but
also to his most intimate friends. From a poetical squib,
containing the only allusion to the subject that was to be
found among his manuscript papers, and given by Preuss
in the third volume of his Life of Frederick, we may,
however, infer that the conversation was of too trivial a
nature to prove very flattering to so useful a coadjutor as
the author of the Songs of a Prussian Grenadier had
proved himself to the great king at the most critical period
of his reign.
After Frederick's death Gleim's enthusiasm for the
great king was converted into glowing patriotism. The
French revolution filled him with horror. To the Ger
mans he incessantly preached up union, and a conflict
for life or death, in behalf of the independence of the
country. During the last two years of his life, he was
totally blind, but still continued to take the same warm
interest as ever in the great events of the times, till his
decease in 1803. Agreeably to his direction, he was
buried in his own garden near Halberstadt. His col
lected works were published there in eight volumes,
1811-13.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 159
Gbthe, who was at this time a youth of 17 or 18, has
given a lively picture of the dissensions excited in fami
lies in consequence of Frederick's popularity. " The
world," he says, " was split at once into two parties, and
our family was a miniature of the great whole. My
grandfather, who, as bailiff of Frankfurt, was one of the
bearers of the canopy over Francis I. at his coronation,
and had been presented by the empress with a heavy
gold chain and her portrait, was, with some of his daugh
ters and his sons-in-law, on the Austrian side. My father,
who had been appointed imperial councillor by Charles
VII., and who had warmly sympathized in the fate of that
unfortunate monarch, inclined, with the smaller half of
his family, to the Prussians. The bickerings usual among
brothers-in-law now took a definite form in which they
could be expressed. My grandfather, who was before
a mild, quiet, easy man, became irritable. Discussions,
disputes, quarrels, ensued. The ladies strove in vain
to extinguish the flame, and, after several unpleasant
scenes, my father absented himself from the company.
We now rejoiced at home undisturbed at the Prussian
victories, of which one of my aunts exultingly brought
us accounts. All other interests gave place to this, and
we spent the remainder of the year in ceaseless agitation.
The occupation of Dresden, the moderation of the king,
his slow but sure progress, the victory of Lowositz, the
surrender of the Saxons, were so many triumphs for our
party. All that could be said in favour of the adverse
side was denied or extenuated ; and, as the opposing
members of the family pursued the same course, they
could scarcely meet in the streets without acting over
again the scenes that occur in Romeo and Juliet.

160 COURT AND TIMES OF
" Thus, then, I became a partisan of Prussia, or rather
of Fritz — for what was Prussia to us ? It was the per
sonal qualities of the great king that operated upon all
minds. I rejoiced with my father at our victories, was
fond of copying the verses written upon them, and still
more the satires upon the opposite party, slender as their
poetical merit might be."
The French themselves joined in those popular songs
in praise of Frederick, and in depreciation of their own
unworthy commanders. Nay, Duclos tells us that, after
the victories of Rossbach and Leuthen, in the salons, in
the promenades, in the theatres of Paris, you met with
more partisans of Prussia than of France. " The few,"
he says, " who were in the French interest durst scarcely
express their sentiments."
But no where, perhaps, had Frederick found more en
thusiastic admirers than in England. Here, in the autumn
of 1757, William Pitt had been appointed foreign secre
tary of state. He called the Prussian monarch the firm
est bulwark of Europe against the mightiest and basest
league that ever threatened the liberties of mankind, and
infused new life into the British cabinet, by insisting that
America must be conquered in Germany. So great a
favourite was Frederick with the people, that they cele
brated his birthday with the same honours as that of their
own sovereign, and his victories with illuminations. Both
houses of parliament rang with his praise. It was pro
posed to raise a subscription in aid of his efforts ; and
lady Salisbury did actually send him a sum of money as
a present through her banker. Pitt availed himself of
this universal enthusiasm to conclude a new treaty of
alliance and subsidy with Prussia on the 11th of April,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 161
1758, in London, ensuring to the king the yearly sum of
^6670, 000, which his monetary ingenuity, sharpened by
necessity, contrived to convert into ten million dollars.
The English subsidies, it is true, were not exactly what
the king wanted ; he would rather have seen a fleet in
the Baltic, which would have relieved him from all alarm
about his rear, but that Great Britain declined furnish
ing ; and Prussia and Westphalia being drained by the
enemy, he was obliged to accept aid in money. The dis
graceful convention of Kloster Zeven was annulled on the
26th of November ; and, as William III. had selected the
Brandenburg field-marshal Schomberg to assist in assert
ing his claims to the English throne, so George II. applied
to Frederick for duke Ferdinand of Brunswick to com
mand his German troops at Stade.
Ferdinand, fourth son of Ferdinand Albert, duke of
Brunswick, was born in 1721. He entered into the
Prussian service in 1740, as colonel and commander of
the regiment which his brother, the reigning duke Charles,
placed in the Prussian service. He was most graciously
received by the king, and continued about his person till
the breaking out of the first Silesian war. This and the
succeeding war were a good school for the young soldier,
who distinguished himself on various occasions, particu
larly at the battle of Sorr, after which Frederick, who
had invested him in 1742 with the order of the Black
Eagle, presented him with the reversion to the lordships
of Pless and Beuthen, saying, " Here I give you what I
owe you." This reversion the duke sold to count Prom-
nitz for 30,000 dollars. In 1743, he was promoted to
be major-general; in 1750, lieutenant-general; and, in
1755, appointed governor of Magdeburg. Ferdinand
VOL. III. M

162 COURT AND TIMES OF
contributed to decide the victory of Prague, by breaking-
through the enemy's line, and leading some battalions
into the chasm. He continued to distinguish himself
till towards the conclusion of 1757, when Sir Andrew
Mitchell, on behalf of the English government, solicited
the king of Prussia to give a commander to the allied
British and Hanoverian army in the person of the duke.
Frederick complied. After the victory of Rossbach,
Ferdinand proceeded to his new destination, and arrived
on the 22d of November at Stade.
The subsequent career of the duke gained him the cha
racter of an accomplished general ; but, though he was
now responsible only to the crown whose forces he com
manded, yet Frederick, to whose military service he in
fact still belonged, was desirous of exercising a decisive
influence upon the operations of the army under the duke.
If Ferdinand felt mortified and fettered in some measure
by this pretension of his old master, we see him acting
with an humble friend in a kind of concert, of which mi
litary history furnishes no other example. Philip West-
phal, the duke's secretary, who constantly lived with him
in head-quarters, not only planned all the great strategi
cal operations, but even the minutest details, as may be
seen by the original papers deposited at the general staff
of the Prussian army in Berlin. Ferdinand weighed these
ideas, sometimes objected to them, and then executed the
result of their joint conceptions. All was transacted
between them in writing, each in his own apartment.
Thus Westphal may be said to have performed the duty
of the general staff for his prince ; and Ferdinand felt no
jealousy of his incomparable friend, who was ennobled
after the peace. On the contrary, it redounds greatly

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 163
to his honour to have discovered the rare military genius
of his humble secretary, and to have made it a touchstone
of his own ideas. On his arrival at Stade, the duke,
without loss of time, set about the moral and physical
re-organization of the troops which he was to command.
He persuaded his brother, the reigning duke of Bruns
wick, to send back his contingent, which he had with
drawn j the landgrave of Hesse, who had been driven
almost to despair by the excesses of the French, entrusted
to him his little force ; Frederick sent him some regi
ments of cavalry, so that before the end of the year he
was at the head of an army of 36,000 men. He occupied
Harburg, invested the citadel garrisoned by the French,
sent general Diepenbrock to Bremen and Verden, and
marched with the principal corps of 26,000 men against
Richelieu, who precipitately evacuated the whole country
between the Elbe and the Aller, and took up a strong
camp behind the latter river near Celle. Ferdinand
would have driven him from this position had not the
severity of the season put an end to his operations.
About this time, Richelieu received an intimation that he
was soon to be superseded by a Benedictine abbot, the
count de Clermont. The rapacious general resolved to
make good use of his time, and sent 9000 men under
general d'Argenson to Halberstadt, with instructions to
plunder and to commit the most inhuman extortions.

M 2

164 COURT AND TIMES OF

CHAPTER XXXI.
Campaign of 1758 — The general enthusiasm in behalf of the King facili
tates the recruiting of the Prussian Army — Provincial Militia — Plan of
Frederick's Enemies in this Campaign — Operations of Duke Ferdinand
of Brunswick — Flight of the French across the Rhine — Battle ofCrefeld
— English troops sent to join the Duke — Advantages gained by the French
— The Saxon Corps — Operations in Silesia — Reduction of Schweidnitz
by the Prussians — Frederick makes an incursion into Moravia, and lays
siege to Ollmiitz — The Austrians intercept a large Prussian Convoy, and
oblige the King to raise the Siege — He retreats to Bohemia, and thence
to Silesia — The Russians, under Count Fermor, again take possession of
East Prussia, and force the Inhabitants to swear allegiance to the Em
press — Their Cruelty — The King hastens to meet the Invaders, who bom
bard and destroy Ciistrin — His visit to that place — Battle of Zorndorf —
Loyalty of the Prussians to their rightful Sovereign — Frederick makes
the Saxons swear allegiance to him — Plot of the Russian Prisoners at
Ciistrin — Secret Treaty of December 1758 between France and Austria.
Frederick passed the winter at Breslau, refreshing
his heart in the society of friends and of the Muses,
and making energetic preparations for the next cam
paign. He would have preferred peace, which he
offered in vain after the victory of Leuthen to the em
press-queen, through prince Lobkowitz, one of his pri
soners. Pitt also made pacific overtures, but Keith,
the English ambassador, exerted himself to no purpose
at the court of Petersburg, where Austria, France, and
Saxony, were all-powerful. Goderich, sent for the like
purpose to Stockholm, was not allowed by the French
party to cross the frontiers. Even Denmark concluded
a subsidiary treaty with France against Prussia, but
this threw very little weight into the scale, as the court
of Copenhagen was decidedly adverse to war.
Six pitched battles, severe marches, disasters of all

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 165
kinds, and contagious diseases, had, during the campaign
of 1757, reduced the Prussian army to one-third of its
original complement ; but such were the efforts made to
recruit and reinforce it during the winter, that, in April,
1758, it was again complete as to number and well
equipped. Not only did the cantons of Frederick's
dominions furnish their respective quotas, but great
numbers of foreigners and deserters, attracted by the
fame of the Prussian arms, enlisted under his banners.
The extraordinary popularity of the king mainly con
tributed to this effect. Painters could not produce
portraits of him fast enough to supply the demand in
England and Switzerland. The general enthusiasm
spread to the ranks of his adversaries. The French
army, the officers in particular, extolled Frederick and
duke Ferdinand, and discouraged their own soldiers,
while they revelled inactive in luxurious indulgence.
These sentiments were most beneficial to the king :
they served to complete his ranks and to infuse con
fidence into the new army ; so that Frederick found
himself again at the head of 200,000 infantry and
50,000 cavalry.
In the campaign of 1757, the king, as we have seen,
had been obliged to abandon his Westphalian provinces,
as well as Prussia^ to their fate. At the instigation of
Hertzberg, then councillor of legation, but afterwards
minister and a personal friend of the king's, his coun
trymen, the Pomeranians, raised in a few weeks ten
battalions of militia, of 500 men each, to oppose the
Swedes, who had invaded their country ; and this -ex
ample was followed by Magdeburg and the electorate
of Brandenburg. The states of those two provinces

166 COURT AND TIMES OF
voluntarily raised each 2000 men, whom they main
tained at their own expense till the peace ; and these
militia not only defended bravely the fortresses of Col-
berg, Stettin, Ciistrin, Magdeburg, and Berlin itself,
but kept up the petty war against the Russians and
Swedes in Pomerania and the New Mark with great
success. This proof of active patriotism in times of
danger was not more serviceable than gratifying to the
king, who ever afterwards regarded the province which
had set the example with particular favour; for, in
a political testament deposited in the Berlin archives,
he advises his successors to rely most especially on the
Pomeranian population, and to consider it as the main
prop of the Prussian monarchy.
The plan of Frederick's enemies in this campaign
was to press him closely on all sides — the Russians on
the Oder, the French on the Elbe, the Austrians in
Silesia and Saxony ; and then, by finally uniting their
forces, to crush him completely. The king, on his part,
purposed that duke Ferdinand of Brunswick should
keep the French in check, while he repelled the Aus
trians. To this end, it was requisite that he should, in
the first place, reduce Schweidnitz ; he then designed,
by an incursion into Moravia, to entice Daun to meet
him ; while prince Henry was to annihilate the army of
the empire, and to make himself master of Prague.
When he should have crippled the Austrians in Bohemia
and Moravia, he intended to turn, according to circum
stances, either against the Russians, whom he held very
cheap, or against the French, and to beat them. But
in case the cautious Daun should shun a battle, he
would endeavour at least to draw him away from

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 167
Bohemia, that prince . Henry might have a clear stage
for his operations.
Agreeably to this general plan, duke Ferdinand was
the first to take the field, for the purpose of driving
80,000 French from the soil of Germany with a dis
heartened force of 30,000 men. He was accompanied
by his nephew, the hereditary prince of Brunswick,
whose high-spirited mother, a sister of Frederick's,
when taking leave of him before the regiment of the
guard, said to her son : " I forbid you to appear again
in my presence unless you have performed deeds worthy
of your birth and your relatives." Count Clermont,
abbot of St. Germain des Pres, a prince of the blood,
arrived in Hanover, on the 14th of February, to super
sede Richelieu, just as the allies were beginning to
move. Learning that prince Henry also was advancing
upon Brunswick, he commenced his operations with a
precipitate flight, evacuated all Lower Saxony, Bruns
wick, Hanover, and Hildesheim, and appointed the left
bank of the Weser, between Hameln and Minden, for
the rendezvous of his troops. But when the garrison
of Hameln, consisting of 3500 men, surrendered, after
a siege of six days, in spite of its previous boasting,
Clermont continued his flight, without intermission, by
the worst roads, and in the most inclement weather, to
Diisseldorf, and did not deem himself safe till he had
the Rhine between him and his pursuing enemy. Maga
zines, baggage, military chests, and stores, together with
11,000 men, fell into the hands of Ferdinand.
The western provinces of Prussia, of which the French
had taken possession in the name of the empress Maria
Theresa, were meanwhile evacuated by those plunderers.

168 COURT AND TIMES OF
When their last detachment, with fifteen baggage-wag
gons, was on the point of crossing the Ems at Leerort,
some playful boys shouted r " Black hussars ! black
hussars!" Such was the terror excited by the very
name of those troops, that the fugitives broke open
some of the trunks and chests, took out the, most
valuable effects, and leaped into the boats, leaving the
rest to the mercy of the populace.
Ferdinand, after resting between Minister and Cbs-
feld, to recruit his army and to establish magazines,
followed the enemy across the Rhine on the 1st of June.
At length, on the 23d of that month, Clermont resolved
to give battle to his pursuers in the plain of Crefeld,
where, in spite of his greatly superior force and ad
vantageous position, his daring adversary attacked him
with such spirit, that he was defeated with the loss of
4000 men, three pieces of cannon, and six pair of
colours. This victory, indecisive in itself, led to the re
duction of Rbrmonde and Diisseldorf. In Paris it
produced the same kind of impression as the glorious
day of Rossbach. The people were delighted to have
to add to the " Prince de Sottise" and the " Petit Pere
la Maraude" a warrior priest, who "preached like a
soldier and fought like an apostle." The latter was
superseded on the 7th of July by lieutenant-general
de Contades, who was directed by Belleisle, the French
minister at war, " to convert Hanover and Westphalia
into a desert, and to leave not a vestige of any growing
thing but the roots in the ground."
Meanwhile, Wesel and Gelders were still in the hands
of the French ; and Soubise, who was yet behind the
Lahn, occupied Frankfurt and Hanau. Ferdinand could

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 169
not leave more than 5000 men, chiefly Hessian militia,
under the prince of Isenburg, to cover Hesse. This
corps was defeated at Sandershausen by the duke de
Broglio, and the main army was in consequence obliged
to fall back.
The people of England, who idolized the king of
Prussia, were filled with exultation by the victory of
Crefeld. Pitt influenced both houses in favour of
Frederick, and parliament voted that 18,000 men should
be sent to Germany. On the 10th of July, the king
reviewed these troops, amounting, however, to no more
than 12,000, in Hyde Park, and they embarked at
Harwich, on the 26th, for Emden. They consisted
chiefly of the regiments of the guards, and 2000 High
landers, and were commanded by the duke of Marlbo
rough, who had under him lords Blandford, Waldegrave,
Sackville, and other officers of distinction. They formed
in every respect a splendid corps, which joined the
allies at Coesfeld, without molestation, on the 20th
of August.
By Ferdinand's success on the left bank of the Rhine,
the corps of Prince Soubise, which was to have pro
ceeded to Bohemia, was detained near the Mayn. To
this corps of 25,000 men, Broglio's victory at Sanders
hausen opened the way to the electorate of Hanover.
While Ferdinand turned off to Lippstadt, Contades fol
lowed him over the Rhine near Wesel ; but the duke
succeeded in his object of preventing the junction of
the two French armies. That of Contades, now pro
moted to marshal, was 75,000 strong. Ferdinand at
first sent general Oberg against Soubise, who, on the
10th of October, defeated his antagonist at Lutternberg,

170 COURT AND TIMES OF
and thus furnished his patroness, the marquise de Pom
padour, with a pretext for procuring him the marshal's
staff. Content with this advantage, Soubise went into
winter-quarters between the Rhine and Mayn, as did
Contades between the Rhine and Meuse, and Ferdinand,
after recalling Oberg's corps, between the Rhine and
Weser. Soubise owed his victory chiefly to some of those
Saxon regiments taken at Pirna, which Frederick had
attempted to transform into Prussian. Being left to
gether, they had deserted in troops, and fled to Hungary,
where twelve new regiments were formed with them.
These were taken into the pay of France, and they were
commanded by Francis Xavier, second son of the king
of Poland, who assumed the title of count of Lusatia.
These troops had been presented by the dauphiness with
24 new pieces of cannon, on which were engraved her
name and the arms of Saxony ; in May new colours had
been given to them with great ceremony near Vienna ;
and, marching through Bavaria to Strasburg, they had
joined Contades' army at Andernach. They distin
guished themselves in every action ; but the officers
included in the capitulation of Libenstein, and who had
been dismissed on their parole, were justly condemned
for joining the ranks of the count of Lusatia, which
Frederick summoned them to quit.
The king commenced operations in Silesia by forming
a camp of observation between Landeshut and Friedland,
to cover the siege of Schweidnitz, which was conducted
by general Treskow, under whom colonel Balbi acted as
engineer. Count Thiirheim defended the place till the
Gallows fort was taken by storm, on the 15th of April,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 171
when he surrendered. Such was the scarcity of provi
sions in the place, that the garrison and the inhabitants
must have been famished during the winter, had not an
unexampled mortality diminished the consumption.
The Imperialists, who three months before amounted to
9000 men, marched only 1500 strong out of the fortress.
Patient under hardships, loyal to their sovereign, and
yet not malicious against the enemy, the citizens inva
riably manifested the most laudable sentiments. During
this war the town was four times taken, three times by
formal siege and once by starvation, and twice plun
dered ; and under all these afflictions the patriotism of
the inhabitants justly acquired it the reputation of being
one of the most loyal cities in the kingdom.
Daun, who, on the resignation of prince Charles of
Lorraine, had been appointed to the command of the
Austrian army in Bohemia, was too much occupied in
repairing the losses which it had sustained to make any
attempt to prevent the fall of Schweidnitz. Appre
hending an incursion of the Prussians into Bohemia, he
ordered all the roads to be broken up and whole woods
to be cut down to obstruct the march of the king.
Frederick's plan was to make a diversion in Moravia,
and, by the speedy reduction of Ollmutz, to draw Daun
out of Bohemia. Accordingly, he marched with 38,000
men by Neustadt, Jagerndorf, and Troppau, driving
general de Ville out of Upper Silesia, and ascended the
Nickelsberg before Daun received intelligence of this
unexpected movement. The Austrian commander then
quitted his strong camp at Skalitz, but, instead of anti
cipating the king, as he might have done, he posted
himself on the frontiers near Leitomischl, and merely

1 72 COURT AND TIMES OF
sent generals Janus and Loudon to watch the move
ments of his adversary.
On the 3d of May the Prussian army arrived before
Ollmiitz, the garrison of which, after de Ville's retreat
into the fortress, amounted to 9000 men. Frederick's
plan was founded on the speedy surrender of the place,
but it was frustrated by the obstacles which he had to
encounter. The fortifications had been much strength
ened and repaired ; the place was amply supplied with
provisions and stores ; and Marschall, the commandant,
possessed all the firmness and talents requisite for his
post. While Frederick himself marched with his corps
of observation to meet Daun, he left marshal Keith to
conduct the siege. For this service he had only 6000
men, and his supply of artillery and stores was equally
scanty. At Schweidnitz, Balbi had reason to complain
of the parsimony of the king on this point, and of the
infinite hardships which the soldiers had to encounter :
but these inconveniences were much more severely felt
at Ollmiitz. The besiegers were unable to invest the
place closely, so that the garrison could receive one
reinforcement after another and provisions in abundance.
The inundation of the river Morawa was also an advan
tage to the enemy, as on that account the town could
be attacked on one side only.
After a blockade of seventeen days, the siege was,
nevertheless, commenced, but the trenches were opened
at such a distance that the Prussian bombs fell short of
the town. Considerable time was occupied in correcting
this fault ; but, on a nearer approach, the enemy's fire
was found to be far superior to that of the besiegers,
who were, moreover, annoyed by successful sallies, in

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 173
one of which ten pieces of their cannon were spiked.
Their ammunition began to run short, so that a certain
quantity only could be allov, ed for each day. The fate
of the fortress now depended on the safe arrival of a
Prussian convoy of 3000 waggons, with provisions,
ammunition, and money, which was coming from
Troppau, escorted by the brave colonel Mosel with
9000 men, to whom Zieten was sent with a detachment
for its further protection. This circumstance was well
known to the enemy.
The dilatory Daun now came but too soon with his
numerous army from Konigingratz. It was anything
but an agreeable surprise to Frederick to see him arrive
at Great Teinitz, and he burst forth into the involuntary
commendation : " There are the Austrians ! they are
learning to march." Having reinforced the commandant
of Ollmiitz, Daun despatched 25,000 men under gene
rals Loudon and Siskowsky to intercept the convoy.
Occupying, without being seen, all the heights about a
defile through which it would be obliged to pass, the
enemy waited for colonel Mosel, who attacked them
with such resolution, that Loudon was compelled to
retire. The same evening Mosel was joined by Zieten
with his detaehment. During the action, the drivers and
people of the train had turned back, affrighted, for
Troppau, and Zieten was obliged to halt a day to collect
the fugitives and restore order. This delay favoured
the object of the enemy. Loudon, joined by Serbelloni's
corps, placed a dangerous ambuscade for the convoy.
Attacked in a difficult defile, Zieten's heroic troops
were overcome by the nature of the ground and the
vast superiority of the assailants. General Krockow,

174 COURT AND TIMES OF
whom the Austrians allowed to pass with the advanced
guard, alone escaped with about 250 waggons ; while
Zieten, after losing 2400 men and six pieces of cannon,
was forced to retire, fighting all the way, to Troppau.
Out of 900 recruits destined for the regiment of prince
Ferdinand of Prussia, all hale young men, scarcely one
hundred were left alive. This event was doubly disas
trous for the Prussians ; not only had their means of
subsistence fallen into the hands of the enemy, but he
occupied all the mountain passes with 25,000 men, so
that it appeared next to impossible to return by the usual
roads. Thus, not only was Frederick's plan for making
Ollmiitz a place d'armes for his operations in Bohemia
frustrated, but he found himself cut off from his own
dominions ; nay, he had every reason to expect that he
should be surrounded on every side, and obliged to fight
his way through the enemy at all risks. In this emer
gency, his genius abandoned him not. On the 1st of
July, he assembled his generals and the commanders of
regiments and battalions, and thus addressed them :
" Gentlemen, the enemy has found means to annihilate
the convoy coming from Silesia, and I am forced by this
fatal circumstance to raise the siege of Ollmiitz. But
my officers must not suppose on this account that all is
lost. No ; they may be assured that all shall be re
trieved in such a manner that the enemy shall have
cause to remember it. The officers must impart courage
to the men, and not suffer any murmurs. I have no
fear that officers themselves will manifest despon
dency ; but, should I, contrary to expectation, perceive
it in one or other, I shall not fail to punish it most

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 1 75
severely. I shall now march and fight the enemy
wherever I find him, let him be posted where he will,
let him have one or more batteries before him ; but —
[rubbing his forehead with the crutch of his Spanish
cane] I will not do so without reason and consideration.
But I am sure that, when occasion offers, every
officer, and every private too, will do his duty as he has
hitherto done."
Having thus strengthened the moral courage of his
troops, he set about forming his plan. To deceive the
enemy's generals, he sent orders to the commandant of
Neisse to have bread and fodder in readiness for the
army which was about to return by way of Troppau.
Daun accordingly occupied in force all the passes by
which, as he conceived, the retreat would be executed,
with a view to surround and intercept the whole Prus
sian army. Owing to these precautions, he left open
the road to Bohemia and that country without defence,
never dreaming that his antagonist would seek an outlet
by difficult, almost impracticable, and circuitous ways.
For that very reason the king chose this route.
The Prussians commenced their retreat in the night
of the 3d of July, with such caution and silence, that
the enemy was not aware of their design till after it was
accomplished. During the day, the battalions manned
the trenches as usual, and the guns kept up a brisk fire.
At night all the artillery, excepting five mortars and
one useless cannon, was drawn off, the flour put into
carts, and the troops marched away : for want of con
veyance, it was found necessary to leave behind a small
number of sick to the humanity of the enemy. By
break of day, the whole Prussian army was in safety ;

1 76 COURT AND TIMES OF
and, though it had to encounter great difficulties in its
further progress, yet Frederick arrived at Kbnigingratz
on the 14th of July, without the loss of a single car
riage. Here he fixed himself in the strong camp at
the conflux of the Adler and the Elbe ; and Daun,
who arrived eight days later, took a position near Li-
bitschau, on the opposite side of the latter river.
Contrary to all expectation, Frederick, whose genius
shone with peculiar lustre in adversity, contrived to re
tire without loss to Silesia. So much the more honour
able was his success to himself and his gallant followers.
In his History of the Seven Years' War, he mentions
by name, with particular commendation, marshal Keith,
general Retzow, and lieutenant Kordshagen of the hus
sars. The latter, son of a peasant of Mecklenburg,
served from the ranks upward in Zieten's hussars, and
was on that general's recommendation made lieutenant,
after the battle of Leuthen. Having been promoted,
after various other services, to captain, he was one day
invited to the king's table. The company was nume
rous, and the conversation turned upon the old nobility.
" To what family do you belong?" said the king to
Kordshagen. " My father," replied the latter, " is a
plain peasant ; but I would not change him for any
other in the world." — " That is a noble sentiment ! "
exclaimed Frederick, who showed on numberless occa
sions how highly he appreciated filial affection. It was
this officer who furnished Engel with the subject for his
Dutiful Son. He was deservedly ennobled by the king,
and died with the rank of major. His family is now
extinct ; his son, worthy of such a sire, having, as cap
tain of the Rudorf regiment of hussars, fallen fighting,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 1 77
with the boldness of a lion, in a rear-guard action with
the French near Criwitz in Mecklenburg, on the 3d of
November, 1806.
Great was the rejoicing in Vienna, when it was known
that the Austrian states were once more cleared of the
formidable foe. The empress dedicated a medal to the
German Fabius, the commander who had conquered and
might again conquer by delay. Daun pursued his mo
dest course. He made no attempt to transfer the theatre
of the war to Silesia, where the king could leave only a
corps of observation under the margrave Charles, while
he himself went to meet the Russians, who had taken
possession of Prussia, and were overrunning his northern
provinces. As the court of Versailles, mortified and embittered
by the disgrace of its arms at Rossbach, had, through
its ambassador Stainville, afterwards duke de Choiseul,
encouraged Maria Theresa to prosecute the war with
vigour, so it had, through the medium of the notorious
chevalier d'Eon, enlightened the empress Elizabeth, who
had recovered from her illness, respecting the real cause
of the inglorious campaign of 1757. Bestuchef was
dismissed and brought to trial for treason, and count
Woronzow appointed to succeed him ; while Apraxin
was recalled and sent to the fortress of Narva. The
chief command of the army was given to general count
Fermor, and he was ordered to take possession of Prussia
again immediately.
Fermor, a native of Livonia, of the Lutheran confes
sion, had been aide-de-camp to* marshal Miinnich, at the
siege of Danzig, in 1734. He was a strictly religious
man, and kept a chaplain for himself and the Protes-
VOL. III. N

178 COURT AND TIMES OF
tants about him, who frequently preached in a large
green tent, 120 feet long, presented to the count, toge
ther with 3000 ducats, by the city of Konigsberg ; at
the further end of which was a separate apartment, fitted
up as a sacristy ; the table was covered with red velvet,
upon which the imperial arms were embroidered in gold.
Fermor was, moreover, an amiable and humane man, but
was frequently obliged to sacrifice his noble feelings to
higher interests.
When Apraxin, after his victory at Gross-Jagersdorf,
retreated from Prussia to put his army into winter-
quarters in Courland, Livonia, and Poland, he had left
12,000 men at Memel. Here Fermor collected the
force destined for the reoccupation of Prussia. March
ing from Memel on the 16th of January, 1758, he ar
rived in six days at Konigsberg. Fermor concluded a
formal capitulation with that city, which was extended
to the whole of Prussia. Totally destitute of troops,
the country submitted without resistance. The empress
considered it as her own property, and an oath of alle
giance to her was wrung from the authorities and the
principal persons of the kingdom. The revenues were
of course diverted into the Russian coffers. Bending to
the inflexible will of the new rulers, the people of Ko
nigsberg celebrated the birthday of the presumptive heir
to the throne by fireworks, illuminations, and public fes
tivities, constrained to assume the mask of joy and at
tachment, while sorrow dwelt in their hearts. Money
was coined with Elizabeth's portrait ; her arms were
set up in the towns, and her colours floated from every
church-steeple. This state of things was, nevertheless, a signal benefit

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 1 79
for the province, and so it was considered by the unfor
tunate inhabitants, when they recollected the horrible
barbarities practised in the preceding year by their in
vaders. Very few proved untrue to their natural sove
reign, and many manifested their sincere loyalty to him
by patriotic actions and sacrifices : still, Frederick could
not forget that they had sworn allegiance to another;
and, regularly as he visited the different provinces of his
dominions, he never set foot again in East Prussia.
In the space of three months, Fermor reduced the
whole province, excepting Danzig, under Russian au
thority. Reinforced by 20,000 men, originally destined
for a corps of observation, he at length crossed the Vis
tula ; and, that he might penetrate with the greater
security through the New Mark to the Oder, he made
himself master of both banks of the Wartha, not with
out taking formal possession of the Polish city of Posen.
Pomerania now lay open before him. Count Dohna, who
had succeeded field-marshal Lehwald in the command
of the Prussian corps in that province, was obliged to
abandon the Swedes whom he had shut up in Stralsund,
in order to oppose to the best of his ability the destruc
tive torrent that was approaching the capital : but, as
the Russians were four times as strong as his force, he
could not attempt any thing of consequence. In Bran
denburg and Pomerania the savage invaders threw off
those restraints which they had imposed on themselves
in the kingdom of Prussia. Murder and devastation
attended their progress. All who could not get out of
their reach were inhumanly maltreated, if not tortured
to death. Whole villages, which they had first plun
dered, were burned down from the love of wanton de-
N 2

180 COURT AND TIMES OF
struction. Infants were slaughtered in the arms of their
brutally violated mothers ; infirm old men were cut in
pieces ; the churches were plundered and desecrated ;
and there was no inhumanity which these descendants
of Tartars did not perpetrate.
When tidings of these atrocities reached the king in
Silesia, he resolved to hasten in person to the relief of
his suffering subjects. In what spirit he went to meet
his cruel enemies is apparent from his last will, which he
delivered in writing to prince Henry, on the 1 0th of Au
gust, previously to his departure. That document was
to this effect : — " The march which I shall commence
to-morrow against the Russians, as well as the events
of the war, may be attended with all sorts of accidents,
and I might easily happen to be killed : I have therefore
deemed it my duty to make you acquainted with my
sentiments, as you are the guardian of our nephew, with
unlimited powers.
" 1. If I am killed, all the armies must immediately
take the oath of allegiance to my nephew.
" 2. The operations must be continued with such
energy that the enemy shall not discover any change in
the commanding authority.
" 3. As for the finances, I must tell you that the
embarrassments which have recently befallen me, and,
still more, those which I foresee, have obliged me to ac
cept the English subsidies, which are not payable till the
month of October.
" 4. With respect to politics — it is certain that, if
we get well over this campaign, the enemy, weary and
exhausted by the war, will be the first to wish for peace.
Whereas, if, immediately after my death, impatience and

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 181
too strong a desire for peace should be shown on our side,
this might impose the necessity of accepting bad condi
tions, and taking the law from the conquered."
Confiding the defence of Silesia to the margrave
Charles and that of the electorate of Saxony to prince
Henry, the king set off with 14,000 men to join count
Dohna, who was encamped near Ciistrin, where he ar
rived, after a march of 170 miles, performed in eleven
days. Fermor had, meanwhile, appeared before Ciistrin, on
the 1 3th of August. Seeing little probability of reducing
the fortress, which he could not completely invest, on
account of the proximity of Dohna, he determined to
destroy the place. Dohna had received some reinforce
ments from Silesia and Saxony, and, in order to preserve
the only bulwark of the country, had thrown four batta
lions into the fortress, which was defended by the brave
colonel Schach von Wittenau. On the morning of the
15th, the Russians poured a shower of bombs and red-
hot balls into the town, which was set on fire, and, be
fore night, converted into a heap of ashes. The inhabi
tants and the strangers, who, with their most valuable
effects, had sought refuge here from the barbarities of
the foreign hordes, fled towards Frankfurt. Few lives
were lost ; but the archives and a great deal of property
were destroyed : of the old town nothing was left stand
ing but the garrison-church and a single house. Still the
Russians continued their fire till evening ; and when the
officers, weary of the useless bombardment, desisted from
it, Fermor, at nightfall, ordered the whole store of com
bustible balls to be thrown into the town, as there would
be no further occasion for them that year. The confla-

182 COURT AND TIMES OF
gration was so fierce that the very cannon were melted
in the arsenal. On the following day the Russians kept
up a faint fire, and, on the 17th, Fermor summoned the
commandant to surrender. He replied that, as the for
tress and the garrison had not suffered, tbough the town
was a heap of rubbish, he should wait quietly to see
what the enemy would do next.
Rothenburg, president of the Chamber of the New
Mark, who had left Ciistrin during the bombardment,
acquainted the king, on his arrival at Frankfurt, with
the disaster which had befallen the town. His entry
into that place is thus described by an officer who wit
nessed it.
" The king, on horseback, preceded the troops, and
the cavalry followed with drawn swords. Nobody knew
whether it was his intention to halt there or only to
march through. All at once, in front of the house of
a clergyman's widow, he cried " Halt !" and sent in an
aide-de-camp to say that he should take up his quarters
there for the night. The widow immediately made her
appearance, and humbly represented that her dwelling
was unworthy to receive so great a sovereign, as her
apartments were very ; small and mean. The king raised
her from the ground with his own hands, and told her
kindly to give him any room, no matter what. She did so,
and he went in. Presently he came back, leant against
the doorpost, and gave the word of command, " March !"
While the troops were filing off before his majesty, I
heard very distinctly every one of the enemy's shot fired
against Ciistrin. I took notice that at each report the
king took a pinch of snuff, and through the extraordi
nary firmness which distinguishes the character of this

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 183
incomprehensible hero might be perceived a feeling of
pity for the fate of the unfortunate town, and of anxious
impatience to relieve it. When the troops were in their
quarters, he took some cold refreshment with prince
Maurice of Dessau and general Seydlitz. Orders were
then issued for breaking up next morning ; but, in con
sequence of information received two hours afterwards
from a spy, we started at two o'clock. Till that time the
king had been sitting with the two officers just men
tioned at a small round table writing. About two he
was again on horseback. So little rest did the tutelary
angel and avenger of his people allow himself : and so
we marched off in one corps for Ciistrin."
The king himself, attended by six hussars, rode towards
Golzow, where Dohna was posted with his corps. At
Reitwein, he met a dyer from Ciistrin, named Klement,
who with his wife and children, each carrying a bundle,
was seeking a lodging for them. The king, wrapped
in his cloak, asked him whence he came, and the dyer,
wlio did not know him, gave him a simple account of
his misfortunes. " Children," said Frederick, " I could
not come sooner; I will have all your houses rebuilt
for you." At Golzow he found count Dohna : " Well,"
said he, " how goes it? Do the Russians stand firmly ?" —
" Yes, your majesty," was the reply ; " they stand like
walls."—" Good ! they will fall the better." He in
spected the troops, only 1 7,000 in number. " Your men
are all excessively smart," said he to Dohna. " I have
brought some with me that look like grasshoppers, but
they can bite."
After his retinue had overtaken him, he rode on
towards Ciistrin, and was met by Kirchheim, the burgo-

184 COURT AND TIMES OF
master. Frederick inquired into the minutest parti
culars, and then went with him upon the ramparts,
where they could overlook the ruins of the town. At
the sight of this scene of desolation, he was heard to
exclaim several times, " Incendiaries ! incendiaries !" At
the Kirschberg battery, he met with the commandant,
with whose defence, though most gallant, he was not
altogether satisfied. When that officer would have made
excuses for himself, Frederick stopped him with the
words : " Say no more ; it is not your fault, but mine,
for making you commandant." He assigned 200,000
dollars for the immediate relief of the unfortunate in
habitants of Ciistrin, and subsequently expended large
sums in rebuilding the town.
In the night of the 22d the Prussian army commenced
its march down the Oder to Gustebiese ; here it crossed
the river on the following day, and pitched its camp at
Darmietzel, on the right bank of the Mietzel. Thus
Romanzow, who was with the Russian cavalry at
Schwedt, was cut off from the main army, and Fermor
obliged to abandon the siege of Ciistrin, in order to
give battle between Zorndorf and Quartschen.
Before midnight on the 24th of August, the Rus
sians, numbering more than 50,000, formed in order of
battle. They were drawn up in four lines, doubly
covered by infantry on the flanks, so as to give them the
appearance of a parallelogram, the left wing of which
was supported upon the village of Quartschen, and the
right extending to Zicher. The petty baggage was in
the centre of this square ; the heavy baggage at Klein
Kamin, about a mile off, protected by 8000 men.
Frederick, at daybreak on the 25th, crossed the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 185
Mietzel, and advanced behind the heath of Massin, out
of sight of the enemy. At length, Fermor, perceiving
the Prussian army, 32,000 strong, with 117 pieces of
cannon besides the regimental artillery, approaching
Wilkersdorf and Zorndorf, set fire to the latter village.
This proceeding was injurious to himself, for the smoke,
together with the cloud of dust raised by the horses,
concealed from him all the movements of the king, who
completely turned him and took him in the rear. Fre
derick might easily have made himself master of the
baggage of the enemy, and then have forced them by a
few marches, destitute as they would be of necessaries,
to evacuate the country : but, like his whole army, he
longed to bestow a signal chastisement on the ruthless
spoilers ; and it is admitted that he ordered his troops
to give them no quarter.
When the Russian soldiers beheld the arms of the
advancing Prussians glistening in the rays of the rising
sun, they raised a tremendous shout of Prussac idiot —
" The Prussians are coming !" The protopope, sur
rounded by subordinate popes, and followed by a great
number of attendants, all bearing consecrated flags, rode
solemnly along the inside of the square and blessed the
troops. After this ceremony, each of the soldiers took
a dram from a leathern bottle suspended from his belt,
and they finished with a loud hurrah ! as a sign that
they were ready to receive the approaching enemy.
Silently and majestically the Prussians advanced.
Suddenly deploying, they formed a long line in oblique
order of battle, for Frederick's bold resolution was to
gain the enemy's right wing and to refuse his own right.
This unusual attack astonished his adversary. The

186 COURT AND TIMES OF
Prussian drums beat, and the bands played : Ich binja
Herr in deiner Macht ! — " 0 Lord my God, I'm in thy
hand !"
The Russians awaited the king's approach motionless
and in profound silence ; and even when his artillery
poured a destructive fire upon their infantry not a man
wavered : the gaps were filled from the rear ranks, and
all appeared determined to conquer or perish. Even
the removal of the baggage, which it was necessary to
send with the cavalry behind the square, produced no
confusion ; and though the Prussian infantry drew up
their batteries still closer, and at last charged with the
bayonet, still it was impossible to gain a foot of ground
from the undaunted foe : nay, the grenadier battalions
under general Manteuffel fell back about eleven o'clock
in great confusion, after a sanguinary conflict of two
hours. The right wing of the first line, under general
Kanitz, which should have supported them, had, in com
ing up round Zorndorf, borne too much to the right,
and was not in time to assist the fatigued combatants.
The Russian infantry then burst with wild impetuosity
from its ranks in the square, and dashed, along with
their cavalry, in pursuit of the Prussians : they were
soon in a state of inexpressible confusion. The Prus
sian cavalry under Seydlitz now poured with irresistible
fury from all sides upon that of the Russians, drove it
back upon its own infantry, and cut it in pieces, in spite
of the most desperate resistance. What tended to
aggravate the confusion in a frightful degree was the
indiscipline of the Russian soldiers, who seized all the
spirituous liquors belonging to the sutlers. Intreaties,
threats, punishments, were unavailing. When the officers

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 187
broke the casks in pieces, the men flung themselves on
the ground to lap the favourite beverage out of the
dust — nay, they even turned with rage upon their own
officers, especially the Germans.
Thus the whole Russian right wing was dispersed.
A short respite was succeeded by renewed efforts. The
king supported the left wing on Zorndorf, and, as Kanitz
had deranged his original plan, advanced with the right.
The Russian cavalry again came on with extraordinary
courage, but were repulsed by the regiments of Normann
and the prince of Prussia. At the same time the king's
left wing, composed of Dohna's troops, was thrown into
great confusion, and fled precipitately to Wilkersdorf.
Seydlitz threw himself into the gap, drove the enemy's
horse and foot into the marshes of Quartschen, sup
ported by several regiments — all choice Brandenburg
troops, which had come from Silesia. General confusion
prevailed among the vanquished Russians, but they fled
not, neither indeed could they flee, for Frederick had
broken down all the bridges. If blind despair actuated
the one party, the other was inspired by revenge on
account of the devastations committed by the enemy in
his country. The mutual slaughter between individuals
continued till evening. Several Russian generals then
strove to rally a little band and to drive the conquerors
from the field of battle. Thus the bloody conflict was
renewed and continued till after dark. The last attacks
Frederick had made in person, and he had been so near
to the fire of the Russians and to the Cossacks, that
his aides-de-camp, count Schwerin and Oppen, were
taken almost close to him. Owing to the tremendous
dust, the smoke from the powder, and the great heat of

188 COURT AND TIMES OF
the day, it was impossible to recognize any person's fea
tures, so that the troops knew the king by his voice
alone. Both parties had fought like heroes. Next morning,
the Russians were again drawn up in a square behind
Zorndorf. By daybreak, Frederick reconnoitred the
enemy. His army, in order of battle, occupied the
ground on which the Russian left wing was placed at the
beginning of the engagement. The Russians manifested
a disposition to renew the conflict ; but ammunition ran
short, and, after a cannonade of four hours, all was quiet.
Fermor then made an implied confession of his defeat by
soliciting an armistice for a few days to bury the dead.
" The king has won the battle," replied Dohna, " and
he will see to it that the dead are buried, and the wounded
taken care of." At nightfall the Russians commenced
their retreat, followed by the king as far as Blumberg.
Romanzow, who had honourably distinguished himself
by the excellent discipline which he had maintained
during his inarch, retired from Schwedt and Stargard to
Poland. Daun, who had despatched Loudon to count
Fermor, also wrote him a letter which fell into Fre
derick's hands, advising him not to risk a battle with a
crafty enemy, whom he did not yet know, but only to
wait till he (Daun) should have executed his enterprise
in Saxony. The king answered it himself in these words :
" You are quite right to warn general Fermor to be upon
his guard against a crafty and artful enemy, whom you
know better than he does : for he has stood his ground
and been beaten."
In no battle during the whole war was so much blood
spilt as in this, for neither party would give or accept quar-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 189
ter, and the few prisoners made were taken in the succeed-
ingdays. The Russians lost 94 1 officers, among whom were
five generals, and 20,590 men ; the Prussians 324 offi
cers, and 11,061 men. They took 1 03 pieces of cannon,
and 27 pair of colours and standards, but lost 26 of their
own guns. The king acknowledged, with a sigh, that
the Russians were easier to kill than to conquer. It was
not till the year 1826 that a monument in commemora
tion of the battle was erected on the Friedrichsberg near
Zorndorf. It bears this inscription : " Here stood Fre
derick the Great in the battle of the 2 5th of August, 1758."
" Heaven has granted your majesty another glorious
day," said Sir Andrew Mitchell to the king on the field
of battle. " But for him," replied the king, pointing to
Seydlitz, " we should be in a bad plight." Modest as he
was brave, Seydlitz declined the honour so deservedly
paid him by the king, saying, " Your majesty's cavalry
won the victory, and has rendered itself worthy of the
greatest rewards : but the garde du corps, under captain
Wakenitz, has done wonders ; he in particular has merited
thanks and recompence." That officer was accordingly
promoted to lieutenant-colonel.
The second Sunday after this hard-earned victory was
kept as a day of thanksgiving throughout the whole coun
try with the usual solemnities. The sermon delivered on
the occasion by Sack, chaplain to the court, was trans
lated into English, and published in London, where Fre
derick's victories were celebrated with as much enthusi
asm as in his own capital.
It is right to observe that the Russians laid claim to
the victory as well as the king. Fermor sent couriers to
his empress with intelligence of the happy event, which

190 COURT AND TIMES OF
cost him a great part of his army and the results of the
whole campaign. As he asserted, in corroboration of his
claim, that he had kept the field of battle, I think it right
to introduce here the testimony of Peter Iwanowitsch
Panin, one of his own generals. This officer confirmed
the above assertion with this marginal observation :
" Those who kept the field were either killed, wounded,
or  drunk."
The Russians in general, however, fought with the
greater obstinacy for their intoxication ; and, exaspe
rated as were their antagonists, the battle was for this
reason the more sanguinary. There were found Russians
who had fallen upon wounded Prussians, and were man
gling them with their teeth, when they themselves were
unable to use their arms and their adversaries to stir.
The Cossacks, in particular, who threw off all military
restraint, and after the battle plundered the dead and
wounded in the rear of the Prussians, showed a savage-
ness and cruelty of which civilized nations can form no
conception. These were, of course, hunted down like
wild beasts, and despatched without mercy. At Quart
schen more than a thousand of them were buried under
the falling houses ; and, when they attempted to escape
from the burning buildings, they were either driven back
into them or cut in pieces.
Most justly did Frederick express his indignation to
the captive Russian generals for their inhuman devasta
tion of his country. When Soltikof, Czernichef, Man
teuffel, Tiefenhausen, and Sievers were presented to him
on the field of battle, he said to them, " I am sorry that
I have no Siberia to send you to, that you might be treated
as my officers are treated in your country, so you must

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 191
go to the cellars of Ciistrin." They were accordingly
confined in the casemates for three days, and then quar
tered in the houses of citizens in the suburb. Shortly
afterwards, the king rode with a numerous retinue through
the place, and all the Russian generals ran to the windows
to see the greatest captain of the age. Frederick took
not the least notice of them, but turned his face the other
way. Fermor stopped with his army behind the Plbn, near
Damm in Farther Pomerania, to cover general Palmbach,
who was besieging Colberg, a place most conveniently
situated for the supply of the Russian forces in Germany.
Though provided with very scanty resources, the town
was so gallantly defended by the brave major von der
Heyde, with 700 militia, assisted by the patriotic bur
ghers, that, even after the loss of the covered way, all the
assaults of the Russians were foiled. After a siege of
twenty-nine days, they abandoned the enterprize, and
their whole army retired to winter-quarters in Poland
and Prussia.
If the Russians spared the province of East Prussia
those horrors which they inflicted on other parts of Fre
derick's dominions ; if it was considered by their empress
as a permanent acquisition of her crown; and if its inha
bitants were forced to swear allegiance to her as their
sovereign with their lips — they afforded abundant proofs
that they still treasured in their hearts the same devoted
attachment as ever to their legitimate monarch. Thus
Domhardt, director of the chamber of Gumbinnen, who
continued to keep up an uninterrupted correspondence
with the king, contrived to save the royal stud at Tra-
kehnen ; he concealed, in like manner, part of the public

192 COURT AND TIMES OF
revenues, which he either reserved till he could safely
transmit them to his master, or laid them out for his
benefit. He purchased corn in the country, and sent it
to Colberg for the Prussian army; he remitted 100,000
dollars to Frederick's head-quarters by the hands of Ka-
peller, a loyal stocking- weaver of Gumbinnen ; and when,
after Elisabeth's death, he went thither himself, he carried
with him 300,000 ducats as an offering from the province
of Prussia. It is known, too, that spirited young men
of all classes passed by stealth through the Russian army,
at the peril of their lives, to join that of the king, with
Abbt's celebrated work " On Death for our Country" in
their pockets. Many wealthy persons quitted their places
of abode to their infinite prejudice, and would rather risk
every thing than take the oath of allegiance. The depu
ties of the department of Gumbinnen, who were summoned
to Insterburg to take that oath, shuddered at the idea of
renouncing their allegiance to their lawful sovereign, and
somewhat pacified their consciences by taking the re
quired oath with a glove upon the right hand, of which
the three fingers that were to be raised had been previ
ously stuffed. Several other officers of that department
besides Domhardt were every moment in danger of losing
liberty and life.
The clergy strove in their sermons to comfort their
hearers with the hopes of better times. Those of Konigs
berg, who delayed their submission, were in consequence
received most ungraciously by Fermor. Arnoldt, preacher
at the chapel royal, was required, after the battle of
Kunersdorf, to deliver a thanksgiving sermon for the
victory claimed by the Russians. As he had not time to
write a new sermon, he selected one that he had composed

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 193
many years before on Rom. xi., 22, 23 : " Behold, there
fore, the goodness and severity of God ; on them which
fell severity, but toward thee goodness, if thou continue
in his goodness. . . .God is able to graff them in again."
Prefixing a new exordium suitable for the occasion, he
took for his theme the duties of conquerors and of the
conquered. He told the former — Korff, the governor,
and many of the Russian generals being present — that,
according to the words of the text, they ought to consi
der the goodness of God, which frequently gave prospe
rity to those who were not deserving of it ; that they
ought not to be haughty but kind to the conquered and
to prisoners. To the conquered he said that they ought
to consider the severity of God, but not let their courage
sink, for God could raise them, could graff them in again ;
and that they should apply to themselves the passage in
Micah vii., 8-11: "Rejoice not against me, O mine
enemy ; when I fall, I shall arise .... Then she that is
mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her. . . .
now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets."
Immediately after the service, Arnoldt was put under
arrest in his own house ; a sentry was placed before the
door, and an officer in the room with him. He was not
allowed knife or fork, and other similar precautions were
adopted. It was owing solely to the warm intercession
of Korff, the governor, that he was not exiled to Siberia.
After a long confinement, he was required to make a
public apology from the pulpit. This he did in the fol
lowing terms : that, being informed that he had offended
his most gracious sovereign, the empress of Russia, by
his last thanksgiving sermon, he hereby publicly declared
that such had not been his intention.
VOL. III. O

194 COURT AND TIMES OF
Another clergyman, who was expected to preach on
a Greek church-festival, according to the custom on
such occasions, told his congregation that he had been
commanded by the high authorities to celebrate the
festival of St. Alexander. " This may have been a
very good man," continued the preacher, " but I know
nothing of him, neither do you know him. Let us
therefore take for our consideration this day the follow
ing text of the Holy Scripture, (II. Tim., iv. 14):
" Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil : the
Lord reward him according to his works."
Frederick took a sort of revenge in Saxony for the
proceedings of his imperial enemy in Prussia. In a
letter which he wrote during his march to Silesia be
fore the battle of Leuthen to general Finck in Dresden,
he ordered him to make the magistrates and authorities
of that capital take an oath of allegiance to the king
of Prussia, as he meant thenceforward to treat the whole
electorate in the same manner as the czarina should
treat the kingdom of Prussia. Finck, as he relates in
the manuscript memoirs of his life, repaired accordingly
to the town-house, where the assembled magistrates
made all sorts of remonstrances against the requisition.
The commandant persisted. He surrounded the town-
house with troops, and on the third day the magistrates
begged to be liberated, promising to take the oath as
they were forced to it. Accordingly, they swore alle
giance to the king of Prussia ; and the same was done
at Wittenberg, Leipzig, Pirna, and other towns of
Saxony. Frederick was severely censured for a pro
ceeding which in an enemy passed without remark.
The great and increasing number of prisoners of war

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 195
began to be dangerous. The Russians in Ciistrin, nearly
twice as numerous as the garrison, entered, soon after
the battle of Zorndorf, into a conspiracy for regaining
their liberty. Three thousand privates, who were shut
up at night in the casemates, and earned a small sum
in the day by clearing away the ruins of the houses
destroyed by the fire, were to rebel on a given signal,
to fall upon the garrison, composed of a battalion of
militia, to make themselves masters of the 103 pieces
of cannon taken at Zorndorf and planted in the market
place, and then to join either the Russians at Stargard,
or the Austrians at Guben. The plot was discovered
only the day before that fixed for its execution ; the
guards were doubled; the Russian officers were put
under arrest ; and a lieutenant Liiders, a native of Cour
land, was broke upon the wheel by command of the
king.

o 2

196 COURT AND TIMES OF

CHAPTER XXXII.
Campaign of 1758, continued — Frederick repairs to Saxony — Operations
of Daun, the Austrian commander-in-chief — Battle of Hochkirch —
Death of Field-marshal Keith — Behaviour of Frederick — Death of the
Margravine of Bayreuth — Efficacy of Occupation in alleviating mental
afflictions — Frederick, joined by Prince Henry, enters Silesia, relieves
the fortress of Neisse — Gallant defence of General Treskow, and noble
behaviour of his Wife — Daun marches to Saxony, and threatens Dres
den — Decisive Conduct of Count Schmettau, the commandant — On the
approach of Frederick, the Austrians retire to Bohemia — Count Schla-
berndorf, Directing-Minister of Silesia — Distinctions conferred on Daun
for the unprofitable victory of Hochkirch — Sentiments of the Pope on
the occasion — Frederick's Satires on his Enemies — His Resources for
prosecuting the War.
As Frederick, after his victory at Leuthen, was
obliged to leave Daun to his fate, so, after the severe
conflict in the New Mark, he was forced to leave the
Russians to theirs. New events required his presence
in another quarter.
On the 21st of August, Loudon left Gorlitz with 7 or
8000 men for Lower Lusatia, to support the operations
of the Russians. The small and ancient fortress of
Peiz, situated on a branch of the Spree, fell into his
hands, but in a way not at all discreditable to the
Prussian arms. When the Austrians would have entered
without any particular ceremony, the garrison, consist
ing of fifty old invalids, repulsed them with the loss of
some of their men. The commander of the assailants
then summoned the place in due form. The command
ant, before he would negociate, proposed to send two
of his officers to ascertain whether the enemy's force

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 197
was sufficient to justify a summons. The Austrians
agreed to this condition ; the officers returned, and at
tested their great superiority. The commandant then
capitulated, and obtained for his fifty veterans free
egress to Berlin, leaving the victors nothing but a few
pieces of cannon, most of them very old.
Loudon then scoured the country between Crossen
and Frankfurt, with as much cruelty as the Cossacks.
At Beeskow he was met by duke Francis of Brunswick,
who had come from Tamsel, and who drove him back
to Liibben. Margrave Charles sent Ziethen against
him ; and, obliged himself by Daun's movement upon
Lusatia to quit the camp of Griissau, he marched to
Lbwenberg, and encamped near Plagwitz to cover
Silesia. Frederick now left count Dohna to oppose the
Russians, and with the same troops that he had brought
from Silesia he hastened to Saxony. Here prince
Henry had in July encamped near Tschopa, opposing
the troops of the empire under the count palatine of
Deuxponts, and an attached Austrian corps under Had
dik, with whom he had kept up a regular petty war
with considerable success. In the middle of August,
Daun too arrived with 20,000 men at Pilnitz. Henry
sent this intelligence to his brother, who rapidly ap
proached, and summoned Keith and margrave Charles
from Silesia, while Fouque, with 4000 men, guarded
the Bohemian passes, and kept the enemy out of the
country on that side.
The king's corps quitted Blumberg on the 2d of
September, and on the 9 th arrived at Dobritz, near
Grossenhain, where he was joined by Keith and the
margrave Charles. Their united force encamped on the

198 COURT AND TIMES OF
12th between Bocksdorf and Reichenberg, where the
king had a conference with prince Henry to concert
future operations. He broke up the same evening, to
occupy the heights of Weissig before the arrival of
the enemy, who had not availed himself of Frederick's
absence to attempt any thing decisive.
Daun was encamped in an unassailable position, near
the cas*tle of Stolpen, when he received tidings of the
battle of Zorndorf. He was meditating an attack on
prince Henry, who was judiciously posted between
Maxen and Gamig, when, on the 1 3th, Frederick drew
up his little force only two or three miles from the
Austrians, on the heights between Dresden and Stolpen.
The enemy decided on defending himself, and was driven
out of Bischofswerda, so that the communication be
tween Dresden and Bautzen was open to the Prussians.
Apprehensive of being separated by the king's mas
terly manoeuvres from his magazines at Zittau, Daun
quitted Stolpen in the night of the 5th of October,
and immediately chose a still better position not far
from Lbbau, where his right wing was supported upon
the Stromberg, near the little town of Weissenberg,
and the left on the woody heights of Hochkirch, to cut
off the king's communication with Silesia, where gene
rals count Harsch and the marquis de Ville were be
sieging the fortresses of Neisse and Kosel. When Daun
had left Stolpen, Frederick quitted his position, marched
with his whole army to Bautzen, and on the 10th of
October took a position so astonishingly bold, between
Hochkirch and Rodewitz, that Marwitz, the quarter
master, declined to mark out the camp, for which he
was put under arrest. The Prussian generals them-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 199
selves disapproved the dangerous position ; prince Mau
rice remonstrated ; but the king persevered in his pur
pose, gave directions himself where the camp should be
pitched, and had it marked out by lieutenant Marquardt
of the engineers, under the fire of the Austrians.
The obstinacy and security of Frederick on this occa
sion are said to have been the result of false intelligence
transmitted to him by major Soldner, a spy of his in the
Austrian camp. It is related that his reports were
usually conveyed to Frederick in a basket of eggs,
among which was a hollow shell containing the letter of
the spy. It chanced one day that Daun met with the
messenger, laid the eggs under requisition for his own
use, and thus discovered the treachery of Soldner, whom
he pardoned, on condition that his future reports should
contain no particulars but such as the marshal should
furnish. In this manner the king was prepossessed with
the idea that Daun was only desirous to secure himself
from attack, while he completed his preparations for
retreating to Bohemia.
The two armies were only a cannon-shot apart, sepa
rated by defiles and ravines. Keith, who had stayed
behind at Bautzen, to cover a convoy of flour expected
from Dresden, followed the king on the 11th of October,
and was not a little surprised to see the bold position,
exposed all round to the enemy's cannon. "If the
Austrians leave us alone here," said he, " they deserve
to be hanged." — " It is to be hoped," replied Frederick,
smiling, " that they are more afraid of us than of the
gallows." The Austrians, on the other hand, when they
saw the king in broad day pitch his camp on a spot
commanded on all sides by their guns, and only a cannon-

200 COURT AND TIMES OF
shot from their front, exclaimed : " We all deserve to
be broke, from the field-marshal downwards, if we let
this bravado of the Prussians pass unpunished." But
Daun had no mind either to be hanged or broke. A
night attack was the unusual counsel of his camp, and
he had recourse besides to artifice. On the 11th he
employed troops in felling trees in the wood opposite to
the Prussian right wing, and in throwing up redoubts
and small forts here and there along the front to in
crease the king's security, and to make it appear that
his only object was to protect himself and to bar the
road to Silesia against the enemy. But, in the night of
that and the following day, his light troops annoyed
the Prussian pickets. Frederick was the more certain
of his point.
At length, in the night of the 1 3th, his dilatory foe,
rousing himself to deal what Frederick afterwards
called a " malicious blow," broke up with a portion of
his army in three columns. The watch-fires were kept
burning, and the air resounded as usual with the strokes
of the axes. By three in the morning of the 14th, the
enemy was before the Prussian camp, ready to attack on
all sides. Daun headed his troops in person. He waited
till not a sound was to be heard. The columns advanced,
about half-past four, from the wood between Sornsig
and Wuischke, upon the right flank of the king. It was
moonlight, but a dense fog enveloped the cautiously
approaching assailants. A musquet-shot was heard —
another, and another ; a Prussian post had perceived the
heads of the columns. The battle-cry rang through
Frederick's camp, while Hungarians and Walloons, all
grenadiers, stormed the heights of Hochkirch, and in

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 201
the first moment of alarm made themselves masters
of the Prussian artillery, but not without a severe
struggle. The king, who had his head-quarters in the centre of
the army at Rodewitz, considered the attack as not at
all serious. Riding up, on hearing the noise, to the
infantry regiment of Wedel, which was encamped in the
middle of the line, and seeing the men running to arms,
he asked : " What are you about, lads ? It is nothing —
only those scoundrels the Croats." When convinced of
his mistake by the cannon-balls which began to fall in
the camp, he ordered one regiment after another to
advance to the succour of the right wing. The Prussian
soldiers now displayed the fruits of their consummate
discipline, and formed with a celerity and courage that
were truly astonishing. A blind carnage ensued in
the dark, almost without distinction of friend or foe.
A desperate conflict took place about Hochkirch, the
possession of which was equally important to the king,
in case either of victory or defeat. Keith was directed
to maintain the village to the last extremity. At the
first reports of the cannon, the gallant marshal had
leaped from his couch, and, on hearing that the post of
Hochkirch was overpowered, he hastened thither. He
rallied his troops, drove out the enemy, but was himself
obliged to give way. His men fell fast ; he sent for re
inforcements. His troops were dispersed ; seizing a
drum, he strove to rally them, when a ball pierced his
breast. He sank to the ground, and an English volun
teer named Tibay and his runner were the only persons
near the hero when he expired. As the enemy's grena
diers kept advancing, his body was left on the field. A

202 COURT AND TIMES OF
cannon-ball carried off the head of prince Francis of
Brunswick ; prince Maurice was wounded and taken
prisoner ; and the king had a horse killed under him.
The flames of Hochkirch, fired by the Austrian gra-
nadoes, now illumined the scene of carnage. The
valour of the Prussians was obliged to yield to superior
numbers. At seven o'clock the fog began to disperse,
and Frederick was enabled to perceive his situation. He
sent the last troops of the centre upon Hochkirch, and
major Mbllendorf to occupy the heights of the pass of
Drehsa, which was his only line of retreat ; but, as
nothing could be accomplished at Hochkirch, the battle
nearly ceased at that point.
The attack of the Austrians on the Prussian front had
been repulsed. Daun's right wing, which, according to
his disposition, was not to engage till his attack had
succeeded, now came up. The Prussians fought with
such intrepidity that, for an hour, the victory here was
doubtful. But, as part of the troops, much weakened at
Zorndorf, had left the flank exposed and fled, the enemy
got into the rear of the great battery and took it.
Content with this success, the Austrians allowed the
Prussian left wing, under Retzow, to join the king.
Seydlitz covered the retreat ; and about ten o'clock Fre
derick, dreaded by the enemy, quitted the field of bat
tle, "in such order aud with as much coolness and sang
froid as if he had been on the parade," and took a posi
tion about two miles from Hochkirch.
Meanwhile a most sanguinary conflict was continued
for the possession of the churchyard. It was defended
by the second battalion of the regiment of margrave
Charles, commanded by major Lange, with an intrepedity

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 203
rarely paralleled. Against this post Daun sent the
flower of his infantry ; but Lange and lieutenant
Marwitz maintained their ground unsupported, with
600 men against 22 grenadier battalions of the Impe
rialists, from half-past ten, when the general engage
ment ceased, till two o'clock. At length this Spartan
band, " which," as Cogniazo, an Austrian general, ob
serves, " formed, as it were, the main dam against
the flood pouring upon the Prussians on this side,"
seeing the retreat of their army secured, and having
expended all their ammunition, attempted to fight their
way through the host of their foes. They were instantly
surrounded, and, after a brief but bloody struggle hand
to hand, most of them were killed and the remainder
made prisoners.
Daun had no thought of pursuing his retiring foe,
and moved in the evening, after his bootless victory, to
his old camp. He had taken 101 pieces of cannon, 28
pair of colours, two standards, and most of the tents.
The loss of the Prussians, in killed, wounded, and mis
sing amounted to 8850, including 246 officers. The
Austrians purchased their triumph with the sacrifice of
nearly 6000 men, including 314 officers, among whom
were five generals.
The Prussians had to lament the loss of many a dis
tinguished leader besides the veteran marshal Keith and
prince Francis of Brunswick, who were left dead on the
field. Lord Dover, whose accuracy, indeed, is not al
ways unimpeachable, has given in his Life of Frederick
some particulars concerning the former, which, though
I have not found any mention of them elsewhere, I will
venture to transcribe. He says that the marshal had

204 COURT AND TIMES OF
received a dangerous wound about eight o'clock, but
refused to quit the field ; and that at nine a second ball
in his breast despatched him. " His body," continues
his lordship, " was afterwards stripped by the Austrian
stragglers, and lay undistinguished among the slain. It
had been carried, with many others, into the little church
of the village of Hochkirch, where it lay with a Croat's
cloak over it. Marshal Daun, accompanied by Lacy and
other officers, happened to enter the church. Lacy ap
proached the body, removed the cloak, looked at it with
great emotion, and said : ' It is my father's best friend,
Keith.' The old marshal Lacy and Keith had served
together in the Russian army, and the young Lacy had
been the pupil of the latter. He recognized the body
from the scar of a dangerous wound on the thigh, which
the marshal had received at the siege of Orzakow. At
the sight of his old master, a naked and deserted corpse,
Lacy burst into tears ; nor could Daun and the other
officers present refrain from a similar expression of feel
ing. While they were thus contemplating all that re
mained of this distinguished warrior, a Croat made his
appearance, dressed in the marshal's uniform, with his
star and riband. Daun inquired how he came by these.
' I took them,' he replied, ' from the fellow who lies
yonder, whom I killed and stripped, and have given
him my cloak in return.' " Daun immediately gave
orders that the corpse should be interred with the
honours due to Keith's rank and valour; but in 1759
the king caused his body to be conveyed to Berlin, and
deposited in the vault of the garrison church there, and
afterwards had a monument erected to him in the Wil-
helm's Platz in that capital ; and, about the year 1776,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 205
a monument to the memory of this distinguished officer
was erected in the church of Hochkirch by his kinsman
Sir Robert Keith, then envoy from England to the court
of Vienna.
The gallant Maurice of Dessau was so severely
wounded that he was obliged to quit the army, to which
he never returned, and he died in Berlin, of cancer in
the lip, in 1760. Generals Retzow, Krockow, and Geist,
fell victims to the effects of the hardships and wounds
of that fatal day. The brave major Lange and lieu
tenant Marwitz, who had not evacuated the churchyard
to general Odonel till the retreat was secured, were
honourably sent, mortally wounded, after the king's
army, by the enemy. " The second battalion of mar
grave Charles," said the king when he inspected his regi
ments, " acquired yesterday extraordinary honour; never
shall I forget its behaviour, but I am grieved for the
gallant major Lange ;" and in his posthumous works the
king has left a well-deserved memorial of him, in testi
mony " how much may be accomplished by an individual
with little."
During this murderous conflict, Frederick had shown
his usual recklessness of personal danger. As soon as
the fog cleared away sufficiently, he was observing
through a telescope the movements of the enemy, whose
artillery was keeping up a heavy fire. A cannon-ball
fell so close to him on his right as to cover him with
dust and mould, and to cause his horse to start aside.
Angry at the interruption, he struck his animal with his
stick, till he had made it move back to the former posi
tion. No sooner had he again raised the glass to his
eye than a second ball fell on the same spot, and the

206 COURT AND TIMES OF
horse leaped aside as before. Some of the king's aides-
de-camp then begged him to retire. He looked at them
sternly for a moment, and then said with a smile : " As
far as I can see, the enemy are firing right and left — here,
there, and every where. They may hit me in another
place as well as here, and behind my army I should be
of no use." He continued to observe the enemy for
some time through the glass, and then rode away.
Though deeply moved after the battle by the sight of
his thinned regiments, he manifested the utmost serenity
and composure. " My dear Golz," said he to the ge
neral of that name, " we were wakened rather roughly ;
but I will repay those gentry in broad day for their in
civility." As the remnant of a regiment which had
suffered most severely was passing, with the gunners at
its head, he called out to them : " Gunners, what have
you done with your cannon ?" — " The devil fetched
them in the night," replied one of them. " Then we
will take them from him by day, won't we, grenadiers ?"
rejoined the monarch with a smile. " Ay, that we will,"
answered a grenadier, " and with interest too." — " I'll
be sure to be along with you," said the king. The only
order issued on giving the parole was this : " The regi
ments will be supplied with fresh powder. The men
must pass the night in their clothes."
How the king's mind was engaged immediately after
the disaster at Hochkirch is evident from the account
given by Le Cat, who found him in the evening reading
Bourdaloue's Sermons. As, after the disaster at Kollin,
Frederick was visited by a severe family affliction, so he
had to mourn another loss after the surprise at Hoch
kirch. On the very same day, and at the same hour

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 207
that his arms were suffering this humiliating reverse,
expired his favourite sister, the margravine of Bayreuth.
When the news of her death reached him, he was so de
pressed that he uttered not a word. Next morning,
when Le Cat came to him, Frederick handed to him a
roll of black-edged paper : it was a sermon which he
had written upon a text of Scripture applicable to his
situation. Le Cat strove to cheer his master, who
thanked him for his sympathy, and assured him that he
would neglect no means for extricating himself from his
embarrassments, significantly adding : " At any rate, I
have always something at hand to put an end to the
tragedy." In these words he alluded to the poison in
the form of pills which he carried about him to be used
in the last extremity, especially in case he had chanced
to be taken prisoner. He would then have deemed it
his duty to die for the welfare of his country and his
family. That trial, however, he was spared ; and the
pressure of all other disasters was so momentary, that
despair durst scarcely approach him; for all the re
sources of his great mind were instantly called forth to
repair errors and to remedy misfortunes : and never was
that greatness so conspicuous as in the most critical
circumstances. We have seen what a deep interest Frederick took in
the joys and sorrows of those who were near and dear
to his heart. The margravine of Bayreuth was his oldest
playmate and companion. We have seen their mutual
attachment from infancy, and the tribulations which
they had to endure together in their youth. We have
seen, too, what alarm and anxiety she felt for her adored
brother in the perilous situation in which he was placed

208 COURT AND TIMES OF
by the formidable powers leagued against him. Her
health was too delicate to support her long under these
solicitudes. Frederick applied to Voltaire, with whom,
as we know, the princess had corresponded, for a tribute
worthy of her memory. He sent the king a short poem.
" I have received your verses," replied Frederick ; " pro
bably my instructions were not sufficiently explicit. I
wish for a first-rate composition. All Europe must de
plore with me a virtue that was too little known. It is
not requisite that my name should be mentioned ; I wish
the whole world to know that she is worthy of immor
tality, and you to confer it on her. It is said that
Apelles alone was worthy to paint Alexander ; and I
consider that your pen only is worthy to render this
service to her whom I shall never cease to mourn."
Voltaire, in consequence, wrote his well-known Ode on
the margravine.
Fifteen years afterwards, Frederick's sorrow for this
irreparable loss had not subsided. He writes to Vol
taire — " I approve the tears which you shed in calling
to mind my sister with the duchess of Wirtemberg [the
only child of the margravine] ; I should certainly have
wept too, had I been present at the affecting scene.
Whether it be from weakness, or excessive fondness, I
know not, but I have lately done for this sister what
Cicero thought of doing for his Tullia, and erected a
temple of friendship in honour of her. At the further
end is her statue, and on each of the columns a medal
lion representing one of those heroes who have gained
celebrity by the warmth of their friendship. The tem
ple stands in a shrubbery in my garden, and I often go
thither to muse on my many losses and on the happiness

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 209
which I once enjoyed." This elegant little structure of
marble, consisting of a low dome, supported by eight
columns of the Corinthian order, still forms an extremely
pleasing object from many points of the gardens of Sans
Souci. I have learned from manifold experience that, under
all sorrows, all mental afflictions, which can befal a man,
it is fortunate for him to have occupations, duties, to
which he is forced to attend ; and I am thankful to
Heaven that such has been my lot in life. In a letter
from Frederick to d'Alembert, on occasion of the death
of his friend, mademoiselle de l'Espinasse, I find the
great king expressing precisely the same sentiment in
regard to the period of his life of which I am now
treating. " Reason," he says, " ought to teach us to
moderate all that is extravagant in our feelings, but not
to extinguish what is human in our bosoms. Deplore
your loss, then, my dear friend. I will admit that the
loss of friendship is irreparable, and that every one who
is capable of appreciating the value of things must deem
you worthy to possess friends, because you are suscep
tible of love. But, as it is beyond the power of men,
and even of gods, to alter what is past, you must, on
the other hand, think of preserving yourself for your
remaining friends, that you may not cause them the
mortal anguish which you are now feeling. I have lost
friends, male and female ; I have lost five or six of them,
and grief had well nigh broken my heart. It so hap
pened that I suffered this loss during the different wars
in which I have been engaged, when I was obliged to
attend incessantly to various arrangements ; and it was
these indispensable duties that, by diverting my mind
VOL. III. P

210 COURT AND TIMES OF
from its sorrows, probably prevented it from sinking
under them. I wish most sincerely that I had some
very difficult problem for you to solve, that this task
might force you to think of something else."
Such a problem for the king was the night of Hoch
kirch, with its consequences, as well as its causes. In
the first place, Neisse, a most important fortress, de
manded instant succour : de Ville and Harsch were in
vesting it, and its fall seemed to be a necessary result of
the victory of the Austrians. As Fermor had retreated
to Poland, the king ordered general Wedel from the
Ukermark, and count Dohna from Pomerania, to march
to Saxony; and summoned his brother Henry to join
him, with 6,000 men from the army near Dresden.
While Frederick was making these arrangements near
Bautzen, Daun, who, after the battle of Hochkirch, had
reoccupied his former camp, advanced and took post
opposite to him : but his army ceased to appear for
midable, when its leader entrenched himself to the teeth,
under the idea that the king would attack him, to make
himself master of the road to Silesia. Accordingly, he
wrote to Harsch — " Go on quietly with your siege; I
am stopping the king : he is cut off from Silesia, and, if
he attacks me, you may expect good news."
On the 21st, prince Henry joined the king with his
corps, bringing artillery and provisions of every kind ;
and, late in the evening of the 24th, the whole army
turned Daun's right wing, and reached Gorlitz, followed
by the Austrians. Some skirmishing took place between
their advanced -guard under Loudon and the Prussian
rear-guard under prince Henry ; but Frederick pushed
on, crossed the Queis, and entered Silesia. While he

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 2 1 1
pursued the route to Lbwenberg, Jauer, and Gross-
Nossen, Henry marched to Landeshut, to relieve general
Fouque, who was to join the king on the way to Neisse.
That fortress was reduced to the last extremity. Fre
derick's name struck a panic into the besiegers ; general
Treskow, the commandant, seized the opportunity to
make a successful sortie, and, on the 6th of November,
the Imperialists retired with loss, pursued by Fouque,
by way of Jagerndorf, to Moravia. Kosel also was re
lieved, and all Silesia was cleared of the enemy.
Treskow had defended Neisse with extraordinary gal
lantry, and his wife had proved herself worthy of his
name. Not long before, when the general was a prisoner
of war in Vienna, she had made a journey thither to see
him, and been received by the empress with great dis
tinction. During the siege, she was living on an estate
of her own in the environs of the fortress, when she
received a visit from baron Eichberg, aide-de-camp to
Loudon, and Harseh, who made her magnificent offers to
prevail upon her to use her influence with her husband
to surrender the place to the Austrians. The high-
spirited woman, to prevent a repetition of the insult,
abandoned her residence and every thing in it to the
enemy, and went to her husband, to share with him all
the hardships of the siege.
Daun, finding his plans in regard to Silesia frustrated,
directed his course to Saxony. He hoped to make him
self master of Dresden, while Haddik was to take Tor-
gau, and the army of the empire to reduce Leipzig.
Meanwhile, Frederick, receiving intelligence at Gross-
Nossen that Neisse was relieved, set out for Lusatia.
At Daun's approach, the Prussian camp at Gamig was
p 2

2 1 2 COURT AND TIMES OF
broken up, and the Prussian troops there, under general
Finck, retired under the guns of Dresden, followed by the
Pandours, who were easily driven back by Schmettau.
Count Schmettau, who had lost the king's favour at
the time of the disastrous retreat of his brother from
Bohemia, had been appointed, in the spring of 1758,
commandant of Dresden, in every respect a difficult
post, but for which Schmettau, possessing as he did
equal prudence and resolution, was peculiarly qualified.
This he showed on the present occasion. The Saxon
capital was nearly an open place, and, as the enemy
threatened an attack, every preparation was made for
burning down the Pirna suburb ; and, when the magis
trates came to implore the commandant to spare it, he
referred them to the electoral prince, who alone could
prevail on Daun to retire. As the Imperialists persisted
in their object, the suburb was actually set on fire ; 280
houses were burnt, and four persons lost their lives.
Daun was now alarmed for the fate of the city itself.
Dohna, Wedel, and the king were likewise approaching ;
Daun retired to Bohemia ; Haddik and the troops of
the empire fled to Franconia; and Frederick, highly
approving the conduct of Schmettau, was entirely re
conciled with that general. Count Dohna returned to
Swedish Pomerania, and the king took up his winter-
quarters at Breslau. Thus, in spite of two defeats, he
remained, at the conclusion of the campaign, undisputed
master of Saxony and Silesia.
In the latter province, count Schlaberndorf had been
appointed directing minister in 1 755. In his office, which
he held till 1769, he was one of the most zealous and
active instruments in the execution of the king's plans

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 213
for the preservation of that valuable acquisition. After
the battle of Hochkirch, in particular, he displayed such
energy and ability in furthering the interests of his sove
reign, even at the risk of his life, that, when Frederick
saw him, in his passage through Silesia for the relief of
Neisse, he embraced him, called him the saviour of Silesia,
and made him a present of 100,000 dollars. " But for
the foresight of this man," said he, "land my army should
have perished by famine." The minister, however, acted
rather despotically, and, in conferring many benefits on
the province, he frequently had recourse to harsh mea
sures. Neither did he hesitate on various occasions to
sacrifice the interests of the states to the advantage of
the king, and thus incurred such violent odium and such
serious charges, that he fell into disgrace with Frederick.
The chagrin which he felt on this account accelerated his
death, which his rapidly declining health had previously
shown to be near at hand. Just before his dissolution,
he wrote thus to the king : "The authorities in Silesia
have drawn upon me your majesty's displeasure, and this
displeasure is driving the last nail into my coffin. I feel
that I am near my end : when your majesty shall open
this my most humble letter, I shall be no more. But, if
I am destined to have the misfortune of carrying this
displeasure with me to the grave, I am cheered by the
consciousness that my whole life has been sacrificed to
the interests of your majesty." Frederick had not for
gotten the meritorious services of his minister ; wishing
to soothe his dying moments, he gave him assurances of
his renewed favour ; but they arrived too late. He died
on the 14th of December, 1769.
That old diplomatic intriguer, count Seckendorf, whom,

214 COURT AND TIMES OF
in the early part of this work, we have seen exercising so
powerful an influence over the court of Prussia and the
destiny of Frederick in particular, could not relinquish
his old habits at the advanced age of 85. His relative
and biographer himself relates that, ever since the com
mencement of the war, the count had been indefatigable
in framing military and political plans against Prussia,
which he sent to the ministers and generals of the em
press ; and some of these had contributed not a little to
many of the advantages gained by the Austrians. He
was seized in December by command of the king, at his
seat at Meuselwitz, in Saxe-Altenburg, and confined in
the citadel of Magdeburg till May, 1759, when he was
exchanged for prince Maurice of Dessau, who had been
severely wounded and made prisoner at Hochkirch.
The bootless victory of Hochkirch produced the high
est exultation at Vienna. The empress-queen, on whose
name-day the battle was fought, sent the Austrian com
mander a most gracious letter, thanking him for the
bouquet with which he had honoured that festive occa
sion ; the town-council of Vienna erected a pillar to com
memorate the event ; and the provincial states of Austria
raised 300,000 florins to redeem Daun's mortgaged family
estate of Ladendorf. The empress of Russia transmitted
to him a gold sword ; and, while recording the honours
paid to the marshal, I may add that, a few months after
wards, pope Clement XIII. , who succeeded Benedict
XIV. in July, 1758, presented him with a consecrated
cap and gold-hilted sword. The cap was of crimson
velvet, lined with ermine, and laced with gold ; in front
was the figure of a dove*embroidered in pearls, the symbol
of the Holy Ghost, who was to hover over the blessed

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 215
weapons of the Austrian commander. The letter which
accompanied this precious gift is so fine a specimen of
the sentiments of this vicegerent of the God of peace and
love, that I must subjoin it.
"Beloved son in Christ," he writes, on the 30th of
January, 1759, " in the first place, our greeting and
apostolical blessing ! We have received, with the most
lively feelings of pleasure, the intelligence of thy exploits
performed in War against the heretics, especially of the
astonishing victory gained by thee on the 14th of Octo
ber last year over the Prussians. We have, therefore,
as father of the true believers, in virtue of our office,
thought it right to give increased energy to the efforts
of thy valour by the power of our blessing, and to imi
tate the example of our predecessors in the papal chair,
who conferred a consecrated hat and sword on prince
Eugene of blessed memory, on account of the many
victories which he won over the infidels. As, then, thou
far surpassest in virtues that hero and champion of the
church, and fightest against heretics, who adhere to the
most abominable errors with more persevering wicked
ness than the infidels themselves, we impart to thee the
blessing of Heaven, that, by means of the accompanying
sword, thou mayst exterminate heresy, the pestilential
stench of which is engendered by hell. The destroying
angel shall fight by thy side; he shall annihilate the
infamous race of the adherents of Luther and Calvin, and
the supreme Avenger of all crimes will employ thine arm
to sweep the ungodly tribes of the Amalekites and the
Moabites from the face of the earth.
" May thine arm ever reek with the blood of these
impious wretches ! Put the axe to the root of this tree,

216 COURT AND TIMES OF
which has borne such accursed fruit, and let the northern
regions of Germany, after the charming example of the
holy Charles the Great, be brought back to the true faith
by sword, fire, and blood ! If there is such joy among the
blest in heaven over one lost sheep that is found again,
with what joy wilt thou not fill all the saints and the
true believers, when thou hast brought back this multi
tude of perverse and ungodly men into the bosom of the
divine mother, the Church ! May the most blessed Virgin,
who is most devoutly worshipped at Maria-Zell, assist
thee in thine undertakings ! May St. Nepomuk pray
most fervently for thee, and may all heaven, with all the
blest and the solemnly canonized saints, grant a prospe
rous issue to whatever thou dost ! Auimated with this
hope, we once more bestow on thee our apostolical bene
diction." Frederick, whom the English emphatically styled the
Protestant hero, whom the pope had not yet recognised
as king, and who was called in the Romish court-calendar
" Marchese di Brandenburgo," only laughed at the puny
efforts of his holiness to get up a crusade against him.
They furnished him with a fertile theme for fugitive
pieces, satirical poems, and witticisms, to understand
which the reader ought to be aware of the circumstance
of the consecrated present. Be it remarked, by the way,
that after he received it, Daun never gained another vic
tory over the king. The object of those fugitive pieces,
as Frederick has frequently intimated in his works, was
" to have a slap at the pope," who blessed the sword of
his enemies and afforded an asylum to blood-thirsty
monks, as well as to carry on the war against his foes
in all sorts of ways. " The more they persecute me,"

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 217
he writes, " the more I will scourge them ; and if I fall
it shall be under a load of their libels, and under broken
arms on the field of battle." To Algarotti he says,
" Enjoy your repose, and forget not them against whom
your pope has preached a sort of crusade ;" and when
d'Argens expressed his apprehension lest the king's sati
rical pieces, especially the letter from the marquise de
Pompadour to the queen of Hungary, might tend to delay
peace, the king quieted him with the hope that nobody
would suspect him of being the author of those sallies.
Pezzl, in his " Life of Loudon," relates that, as soon as
the king's satire on Daun's consecrated sword was pub
lished, the court of Vienna formally declared that he had
received no such present from the pope.
His attention, meanwhile, was not withdrawn from
more serious and more urgent engagements. It was, of
course, chiefly directed to the raising of resources for
prosecuting the war. In the means of procuring soldiers
and money he could not be very nice. Saxony was
obliged to make new and increased sacrifices for the
political intrigues of its sovereign. Recruits were raised
in Mecklenburg, Swedish Pomerania, and Poland ; pri
soners of war were forced to change their uniform for
the Prussian, and deserters were accepted. Mecklen
burg was required to pay 2,400,000 dollars, because it
had permitted Swedish troops to enter the country.
Upon the whole, the duchies of Schwerin and Giistrow
had to furnish during the war upwards of 17 million
dollars in military contributions and supplies. Mecklen-
burg-Strelitz also was at first treated with great severity ;
till the princess Charlotte, deeply affected by the dis
tresses to which her father's subjects were reduced,

218 COURT AND TIMES OF
addressed so pathetic an intercession in their behalf to
Frederick, that he was induced to be more lenient in his
exactions. The talent and goodness of heart displayed
in this appeal had moreover such an effect on the young
king George III. to whom Frederick warmly recom
mended the princess as a consort, that, in consequence,
she was soon afterwards elevated to the throne of Eng
land, which she graced by her virtues for nearly sixty
years. The English guineas, as well as the contributions of
Saxony and other countries, were coined into money
worth only half its nominal value. To those provinces
of his own kingdom which the enemy had pillaged,
Frederick remitted taxes. Prussia, which wras occupied
by the Russians till 1 762, received no assistance ; and
the Westphalian districts, which were exposed to the
French, very little. The king imposed no new taxes on
his subjects, though the treasury was completely ex
hausted, and the diamond buttons and other valuables
which had belonged to his grandfather had been dis
posed of.
When Frederick, in December, 1758, sent lus friend
Fouque a present of 2000 dollars, because he had no
money left, he accompanied it with these words : " My
dear friend, herewith I send you the widow's mite !
accept it with the same kind feeling that I transmit it
to you : it is a trifling aid which you may need in these
times of distress." Fouque, in his letter of thanks, re
plied that the king had made him rich beyond his
utmost wishes, adding that, to judge from his majesty's
liberality, his treasures must be inexhaustible. " My
dear friend," answered Frederick, " I am not so rich as

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 219
you imagine, but by dint of ingenuity and shifts, (that is
to say, by means of base coin and other expedients), I
have amassed a capital for the ensuing campaign, so
that till the end of February every thing will be duly
paid. The overplus that was left for my own use I have
shared with you and a few other friends ; so that you
might rather compare me with Irus, the beggar, than
with the wealthy Croesus." In the same tone he soon
afterwards expressed himself to d'Argens : " You may
judge of my embarrassment when you know that I am
obliged to resort to shifts to maintain and pay my
army." With the present to Fouque, the king sent to his old
associate a paper, entitled " How the war against the
Austrians ought to be carried on in future," as the only
fruit that he had gathered in his last campaign. In this
performance he directs especial attention to those points
in the military art in which the Austrians particularly
excelled. He says in the introduction, that of all his
enemies they have brought the trade of war to the
highest perfection, and continues, " You will remark
great skill in their tactics, extraordinary judgment in
the choice of their encampments, accurate knowledge
of localities, well-supported dispositions, prudence in
undertaking nothing without the greatest certainty of
attaining the end, and in never suffering themselves to
be forced to fight against their will. Without blushing,
we ought to strive to imitate 'what appears to us to be
good in the system of our enemies."
This important manuscript, dedicated to his old friend,
was accompanied by another of a few pages, " Instruc
tions foe major-generals of cavalry," which Fouque was

220 COURT AND TIMES OF
desired to inculcate most especially on major-general
Meyer. Thus Frederick, while elevating the moral spirit
of his army by his own self-denying patriotism, was intent
also on sowing the seeds of intellectual improvement,
and encouraging the acquisition of theoretical know
ledge as an essential groundwork for military distinction.
It was in the course of this year, 1758, soon after
the victory gained by duke Ferdinand at Crefeld over
the French, that Frederick's German heart vented its
indignation against those cruel marauders in a spirited
Ode containing this cutting apostrophe :
" Tels ces bri gands de la Seine
Armerent leurs fables mains,
Croyant subjuguer sans peine
Nos invincibles Germains.
O nation folle et vaine !
Quoi ! sont-ce la ces guerriers
Sous Luxembourg, sous Turenne,
Couverts d'immortels lauriers :
Qui, vrais amans de la gloire,
Affrontoient pour la victoire
Les dangers et le trepas !
Je vois leur vil assemblage
Aussi vaillant au pillage
Que lache dans les combats.
Quoi ! votre faible monarque,
Jouet de la Pompadour,
Fletri par plus d'une marque
Des opprobres de l'amour,
Lui qui, detestant les peines,
Au hazard remet les renes
De son royaume aux abois,
Ce Celadon sous un hetre
Pretend nous parler en maitre
Et dieter le sort des rois !
11 ignore dans Versailles,
Ou son triste ennui l'endort,
Que les combats, les batailles,
Du monde fixent le sort."
This poem Frederick sent to Voltaire, who, fearing, as
he alleged, that it might bring him into trouble, trans-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 221
mitted it to Choiseul. The duke employed Palissot to
answer it in a very flat performance of twenty strophes.
Voltaire then wrote to the king, telling him that Madame
Denis had burned the Ode, apprehensive lest it might
be attributed to his pen. Collini introduced it into his
work : " Mon Sejour aupres de Voltaire," published in
Paris in 1807-
We have shown in the substance of the secret treaty
of 1756 between France and Austria what terms they
agreed to force upon the Prussian monarch. At that
time, the balance of success was in favour of the former
in the naval war which she was waging with Eng
land. The accession of Mr. Pitt to office and the
energy of his measures had, however, turned the scale,
and her subsequent operations were marked by a series
of disasters. Nor had the campaigns of 1757 and
1758 been attended with more gratifying results for
either France or Austria. In this state of things the
abbe de Bernis, the French minister, deemed it expe
dient to prepare for a peace with England ; and he was
sensible that the latter power would never assent to the
cession of the Netherlands to a branch of the reigning
house in France. These considerations led to the con
clusion of a new treaty with Austria, differing in many
essential points from the preceding. This treaty was
signed at Versailles, on the 30th of December, 1758.
By the first treaty, France engaged to furnish 105,000
men and 10,000 Bavarian and Wiirtemberg troops; —
by the second,, only 100,000 men; and no mention is
made of the German auxiliaries.
By the first treaty, France was to pay a yearly sub
sidy of twelve million livres ; — by the second, only

222 COURT AND TIMES OF
3,540,000 ; but she takes upon herself exclusively the
charge of the payments to Sweden and the maintenance
of the Saxon troops.
By the first treaty, several provinces which are speci
fied are to be wrested from the king of Prussia, and to
be ceded by him ; — the second mentions the cession of
Silesia and the county of Glatz only.
In the first treaty, the acquisition of the duchy of
Magdeburg and circle of Saal is positively assured to
the elector of Saxony; — the second promises only a
suitable indemnity.
In the first treaty, Austria engages to cede to France
a considerable tract of country and fortresses in the
Netherlands, and to give up the rest of the Netherlands
to the Infant Don Philip in exchange for the duchies of
Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla; — in the second, this
important article is omitted ; and it stipulates only, like
the first, the temporary occupation of Ostend and
Nieuport. In like manner, there is no mention in the second
treaty either of the demolition of the fortress of Luxem
burg, or the cession of Tournay and its territory, which
was absolutely to take place at all events, when Austria
should be in possession of Silesia and the county of
Glatz. The firmness of Frederick, who emphatically and re
peatedly declared that he would never purchase peace
at the price of a single village, rendered this treaty
equally nugatory with the former.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 223

CHAPTER XXXIII.
Campaign of 1759 — Incursion of the Prussians in Poland — Prince Sul
kowski — Operations of Duke Ferdinand in Western Germany — Battle of
Minden — Cowardice of Lord George Sackville — Retreat of the French
to the Lahn — Actions of Fulda and Dillenburg — Plan for the Operations
of the Allies — Incursions of the Prussians into Moravia and Bohemia —
The Russians advance upon Brandenburg — General Wedel appointed
dictator of the army opposed to the Invaders — Is defeated by them at
Ziilliehau — Frederick goes in person to meet them — Disastrous Battle of
Kunersdorf — Despondency of the King, who resigns the command to
general Finck — Major Kleist — Surrender of Torgau and Dresden to the
Austrians — Inactivity of Soltikof, the Russian commander-in-chief — Jea
lousies of the two imperial Genprals — The king is joined in Silesia by
Prince Henry — The latter draws Daun to Saxony — Operations of the
King for recovering Dresden — Capitulation of General Finck at Maxen
— Frederick passes the winter at Freiberg — Letters to his Friends re
specting his situation — Duplicity and Malice of Voltaire — The King's
Literary Occupations.
During this war, Poland observed a strict neutrality.
A puny enemy of Frederick's in that country had, never
theless, the hardihood to manifest open hostility to the
Prussians. Count Sulkowski, originally page and after
wards prime minister to Augustus III., was turned out
of that post by Briihl, in 1738. He had since lived in
his county of Lissa, almost independent, surrounded by
household troops like a sovereign prince, and styled
himself in his rescripts " by the grace of God." He
purchased the lordship of Bielitz, in Upper Silesia, and
the emperor Francis created him a prince of the empire
in 1752. Though, as I have observed, the republic of
Poland was strictly neutral, yet Sulkowski established
magazines and raised troops for the service of Russia.
Frederick, on receiving intelligence of his proceedings, in

224 COURT AND TIMES OF
February, 1759, sent with all possible secrecy 4000
men under major-general Wobersnow, who destroyed
the magazines formed by Sulkowski at Posen and other
places on the Wartha, containing flour for the supply of
50,000 men for three months, and secured the prince
and carried him to the fortress of Glogau. His troops
were forced to enlist in the Prussian army.
The king addressed a Latin manifesto to the Polish
government in excuse for this incursion ; but the Poles
were so far from taking it amiss, that they performed a
similar act of justice in behalf of the Prussian monarch.
When, namely, the young prince Lubomirski, with 80
men, was committing ravages in Poland and Silesia, the
commander-in-chief of the Polish army sent a detach
ment, which took the whole band, imprisoned the leader,
and hanged his followers for their wilful violation of the
Prussian territory.
Duke Ferdinand was this year again the first to take
the field against Contades. The latter had wintered
beyond the Lower Rhine ; Soubise, in the countries bor
dering on the Mayn ; the Allies, in Westphalia and
Hesse. Ferdinand's intention was to surprise the French
on the Mayn in the beginning of spring, and to wrest
from them the neutral city of Frankfurt, of which
Soubise had possessed himself by stratagem. The pos
session of this city was of great importance to the
French and their allies ; for it secured the communica
tion with the army of the Rhine, the troops of the Em
pire, and the Austrians. It was requisite that duke
Ferdinand and prince Henry should concert measures to
prevent the one from overrunning Hesse, and the two
latter, Thuringia. The duke detached the hereditary

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 225
prince of BrunsAvick to drive the Austrians and the con
tingents of the Empire out of Hesse ; and the prince
sent a corps under general Knoblauch, who took Erfurt,
and caused the fortress of Petersburg to be declared
neutral. In spite of the deep snow and the wretched
roads, he pursued the enemy's generals, Guasco and
Riedesel, through the forest of Thuringia to Ilmenau ;
while lieutenant-colonel Kleist, in the sequel one of the
most daring partisans of his time, pushed forward with
his green dragoons to Fulda, and levied a contribution
of 12,000 florins from the prince bishop.
But this expedition was much more remarkable for
an occurrence of a different kind. The editor of the
Erlangen paper, reckoning upon the protection of the
army of the Empire, had indulged in very acrimonious
expressions against the king of Prussia. Kleist sent a
detachment of his dragoons to Erlangen, where, agree
ably to his orders, they seized the editor of the paper,
gave him fifty lashes in the public market-place, and
made him furnish a written acknowledgment that he
had duly received them.
Meanwhile, duke Ferdinand, leaving in Westphalia the
English and Hanoverian troops, amountingto 25,000 men,
under Lord George Sackville, who had succeeded the duke
of Marlborough, and general Spbrken, set out secretly,
Avith a few attendants from Miinster, and, drawing his
troops out of Hesse, concerted operations with prince
Henry against the army of the Empire lying in Franconia.
The duke de Broglio had now taken the command
of the French corps under Soubise, who was recalled
to Paris. Ferdinand found him advantageously posted
on a height near Frankfurt, to the left of the vil-
VOL. III. Q'

226 , COURT AND TIMES OF
lage of Bergen. A reinforcement was coming to enable
him to maintain his position. Ferdinand hastened to
anticipate it. On the 13th of April, he arrived with
his corps of 28,000 men, a few hours after Broglio had
been joined by the expected reinforcement. Of this
circumstance Ferdinand was not aware. Before he
could reconnoitre the camp of the enemy, occupied by
35,000 French and Saxons, his troops commenced a
partial, unequal, and unsuccessful combat, covered by
the cavalry, under the Hessian general Urff. The can
nonade continued the whole day. This attack cost him
2,000 men, an advantage to which such importance was
attached in Vienna, that Broglio was created a prince of
the empire. Fredinand's troops returned unmolested
to their winter-quarters in Hesse.
Contades was in Paris when tidings of the victory, if
it deserves that name, arrived there, and were hailed with
great rejoicing. Hastening back to his army, he ordered
Broglio to join him, and advanced through Hesse, while
the marquis d'Armentieres was to march from the Lower
Rhine through Westphalia. Ferdinand, having experi
enced the fickleness of fortune, stood upon the defensive,
Avaiting to see which of the two French armies he should
have to prepare for.
Armentieres took Miinster, Contades continued to
approach ; and on the 10th of July, Broglio made him
self master of the fortress of Minden. Ferdinand pushed
for that place. The enemy retired behind inaccessible
morasses : his object was to cover the siege of Lipp-
stadt, which the duke was equally desirous to relieve.
With a view to entice Contades from his very advan
tageous position, he sent his nephew, the hereditary

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 227
prince of Brunswick, to attack the duke de Brissac, who
was protecting the rear. This movement had the desired
effect. The French commander marched out to the
attack at daybreak on the 1st of August, and, in spite
of the cowardice of Lord George Sackville, who had
succeeded to the command of the English troops on the
death of the Duke of Marlborough, at Miinster, towards
the end of 1758, and who kept the English cavalry out
of the engagement, he gained a complete victory near
Minden over Contades and Broglio. On the same day,
Brissac was attacked and beaten at Gohfeld, about ten
miles from Minden. The French, who had 85,000 men
to the duke's 40,000, lost in this battle 8,000 killed,
wounded, and prisoners, and 25 pieces of cannon ; and,
but for the unpardonable disobedience of Sackville, Fer
dinand's success would have been far more brilliant. In
his despatch to Loudon, he expressed his conviction
that this must have been the case if the marquis of
Granby had commanded the cavalry of the right wing.
Ferdinand lost 2,611 men, among whom were 151 offi
cers. It was the English regiments that suffered most
severely, and of course earned the chief glory of the
victory, in memory of which our 12th, 20th, 23d, 25th,
37th, and 51st regiments still bear the name " Minden"
upon their colours.
Archenholz conceives that Sackville was desirous of
obtaining the chief command of the allied army instead
of duke Ferdinand. This is not possible. That he was
a coward is proved by all the evidence before the court-
martial by which he was tried and sentenced to be broke
in March, 1760 ; but he had powerful friends who bore
a grudge against Ferdinand for bringing forward the
Q 2

228 COURT AND TIMES OF
charge, and threw many obstacles in the way of his fur
ther operations. The nation and the sovereign, how
ever, did justice to his merits. A pension for life of
.£4000 per annum, the order of the Garter, and a sword
enriched with diamonds, were conferred upon him. Fre
derick celebrated his favourite, the hereditary prince, in
an ode, invested him with the order of the Black Eagle,
and in December, when the hopeful young commander
brought 12,000 men to join the king, he presented him
with a gold sword richly set with diamonds.
This victory closed the territories of Waldeck and
Paderborn against the French ; Lippstadt was evacuated
by them, and Minden taken. • At Detmold, the papers
of Contades fell into the hands of Ferdinand. Among
these was a letter from the French minister at war, the
duke de Belleisle to the marshal, dated the 23d of July,
renewing the execrable instructions given by Louvois
seventy years before respecting the treatment of the
Palatinate. Contades was ordered to lay waste the Ger
man dominions of the king of England, and to level
every growing thing with the ground. Ferdinand pub
lished to the world, through the Berlin papers, these in
human injunctions, by which the hardships of war were
designed to be so wantonly aggravated.
Contades, after his defeat at Minden, retreated upon
Cassel, and afterwards crossed the Eder and the Ohm,
near Marburg, where he entrenched himself. Here he
remained during the month of August. D'Etrees, the
involuntary victor at Hastenbeck, was associated with
him in the chief command. Ferdinand approached and
made a bold attack on the town of Wetter, by which
Broglio's corps at Gohfeld was in danger of being turned.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 229
The French, in consequence, retired beyond the Lahn.
In the first days of September, he drove them to Giessen,
took the strong citadel of Marburg on the 11th, en
trenched himself at Kroffdorf, on the right side of the
Lahn, kept open the communication with Westphalia
and Hesse, annoyed the enemy's convoys, and, feeling
quite secure in his camp, sent part of his troops to
strengthen general Imhoff, who was besieging Miinster.
Armentieres, hastening to the relief of the place, was
driven back, and it surrendered on the 10th of November.
Meanwhile, Contades had been obliged to resign the
command to Broglio, who was bent on recovering Mar
burg before the winter. An attack made by the prince
of Conde, with 10,000 men, on Ferdinand's left wing,
was victoriously* repulsed ; and a demonstration of the
duke of Wirtemberg's upon Fulda, with a view to
threaten Marburg and Cassel, terminated most piti
fully. The hereditary prince of Brunswick, being de
spatched against him with six or seven thousand men,
found the duke, on the 30th of November, most injudi
ciously posted near Fulda, where he was engaged in the
important business of preparing for a ball. By a spirited
attack on his corps, the prince drove it across the Fulda,
and, forcing the bridges, completely dispersed it with
the loss of 1200 prisoners. Ferdinand, on his part, then
attacked Giessen, and, had he not been obliged to send
12,000 of his troops to the assistance of Frederick, in
Saxony, he would have been able to maintain his posi
tion in spite of all the efforts of Broglio to dislodge
him. On quitting it, he retired to Marburg, on the
4th and 5th of January, 1760, to the great joy of
Broglio, who, on receiving the intelligence, gave his

230 COURT AND TIMES OF
army the parole, " They are off." On the 7th a san
guinary action took place at Dillenburg, which gave
the French reason to repent their eager pursuit. They
then went into winter-quarters, chiefly on the left bank
of the Rhine, and a portion of the army between Frank
furt and Neuwied. Ferdinand went with the greatest
part of his troops to Westphalia, Osnabriick, and Miin
ster, while Imhoff remained in Hesse.
During the winter of 1758-9, the king had not been
attentive merely to the increase of the numerical force
of his army, to the former complement of which he had
added 30,000 men. It was at this time that he con
ceived and executed the idea of what might be considered
an absolutely new invention — horse-artillery. One bri
gade of ten six-pounders was raised at*Landeshut, and
another at Leipzig : they were composed of dragoons
and artillery-men, and commanded by Philip, brother
of the well-known adjutant general William Anhalt. I
shall take a future occasion to advert to the curious
history of these brothers.
Though Frederick had, in his preceding campaigns,
been always the first to attack, circumstances obliged
him this year to stand on the defensive. He continued
in his strong camp at Schmottseifen, between Lbwen-
berg, Lauban, and Liebenthal, with an army of 45,000
men. The intention of his enemies was to operate at
once against Silesia, Brandenburg, and Lusatia. The
Russians, 78,000 strong, joined by an auxiliary force
of 30,000 Austrians, were to make themselves masters
of a fortress on the Oder, or to march to Berlin ; while
Daun, with 70,000 men, was to occupy the king in
Silesia; and the army of the Empire, about 30,000

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 231
strong, Avas to drive prince Henry out of Saxony. The
Swedes were to push on to Berlin. The French, twice
as strong as duke Ferdinand, flattered themselves with
the certainty of not only crushing him, but of being in
time to share the general triumph over the Prussian
monarch. When Belleisle, in his exultation at this
prospect, went so far as to say to Pompadour, " Fre
derick Avill soon be in Paris ;" the favourite in reply paid
him this involuntary compliment : " So much the bet
ter ; then I shall see a king!"
Quietly as Frederick purposed to wait for the enemy,
he nevertheless sought to cripple him by destroying his
magazines. With this view, Fouque and prince Henry
made at the same time an incursion, the one into Mo
ravia, the other into Bohemia. The former found the
magazines at Ollmiitz beyond the reach of attack, and
returned to Silesia, followed by De Ville, to whom he
was obliged to abandon Neustadt. He then took a
strong position at Oppersdorf. It was very rarely that
Frederick cheered any of his generals who were foiled
in their enterprises. The terms in which he wrote to
his old friend Fouque from Landeshut on the 20th of
April are for that reason the more remarkable. " Every
thing," he says, " cannot turn out according to our
wishes; nevertheless, we must seek Fortune; sometimes
we find her when we least expect it ; but sometimes
this fickle coquette suddenly forsakes us, when she has
drawn us to her by her deceitful blandishments." At
the same time, he set out as secretly as possible for
Neisse, to meet the enemy's corps ; but the monks and
the Catholic priests communicated the movements of the
heretical Prussians to the orthodox general, who had

232 COURT AND TIMES OF
time to effect his retreat. Frederick might now apply
to himself the consolation that he had offered to Fouque.
Prince Henry was more successful in Bohemia, where
Daun had concentrated his whole force on the frontiers
of Silesia. Dividing his troops into two columns, he
put himself at the head of one and gave the other to
general Hiilsen. Marching with all possible secrecy and
celerity, they entered Bohemia on the 15 th of April,
destroyed in five days the magazines at Toplitz, Aussig,
Budin, Leutmeritz, Commotau, and Saatz, and returned
by the same routes to Saxony. Tempelhof calculates
that the magazines destroyed in this expedition contained
bread sufficient to supply 50,000 men for 143 days, and
fodder for 25,000 horses for two months.
It would appear that about this time overtures were
made to the British government to induce it to abandon
the cause of Frederick, but as the king could not think of
any peace unless in concert with England, so Pitt showed
inviolable fidelity to the ally of his country. " Truly
dear," he writes in June, 1 759, to Mitchell, " as his Prus
sian majesty's interests are to me, it is my happiness to
be able to say, that if any servant of the king could for
get (a thing, I trust, impossible) what is due by every
tie to such an ally, I am persuaded his majesty would
soon bring any of us to his memory again. In this
confidence I rest secure that, whenever peace shall be
judged proper to come under consideration, no peace of
Utrecht will again stain the annals of England."
In the like tone Frederick writes in the following
May to Voltaire : " Whatever M. de Choiseul may think,
he will be obliged in time to listen, and attentively too,
to what I have planned. I shall not explain myself, but

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 233
you will see in less than two months  the whole
scene will change in Europe ; and you will yourself
admit that I was not at the end of my resources, and
that I had reason to refuse your duke my park at
Cleves. " I shall now spread all the sails of politics and the
military art. Those scoundrels who are making war
upon me have set me examples which I will copy most
exactly. There will be no congress at Breda, and I
will not put up my arms till I have made three more
campaigns. Those blackguards shall see that they have
abused my good dispositions, and we will not sign any
peace but the king of England in Paris and I in Vienna."
Daun, on receiving intelligence that the Russians
were approaching Brandenburg, entered Lusatia, and
took post on the 6th of July near Marklissa, in the vici
nity of the king. While Frederick made head against
this opponent, it was requisite that he should keep an
eye on the Russians, who were awaiting the arrival of a
new general in chief. Fermor had gone, in the begin
ning of the year, to Petersburg, to vindicate himself
against the charge of having acted favourably for Fre
derick, and sent his Lutheran chaplain Tage with de
spatches to the king. Tage had, in consequence, to
suffer an imprisonment of tAvo years. The count de la
Messeliere, who was then attached to the French em
bassy to the court of Russia, had the hardihood to
allege, what is utterly false, that Fermor was bribed by
the king of Prussia, and that he was a tool of the grand-
duke and his consort. Count Woronzow and the Aus
trian embassy also depreciated Fermor. He was there
fore recalled, but went back with patriotic disinterested-

234 COURT AND TIMES OF
ness to the army, to assist his more fortunate successor,
general Soltikof.
The Russians were advancing from the Vistula to the
Wartha and the Oder, while Loudon was posted with
20,000 men near Lauban, in readiness to form a junc
tion with them. The king, therefore, ordered Dohna
to quit Swedish Pomerania and to meet and stop the
progress of the Russians. Dohna accordingly crossed
the Wartha, and destroyed some of the small Russian
magazines, but was soon obliged to fall back before an
army thrice as numerous as his own. Frederick, highly
dissatisfied with Dohna, sent general Wedel, brother of
the officer of that name who had so highly distinguished
himself in the second Silesian war, to supersede him in
the command of his army, with all the extraordinary
poAvers of a dictator among the ancient Romans. The
king dismissed the new dictator with a solemn address,
concluding with these words : " I command you to
attack the Russians wherever you find them, and to
prevent their junction with the Austrians."
On the 2 2d of July, Wedel joined the army at Ziilli-
chau. Though unacquainted with his own troops, with
the enemy, and with the country, and though he had
nothing but jealousy to encounter from the older ge
nerals over whom he was placed, he resolved the very
next day to attack the Russians, who had in the night
turned the Prussian left wing, and taken post near
Palzig, on the Crossen road. They were drawn up in
three lines in a semicircle, upon hills, when Wedel com
menced the attack near Kay, at- four o'clock in the
afternoon of the 23d. He had imagined that it was
only the enemy's rear which he had before him ; but

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 235
found them far superior in number to himself and in an
excellent position. The Prussians had not time to form ;
their cavalry and artillery were nearly useless to them.
On deploying from the hollow way near the mill of Kay,
and attempting to form on the plain bounded by mo
rasses, the destructive fire of the enemy's guns drove
back the brigades and swept the above-mentioned plain.
Under such circumstances small arms could effect no
thing. After a conflict of three hours, the dictator Avas
forced to desist, having lost nearly one-third of his army.
His friend and only supporter, general Wobersnow, who
had endeavoured to dissuade him from engaging, fell at
the beginning of the combat. He retired, unmolested by
the Russians, who pursued their route tOAvards Crossen,
in the expectation of finding their allies at Frankfurt.
Frederick had made an evident mistake in the choice
of a dictator. He was now in a worse situation than
before. Fouque had 10,000 men near Landeshut against
de Ville, with 20,000 ; to oppose his own 40,000 at
Schmottseifen, Daun had 70,000 atMarktlissa. Dresden
too had but a small force for its defence. But Bran
denburg was in the most imminent danger, and the king
resolved to confront it. He summoned prince Henry
with part of his troops to Sagan, and sent the prince of
Wirtemberg to supply his place. Henry arrived by
forced marches on the 28th of July at Schmottseifen,
and on the following day the king broke up with a con
siderable force for Brandenburg. He was joined on the
4th of August by Wedel, and on the 10th by Finck's
corps, which he had ordered from Saxony. With an
army of 48,000 men he crossed the Oder, and bivouacked
on the night of the 11th near Bischofssee.

236 COURT AND TIMES OF
The king's letters to his friend, count Finckenstein,
the minister, afford a glimpse of what he had to go
through at a crisis which required extraordinary exer
tions. On the 3d of August he writes from Beeskow —
" I have just arrived here, after cruel and terrible
marches ; I am exceedingly fatigued, for I have not
closed my eyes these six nights. Farewell." On the
8th — " I have a great deal to arrange. I find great
difficulties to surmount, and I must save, not ruin, the
country. I must be more prudent, and at the same time
more enterprising than ever : in short, I must do and
dare whatever I may think possible. Nor have I any
time to lose, if the enemy's attempt on Berlin is to be
frustrated. Adieu, my dear friend : you will soon be
singing — ' In deep distress I cry to Thee,' or ' Te
Deum.' "
Loudon had formed a junction with the Russians at
Frankfurt. Both entrenched themselves on the right
bank of the Oder. Soltikof occupied the heights of
Kunersdorf, with his front towards Frankfurt, his left
wing posted on the Jiidenberg, and his right supported
upon the Backergrund, while Loudon's corps abutted
upon the left wing. The strong camp of the Russians
had marshes, ponds, and copses in front, an extensive
wood in the rear, and on the wings heights which co
vered their three lines. Besides these natural defences,
the enemy had surrounded himself with a strong en
trenchment and numerous redoubts, which were well
manned. Frederick formed his army in order of battle opposite
to Soltikof 's. His right wing was supported on Trettin,
the left on Bischoffssee. Finck, with what was called the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 237
rear-guard, was posted, in front of the lines, on heights
which concealed the movements of the Prussians from
the enemy. The two armies were parted only by a
swampy brook, called the Hiihnerfliess. Soltikof, ap
prehensive for his rear, changed the front, placed his
right wing on the Jiidenberg, the left on the Miihlberg,
and threw up new entrenchments ; while Loudon was at
the foot of the Jiidenberg, ready to turn to whichever
side he was wanted.
Such was the position in which Frederick found the
enemy Avhen he arrived on the heights of Trettin. The
heat was oppressive, and the king's thirst so great that
he asked for water, and a peasant ran to the village and
fetched him a jugful. Having refreshed himself, Frede
rick continued to reconnoitre the enemy and the coun
try. Presently, a lieutenant of Belling's hussars, who
had been sent out with a patrole to examine minutely
the ground and the position of the Russians, returned
and made his report, which, however, was far from sa
tisfactory to the king. Neither was he better pleased
with the vague information given by a staff-officer near
him, who, some years before, had been in garrison at
Frankfurt, but recollected very little of the localities.
The king was turning away, disappointed, when an hus
sar galloped up to the spot. His name was Plbtz ; he
had been by trade a cloth- weaver, and entered in 1758
as a volunteer into the regiment, which was raised at
Halberstadt, and so distinguished himself by courage,
daring, and integrity, that, in a year, he was promoted
to be a subaltern. He belonged to the patrole which
had been sent out, but had ventured some distance fur
ther than the lieutenant had liked to advance. The

238 COURT AND TIMES OF
king observed him, asked where he came from, and, on
being told, exclaimed — " What, then, have you been
patrolling alone ?" — " The enemy cut me off from the
detachment." — " How far have you been?" — " About
four miles and a half from this place. A peasant that I
met with called the country that we rode over the Dub-
berow. I was very near Reipzig." — " That is not pos
sible. You would have been in the lion's jaws. Reipzig
lies behind the Russian army." This the king said in a
very ill-humour. Plbtz, sure of his point, replied calmly,
but evidently vexed, while a transient flush overspread
his face — " Whether you think it impossible that I
should have gone over the ground I have done, I do not
know ; but this I know that I have gone over it." —
" Be quite easy, my son," rejoined the king; " care for
nobody, whoever it may be. Only report what you have
seen." Plbtz made a most circumstantial report, which,
in the sequel, was found to be correct. In a year he was
promoted to officer, afterwards ennobled, and died as
general of hussars.
The left flank of the Russians seemed to offer the best
chance of success to the king, and he resolved to attack
it on the following day. Accordingly, at two in the
morning of the 12th, he put himself in motion; but,
instead of marching in a direct line, which would have
brought him by unfavourable ways upon their most
dangerous side, he thought it better to go along the
Hiihnerfliess and into the Reppen road, from which
another road leads across the heath of Neuendorf to a
height commonly called the Pechstange. Here the
Prussians formed in three lines of infantry and two of
cavalry, while Finck kept up such a fire from his bat-

FREDERICK THE GREAT; 239
teries on the Russian star-fort as to occupy Soltikof 's
Avhole attention.
Thus the king reached unobserved the margin of the
wood at eleven in the forenoon, the sultry heat having
greatly increased the fatigue of the march, which was
much longer than had been anticipated. Batteries were
immediately planted on two hills opposite to the enemy's
right. General Schenkendorf then advanced with eight
battalions, covered by sixty pieces of cannon, and took
the Russian entrenchment. The army followed, stormed
all the redoubts, and drove the Russian infantry, in spite
of its obstinate resistance, to the churchyard of Kuners-
dorf, which Frederick's left wing took with difficulty.
Finck's troops had by this time joined the others.
Seven redoubts, the churchyard, the Spitzberg, and the
Kichgrund Avere taken, with J 80 pieces of cannon. The
enemy had lost many men, and was in great confusion.
It was six in the evening. The fortune of the day seemed
to be decided in favour of the Prussians through the
valour of the infantry alone, and a courier was despatched
to Berlin with the preliminary announcement of victory.
But triumph not too soon — the Fates are jealous,
And suffer no invasion of their rights —
So says Schiller, and so Frederick soon learned by the
most woful experience. He was determined not merely
to conquer, but to annihilate, the Russians, who sought
refuge in their last redoubt on the Jiidenberg. In order
to wrest this also from them, the king sent for the ca
valry from the left wing, and ordered artillery to be
brought forward, though Finck, Seydlitz, and other ge
nerals strove to dissuade him from renewing the attack,
exhausted as the soldiers were with fatigue and the in-

240 COURT AND TIMES OF
tense heat. He persisted in his purpose. Loudon now
sallied from the bottom Avhere he had hitherto lain con
cealed as a reserve ; the tough Russians, too, mustered
their remaining strength, and turned the tide of the
battle. The undaunted Prussian infantry were but 150
paces from the enemy's last battery, when they were
opposed by the fresh force of the Austrians, whose guns
opened upon them with tremendous effect. They were
dispersed. All further attacks proved equally fruitless.
They were disheartened, and fled in a confusion not to
be described before the enemy's cavalry. That of the
Prussians could not accomplish any thing. Seydlitz
himself was severely wounded. The king was in the
hottest of the fire ; his officers were falling around ; he
had two horses wounded under him, and was therefore
obliged to accept that of captain Gblz, one of his aides-
de-camp. At the same moment a musket-ball crushed
the gold etui in his waistcoat-pocket. Colonel Kruse-
mark and the rest of his retinue then besought the king
to leave so dangerous a spot. Frederick replied — " We
must make every exertion now to gain the battle, and I
must do my duty here as well as any other man." But
exertions were to no purpose. The enemy dashed on
afresh ; and the Prussians fled from the field in wild
confusion, to hide themselves in the neighbouring woods
from the fury of their adversaries. The defeat was so
decisive that the king would have fallen into the hands
of the Russian light-horse, had not captain Prittwitz of
Zieten's regiment, with about two hundred of his best
hussars, almost forced him from the field, and escorted
him in the retreat through a hollow way. Nothing
could equal his despair at this result. " What !" he

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 241
exclaimed, on finding himself deserted by his troops,
" Is there no cursed ball that Avill finish me !" and to
Prittwitz, after retiring from the field, he several times
said, " I am undone !" It is related to have been on the
back of this faithful companion that he wrote with pen
cil the following words, addressed to Finkenstein, the
minister — " All is lost. Save the royal family. Adieu
for ever !" To PrittAvitz indisputably belongs the ho
nour of having, in this critical moment, saved not only
the king's life, but the state itself : for, had Frederick
been taken prisoner, it is certain that he would not have
survived the disgrace, and the name of Prussia would
have been erased from the list of independent nations.
Eyewitnesses declare that they never saw the Prussian
army in such a deplorable state as after this battle.
Such was the consternation that, at the mere sound of
approaching Cossacks, the infantry fled to the distance
of a thousand paces before it could be made to halt.
The fugitives collected near Bischofssee, and marched
the same night across the bridge of boats near Reitwein,
and encamped on the neighbouring heights.
The loss of the Prussians amounted to 18,500 men,
including 534 officers ; 172 pieces of cannon, 26 pair of
colours, and two standards, fell into the hands of the
enemy. The Russians and Austrians had suffered almost
as severely : 670 officers and 15,506 privates were killed
or wounded. Hence Soltikof, in writing to the empress,
observed : " The king of Prussia is accustomed to sell
his defeats at a dear rate, so that, if I gain another such
victory, I shall have to bring the news of it by myself,
with my truncheon in my hand."
Preuss, to whose general accuracy I bear willing tes-
VOL. III. R

242 COURT AND TIMES OF
timony, relates that the king passed the night in" the
most dreadful agony of mind, upon straAV, in a peasant's
cottage which had been stripped by the enemy, and that
he went next morning to the chateau of Reitwein, about
five miles from Ciistrin, on the Frankfurt road. Of his
state of mind on this fatal night some idea may be
formed from the letter which he wrote at Oetscher to
Finkenstein : " At 11 this morning I attacked the enemy.
We drove them to the Jews' burial-ground,* near Frank
furt ; all my troops performed prodigies of valour, but
that burial-ground caused us to lose a prodigious number
of men ; our troops got into confusion ; I rallied them
three times ; at last I was nearly taken myself, and I have
been obliged to give up the field of battle. My coat is
riddled with balls ; I had two horses killed ; my misfor
tune is that I am still living. Our loss is very conside
rable. Out of an army of 48,000 men, I have not
3000 at the moment I am writing : all have fled, and I
am no longer master of my soldiers. You will do well
in Berlin to think of your safety. 'Tis a cruel reverse ;
I shall not survive it : the consequences of the battle
will be worse than the battle itself. I have no resource
left ; and, to tell the truth, I consider all as lost. I
shall not survive the ruin of my country. Farewell for
ever !"
Though I am disposed to credit the statement of
Preuss, still I cannot forbear quoting the account given
by another German writer, for the sake of an anec
dote respecting the king with Avhich it is accompanied.
• The king here, as in his " 03uvres posthumes," confounds the Jews'
burial-ground with the Jews' Hill. At the burial-ground, situated on the
western slope of the hill, there was no fighting whatever.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 243
He says that Frederick passed the night at the dam-
house on the left bank of the Oder, between Gbritz and
Oetscher ; but that he at first intended to take up his
quarters in a house in the latter place. On entering it,
however, he there found two lieutenants of Grabow's
regiment of infantry, named Heilsberg and Stubenfoll,
who were most dangerously wounded. The former had
received a whole charge of canister-shot in his face and
body ; while the latter had more than half of one arm
carried away by a cannon-ball. Both were conveyed
half-dead to the nearest house, where they somewhat re
vived ; but not a surgeon would undertake the treatment
of their desperate cases. When the king entered, both
lay there, bathed in blood. "My children," he ex
claimed, " you are grievously Avounded, indeed !" —
" Yes, your majesty," replied one of the sufferers ; " but
that would be of little consequence, if we but knew that
you had conquered ! We had stormed two redoubts,
and were at the third when we met with our misfor
tunes." — " You have proved that you are brave men ;
all the rest is accident. Keep up your spirits : things,
and you too, will mend. Have your wounds been
dressed ? Have you been bled ?" — " Not a creature of
them all will touch us." The king sent immediately for
a surgeon. When he came, he loaded him with angry
reproaches, on account of the neglect shown to the
wounded, and commanded him to pay all possible atten
tion to the two young officers. The doctor shrugged
his shoulders, and intimated that in their cases assist
ance could not be of any avail. The king took hold of
the hands of the sufferers. " Only look !" said he ; " the
lads have no fever: with such young blood and stout
r 2

244 COURT AND TIMES OF
hearts Nature generally does wonders." He ordered them
to be bled ; their wounds were dressed ; they were sup
plied with refreshments. He afterwards ordered them
to be conveyed with the utmost care to the principal
hospital. While they were removing, " Children," said
the king, " go, in God's name. Whatever turn things
take with you, I shall be sure to hear of it ; and, if you
are disabled for service, you shall want for nothing. I
will not forget you ; I will provide for you." Both re
covered, thanks to Frederick's interference alone, and
continued to serve till the peace, when, by the express
command of the king, they were invalided and amply
provided for.
For two days the king shut himself up at Reitwein,
and would see scarcely a creature besides general Finck
and the servants of the house. I find mention made also
of an old colonel of artillery, named Moller, who strove
to cheer the spirits of the king in the hours of deep de
spondency consequent on the defeat. Frederick listened
willingly to his consolatory arguments. He asked him
how it happened that his troops were no longer able to
perform such prodigies as they had formerly done. The
colonel, a sincerely pious man, modestly remarked that
it was perhaps owing to the sinfulness of the army, in
which public prayers had long fallen into disuse. From
that day divine service was ordered to be held in the
regiments as formerly.
It was at Reitwein that, on the morning after the
battle, the king drew up and wrote with his own hand
the following remarkable document, which Pruess first
laid before the public, and which is of course quite new
to the English reader.

frederick the great. 245
Instruction for General Finck.
General Finck is charged with a difficult commission.
The unfortunate army which I give up to him is no lon
ger in a condition to fight the Russians. Haddik will
hasten to Berlin, perhaps Loudon also. If general Finck
goes after these two, the Russians will come upon him
in rear. If he continues stationary upon the Oder, he
will have Haddik on this side. I think, however,
that if Loudon should march upon Berlin, he might
attack him by the way, and beat him. Success in
this case would check the disaster and delay matters.
To gain time is a great deal in these desperate circum
stances. The newspapers from Torgau and Dresden my
secretary, Kbper, will give him. He must report every
thing to my brother, whom I have declared general
issimo of the army. To repair this misfortune com
pletely is impossible ; nevertheless, whatever my brother
shall order must be done. The army must swear to my
nephew. " This is the only advice that I am capable of giving
in these unfortunate circumstances. If I had any re
sources left, I would have remained with it."
A second paper, written by Frederick himself at the
same time and on the same subject, is as follows : " As
a severe illness has befallen me, I relinquish the com
mand of my army during my illness, till my recovery,
to general Finck, and, in case of need, he may also dis
pose of general Kleist's corps as circumstances may
require, likewise of the magazines in Stettin, Berlin,
Ciistrin, and Magdeburg."
In Berlin it was reported, in the first consternation,
that nobody knew what had become of the king. But

246 COURT AND TIMES OF
the victors never thought of giving the coup-de-grace to
the beaten army, and putting an end to the war. They
consulted in a peasant's cottage whether they should
pursue the Prussians. At the same time, they began to
drink freely, till they utterly forgot the king, around
whom about 18,000 of his dispersed troops soon col
lected, and gave a different aspect to the disaster. On
the third day, Frederick, throwing off his gloomy de
spondency, again made his appearance at Reitwein, and
the movements of the army recommenced with the same
order and the same energy as ever. Shortly before the
battle, an aide-de-camp of duke Ferdinand's had brought
the king intelligence of the victory of Minden. Frede
rick begged the messenger to stay till the battle was over,
that he might have the like compliment to carry back
in return to the duke. He now dismissed him, saying :
" I am heartily sorry that I have not a better answer to
send to such a message. If, however, you meet with no
obstruction as you return, if you do not find Daun in
Berlin, or Contades in Magdeburg, you may assure the
duke from me that no great deal is lost." The Prussian
army, however, had lost many distinguished leaders on
that disastrous day; lieutenant-generals Wedel and
Itzenblitz, and major-generals Spaen, Knoblauch, Stut-
terheim, Itzenblitz [2], Platen and Klitzing had fallen ;
and the German Muse had to deplore the loss of one of
her favourite sons, major Ewald Christian Kleist, who was
mortally wounded in this engagement.
Born in 1715, at Zeblin, in Pomerania, Kleist studied
the law at Konigsberg. Having gone to Denmark, to visit
relations of his in that country, and applied in vain for a

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 247
civil appointment, he entered into the Danish army, and
assiduously studied every thing connected with military
science. It was not long before he left Denmark and
Avent to Berlin, where he was presented to Frederick
soon after his accession, and by him appointed lieutenant
in prince Henry's regiment. In reality he seems never
to have felt much fondness for the military profession,
and to have been reconciled to it only by the idea of
duty and admiration of his great king. This discord
ance between his destiny and the wishes of his heart,
which pointed to quiet and repose, together with a dis
appointed passion, which commenced so early as 1738,
in all probability made him a poet, or at least imparted
to his compositions their chief characteristic — a tender
melancholy, which pervades his elegies in particular.
Scarcely any German poem, and that too by an unknown
writer, can boast of such rapid and extraordinary popu
larity as was acquired by his " Spring," which was first
printed in 1749, merely for distribution among the au
thor's friends, and which was reproduced in numerous
editions. Kleist was on intimate terms with most of the as
pirants to literary fame in Germany in the middle of
last century ; and he contributed, by industriously cir
culating the Tyrtsean strains of Gleim in the army, to
kindle in the soldiers the warmest feelings of loyalty
and patriotism. In 1757 he attained the rank of major,
and in the following year successfully executed the com
mission with which he was charged, to seize the notorious
intriguer, the marquis de Fraygne, who, in the ducal
palace at Zerbst, plotted all sorts of enterprises against

248 COURT AND TIMES OF
Frederick, and even an attempt upon Magdeburg, and
to convey him to that fortress.
In the battle of Kunersdorf, Kleist received twelve
contusions in storming a third battery, and the fingers
of his right hand were so wounded that he was obliged
to hold the sword in the left. He, nevertheless, pro
ceeded to assist in the attack of a fourth battery. Lieu
tenant-colonel von Breitenbach was shot dead, on which
Kleist rode before the front of the battalion, and gal
lantly led it against the enemy's cannon. A musket-ball
struck his left arm ; and now he could only grasp his
sword with two fingers of his right hand. He had ad
vanced about thirty paces further, when a canister-shot
shattered his right leg. He fell from his horse, and
three soldiers carried him behind the front. The sur
geon who came to dress his wounds was shot, and Kleist
himself was stripped absolutely naked by the Cossacks,
and thrown into a swamp. In the night he was found
by some Russian hussars, who lifted him upon dry
ground, and laid him upon straw near a watch-fire,
covered him with a cloak, put a hat upon his head, and
gave him such refreshment as they had — bread and
Avater. A second time he was plundered by the Cos
sacks, and left naked upon the field. In this state he
was found about noon the next day by the Russian
captain von Stackelberg, who had him conveyed to
Frankfurt on the Oder. Eleven days after the battle,
the shattered bones separated and tore asunder an
artery, and he died of the hemorrhage occasioned by
this accident. He was buried with due respect by the
principal Russian officers there, and colonel BiiloAV, who

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 249
commanded a regiment of Russian light dragoons, took
his OAvn sword from his side to adorn the coffin, " that
so Avorthy an officer might not be consigned to the
grave without that mark of honour." His friend Uz
dedicated to his memory a Dirge worthy of the bard of
" Spring," and Nicolai, in the Memoirs of him which
he wrote, furnished an excellent model for German
biography. When the king recovered from his stupor, he found
18,000 of his dispersed troops reassembled at Reitwein.
With that superior genius which was never so con
spicuous as under the greatest difficulties, he made
dispositions for defending himself. He sent to Berlin,
Stettin, and Ciistrin, for artillery, called to him general
Kleist, Avho, with 5000 men belonging to Dohna's corps,
had been left to oppose the Swedes, despatched the corps
of general Wunsch to Fiirstenwalde to stop Haddik ;
and, Avhen the latter had joined Solitkof and Loudon, he
advanced to meet their united force, and encamped
between Beeskow and Bornow. Meanwhile, his enemies
remained together, irresolute and inactive in their camp
at Miihlrose, plundering and ravaging the country in
their usual way, till, on the 5th of September, Haddik
marched off for Saxony, to hasten the surrender of
Dresden, already hard pressed by the army of the Em
pire, which had taken advantage of the absence of the
Prussian troops to overrun Saxony.
Frederick, in his first fit of despondency after the late
battle, had despatched orders to the commandants of
Torgau, Wittenberg, and Dresden, to capitulate in case
they were attacked, on the most favourable terms, and
merely to save the military chests and the troops. In

250 COURT AND TIMES OF
Wittenberg and Leipzig it was impossible for the Prus
sians to make any stand, chiefly because the greater
part of the troops there consisted of Saxon regiments,
deserters, and prisoners : the commandants therefore
capitulated, and marched off unmolested with their
troops to Magdeburg and Torgau.
Torgau, which could scarcely be considered as a forti
fied place, had been closely pressed ever since the 12th
of August by prince Stolberg, with about 12,000 men.
It was garrisoned by five battalions under the brave
colonel Wolffersdorf. To no purpose did the enemy
threaten " to burn Halle, Quedlinburg, and Halberstadt,"
unless he capitulated. It was not till he had repulsed
the most serious attacks for seven successive days and
expended all his ammunition that he agreed to surrender
the place, on condition that the garrison should be al
lowed to march out with the artillery, and that the
enemy should not receive deserters till the town was
completely evacuated. When the Prussians were leaving
the place, prince Stolberg had posted himself not far
from it with his retinue. Some of his aides-de-camp
strove to induce the garrison to desert. " Let every
loyal Saxon, let every man who has belonged to the
army of the Empire, step out : his highness will protect
him" — said they. "And I will shoot the first that
stirs," cried the resolute Wolffersdorf, and instantly ex
tended on the ground a soldier who had quitted the
ranks. Then giving the word of command : " Battalion,
halt ! front ! make ready ! " and, turning to the prince,
he said : " Your highness has broken the capitulation ;
I will therefore make prisoners of you and all your
attendants. Ride this instant into the town, or I will

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 251
give orders to fire." Much as it went against the grain,
Stolberg was obliged to comply, and Wolffersdorf led
his troops, by order of the king, to Potsdam.
After the surrender of Torgau, the Imperialists set
more seriously about the reduction of Dresden. Count
Schmettau was still commandant of that city. At first
he was resolved to defend himself to the utmost, though
the allies, reinforced by the Austrian generals Wohla,
Brentano, and Maguire, now amounted to 28,000 men.
Threats and promises were resorted to, but neither had
the least effect on Schmettau, though his garrison was
weak, and he could place little confidence in it; on
which account he confined himself to the defence of the
Old Town only, for which he possessed abundant means.
In this situation he received the king's letter of the 14th '
of August from Reitwein, and he thought that he should
be doing his sovereign an essential service if, in sur
rendering Dresden, he could save the garrison, the
military chest containing 5,600,000 dollars, the pro
vision-train, and equipments for 38,000 men. The
duke of Deuxponts, who commanded the troops of the
Empire, gladly acceded to these terms. At this moment,
general Wunsch, who had retaken Wittenberg and Tor
gau, was advancing to his succour. The capitulation
was concluded on the 4th of September, and on the
5th Schmettau received a letter from the king, who,
having recovered from his helpless situation with a
rapidity which it was impossible to anticipate, intimated
that he would render him the most important service if
he could preserve Dresden in the present emergency.
This letter, conveyed by a spy to Schmettau, did not
reach him till after the gates of the city Avere already

252 COURT AND TIMES OF
occupied by the enemy. On the same day, Wunsch
arrived before it, but retired, as he received no support
from Schmettau. Ou the 6th, the Austrians occupied
the Elbe bridge, without the knowledge of colonel Hoff
mann, the vice-commandant, who resolved to dislodge
the enemy's post. Captain Sydow, with the Prussian
palace-guard, defended the capitulation, and refused to
follow him : Hoffman was indignant ; an altercation en
sued ; and he was shot dead by Sydow's men. It was
alleged that he was intoxicated, but the king wrote with
his own hand to Schmettau : "I think like Hoffmann ; if
he was drunk, I wish the governor and the whole gar
rison had been drunk too, that they might have thought
as he did." The loss of Dresden was a stroke that
deeply mortified the king, removed Schmettau from his
service, and for ever deprived him of his favour.
With the fall of the capital, Frederick's game seemed
to be lost in Saxony. Still the activity, intelligence,
and resolution of general Wunsch, who with 4,000 men
retook Wittenberg and Torgau, saved him a part of the
electorate. Being joined by general Finck, Avhom the
king, on resuming the command of his army, had de
spatched to the relief of Dresden, Leipzig was retaken
by them on the 1 3th of September ; and such was their
success, that Dresden was soon the only place of im
portance in Saxony remaining in the possession of the
enemy. The inactivity of Soltikof after his victory is to be
attributed solely to the jealousies subsisting between
the courts of Petersburg and Vienna, and also between
the commanders of their armies. Earnestly as both
might desire to crush Frederick, yet each Avould fain

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 253
have left to the other the toils and perils of the war.
Early in the year, the Russian army had chosen to ad
vance upon Silesia instead of Pomerania, lest it should
play into the hands of the Swedes ; and now that the
Russians had sacrificed so many thousand men in two
battles, Soltikof thought that he had a right to require
similar successes of the Austrians, before he again un
dertook any thing serious. In vain Daun besought him
not to stop half way. Valuable time was lost, and the
obstinate Soltikof would not stir an inch. Meanwhile,
Frederick collected the remnants of his army, and was
soon in a condition to cover Berlin and the Marks.
Daun alleged that it was requisite for him to keep
prince Henry, who was still encamped at Schmottseifen
in check, in order that the army of the empire might
reduce Dresden without molestation.
Soltikof pursued his own course, regardless alike of
glory, which held out to him the alluring prospect of
conquering Frederick, and of the urgent exhortations of
Loudon and of Montalembert, the French agent with
the Russian army ; but, in a personal conference with
Daun, he required that the Austrian army should be
doubled as the Russian had been, and that Daun should
undertake to supply his troops with necessaries. In
this case he would agree to remain on the left bank of
the Oder, where every thing was consumed, till Dresden
should be taken, and then they might commence joint
operations against Silesia and its fortresses.
Daun, instead of forming a junction with the Rus
sians, as he might have done without obstruction, in
order to annihilate Frederick completely, represented
the conquest of Saxony as the most important object of

254 COURT AND TIMES OF
the allies ; because that would throw the political pre
ponderance into the scale, not of Russia, but of Austria.
It soon became manifest, moreover, that Daun was not
in earnest about the supply of the Russians : instead of
provisions, he offered Soltikof pecuniary subsidies, but
the Russian commander angrily replied that his men
could not eat money. Being now obliged to direct his
force against prince Henry, Daun separated himself
entirely from the Russian army; on which Soltikof
roundly declared that he Avould have nothing more to
do with the Austrians and retire with his troops. Mont
alembert had great difficulty to pacify him, and to per
suade him to operate upon Glogau.
This plan, which he began to execute on the 19th of
September, Frederick defeated by vigilance and celerity.
Hastening with his army to Sagan, he prevented the
Russians from laying siege to Glogau ; and, crossing to
the right bank of the Oder, contrived to fix them on the
other side of the Bartsch, till hunger compelled them to
retire to the Vistula for the winter.
It was from his brother Henry that Frederick first
received assistance after his defeat. No sooner did the
tidings of his disaster reach the camp at Schmottseifen,
than the prince prepared to succour his brother, and
either to form a junction with him, or at least to take
the Austrians off his hands. Calling Fouque from
Landeshut to the camp, and leaving him to cover Silesia,
Henry marched along the right bank of the Bober to
Sagan. This movement caused Daun to turn back im
mediately from Priebus, where he arrived on the 13th
of August, across the Neisse to Sorau. By this opera
tion, he, indeed, prevented Henry from joining the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 255
king ; but, having withdraAvn the troops from Lusatia,
and left only general de Ville there to cover the maga
zines at Zittau, Gorlitz, and Bautzen, Henry resolved to
destroy these magazines, and to make such threatening
demonstrations in the rear of the enemy, that Daun
would relinquish the king. It was at this juncture that
the Austrian commander received intelligence of the
march of general Finck to relieve Dresden ; and he be
came in consequence so wavering in his operations, that
at one time he turned against the prince, and at another
strove to approach the Saxon capital. De Ville retired
before Henry, and part of the Austrian magazines fell
into the hands of the latter. In this manner the prince
contrived to occupy the Austrians till the king, having
outstripped the Russian army, could hasten to the pro
tection of Glogau. He now resolved to throw himself
into Saxony, and, if possible, to draw Daun's whole
army after him.
The prince was posted near Gorlitz and Daun near
Bautzen. The latter resolved to fall upon the Prus
sians and drive them back into Silesia. On the 24th
of September he purposed to attack them ; but Avhen he
looked about him in the morning they were gone, and
for two days he was uncertain what had become of them.
Henry had meanwhile turned Daun's left wing, marched
upon Rothenburg and Hoyerswerda, dispersed there the
corps of general Wehla, and taken part of it prisoners.
For two days his soldiers, inured to fatigue, had to dis
pense with every convenience ; and he marched with the
whole train nearly forty miles, through a desolated and
deserted country. He attempted to cross the Elbe be
tween Strehla and Meissen, but Avas obliged by the want

256 COURT AND TIMES OF
of pontoons to go down the river to Torgau. At length,
Daun was informed by an officer belonging to the troops
dispersed at Hoyerswerda that the prince had tricked
him, and was marching for Saxony. Trembling for the
fate of Dresden, when the prince should be joined by
Finck and Wunsch, and conceiving that in Saxony lay
the decision of the campaign for the interest of his
court, he hastened by forced marches to Dresden, to
join the army of the Empire, and to protect that city
from any attempt of the Prussians. Thus Henry's plan
for enticing Daun from Silesia was completely successful.
Being joined at Strehla by Finck's corps, he was now at
the head of 40,000 men, with whom he took a position
between Klauschwitz and the Elbe, whence Daun, avoid
ing a battle, drew him to Torgau.
During the whole month of October, Frederick was
laid up with the gout. It was so severe, that he could
not bear the motion either of a horse or a carriage. He
was therefore carried on the 27th by the soldiers of the
regiment of Neuwied to the little town of Kbben, on
the Oder, where, on learning the retreat of the Russians,
he sent for his generals. They found him in bed in a
mean apartment, extremely pale, with a handkerchief
bound round his head, and a sable pelisse thrown over
him. In spite of the racking pain of his complaint, he
addressed them with great cheerfulness. " I have sum
moned you hither, gentlemen," said he, " to communi
cate to you my dispositions, and at the same time to
convince you that the violence of my disorder does not
permit me to show myself personally to the army. As
sure my brave soldiers, then, that it is not a sham ill
ness ; tell them that, though I have met with many

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 257
misfortunes during this campaign, I will not rest till I
have retrieved them all ; that I rely upon their bravery ;
and that nothing but death shall part me from my
army." With admirable composure he then acquainted
them with his arrangements. One part of the army
was destined to cover Silesia ; the other, under general
Hiilsen, was sent to Saxony, to support prince Henry.
While Henry remained at Torgau waiting for Hiilsen,
Daun manoeuvred in the expectation of gaining some
advantage over him ; but the prince sent generals
Wunsch and Rebentisch against a detached corps under
the duke of Aremberg, which the Prussians attacked on
the 29th near Pretsch with such vigour that it was al
most annihilated. One general, 26 other officers, and
1400 men were taken.
On the 13th of November, Daun retreated to Wils-
druf, and on the same day Frederick joined the army at
Hirsehstein, in Saxony. The prince rode to meet his
brother, who had recovered from his illness. " Henry,"
said the king, " is the only general who has not com
mitted any fault in this war." While they were con
versing, intelligence arrived of the further retreat of
the grand imperial army. " Aha !" cried Frederick,
" they smell me already ; but now the devil shall fetch
Daun too." Leading the corps encamped at Hirsehstein
against the enemy, he overtook the rear-guard near the
village of Krbgis. An action ensued, in which the
Austrians suffered considerably.
Not satisfied with this advantage, the king resolved
to recover Dresden, and to turn Daun, who guarded it
in a strong position, in order to cut him off from the
direct route to Bohemia, and to drive him into the most
VOL. III. S

258 COURT AND TIMES OF
impracticable roads, where, in that severe season, his
utter destruction appeared ineATitable. Prince Henry
would gladly have suffered Daun to retire quietly.
General Finck, too, was adverse to the bold and hazard
ous project of the king, in which he was destined to play
the principal part. In the middle of November, Avhile
colonel Kleist made an incursion into Bohemia to burn
the Austrian magazines, and to revenge the atrocities
committed in Brandenburg, where, " agreeably to the
command of the highest powers, the inhabitants were
to have nothing left them but the air and earth," gene
ral Finck was obliged, in spite of all remonstrances, to
proceed by a circuitous route through Freiberg to Dip-
poldiswalde, to push forward to Maxen, to take a posi
tion behind Daun's camp, and to bar the road to Bohe
mia against him.
The imperial marshal led his army from Wilsdruf to
a strong position behind the low ground of Plauen,
opposing to Finck baron Sincere on the road to Dippol-
diswalde, general Brentano on the Pirna road, and the
army of the Empire near Cotta, on the road to Bohemia.
Frederick occupied the camp at Wilsdruf, and pushed
Zieten forward to Kesselsdorf.
The situation of Finck, without support, was so pre*
carious as to induce Daun to make a bold attempt.
With one line he kept the king in check, and marched
with the other to Reichardsgrimma, turned the flank of
the Prussians on the heights of Maxen, and made him
self master of that post, while Brentano attacked the
centre of the camp, and the, army of the Empire occupied
all the passes across the Red Water, from Dohna to
Burkertswalde. Finck's fate was decided. The uncon-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 259
ditional surrender of the whole corps, including the
cavalry under general Wunsch, which had already given
Brentano the slip, was the result. It took place at
Maxen, on the 21st of November. Never had such dis
grace befallen the Prussians as for 12,000 men, with
nine generals, all their artillery (71 pieces of cannon),
colours and standards, to be made prisoners of war in
the open field.
Finck's case was hard in every respect. He had risen
at forty, through personal merit and through the favour
of his sovereign, to be lieutenant-general ; he had re
cently been almost the sole witness of the anguish and
despair of the king, who, on account of his meritorious
efforts after the disaster at Kunersdorf, declared that
he Avould be a second Turenne. " It is a circumstance,"
he thus wrote to him, " unheard of to this day, that a
Prussian corps should lay down its arms : an event of
which no one could hitherto conceive an idea." On his
return from captivity after the peace, he was brought
to a court-martial, dismissed the service, and confined
for a year at Spandau. On recovering his liberty, Finck
entered into the Danish army, with the rank of lieu
tenant-general, but died, as it is believed, of a broken
heart, in 1766. Frederick was not unaffected when he
heard of his decease ; he appointed his brother, who had
a company in the regiment of duke Ferdinand, at Magde
burg, to be major out of his turn, and rgjnoved him to
Berlin, where he died in 1769. Neither did Frederick
ever forgive any of the other generals made prisoners
at Maxen, excepting Wunsch, who seems indeed to have
been undeservedly implicated in the disaster. To gene
ral von der Mosel, who solicited a canonry, he replied :
S 2

260 COURT AND TIMES OF
" You lost the canonry at Maxen ;" to another he
wrote : " I will not make any man a general who is de
ficient in firmness, otherwise I shall be served as I was
at Breslau and Maxen ;" and when in 1769, more than
ten years afterwards, general Bredow was dismissed, his
petition for a pension called forth this significant direc
tion : " Let a pension be assigned upon Maxen." To
tally destitute, the general made an attempt on his life ;
but the ball grazed the scull without doing material in
jury. At the intercession of Seydlitz, the king granted
him a pension of a thousand dollars.
It is admitted, however, that Finck's conduct was by
no means blameless. The king says in his Avorks :
"Marshal Daun detached Brentano to Dippoldiswalda ;
this should have been the signal for Finck to retire.
His orders were to attack all the weak corps that he
should meet with, but to fall back on the approach of
such as were stronger than his own." Montazet, the
French agent with the Austrian army, who does not
wholly absolve the king from blame, bears, as an impar
tial eye-witness, the following testimony : " It must be
confessed, however, that in the execution of the king's
orders Finck committed unpardonable faults. His dis
positions were bad ; and he fought with little spirit,
though- the number of his troops and the ground would
have allowed him to make a good defence." So much
is certain, that the Prussian general, far from entering
cordially into the views of the king, went, as he alleged.
himself in his official defence, " with great repugnance,"
to execute the hazardous commission.
After this successful enterprise, Daun returned to his
camp near Dresden, and detached general Beck to the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 261
right bank of the Elbe, against the corps of general
Dierecke. To avoid the fate of Finck, the latter quitted
his advantageous position on the Fiirstenberg, not far
from Meissen, and resolved to cross in the night to the
other side of the river. The great quantity of floating
ice obstructed the attempt; part of the troops only
escaped, while the rest, 1,500 in number, were made
prisoners of war.
Frederick's force in Saxony was now reduced to
24,000 men ; he, nevertheless, maintained his position
from Wilsdruf to Freiberg against Daun, to the asto
nishment of the world. With the exception of Dresden
and an inconsiderable portion of the circle of Meissen, he
kept possession of the whole electorate of Saxony, to
secure which he drew 12,000 men, under the hereditary
prince of Brunswick, from the army of duke Ferdinand,
and detained them till the end of January, when he had
recruited his army. Thus both parties rested upon
their arms, in the close vicinity of each other, during
the winter, which was unusually severe, and carried off
a great number of men. Four battalions of the army
in daily succession occupied the camp, where the tents
were frozen as hard as boards. Here the soldiers lay
huddled close together, for their mutual protection
against the intense cold. The rest of the army Avas
cantoned in the surrounding villages, where the officers
sought accommodation in the houses ; and the men built
huts, and lay night and day about the fires which they
kept up in them. Daun, who durst not stir a step
in advance, was obliged to expose his troops to the like
inconveniences. At length, on the 1 0th of January, 1760,
the Prussians went into winter-quarters.

262 COURT AND TIMES OF
Frederick, whose position was not rendered much
worse by so many reverses, resided at Freiberg from the
beginning of December till the end of March, occupied
with public business and his usual recreations. He never
represented his melancholy circumstances in a too fa
vourable light, or encouraged the over-sanguine notions
of his friends. His grand aim was to stand his ground
and to terminate the struggle with honour. Under his
arduous efforts to accomplish this object, both body and
mind suffered. On the 28th of May, he wrote to
d'Argens : " I see clearly, my dear marquis, that you
are as much dazzled as the public. At a distance my
situation may be surrounded with a certain splendour :
but, if you were to come nearer, you would find only an
impenetrable mist. I scarcely know whether there is
yet a Sans Souci in the world ; but, be the place where
it will, the name is no longer suitable for me. In short,
I am old, gloomy, and peevish ; if some flashes of my
former good-humour burst forth, they quickly expire,
because there is nothing to keep them up. I deal frankly
with you. If you Avere to see me again, you would
scarcely know me to be the same person, but take me
for an old man, who is already grown gray, has lost
half his teeth, and whose cheerfulness, animation, and
fancy are gone. All these are effects not so much of
years as of cares, and the first melancholy forerunners
of that decay which the autumn of life infallibly brings
Avith it. These considerations place me precisely in the
state in which a man ought to be avIio has to fight for
life and death. With this indifference to life, one fights
with more courage and quits the world with less regret."
Again, on the 16th of August, immediately after the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 263
battle of Kunersdorf : " I will throw myself in the way
of the enemy, and be cut in pieces or save the capital.
This, I should think, cannot be considered as any want
of firmness. If I had more than one life, I would sacri
fice it for my country. If this attempt fails, I think
the country will not have a right to require more of me.
Every thing has its measure. I endure my misfortune
without losing courage. But I am firmly resolved, im
mediately after this effort, if it miscarries, to seek a way
to escape, that I may no longer be the sport of chance."
Again, on the 22d of August : " No, the tortures of
Tantalus, the pains of Prometheus, the punishment of
Sisyphus, are nothing in comparison with Avhat I have
suffered for these two days — to such a life death is
sweet." In October he writes : " I have lost the use of
all my limbs, except my right hand, which I employ to
request you to come to Glogau. The gout has knocked
me up ; grief is consuming me ; and I am without so
ciety ;" and again : " I am crippled in the left arm, both
legs, and the right knee. When you consider the many
disasters, disappointments, and illnesses, the frequent
loss of friends, and my inability to move, you will easily
conceive that I cannot be very cheerful."
At Wilsdruf on the 22d of November he complains :
" The misfortune which has befallen general Finck has
so stupified me that I have not yet recovered from the
shock. It deranges all my plans and pierces me to the
heart. Adversity, which persecutes my age, has accom
panied me ever since my march into Silesia ; but I will
combat it while I am able. I write to you in the first
moment of sorrow ; mortification, grief, rage, are gnaw
ing all at once at my soul. Pity my condition, but say

264 COURT AND TIMES OF
nothing about it ; for bad news spreads fast enough of
itself. When will my torments end !" Six days later
he says : " In the course of this year I have exhausted
all my philosophy. Not a day passes in which I am not
obliged to have recourse to Zeno's insensibility. In the
long run, this becomes difficult, I must confess. For these
four years I have been in purgatory. If there is a future
life, the Almighty must certainly give me credit for
what I have endured in this world." On the 2 2d of
December he writes : " I have lost all confidence in my
good luck. The future holds out to me the most gloomy
prospects. Never was I so weary of life as at this mo
ment. Call this hypochondria, or what you please — I
see every thing black ; but my sorrows belong to myself
alone; I must bear them." On the 16th of January,
1760, he is still in the same strain : " My mind is too
much afflicted, agitated, and depressed, to be able to
produce any thing tolerable. A tinge of melancholy
pervades all I write and all I do. And though I grapple
firmly with reverses, still I can neither bring back For
tune nor diminish the number of my enemies. In
deed life becomes quite unendurable : when one is
for ever beset with mortal cares and afflictions, it
ceases to be a boon of Heaven, becomes an object of
abhorrence, and is like the most cruel revenge that
tyrants can Avreak upon their miserable victims."
I have already had occasion to notice the duplicity
and diabolical spirit of Voltaire towards his royal cor
respondent. This spirit was more especially manifested
at the time of Frederick's severest trials, though he had
not the courage or the frankness to express his enmity
to the king himself. On the 1 7th of August, 1 759, he

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 265
writes to d'Argental. " I do not like Luc ; I shall never
forgive his unworthy treatment of my niece, nor his im
pudence in writing to me twice a month the most flatter
ing things, without ever making amends for his injustice.
I long exceedingly for his deep humiliation, for the
chastisement of the sinner — nay, I am not sure that I
do not wish for his eternal damnation." On the 22d of
December, after expressing his desire for peace, he says
to the same person : " Still I should be glad to see Luc
punished before this happy peace. If the route through
Lusatia to Berlin should be opened through the recent
advantage of general Beck, some Haddik or other miglit
pay a visit to Berlin. You see that in tragedy I am
always for punishing guilt."
Sir Andrew Mitchell, writing to the earl of Holdernesse
in July, 1760, observes : "I believe the court of France
makes use of the artful pen of Voltaire to draw secrets
from the king of Prussia ; and when that prince writes as
a wit and to a wit, he is capable of great indiscretions.
But what surprises me still more is that, whenever Vol
taire's name is mentioned, his Prussian majesty never
fails to give him the epithets he may deserve, which
are the worst heart and the greatest rascal now living ;
yet with all this, he corresponds with him ! Such, in
this prince, is the lust of praise from a great and elegant
writer, in which however he will at last be the dupe ;
for, by what I hear from good authority of Voltaire's
character, he may dissemble, but never can nor never
•will forgive the king of Prussia for what has passed be
tween them."
• All the private letters written by Voltaire about this
¦time prove hoAV correct Avas our countryman's estimate

266 COURT AND TIMES OF
of the character of the vindictive poet. In the very
same month in which the above remarks were penned,
Voltaire, writing to Choiseul, the French minister, strives
to place the policy of Brandenburg towards France in
the most odious light, and expresses his joy at the pro
spect of Frederick's just destruction. " Now," he adds,
" if any one would choose to bet, he ought, according
to the rule of probabilities, to lay three to one that Luc
will be ruined with his verses and his pleasantries, and
his abuse and his politics, all these being equally bad."
While the double-faced Voltaire was thus communi
cating his real sentiments to his own countrymen, the
king was transmitting to him his beautiful Ode to the
Germans, the epistle to d'Alembert, an Epistle on the
Opening of the Campaign of 1760, and a Story. "All
these things," he says, in the letter which accompanied
them, "served to amuse me, but I again repeat, they are
good for nothing else."
Another production of the winter leisure of Frederick,
while the world threatened his destruction, was his
" Reflexions on the Character and Military Talents of
Charles XII. of Sweden" — a short but instructive and
interesting performance, suggested by his encampment
on the spot over which Schulenburg fled before that
king. As a piracy of the Works of the Philosopher of Sans
Souci, with all the satirical sallies against Russian,
French, and other high personages, which he had not
intended for the public eye, but communicated to inti
mate friends alone, was published about this time in
France, Frederick was under the necessity of preparing
in March and April, 1760, while his army was recruit-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 267
ing its losses and completing its equipments, a new
edition of his poems for sale under the title of " Poesies
Diverses. " There is but too good reason to believe that
the French publication was got up by Voltaire, for the
purpose of increasing the animosities of the king's ene
mies and gratifying the spirit of revenge which he har
boured against Frederick ; for which purpose he had in
troduced into it all the satirical passages against French,
Russian, and other great personages, which the royal
author himself thought fit to exclude from the edition
destined for general circulation.

268 COURT AND TIMES OF

CHAPTER XXXIV.
Frederick endeavours to raise enemies against Austria in Italy — He com
municates his desire for Peace to the hostile Powers — His Resources for
prosecuting the War — Plans of the Allies for the Campaign of 1760 —
Loudon foiled in an Attack on a Prussian Detachment — He attacks and
destroys Fouque's Corps near Landeshut — Pillage of that Town by the
Austrians — Loudon surprises Glatz — Hard case of Father Faulhaber —
Loudon bombards Breslau, which is relieved by Prince Henry — The
King marches for Silesia ; but turns off to Dresden and bombards it —
On hearing of the Disasters in Silesia, he again sets out for that Pro
vince — Severity of the King to the Regiment of Anhalt-Bernburg —
His critical situation— Despondency of Prince Henry — Battle of Lieg
nitz — The Regiment of Bernburg retrieves its character — The King's
Account of his Difficulties — He marches to join Prince Henry.
On the 10th of August, 1759, Ferdinand of Spain
died a lunatic, leaving no issue. His half-brother Charles,
king of Naples, succeeded to his throne, placing upon
that which he had quitted his third son, Ferdinand, then
only eight years old. The crown of Naples ought by
right to have devolved to the duke of Parma, and, agree
ably to the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Parma, Piacenza,
and Guastalla, should have reverted to Austria. Maria
Theresa was too intent on the recovery of Silesia to
prosecute these just claims in Italy. Sardinia too
waved its rights without remonstrance. The king of
Prussia hoped on this occasion to raise new enemies
against the empress. He sent lord Marischal from Neuf-
chatel to Spain, to interest the court of Madrid in his
favour. At the same time, a person in the character of
a Saxon merchant introduced himself to Mr. Macken
zie, the English ambassador at Turin, with a letter from
Sir Andrew Mitchell, intimating that " the bearer, baron

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 269
Cocceji, aide-de-camp to the king, was instructed to
propose to the king of Sardinia to march troops into
the countries which had devolved to him by virtue of
the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, to take possession of the
Milanese, the Mantuan, and the Bolognese, and to pro
claim himself king of Lombardy." Naples was urged
to do the same in regard to Tuscany and the States of
the Church, while Prussia, on her part, would find Aus
tria and France so much employment in Germany and
Flanders, that it should not be possible for them to
oppose Sardinia and Naples in these enterprises.
Both sovereigns declined the proposal. The king of
Sardinia confessed that since the alliance between France
and Austria his head Avas, as it were, in a vice, which
threatened every moment to close and erush it. Be
sides, Mackenzie, a brother of lord Bute's, was adverse
tp the object of the Prussian envoy, the English govern
ment being apprehensive lest the balance of power
might be disturbed by Frederick's negotiations. At
Madrid, lord Marischal discovered the grand family com
pact of Aranjuez, which was then in progress, and was
intended to bind the Bourbons at Versailles, at the
Escurial, in Parma, and in Naples, for ever in an offen
sive and defensive alliance : of course nothing Avas to be
effected in that quarter. It Avas for the communication
of this discovery to the English government, as I have
mentioned in the brief account of lord Marischal in
the second volume of this work, that his lordship re
ceived a pardon for his former active efforts in the
cause of the Stuarts. This drew from 'Horace Wal-
pole, in one of his letters, the following remark : "I
forgot to tell you that the king has granted my lord

270 COURT AND TIMES OF
Marischal's pardon at the request of M. de Knyphauseri
[the Prussian ambassador.] I believe the Pretender
himself could get his attainder reversed if he would
apply to the king of Prussia."
Frederick now had recourse to other means. He
joined England in communicating to all the powers,
through their ambassadors at the Hague, the desire of
both for peace. The Bailly de Troulay, ambassador of
Malta to the court of France, called upon the duke de
Choiseul and shewed him a letter which he had just re
ceived from the king of Prussia. In this letter the
king recommended to him an accomplished young gen
tleman, named Edelsheim, of Hanau, and requested that
he would introduce him to the French minister, adding
that he was commissioned to make overtures for peace
to France. Choiseul was base enough to order Edels
heim to be apprehended, in expectation of making im^
portant discoveries among his papers, but he was com
pletely disappointed.
While the king was thus making known his pacific
sentiments, his adversaries breathed nothing but war.
They even refused, on account of Prussia, to exchange
the prisoners; and on the 21st of March, 1760, the
courts of Petersburg and Vienna renewed the treaty,
concluded in 1746, for twenty years longer. They
agreed to persevere in their efforts for confining the
king within such narrow limits that he should no longer
have it in his power to endanger the peace of his neigh
bours and of Europe. It was stipulated that Austria
should have all Silesia and Glatz, while Russia was to
retain East Prussia. Frederick had therefore no alter
native : he was obliged to prepare for a new campaign.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 271
The king excelled his adversaries in the art of raising
pecuniary resources. In this respect, Saxony suffered
most severely. For the year 1760, the circle of Leip
zig alone was obliged to pay two million dollars;
Thuringia nearly fourteen tons of gold, or 1,400,000
dollars ; and the other provinces in proportion. The
electorate was likewise obliged to furnish thousands of
horses, and a prodigious quantity of corn and fat cattle.
The best woods were cut down, and the timber was sold
to wealthy capitalists. The farmers of the domains
were required to pay their rent a year before hand.
The reduction of the coin was still continued, so that
a ducat was worth more than eight dollars.
In a letter of the 30th of March to Algarotti, Fre
derick himself feelingly deplores the state of Saxony at
this period. " The wandering Jew," he says, " if he ever
existed, did not lead such a vagrant life as mine. We
shall be at last like the strolling players who have nei
ther house nor home : we run about the world to perform
our bloody tragedies wherever our enemies permit us to
set up our stage .... The last campaign has brought
Saxony to the brink of ruin. I spared that fine
country as long as Fortune allowed me — now the
devastation is general. And to say nothing of the
moral evils which will attend this war, the physical
evils will not be inferior, and we may congratulate our
selves if they do not bring the plague in their train.
We silly creatures, that have but a moment to live, we
make this moment as grievous for ourselves as we can ;
we delight in destroying the finest works that time and
industry have produced, and leaving nothing behind us

272 COURT AND TIMES OF
but the hateful remembrance of our devastations and of
the misery which they have caused."
His remarkable " Ode to the Germans," likeAvise
written in the month of March, breathes precisely the
same spirit. In emphatic terms he there reproves the
various tribes of Germany, " children of one common
mother," for their insanity in mangling one another, in
bringing foreigners into their homes, and in thus open
ing for them a way to the heart of their native coun
try. He then points out the course in which they may
acquire glory, and concludes with exhorting his Prus
sians to unflinching perseverance.
Return we now to Frederick's military preparations.
Recruits were raised chiefly in Saxony, Mecklenburg,
and Pomerania. Thus the circle of Leipzig had to
furnish 10,000. Prisoners of war were forced to ex
change their uniform for the Prussian, and recruiting
officers traversed the empire in all directions. By these
means the disposable force was again augmented in the
course of the spring to 90,000 men, but, as the king
himself admits, these were not serviceable troops, but
only fit for show, and led by officers who were accepted
for want of better. The corps of his brother Henry
Avas superior in this respect to the rest of the army.
There still lived the spirit of Frederick's troops, as
manifested at the commencement of the war; there
were still to be found those old and tried warriors
who had chained victory to their colours, and who
soon communicated the sentiments by which they were
animated to the sturdy young recruits from Pomerania
and tie Marks.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 273
It was the object of the Russians to reduce Silesia,
Avhile Daun Avas to detain the king in Saxony, and Lou
don to keep prince Henry from joining his brother.
Frederick, on his part, was desirous of preventing the
junction of the Austrians and Russians ; and he deter
mined, while Henry collected 35,000 men at Frankfurt
against the Russians, and Fouque defended Silesia with
14,000, to make head himself with 40,000 against the
main Austrian army in Saxony. The rest of his force —
5000 men — under the command of Jung-Stutterheim,
was to oppose the Swedes.
Loudon, who had passed the winter in Moravia and
Upper Silesia, had concluded a truce till the 14th of
March with the Prussian generals opposed to him. As
soon as it had expired, he opened the campaign in Upper
Silesia. A small detachment under general von der Golz
was obliged to fall back at his approach. The Pome
ranian infantry regiment of Manteuffel and a squadron
of Bayreuth dragoons had been left behind at Neustadt
to protect a convoy. Loudon by a forced march got
before the Prussians, and was waiting for them beyond
Neustadt. He had with him four regiments of cavalry ;
and, no sooner had Golz left the tOAvn and commenced
his march en pelotons for the protection of more than
a hundred waggons, than the Lbwenstein dragoons, one
of the bravest regiments in the Austrian service, at
tacked the advanced guard, while the Palffy cuirassiers
fell upon the rear, and two regiments of hussars upon
the flanks. Their efforts were unavailing. Loudon sent
an officer to summon the Prussians to surrender, in
which case they should be allowed to keep all their
baggage, but threatening that if they made any further
VOL. III. T

274 COURT AND TIMES OF
resistance they should be all cut in pieces. Golz led the
imperial officer before the front and acquainted them
with Loudon's message. "We'll  upon him," una
nimously cried the brave Pomeranians in the vulgar
dialect of their province. The 5000 Austrians now
rushed upon this single regiment and were repulsed.
Golz continued his march, and though Loudon repeated
his attacks with increased fury, he was at length obliged
to desist with the loss of more than 300 killed and 500
wounded : that of the Prussians amounted to 140. Golz
took up his quarters in the vicinity of Neisse.
To Fouque, with scarcely 14,000 men, was assigned
the task of covering Silesia against Loudon's army
amounting to 50,000, while prince Henry was to pre
vent the junction of the latter with the Russians.
Fouque was still in cantonments near Landeshut, when,
in the beginning of May, Loudon concentrated himself
at Skalitz, and, pushing forward light troops towards
the fortress of Glatz, seemed to threaten Schweidnitz
and Breslau. Fouque considered the rescue of those
places as the most important point ; but, while he was
directing his attention to that, his artful adversary
marched upon Glatz and summoned the commandant.
Fouqu6, alarmed for the safety of Schweidnitz, from
which he derived supplies, and which was threatened
by Beck's corps, retired under the guns of that for
tress. The king, irritated by the representations of
Schlaberndorf, the minister, who solicited protection for
the Aveavers and mountaineers against the enemy's ma
rauders, wrote to his old friend, the grand-master of the
order of Bayard : "lam devilishly obliged to you for
abandoning my mountains. Get me my mountains again,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 275
cost what it will." Fouque, devoting himself to almost
certain destruction, returned to Landeshut, drove out
an Austrian force which had occupied the place, and
regained possession of the mountains.
Loudon, on receiving this intelligence, advanced with
the greatest part of his corps, 38,000 men, from Glatz,
and, at two in the morning of the 23d of June, at
tacked Fouque's entrenched position on the heights near
Landeshut. The Prussian corps amounted to no more
than 10,400, but was defended by 68 pieces of cannon.
The unequal conflict lasted the whole day : the Prus
sians, though they fought with an intrepidity worthy of
their leader and their name, Avere driven from position
to position. Part of the cavalry, forcing their way
through the enemy, escaped to Neumark. At nine in
the evening, when Fouque had but few men left capable
of defending his last redoubt, it was found that these
had expended all their ammunition. He then resolved
to retreat with half his remaining force beyond the
Bober, reached the height on the left bank, formed a
square, and attempted to fight his way through the ene
my's cavalry, when he was attacked by it on all sides.
Fouque's horse was shot ; he sank to the ground, and
the Austrians, inflamed with fury, fell upon him and his
brave fellows, and slaughtered them without mercy.
The general himself received two sabre-wounds on the
head and one on the shoulder, and must have experi
enced the same fate but for the unparalleled attachment
manifested by Trautschke, his groom, whom the king
called the " wonder of Silesia." Covering his master
with his own body, he received thirteen wounds from
the sabres of the Lbwenstein dragoons, while he cried
T 2

276 COURT AND TIMES OF
out to them in vain : " Do you mean to murder the
commanding general?" At length he was heard by
colonel Voit, who drove back the infuriated soldiers,
raised the general, covered with blood and dust, from
the ground, ordered his spare horse to be brought, and
offered it to Fouque. The latter delivered his sword to
the colonel, but declined mounting the horse, " because
the handsome saddle-cloth would be spoiled by his
blood." " My saddle-cloth," replied Voit, " will be in
finitely more valuable when it is decorated with the
blood of a hero." He insisted on his mounting, and
conducted him to Loudon.
Meanwhile, general Schenkendorf, who had been left
behind with the other portion of the Prussian troops,
experienced the like fate. They were surrounded, partly
slaughtered, and partly taken. Colonel Below, with the
first battalion of Braun's fusileers, forming a square, suc
ceeded, like Fouque, in crossing the Bober, but was also
surrounded and overpowered. The Austrians, exaspe
rated at such resistance, gave no quarter. Very few,
among whom was Below himself, recovered from their
severe wounds. The faithful Trautschke also recovered,
after being trepanned, and survived his master ; he was
at his death an excise-officer at Brandenburg.
From six to seven thousand Prussians were killed or
wounded in this desperate fight; the rest were taken
prisoners : 68 pieces of cannon, 34 pair of colours, and
2 standards fell into the hands of the Austrians, whose
victory cost them 5000 men.
The open, industrious town of Landeshut was cruelly
treated by the Imperialists. The soldiers were drunk,
so that Loudon himself, when he attempted to stop the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 277
pillage, could scarcely control their fury. Twelve
persons lost their lives, 43 were severely wounded, and
upAvards of 300 were dreadfully maltreated. The loss
sustained by the inhabitants was estimated at 635,000
dollars ; and the king made compensation for it to the
amount of half a million. On the first tidings of Fouque's
fate, he said to his generals : " Fouque is taken ; but he
has defended himself like a hero ;" and in his works he
compares his defence with that of Leonidas.
As prince Henry had gone to the New Mark to observe
the Russians, and there were no Prussian troops in Silesia,
excepting the weak garrisons in the fortresses, Loudon,
after his victory at Landeshut, ordered general Harsch
to lay siege to the fortress of Glatz.
Glatz is composed of the old and the new fortress,
separated by the river Neisse. It was defended by lieu
tenant-colonel d'O, vice-commandant, who had only five
Aveak battalions, composed of men not at all to be de
pended on. Harsch opened the trenches before the old
fortress on the 20 th of July, and the batteries were com
pleted, when Loudon himself arrived on the 25th. At
five on the following morning, the besiegers opened their
fire, which Avas returned with spirit. The attack on the
outworks by 400 picked Croats and grenadiers took
place at seven. It was kept up Avith the utmost intre
pidity on the one part, and met by obstinate resistance
on the other, till eleven o'clock ; about which time the
Austrians scaled the principal works, rushed into the
fortress along Avith the men whom they had driven out of
them, and forced the garrison, thus taken by surprise,
to surrender at discretion. The new fortress imme
diately submitted.

278 COURT AND TIMES OF
The king, who viewed this event in too unfavourable
a light, says that it was brought about through the me
dium of Jesuits, monks, and Catholic priests, and that
through them Loudon had succeeded in bribing some of
the officers and many of the soldiers of the garrison. It
is possible that d'O may have been inadequate to the
important post entrusted to him, but he was not a traitor ;
he was esteemed by Fouque. Neither had priests any
hand in producing the disaster ; and, as for Jesuits, there
was not one in Glatz. Frederick cashiered all the offi
cers of the garrison : the commandant, on his return after
the peace, was tried and condemned to die ; but at the
place of execution he received a commutation of his sen
tence to confinement in a fortress.
The hard fate of father Faulhaber, a Franciscan at
Glatz, tended to embitter the Catholic clergy and popu
lation of the town against the Prussians. Some time
before the blockade, a soldier belonging to the Prussian
garrison acquainted this Franciscan at confession with
his intention to desert, and asked for absolution on ac
count of the perjury which he should commit in doing
so. Faulhaber strove to dissuade him from his purpose,
but without effect, on which he refused him the desired
absolution. According to the doctrines of his church,
he did not consider himself authorised to do more and to
inform the authorities of the circumstance. The soldier
deserted, was caught, and in his examination he made
mention of that confession. Faulhaber was apprehended,
and, agreeably to the tenor of the articles of war, hanged
by command of general Fouque. In the eyes of the
people, he died a martyr : they deemed it a miracle that
his body showed no signs of putrefaction, and this tended

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 279
to inflame their revenge against his murderers. It was
probably on this circumstance that the king founded his
notion that Catholic priests had contributed to the loss
of the fortress.
Loudon now hastened to Breslau, where he hoped to
be equally successful. Tauentzien, the commandant of
that capital, was a man of firmness and resolution. On
being summoned by Loudon, who threatened that " even
the child unborn should not be spared," he replied : " I
am not with child, neither are my soldiers," and sAvore,
Avith the officers of the guard stationed at Breslau of
which he was commander, rather to perish to the last
man than surrender the city. Lessing, who was then
secretary to this high-spirited general, was accustomed
to say of him : " If the king were to be so unfortunate
as to be able to assemble his army under one tree, Tau
entzien would certainly be there." On the evening of
the 1st of August, Loudon commenced the bombardment
of the place ; but prince Henry came from the New Mark
to its relief, and the imperial general raised the siege on
the morning of the 4th.
Before Frederick received tidings of Fouque's disaster,
he had determined to hasten to his assistance, to fall upon
Lascy, who was keeping watch on the right bank of the
Elbe, even to fight Daun himself, who he hoped would
folloAV him. He therefore left Hiilsen to oppose the army
of the Empire, crossed the Elbe on the 1 4th of June at
Zadel, and waited in expectation that Daun would follow
him. He hoped, but in vain, to bring the campaign to
a close at once ; for Daun continued in his strong posi
tion near Reichenberg, merely sending Lascy to bar the
route to Silesia against the king. But, when Frederick

280 COURT AND TIMES OF
seemed to show a serious intention of marching to Silesia,
Daun hastened to anticipate him, and, on the 6th of
July, had reached Reichenbach, while the Prussians,
wearied out with fatigue, were obliged to halt. The
Austrians had marched along the cord, the Prussians
along the arc of the bow. So oppressive Avas the heat
in these marches that, on the 5th, more than a hundred
Prussians dropped down dead. When the unfortunate
soldiers came to a stream, a spring, a pond, or a pool,
they rushed to the Avater, and took it up with their hats,
regardless of blows and of the word of command till they
had quenched their burning thirst.
While the Prussians were resting, Daun hurried for
ward on the 7th to Gorlitz, on the 8th to Naumburg,
and here, behind the Queis, prepared to encounter an
enemy where there was none. Frederick suddenly
changed his plan, and threw himself upon Lascy, hoping
to annihilate him. In a cavalry action near Gbdau, on
the 7th of July, in which Frederick led the attack in
person; his life Avas in imminent danger. Retzow relates
that two imperial Hulans, who had pushed on very far,
were preparing to cut him down, when his page, gallop
ing up, cried in Polish, " Where the devil are you driv
ing to?" Disconcerted at the question, conceiving that
the page, who did not wear the Prussian uniform, was
an Austrian officer, they excused themselves by saying
that their horses had run away with them, and rode back.
Lascy pursued the most prudent course ; he fled towards
Dresden, and joined the army of the Empire beyond that
city, while Frederick, now master of the right bank of
the Elbe, advanced unmolested upon the Saxon capital.
So rapid and so unexpected was this movement, that

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 281
the troops of the Empire, when they found themselves
abandoned by Daun, and Lascy sought refuge with them
near Plauen, fell back in alarm to Dohna. Macguire
occupied Dresden with 14,000 men. The prince of Hol
stein was posted before the New Town, and the king him
self before the Old Town. But he had not much time
to spare, for he had reason to apprehend that Daun would
return : hence the horrors of war were renewed in this
quarter, and the greater part of Dresden was converted
into a heap of rubbish by an unsparing bombardment
from the 14th to the 27th of July. The picture of the
sufferings and distresses of the Saxons on this occasion
furnishes a companion to that of the bombardment of
Ciistrin ; but the mischief done to Dresden far surpassed
the other, as well in magnitude as in the inhuman tyranny
of the Austrian garrison. Splendid palaces, Avhole streets,
and the church of the Holy Cross to begin with, were
destroyed by the flames. The Prussians directed their
guns chiefly against the lofty edifices, churches, and
steeples. On the 19th of July, upwards of 1400 bombs
were thrown into the city ; many of the inhabitants were
killed by them in the streets, and others buried by the
falling houses. Add to these disasters the pillage of the
Austrians, whom Macguire was continually hanging by
dozens, without rendering the property of the unfortu
nate inhabitants the more secure.
Daun was now returning. Macguire, who had re
established his communication with him on the 20th, on
which day the Prussians were obliged to quit the right
bank of the Elbe, obstinately defended himself, made
sorties, and was incessantly annoying the besiegers.
Daun, nevertheless, made scarcely any preparations for

282 COURT AND TIMES OF
crossing the Elbe till the 27th ; and the army of the Em
pire, united Avith Lascy's corps, continued nearly inactive.
But when part of the siege artillery brought from Mag
deburg was intercepted Jby the Austrians, and the king
at the same time received intelligence that Glatz was
lost, and that a hostile corps had marched by Freiberg
to Nossen, he fell back to Meissen, and crossed the Elbe
on the 1st of August below that town, to make a second
attempt to reach Silesia, and to form a junction with
prince Henry.
It was during the siege of Dresden that the king ex
hibited an instance of extraordinary severity towards the
regiment of Anhalt-Bernburg. This was nearly the oldest
regiment in the army of Brandenburg : by its military
reputation under the old Dessauer, who commanded it
from 1693 to 1747, it had first gained a name for the
Prussian soldiers, and ever since that time there was
scarcely a battle in which the brave grenadiers had not
spilt their blood. In a sally, in the night of the 22nd
of July, their piquets had been surprised by the enemy,
whose attack was thereby facilitated. They defended
themselves, it is true, Avith great intrepidity in the breach
ing battery and in the trenches ; captain Kaufberg even
took 200 prisoners, with general Nugent : but the in
creasing force of the Austrians compelled the little band
of Prussians to leave their cannon behind them, and to
fall back. Though the battalions hastening to their suc
cour recovered the batteries, repulsed the enemy, and
wiped away the stain arising from the negligence of a
few, still the king punished the regiment with excessive
rigour, by disgracing it before the whole army. The
nature of this punishment Avas as remarkable as it was new.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 283
Extraordinary importance Avas at that time attached
to certain distinctions in the uniform, and no regiment
was more conspicuous in this respect than that of the
old Dessauer. Frederick depriAred the officers of the
gold lace upon their hats, and the men of their side-
arms, while the drummers Avere forbidden to beat the
Grenadiers' March — a disgrace the more mortifying be
cause unmerited. The brave fellows SAvore to seize the
first opportunity of regaining the honour of which they
were thus deprived, and well did they redeem the voav,
as Ave shall presently see. It is right, however, to add
that Frederick's rewards were as well calculated to ope
rate upon the common men as the punishments which he
adjudged. Thus he offered a premium of 100 ducats for
every piece of cannon, 50 for every pair of colours, and
40 for every standard that should be taken — sums suf
ficient to stimulate soldiers eager after booty to the
most daring efforts, and which were punctually paid.
Frederick's situation was at this time peculiarly criti
cal. His march to Silesia was rendered not less ardu
ous by the devastations of the Austrians than dangerous
by the proximity of Daun and Lascy ; the former, having
quitted Dresden, was preceding him on the road to Bres
lau, while the latter was following at his heels. But for
the actions that daily took place, all three armies might
have been supposed to belong to one and the same mas
ter. The progress of the Prussians was considerably
impeded also by a thousand waggons Avhich were required
to convey provisions for the troops. The king, never
theless, reached the Katzbach in six days, but his situa
tion was by no means improved. To his 30,000 men
were opposed 90,000 Austrians, for Loudon had formed

284 COURT AND TIMES OF
a junction with Daun. Frederick had supplies for a few
days only ; he was therefore obliged to direct his course
to Breslau or Glogau, as the route to Schweidnitz was
barred against him. The direction upon Breslau was to
be preferred, as he might then form a junction with prince
Henry, otherAvise the latter would be exposed not only
to the attack of the Austrians, but also to that of the
Russians, who were nearly as numerous.
Not only had the king at this critical moment to con
tend with the vast superiority of his enemies in the field,
but also with the discouragement and despondency of
his friends, and even of his own brother. ¦ Henry, whose
courage and military talents had been displayed on num
berless occasions, found the whole posture of affairs so
unpropitious, that he gave way to the most gloomy ideas,
and, on the 5th of August, wrote to the king from his
head-quarters at Lissa, begging that he would allow him
to resign a command to which he felt himself inadequate.
Frederick's answer, on the 9th, from the camp near Hb-
hendorf, on the Katzbach, was as follows : "It is not
difficult, my dear brother, to find people to serve the
state when it is flourishing and prosperous. Those are
good citizens who serve it in times of peril and disaster.
Solid glory is acquired by the performance of arduous
tasks ; the more arduous the more honourable. I can
not, therefore, think that you are in earnest in what you
have written. It is certain that neither you nor I can
be answerable for what may happen in our present situa
tion ; but our consciences and the public will acquit us
if we do all that lies in our power. As for the present
state of my affairs, they will, according to all appear
ance be decided in a few days. We shall fight for ho.-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 285
nour and for our country, and every one will do the im
possible to conquer. Superior numbers do not frighten
me — still I cannot answer for the result." After re
ceiving this letter, the prince relinquished his intention
of retiring from the army.
Nothing but Frederick's vigilance and his military
genius preserved him during these days from a repetition
of the surprise which he had experienced at Hochkirch.
More than once he was forced to take the most danger
ous positions, but the celerity with which he changed
them always baffled the plans of the dilatory Daun. The
king himself calls his mode of proceeding in this predi
cament that of a partisan who is obliged to risk every
thing to get at the enemy ; but all his attempts either
to turn Daun's flank or to force his enemies to fight him
singly proved abortive, and, on the 1 3th of August, he
was again on the left bank of the Katzbach between
Liegnitz and Schimmelwitz. Daun was posted opposite
to him, Loudon and Beck on his flanks, and Lascy in the
rear. The Austrians now conceived that the lion was in
their toils, and that the moment had arrived for striking
a decisive blow ; but, not deeming themselves strong
enough with their own treble number to crush their for
midable foe, they applied to the sulky Soltikof for a re
inforcement. " The sack is opened for the Prussians,"
said they; " let us drive them into it, and tie it up."
Frederick was informed of this expression, and observed
at table : " They are not far wrong ; but I think to make
a hole in their sack, which they shall have some trouble
to mend." Soltikof was actually induced by Daun's re
presentations to send Czernitschef with 24,000 men across

286 COURT AND TIMES OF
the Oder on the 13th of August. From this circum
stance, as well as from the appearance of Daun and his
generals on the 14th upon the hills, whence they care
fully reconnoitred the position of the Prussians, the
king concluded that they contemplated a surprise. He
therefore made immediate dispositions for crossing the
Schwarzwasser, and occupying the heights of Pfaffen-
dorf. He purposed to break up in the night, and, that
the enemy might not be aware of his departure, he in
tended to have the watch-fires kept up in the deserted
camp, and to employ peasants to repeat to one another
the usual call of the patroles.
The accuracy of Frederick's conjectures was more
than sufficiently confirmed during the day. At four in
the afternoon, an Austrian officer, named Wiese, was
brought in quite drunk, and crying incessantly that he
had a great secret to tell. Cold water and emetics were
employed to sober him the sooner ; he was then taken to
the king, and informed him that the Prussian army was
to be attacked next day by Daun in the right flank, and
by Lascy in the rear. As for Loudon, he knew nothing
about him. Frederick once more reconnoitred the
country in company with the deserter, but saw no reason
to change his dispositions. At ten at night he set his
army in motion, and, while one division marched through
Liegnitz, the other crossed the Schwarzwasser near that
town. The left wing occupied the Wolfsberg, and the
right wing the Glasberg ; and here the king purposed
to wait till morning, when he intended to proceed to
Morschwitz, and there pitch his camp.
Accurately as the dispositions for the march were
carried into effect, still the troops had in the night be-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 287
come intermixed, and, while they were getting into order
again, the king halted them on the heights between
Hiimeln, Pfaffendorf, and Panten. The men meanwhile
seated themselves on the ground with their firelocks on
their arms, and chatted together in an under-tone, as
singing Avas forbidden. It was a starlight summer
night. From the Wolfsberg the Prussians overlooked
the enemy's camp, with its blazing watch-fires ; and the
hoary warriors told their younger comrades about the
hard battles which they had fought with that same foe,
about the exploits of their " Fritz," and about Schwerin,
Keith, Maurice, Seydlitz, and other commanders, whom
they had so often followed to certain victory.
Frederick himself was on the right wing of his army,
and sat down by a fire which Zieten's hussars had
lighted, and which RathenoAv's grenadiers kept up when
the hussars had gone forward. He had Avrapped him
self in his cloak, and seemed to be dozing ; and those
who were next to him kept off others, lest they should
disturb the king. Day began to dawn, when major
Hundt of Zieten's hussars, who had been sent out to
wards Pohlschildern to reconnoitre, suddenly came gal
loping up. " Where is the king ? Avhere is the king ? "
cried he, hurriedly, dashing among the grenadiers, who
started upon their feet. " What is it ? " rejoined the
king himself. " Your majesty," replied Hundt, " the
enemy is here : he has already driven in all my vedettes,
and is not 400 paces off." The king would not at first
believe the report, and nothing but Hundt 's most em
phatic assurances could induce him to make dispositions
against this unexpected attack. At length the answers
to his further inquiries led him to conjecture that Loudon

288 COURT AND TIMES OF
might be coming in that direction, and his resolution
was soon formed. " Stop the enemy as long as possi
ble," said he to Hundt ; and, collecting the two nearest
battalions, he led them on in person, leaving orders for
the other battalions of the left wing to follow, so that a
strong front might be presented to the enemy. But no
sooner had these commenced their movement, than the
flank patroles fell in with the enemy, and the engage
ment began.
Before I enter upon the details of this battle, it may
not be amiss to advert to the circumstances under which
Loudon, for he was the assailant, involved himself in it.
The Prussian camp between Liegnitz and Schimmelwitz,
which Daun minutely reconnoitred on the 14th, offered
to the Austrians an occasion too alluring for attacking
the king. When, in compliance with Loudon's personal
solicitation, Soltikof had sent 24,000 Russians to cross
the Oder at Auras, Daun had projected the following
plan. The Russians were to cut off Frederick's retreat
upon Breslau; Loudon, with 35,000 men, was to cross
the Katzbach, about five miles below Liegnitz, to bar in
like manner the route to Glogau ; Lascy was to fall upon
the rear of the Prussians, and Daun himself intended to
cross the Katzbach with his whole army near Kroitsch
and Hohendorf, and, while Beck and Ried detained the
king near Liegnitz, to advance through Wiltsch and
Rothkirch, and take him in his right flank. This plan
was duly carried into effect in the night of the 15th;
but Daun marched upon the camp which Frederick had
just quitted, while Loudon unexpectedly found himself
upon the left wing of the Prussians, and involved in a
decisive engagement.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 289
The Austrians had purposely marched without ad
vanced guard, that they might make themselves masters
of the baggage of the Prussians, and now came suddenly,
with the bulk of their corps, upon the battalions led by
Frederick in person. Both parties hastened to form
their troops for the attack. The Austrians lay under a
great disadvantage, owing as well to the circumscribed
extent of the ground, as to the tardiness of their mo
tions. Loudon, nevertheless, hesitated not a moment ;
ordered a few cannon-shot to be discharged at random,
and drew up his troops in four lines.
Meanwhile the heavy field-pieces usually attached to
the Prussian infantry brigades had been formed into a
battery on the Wolfsberg, and opened their fire upon
the close ranks of the Austrians, at the same moment
that the battalions, headed by the king, commenced
their fire of small arms. This brought the enemy to a
dead stand, and facilitated the advance of the Prussian
troops. Frederick is related to have himself directed
the formation of the above-mentioned battery.
An eyewitness, who had occasion to observe the king
in these moments, records the following particulars.
After riding along general Schenkendorf's brigade, his
majesty immediately turned back to its left wing, and,
stooping from his horse, pointed to a small eminence,
the outline of which was defined against the twilight
sky. This height Schenkendorf was to take with his
battery. " How will it go, my dear Schenkendorf ?"
said the king. — " I will just ask my lads," replied the
general. — " Well, grenadiers, what say you ? Will you
fight like brave fellows ?" — " 0, yes, if you lead us,
we'll send them to the devil !" was the unanimous ex-
VOL. III. U

290 COURT AND TIMES OF
clamation. At that moment commenced the enemy's
fire of small arms, and the balls began to strike the caps
of the grenadiers. " Now, Schenkendorf, it is time to
march," said the king. — " Shall I order the general
march to be beat ?" — " In God's name," answered Fre
derick, and the whole left wing wheeled to make front
against Loudon.
In fact, the king found himself obliged to make head
against the enemy on two sides. Without hesitating a
moment how to act, he resolved to advance with the
troops first formed upon the nearest foe, while Zieten,
with the right wing of his little army, was to face the
Katzbach and the Schwarzwasser, and to defend the
passage against Daun.
It was three in the morning when the battle com
menced. By the brisk fire of canister from the Wolfs
berg, on which Loudon meant to form, he found himself
suddenly thrown back upon the columns that were fol
lowing him, and was some time in arranging his army :
he then attacked the Prussians with equal skill and in
trepidity. His cavalry on the extreme right wing was
first ready, and rushed in far superior force upon the
Prussian regiment of Krokow's dragoons, which had ad
vanced for the purpose of facilitating the drawing up of
the Prussian infantry in order of battle. The dragoons
were repulsed, and margrave Frederick's cuirassiers, who
came to their succour, were hard pressed. General Biilow,
who had already arranged five battalions at this point,
went with them to meet the Austrian cavalry. Among
these was the Anhalt regiment, which had been dis
graced at Dresden, and was bent on regaining its ho
nour. The Prussians rushed with such irresistible im-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 291
petuosity upon the enemy's horse, that they were forced
to wheel about, and, as at this moment the 15 squadrons
of the Prussian left wing passed Biilow's battalions, in
pursuit of the fugitive Austrian cavalry, they totally
dispersed and drove it into the morasses of Schbnborn.
Biilow then fell back, and stationed himself near the
great battery, while the king was engaged in arranging
the right wing of his division of the army for the fight.
As Loudon sought to gain ground on the right, so did
the Prussians on the left ; but the rapidity and valour
of the latter gave them the advantage, and Loudon was
not able even to deploy his troops. The whole line of
the Prussians advanced victoriously. The fresh troops
brought into the fight by Loudon were beaten the mo
ment they appeared, and, when the decimated Austrians
betook themselves to flight, the Prussian cavalry dashed
in among them, making the greater part of them pri
soners. Such was the invariable result of four succes
sive attempts, as the Austrian cavalry never ventured
upon the ground.
By these repeated efforts, hoAvever, the ranks of the
Prussians were considerably thinned, and Frederick had
only four battalions of reserve. These werenow marched
forward into the line of battle, and, to strengthen it
still more, four battalions and five squadrons were
fetched from Zieten's division. Loudon, on the other
hand, had relieved his weary troops, and brought up
fresh forces, and for the fifth time the columns renewed
the sanguinary fray.
The Austrian cavalry now seized a favourable moment
for supporting their infantry, and falling upon that of
the Prussians. For a moment success seemed to crown
U 2

292 COURT AND TIMES OF
this attack : the Austrian horse broke into the ranks,
making prisoners, and taking colours and cannon. But
the brave grenadiers of Anhalt-Bernburg turned the
tide. Stimulated by the idea of wiping away the dis
grace of Dresden, they charged the cavalry with fixed
bayonets, killed many, and drove Jback several regi
ments in the utmost confusion upon the rest of the
enemy's troops. The Prussian cavalry now advanced
just at the seasonable moment. They not only recovered
the prisoners and the booty taken by the Austrians, but
annihilated their cavalry a second time, and thus de
cided the fortune of the day. After a battle of three
hours, Loudon retreated across the Katzbach. Frede
rick had brought into the field only 14,000 men against
his adversary's 32,000. Pursuit was out of the ques
tion, as Daun's army of 60,000 men was already in
sight and threatening the Prussian right wing, while
their left was driving the enemy from the field. The
trophies of the conquerors, however, were not inconside
rable. Two generals, 86 other officers, 5,000 men, 82
pieces of cannon, and 23 pair of colours, fell into the
hands of the Prussians. The enemy left, moreover,
2,500 dead and wounded on the field, while the loss of
the victors is said to have amounted to no more than
1186. The king himself had been struck by a ball in
the loins, but not Avounded.
Daun had marched with the intention of falling at
daybreak upon the left flank of the king, whom he sup
posed to be still in his former camp, with his left wing
upon Liegnitz ; but at two in the morning he received
intelligence that the camp was deserted. He then pur
posed to cross the Katzbach, and to pursue the enemy.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 293
About five o'clock Zieten first perceived the heads of the
columns of Daun's advanced guard, and prevented any
serious attempt to cross the Schwarzwasser.
Lascy also had at nightfall broken up from Siechau,
crossed the Katzbach, and advanced upon Waldau, with
the intention of falling upon the rear of the king ; but
he could not cross the Schwarzwasser, owing to the
swampy nature of its banks.
The army was ordered to form a line on the field of
battle ; and the king, riding along it from left to right,
stopped before the regiment of Bernburg, which was at
the head of the right wing. " My lads," said he, in the
kindest tone, " I thank you. You have behaved bravely,
very bravely. You shall have every thing again — every
thing." The flugelinan of the life company, a hoary
veteran, named Fauser, stepping of his own accord out
of the ranks, went up to the king : " I thank your
majesty," said he, "in the name of my comrades, for
having done us justice. Is not your majesty again our
gracious king ?" Frederick, pleased with the manliness
and warmth of this address, patted the brave spokesman
on the shoulder, and replied : " All is forgotten and for
given, but your services this day I shall never forget."
He then dismounted, and said to the commander of the
regiment : " Let this old man be made sergeant." By
this time several of the privates, having collected round
the king, began to exculpate themselves for their beha
viour at Dresden : the king replied, and the men argued
and demonstrated with such familiarity and strength of
lungs that the commander, fearful lest the king might
be angry, would have driven them back. " No, no, let
them alone," said he with a good-natured smile, and put

294 COURT AND TIMES OF
an end to the dispute by repeating that they were brave
fellows, and had that day nobly upheld the glory of
Prussia. Fauser was living in 1789 as messenger to
the deputation of the Chamber of Halle, where the regi
ment of Old Anhalt was in garrison.
Zieten, who had on this day displayed great military
talent, was promoted on the field to general of cavalry.
One of Frederick's first inquiries was after the brave
Schenkendorf, and he learned that the general's lower
jaw had been shattered by a canister-shot.
The impression made by this victory in England may
be estimated from a letter of Mr. Pitt's to Mitchell, in
which he writes : " I cannot let a messenger go away
without conveying some expressions at least of all my
heart feels on the glorious and stupendous successes with
which Providence has at last crowned the heroic con
stancy of spirit and unexampled activity of mind of that
truly great king you are so fortunate to contemplate
nearly. Never was joy more sincere and universal than
that which Mr. Cocceji's arrival confirmed to us ; and,
amidst a Avhole nation's joy, none can surpass, if any
can equal, mine." Cocceji was the bearer of the in
telligence of the victory at Liegnitz.
The victory at Liegnitz gave a different complexion
to the cause of the king, but no positive security or con
fidence. "Formerly," he writes to d'Argens, "the
affair of the 1 5th would have decided much ; now that
battle is a mere bagatelle. It requires a great victory
to decide our fate. In all probability, such a one will
soon take place ; and then we will rejoice if the issue is
favourable to us. I thank you, nevertheless, for the in
terest that you take in this event. No little skill was

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 295
required to bring matters to this point. Say nothing
about danger : the last battle has cost me only a coat
and a horse ; that is purchasing victory at a cheap
rate. I have not received the letter to which you allude.
Our correspondence is blockaded, as it were ; for the
Russians are on one side of the Oder, the Austrians on
the other. A petty action had to be fought in order to
clear the way for Cocceji. I hope he has delivered my
letter to you. Never in my life have I been in so cri
tical a position as in this campaign. Be assured that a
sort of miracle is requisite to surmount all the diffi
culties I foresee. I will not fail to do my duty ; but
bear in mind, my dear marquis, that I cannot control
Fortune, and that I am obliged in my plans to reckon a
good deal upon chance, as mj means are too scanty for
me to trust entirely to myself. They are herculean
labours which I have to finish, and that too at an age
when my powers are forsaking me, when the infirmity
of my body is increasing, and when, to confess the
truth, even hope, the only consolation of the unfortunate,
begins to fail. You are not sufficiently acquainted with
matters to have a clear conception of all the dangers that
threaten the State. — I know and keep them to myself. If
the stroke that I am meditating succeeds, then, my dear
marquis, it will be time to give ourselves up to joy. I
lead here the life of a military Carthusian. My affairs
occupy my mind not a little. The rest of my time I
devote to the liberal sciences, which are a comfort to
me, as they were to that great consul, the father of his
country and of eloquence. I know not whether I shall
survive this war : if I should, I am firmly resolved to
pass the rest of my days aloof from troubles, in the bo-

9Q6 COURT AND TIMES OF
som of philosophy and friendship. I know not yet where
we shall have our winter-quarters. My house in Breslau
was burnt to ashes in the last bombardment. Our enemies
grudge us the very daylight and the -air we breathe ;
still they must leave us some spot or other, and, so it is
but a safe one, I shall be glad to see you there."
Frederick had now no time to lose if he would profit
by the advantage which he had gained. His object was
to form a junction with his brother Henry. By nine
o'clock in the morning of the 1 6th he set out, with part
of the left wing of his army, for Parchwitz, whither he was
followed by the rest of it under the margrave Charles,
after these troops had celebrated the victory by firing
their guns on the field of battle. Zieten, who still oc
cupied the heights of Pfaffendorf with the right wing,
attended to the wounded, buried the dead, collected the
trophies, and made the necessary preparations for re
joining the other division. The horses were taken from
the empty provision waggons and harnessed to the cap
tured cannon ; the superfluous waggons, chests, and
boxes, Avere broken in pieces ; the wounded were placed,
some in carriages, others on horseback ; all the vehicles
of luxury and even the king's equipages were pressed
into the service ; and thus the Prussians cleared the
field the same day, not leaving a single wounded man or
any of the trophies of their victory behind them.
The king contrived by a military stratagem to open
the route to Breslau. He wrote to his brother Henry
that he had beaten Loudon, and was now preparing to
join him and to march against the Russians. This letter
he sent by a peasant, that it might fall into the hands
of the Russians ; and no sooner had Czernitschef read

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 297
it than he hastily quitted the left bank of the Oder, and
the same day rejoined Soltikof. Frederick thereupon
rested for two days in a camp near Neumarkt, and there
drew to him the greater part of the Silesian army.
Daun had meanwhile taken the road to Schweidnitz,
and Frederick was obliged to follow him, lest he should
be cut off from that fortress. He took a position near
Dittmansdorf, Avhere the two hostile camps nearly
touched, and daily skirmishes took place. To be fixed
here while his presence was urgently required in other
places Avas intolerable to the king. His situation was
daily getting Avorse. " I am slowly wasting away," he
wrote on the 18th of September to d'Argens ; "I am
like a body, from which some of its limbs are daily
lopped. Heaven send us help ! we need it exceedingly.
You are continually reminding me of my own person.
You must know that it is not necessary for me to live, but
that it is absolutely necessary for me to do my duty, to
fight for my country, and to save it if possible. You can
form no conception of the dreadful hardships we endure.
This campaign is worse than any of the preceding. Some
times I know not which way to turn. My gaiety is
buried with the dear and worthy persons to whom my
heart was so firmly attached. The conclusion of my
life is painful and melancholy. Forget not your old
friend, my dear marquis."

298 COURT AND TIMES OF

CHAPTER XXXV.
Campaign of 1760 continued — Expedition of the Russians and Austrians
against Berlin — The City capitulates to the Russian General Count Tott-
leben — Disinterested Conduct of Bachmann, the Russian Commandant —
Patriotic Services of Gotzkowski — Unpleasant situation of the Berlin
Newspaper-editors — Frederick hastens to the Relief of his Capital — Re
treat of the Enemy — The Russians retire for the Winter beyond the Vis
tula — Frederick's Operations for recovering possession of Saxony — His
determination to conquer or perish — Reflections on the King's resolution
to put an end to his Life rather than submit to disgrace — Battle of Tor
gau — Imminent personal Danger of the King — The Spent Ball — Blucher
— De l'Homme Courbiere — Death of George II. — Frederick passes the
Winter at Leipzig — His Occupations and Amusements — Extracts from
Letters to the Countess de Camas — The King and his Dogs.
While Frederick was detained near Schweidnitz, and
part of his army Avas observing the Russians, Saxony
was completely abandoned to the troops of the Empire.
Leipzig was taken without difficulty, and the little corps
of general Hiilsen had been forced to quit Torgau and
Wittenberg. Duke Charles of Wirtemberg Avas laying
waste and levying contributions in the country of Mag
deburg. At length Daun, who was as ill at ease in the
camp at Dittmannsdorf as Frederick himself, after great
solicitation prevailed upon count Fermor, who had as
sumed the chief command of the Russian army on ac
count of the illness of Soltikof, to send 20,000 Russians,
supported by 15,000 Austrians, to Berlin. While ge
neral Golz was detained near Glogau by Fermor, a
Russian corps of 5000 men, under general Tottleben,
hastened by way of Guben, Beeskow, and Wusterhausen,
to the capital, and took post before the Cottbus-gate.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 299
The division of general Czernitschef followed, and en
camped near Fiirstenwalde ; while the main body of the
Russians approached by way of Frankfurt. The Austrian
corps under Lascy arrived before Berlin on the 8 th of
October. Berlin was at this time surrounded partly by a weak
wall, and partly by palisades only. The military force
in the city, amounting to 15000 men, consisted of two
battalions of an invalid regiment and provincial militia,
and Avas commanded chiefly by wounded officers; so
that any efficient defence was out of the question. The
members of the royal family had removed in the pre
ceding year for safety to Magdeburg, and were still
residing there. Of the proceedings consequent on the
arrival of the enemy, d'Argens gives the following report
to the king, dated the 19th of October.
" General Tottleben summoned Berlin, but, as he had
only irregular troops, it was resolved to defend it. From
five in the evening of the 3d of October till three next
morning he threw balls and bombs into the city, and at
tacked several of the gates, but was everywhere repulsed
with loss by our garrison battalions. I must do generals
Seydlitz and Knobloch that justice which the citizens of
Berlin owe them. These officers, both wounded [the
former in the battle of Kunersdorf ], passed the night at
the batteries of the gates that were attacked, and saved
your capital ; old marshal Lehwald also did every thing
that his advanced age permitted. On the day after the
bombardment, the prince of Wirtemberg came with his
corps from Pasewalk ; but he was so fatigued that
the Russians could not be attacked till the next day.
Having learned, however, that the enemy had been re-

300 COURT AND TIMES OF
inforced by the corps of Lascy and Czernitschef, he
thought it best to retire and to leave the city to capitu
late, otherwise it would have been infallibly attacked
and plundered by the Austrians, while our army was
fighting the Russians. The corps of the prince of Wir
temberg and that of general Hiilsen, who advanced from
Koswig, after Lascy had reached Potsdam and Charlot
tenburg, passed through the city in the night, on their
way to Spandau." At four in the morning of the 8th
of October, general Rochow brought the capitulation to
bear with count Tottleben exclusively. The most im
portant of its conditions were these : — The garrison, as
well as all the military persons in the city, are prisoners
of war ; all military stores, and all the property of the
state, are placed at the disposal of the conqueror ; se
curity of persons and property is assured to the inhabi
tants ; the contribution and all other supplies shall be
fixed by a special convention with the municipal autho
rities. At eight the same morning, count Tottleben, at the
head of two regiments of grenadiers and one of dra
goons, made his entry into Berlin. The troops bivouacked
before the palace and in the neighbouring streets. Bri
gadier Bachmann was appointed commandant. From
the city the sum of four million dollars was at first de
manded ; but it was at length agreed that it should pay
a contribution of 1,500,000 and 200,000 for douceur-
money, the latter and one-third of the contribution in
specie, and the other two-thirds in bills at two months.
On the other hand, this convention again guaranteed
safety of persons and property ; the free exercise of
public worship, trades, and manufactures ; the unmo-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 301
lested operation of the police and the posting depart
ment ; while all the royal as well as municipal officers
were to retain their functions, and to be left in full en
joyment of their salaries.
Count Tottleben, a native of Thuringia, maintained
the most laudable discipline. He was particularly at
tached to the Prussians, among whom he had himself
served ; and his son, educated in Berlin, belonged at this
time to the regiment of Dohna. Bachmann behaved
very nobly. He refused a present of 12,000 dollars,
saying — " If the city thinks that its situation is more
tolerable through our discipline than it might have been,
it has to thank the express orders of our empress for
this. I, for my part, am sufficiently rewarded by the
honour of having been for three days commandant of
Berlin." He did at last accept a gold snuff-box, that he
might bequeath it to his family as a token of the satis
faction of the city of Berlin with his conduct.
The Austrian general, prince Esterhazy, likewise dis
played great humanity in Potsdam, and spared Sans-
Souci, as well as the royal palace and the treasures of
art which it contained, out of respect and admiration for
the royal owner : he took only a single picture — a por
trait of the king, considered an excellent likeness — from
the palace of Potsdam, as a memorial. But at Charlot
tenburg, Schonhausen, and Friedrichsfelde, the Impe
rialists under Lascy, a native of Ireland, Daun's friend
and adviser, committed the most wanton excesses, espe
cially in the palace, the chapel, and the Polignac collec
tion of antiques at Charlottenburg. Among other out
rages, these troops, many of Avhom were Saxons who had
been made prisoners at Pirna, stripped the keeper of

302 COURT AND TIMES OF
the palace and his wife naked, beat them with rods, and
pinched them with heated pincers to make them confess
where treasures which had no existence were concealed.
In Berlin, also, where the foundry, the mint, the powder-
mills, and the manufactures of articles for the supply of
the army were destroyed, Lascy's troops conducted them
selves so infamously that Tottleben was obliged to send
for reinforcements to reduce them to order.
It was not long before the tidings of the king's ap
proach scared the enemy from his capital : nay, it is a
fact that even on the 8th, before they entered Berlin,
they had resolved in a council of war to retreat, but were
diverted from this determination by the marquis de Mon-
talembert, the French military commissioner with the
Russians, who prevailed on Czernitschef and Lascy to
seek the supplies they needed not in their rear but be
fore them. Still they had no notion of gaining a firm
footing in the country, and of turning the capture of
Berlin to that account which they might have done. It
was a mere incursion for levying contributions, and led
to no results.
Justice requires the mention here of a citizen of Ber
lin, to whose patriotic exertions during its occupation
by the enemy that capital was deeply indebted. This
was John Ernest Gotzkowski, Avhose name has been al
ready mentioned in the course of this work. Born in
1710, at Konitz, he was placed when very young in
Berlin, and brought up to trade. He became acquainted
with Frederick, when prince-royal, at Rheinsberg ; and,
after his accession, was employed by him to draw artists,
manufacturers, and useful artisans of all sorts into the
country. He himself founded in Berlin, by desire of the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 303
king, considerable manufactories; established in 1745,
with 30,000 dollars, the first velvet manufactory in the
kingdom, and, as foreign velvets were prohibited, he
soon had 120 looms at work. In 1753 he undertook a
silk manufactory with the assistance of the king, em
ployed in both these establishments 250 looms, and ex
ported goods to the amount of 100,000 dollars per an
num. In 1755 he went to Italy, Holland, and France,
and bought a number of valuable pictures, which were
to form the new gallery of Sans-Souci. Thus Gotz-
kowski was already distinguished by his services, when
the invasion of the country placed him in a new position,
in Avhich he risked property and life. He had paid hu
mane attentions to the Russian generals who had been
taken prisoners, and especially to general Sievers, who
recommended him to Bachmann, the commandant ;
through the latter he became acquainted with captain
Brink, aide-de-camp to Tottleben. Brink lodged in the
house of Gotzkowski, who acquired such influence that
he prevailed upon Tottleben to reduce the demand of
four million dollars, old money, to one and a half, and
to be content with the current, that is to say, light coin.
He saved several public and private establishments from
destruction, and effected the relief of the Jews from a
special contribution demanded from them. It is impos
sible to state all that he did for private individuals, as
he was ever ready to render service and to show kind
ness. Thus, too, the editors of the Berlin newspapers
were not a little indebted to his interposition.
Ever since the commencement of hostilities, a paper-
war had been waged with not less acrimony than that
which was sacrificing so many victims in the field. We

304 COURT AND TIMES OF
have seen how the editor of the Erlangen gazette was
treated in the preceding year by a Prussian officer ; it
Avas now the turn of those Prussian writers whose zeal
had outrun their discretion to suffer the like punish
ment. Tottleben ordered all the pamphlets in which
he was mentioned to be taken from the booksellers,
likewise the works of professor Justi against a defender
of the cause of the house of Austria, the Life of count
Briihl, and every thing that had been printed during
the war against the two imperial courts, and publicly
burned in the New Market by the hand of the execu
tioner. The editors of the two Berlin newspapers, who
had indulged in personalities against the Russian com
mander, were led forth at eight in the morning of the
12th of October to the New Market, where one hundred
Russian soldiers were drawn up and provided with
switches, as when an offender is about to run the gaunt
let. Krause, the editor of Haude and Spener's paper,
then 68 years old, was stripped, but, when he fell upon
his knees and begged pardon, at the same time taking
off his wig and showing his gray head, he was forgiven.
Kretschmer, editor of Voss's paper, escaped with the
fright and a few slight stripes.
Gotzkowski's philanthropic services were gratefully
acknowledged by the magistrates of Berlin. On the
4th of March they thus wrote to him : " It is an un
exampled instance of a man having undertaken and
performed for his fellow-creatures what you have done,
without any self-interest whatever." In like manner,
Leipzig was indebted to his mediation with his own
sovereign in the winter of 1760 and 1761, for an essen
tial alleviation of the burdens imposed upon it.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 305
In 1761 Gotzkowski established in Berlin by desire
of the king a porcelain manufactory, which, in the fol
lowing year, employed 150 persons, and which Frederick
took into his own hands, on payment of 225,000 dol
lars. It produced better porcelain than the famous
manufactory at Meissen, and is still carried on upon the
king's account. In 1766 Gotzkowski had the misfortune,
through no fault of his own, it is said, to become in
solvent. Two years afterwards he published his Life by
the title of " History of a patriotic Tradesman," the
first edition of Avhich was prohibited. When I find it
recorded that such a man was suffered to die in poverty
in 1775, that circumstance, unexplained as it is, seems
to me to involve a most severe reflexion, not only upon
the sovereign, but also upon that city which he had so
essentially benefited.
The marquis d'Argens, who bestowed such high en
comiums on the generals in Berlin, expressed himself in
his letters to the king with not less warmth concerning
the patriotic virtues of the citizens. In one of them
he says, " I saw here, after the battle near Frankfurt,
twenty, nay, I dare say a hundred citizens, far surpassing
those citizens of Rome, Avhose resolution and patriotism
Livy has immortalized." This the king bore in mind,
says Preuss, and secretly paid the heavy contribution,
nobody rightly knew when, having first by a cabinet
order directed that the bills given on account of it
should not be honoured.
Frederick had received intelligence of the march of
the enemy upon Berlin, but imagined that the affair was
not so serious as it turned out. When he heard of the
result, he reinforced the garrisons of Schweidnitz and
VOL. III. x

306 COURT AND TIMES OF
Breslau, left his camp, and hastened with the disposable
troops to Guben, hoping there to cut off the hostile
corps which had penetrated to the capital and to anni
hilate them. For four days his enemies had occupied
Berlin, when the cry: " Frederick is coming!" chased
them away on the 12 th of October. Their march was
like a flight. Tottleben and Czernitschef retired to
Frankfurt with such precipitation that they proceeded
upwards of 52 miles in two days ; while Loudon marched
straight forward, without resting, to Torgau. Both
Russians and Austrians ravaged the country most bar
barously, but the latter plundered the very dead in their
graves. The king was at Guben when he heard of their
retreat : he was too late to execute his design, and
turned off to Liibben. Here he Avrote on the 16th of
October to the Chamber of the Electorate, desiring a
report of all the mischief done by the enemy, and on
the 18th promised, as soon as the military operations
would permit, " to do, as an honest and faithful father
of his country, every thing in the world that could be
done for the relief and comfort of his loyal subjects who
had suffered by the invasion."
As soon as the two Russian corps from Berlin had
reached Fermor's camp near Lossow, not far from
Frankfurt on the Oder, the whole army broke up on
the 14th of October, with the intention of taking can
tonments in Pomerania and the New Mark ; but marshal
Buturlin, the new commander-in-chief, who joined it on
the 6 th of November at Regenwalde, found those pro
vinces so devastated, that he was under the necessity of
retiring towards the Vistula.
From Liibben the king marched to Dessau, where he

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 307
could draw supplies from Magdeburg. He could not
suffer the year to close without reconquering Saxony.
Daun followed him through Lusatia to Torgau, to main
tain possession of that country. Loudon remained at
Lbwenberg, and general Golz was left to watch him.
Frederick arrived on the 22d at Jessen, drove the duke
of Deuxponts out of Wittenberg, scared the troops of
the Empire across the Pleisse and the Elster to Zeiz, out
of communication with Daun, who had already drawn
to him Lascy's corps near Torgau, and again took pos
session of Leipzig, which had to suffer severely for its
attachment to the enemies of the king.
Daun, with an army of 65,000 men, occupied the
heights of Siiptitz, near Torgau. Frederick's object was
to wrest Saxony from him. The heights of Siiptitz,
the most considerable in that part of the country, form,
to the north of the village from which they are named,
a continuous ridge, the north-western extremity of
which is most elevated, and bordered by the tAvo sheep-
ponds, that are supplied by swampy springs in the
neighbourhood. The king had the ground examined by
some officers, and concluded from their report that an
attack upon the Austrian position from the south would
be too difficult : he therefore purposed to turn the enemy
by crossing the heath of Dommitsch, and, advancing
from Neiden, to attack him in the rear.
Daun's position was so strong, and so abundantly
provided with means of defence, a numerous army and
a powerful artillery, that there was reason to dread
a repetition of the scene at Kunersdorf. Frederick,
however, had evidently made up his mind to accomplish
his object, that is, to recover Saxony by a decisive stroke,
x 2

308 COURT AND TIMES OF
or to perish. On the 28th of October, he wrote to
d'Argens : " Judge as you please of my way of thinking,
my dear marquis. I perceive that we shall never agree
in our ideas, that we set out with different principles.
You are fond of life as a Sybarite ; I consider death as a
stoic. Never will I see the moment that shall compel
me to conclude a dishonourable peace; no eloquence
shall seduce me to subscribe my disgrace. I will either
bury myself beneath the ruins of my country, or, if
this consolation shall appear too sweet for that Fate
which persecutes me, I will put an end to my misery
when I can endure it no longer. I have ever acted ac
cording to an inward feeling and the principles of
honour ; and my last steps shall be consistent with those
principles. After sacrificing my youth to my father,
and the years of manhood to my country, I think that
I have a right to dispose of my old age as I please.
Once more — never shall my hand sign a humiliating
peace. I mean to close this campaign with a bold
stroke, and either to conquer or to find a glorious death.
There are people who are content to follow Fortune : I
am not one of them. If I have lived for others, I am
resolved to die for myself. What may be said on this
subject is indifferent to me ; nay, I can assure you that
it will never reach my ears. Brandenburg existed be
fore me, and will exist after me. States subsist by the
propagation of the human species, and, so long as this is
the case, the multitude will be led by ministers or by
sovereigns. This comes to the same thing, and a little
more folly or wisdom forms so slight a gradation as not
to be perceived by the great mass. Do not imagine
then that prejudices of self-love or vanity can change

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 309
my sentiments. To put an end to disastrous days is not
an act of weakness ; a very just policy tells us that that
condition is to be preferred in which none can injure us,
none disturb our repose. Indeed, if you were in my
situation, you would be less disposed to condemn my
resolution. I have lost my friends and my dearest
relatives ; I am unfortunate, let me consider myself on
Avhat side I will; I have nothing to hope for. My
enemies treat me with scorn, and their pride would like
to trample me under foot. No, my dear marquis —
" * When all is lost, and Hope itself forsakes us,
Life is dishonour, and to die a duty.' " *
Here the king expresses without reserve his determi
nation to put an end to his life if he cannot keep it with
out honour. It is an established fact that during the
whole of the seven years' war he carried poison about
him, to be used in case he should fall into the hands of
his enemies : and, after the disastrous days of Kollin,
Kunersdorf, and Hochkirch, it is well known that his
mind Avas much occupied with thoughts of death. For
tunately for his country, the necessity for exerting all
his energies in repairing his misfortunes diverted him
from the gloomy contemplation of suicide, and gleams
of better fortune soon restored his wonted serenity and
self-assurance. Let me not be taken for an advocate of suicide if I
venture to confess that the right royal sentiments ex
pressed by Frederick in the letter just quoted convince
me that a monarch like him is not to be measured upon
* A quotation from Voltaire's Merope :
" Quand on a tout perdu, quand on n'a plus d'espoir,
La vie est un opprobre, et la mort est un devoir."

310 COURT AND TIMES OF
this point by the same standard as ordinary men in
humbler stations, and that self-murder may be in some
rare cases not only an excusable but even a commendable
act, nay, an act of the highest public virtue. Had the
fortune of war thrown the hero, who was infinitely more
concerned for the welfare and glory of his country than
for his own person, into the hands of his implacable ene
mies, it is evident that, if he had consented to live, he
could never have regained his liberty without either re
nouncing his throne altogether, or at least submitting to
such a sacrifice of territory as would have reduced him
to plain margrave of Brandenburg. If, after considering
this his position, any man of high, generous, and patriotic
feeling, can declare that the noble-minded king is to be
condemned for having resolved to escape either of these
humiliating alternatives, let him cast the first stone — I
cannot. In a conversation with a Prussian in 1809, Napoleon
put this question : " But what would Frederick have
done, had he been surrounded, and escape impossible?
Would he, as we are told, have poisoned himself?" The
Prussian replied in the affirmative, and quoted Frede
rick's well known lines : Pour moi menace du naufrage,
&c. " He was right," rejoined Napoleon, " he was
right. When a man has once stood on the pinnacle of
glory, it Avould be contemptible to live like a beggar."
It is admitted that, after his first abdication, Napoleon
himself actually took poison, but that, the sickness which
it induced counteracted the effect.
The Russians were at Landsberg on the Warthe, in
tending, if the Austrians were successful against Frede
rick, or Daun Avas able to maintain his ground near Tor-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 311
gau, to penetrate further into electoral Brandenburg,
and to take-up their quarters along the Elbe. In this
case the king would have been cut off from Silesia, from
Pomerania, and from Berlin. To draw Daun from Tor
gau was impossible; Frederick resolved therefore to
fight him. Marching on the 2d of November from
Eilenburg, he encamped the same day with 44,000 men
near Schilda, which lay in front of the right wing,
as did Probsthain in the rear of the curving centre,
and Wildschiitz, on the left wing. Ten battalions of
grenadiers and 26 squadrons were pushed forward with
the king's head-quarters beyond Langen-Reichenbach.
On the 2d of November, Avhen the generals repaired
to the head-quarters to receive his orders, the king ad
dressed them, saying that he did not want the opinion of
any one of them ; he had only to tell them that Daun
would be attacked on the morrow ; that he was certainly
in an excellent position ; but, if he should be beaten, his
army must, according to the dispositions formed, either
be driven into the Elbe, or taken ; and thus the Avar, of
which every body was heartily tired, would be terminated
at once. He thereupon gave verbal instructions to the
generals who were to lead the left wing under himself;
and afterwards communicated to Zieten alone his orders
relative to the right wing. These were to advance upon
Torgau by the Eilenburg road, and, if the battle turned
out favourably, to fall upon the rear of the Austrians,
and to cut off their retreat. The king placed 21 bat
talions and 54 squadrons under Zieten's command : he
intended to attack the enemy himself with 41 batta
lions and 48 squadrons ; if the enemy were driven from
the heights, the heavy battery was to be immediately

312 COURT AND TIMES OF
moved to that point, and the battalions were to form
again ; if cavalry should be required, no more were to
come forward than the ground would admit of.
At seven in the morning of the 3d of November, the
army, in four columns, quitted its camp at Langen-Rei-
chenbach. The enemy's advanced guard fell back, and
Daun changed his position, so that his left wing was
posted on the heights of Siiptitz, the right, chiefly ca
valry, in the environs of Zinna ; while the reserve con
tinued to occupy the heights near Groswig. The king
too made an alteration in his plan, as, on reconnoitring
the ground about Zinna, he found it too much inter
sected, and resolved to attack his adversary's left wing.
While the first two columns were marching up, a can
nonade was heard from the vicinity of Siiptitz. Zieten,
in the way to his position, had met with the light troops
of general Brentano, and been obliged to bring up heavy
cannon to drive them away. He then quietly continued
his march, and formed opposite to Lascy's corps, with his
right wing upon the great pond. Both kept up a brisk
cannonade, but at too great a distance to do much in
jury. The king, however, conceiving that Zieten had
involved himself in a regular engagement, ordered about
two o'clock ten grenadier battalions to march up expe
ditiously, and to advance at first towards the right, un
der a most tremendous fire from the enemy's artillery.
The brave grenadiers suffered very severely, and were
obliged to fall back about three o'clock. The pursuing
Austrians were attacked by Ramin's and Gablenz's bri
gades, which even pushed on to the height of Siiptitz.
Against these fresh Prussian troops, Daun put himself
at the head of fresh Austrian : the combat was warm

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 313
without being decisive, till the imperial cavalry fell
upon the front and left flank of the thinned Prussian in
fantry, drove it from the heights, and took many pri
soners. The infantry of the second column, consisting of
eleven battalions, now advanced to the third attack.
Both parties fought bravely till half-past four, when the
Austrian cavalry again pushed forward before the foot,
broke the Prussians, and made them prisoners. At
length, the duke of Holstein came up with the Prussian
cavalry from the heath of Dommitsch ; and colonel Dal-
wig, at the head of Span's regiment, signalized himself
by charging the Austrians with such success as to make
prisoners of the greater part of two regiments. Dra
goons and other horse followed him; by repeated at
tacks the Austrian cavalry was throAvn into confusion,
and the four first regiments of the right wing were al
most entirely taken : but Daun's regimental artillery
played so briskly upon the Prussian horse, that they fell
back upon Neiden.
Night came on. Hiilsen rallied the infantry, which was
in great confusion, and drew it up afresh. To the order
for this Frederick added : " The enemy has likewise sus
tained very great loss, and, as general Zieten is still in
his rear, he will not venture to remain in his position,
but retreat in the night across the Elbe ; in this case we
shall have gained the battle." At six o'clock the king,
who was slightly wounded, left the command of the left
wing to Hiilsen, and retired for the night to Elsnig, and
took up his quarters in the little church of that village.
Seated on the lowest step of the altar, he was there oc
cupied in writing despatches for his couriers. It was

314 COURT AND TIMES OF
an anxious night, and often did the king send out to see
if there were any signs of daybreak.
Zieten had retained his position near the Great Pond
till toAvards evening, in hopes that the king would dis
lodge the enemy ; but when the firing gradually became
more distant, he followed the advice of his generals,
Wied, Platen, Saldern, and colonel Mbllendorf, and or
dered four battalions out of the first line of his left wing
to advance under general Tettenborn and attack Siiptitz ;
while his own corps marched to the left upon the sheep-
ponds. Tettenborn took the village, which the retreat
ing enemy set on fire. It Avas impossible to push on
further ; but the flames threw a light upon the move
ments of the Austrians on the heights ; and Saldern per
ceived that the enemy had concentrated himself in the
centre of his main position, and abandoned the entrench
ments towards the sheep-ponds. Marching with his
brigade over a dyke between the ponds, he gained the
heights in the flank of the enemy, and attacked him,
while major Lestwitz, with the reserve of the left wing,
followed by the same route. The fight and firing were
brisk, the enemy having drawn up instantaneously to meet
Saldern's attack. About half-past eight, Hiilsen, hear
ing the fire, hastened to the spot with four fresh batta
lions. Coming unobserved upon the flank of the new
Austrian line, he attacked it with spirit. The affair was
soon decided ; by nine o'clock, the Prussians were mas
ters of the field of battle.
In the second attack, Daun was wounded in the leg by
a musket-ball, and, when the king's last attack was foiled,
he retired to Torgau. There he was informed that the
Prussians had gained possession of the height of Siiptitz,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 315
on which he relinquished the chief command of the army
and the dispositions for the retreat to general O'Donnel.
This Avas the last time that Daun met Frederick in the
field ; and O'Donnel and Lascy had to bear the blame
of throwing away the victory Avhich the Austrians had
already won.
In this battle the king exposed himself to the greatest
personal danger. He had two horses killed under him.
He saw his grenadiers, the flower of his army, falling fast
around him ; and, on being informed of the death of
lieutenant-colonel count Anhalt, for whom he had a great
regard, he turned to count Frederick Anhalt, his flugel
aide-de-camp, and said : " All goes wrong to-day ; my
friends are leaving me : I have just been told of the death
of your brother."
In the attack of the Austrian position, he was riding
in the hottest of the fire, attended by the same count
Frederick Anhalt and captain Berenhorst, who besought
him to be more careful of his valuable life. Regardless
of their representations, he was advancing at the head
of a fresh battalion, when a ball struck him on the breast,
pierced through cloak, coat, and waistcoat, but there
became so spent as not to do him the least harm. The
king was falling, with the exclamation, " I am a dead
man !" when Berenhorst caught him in his arms and
stopped his horse. Presently, Frederick raised himself
in the saddle, angrily pushed his attendants from him,
turned his horse about, and rode towards the enemy's
batteries, which he coolly reconnoitred, and directed the
advancing battalions to the point of attack. We are
assured that from this time both the above-mentioned
officers were in disgrace Avith the king ; for Frederick,

316 COURT AND TIMES OF
through one of those foibles from which even the strongest
minds have no exemption, was accustomed to conceive
a decided dislike of those who chanced to witness any
exhibition of weakness on his part.
Kiister, in his work on the preservations of the king,
relates that he had on this day another narrow escape
from destruction, from the fall of a large limb of an oak
tree, which killed two men and an officer of Stutterheim's
regiment, who were just before him. " Had the king
been but a step in advance," says Kiister, " he must have
been killed or severely wounded."
The fire of the artillery in this battle was so tremen
dous, that the king said to general Syburg : " Did you
ever hear so violent a cannonade ? At least, I never did ;"
and, many years after the peace, when adverting to the
same subject at table, he observed, smiling, " It was a
platoon fire of cannon ; why, they fairly shot the words
away from my lips."
We have seen that the battle with Zieten's division
of the Prussian army was not over till near nine o'clock
at night. Owing to the darkness, whole Austrian batta
lions, having lost their Avay in the retreat, were taken
prisoners, and the Prussians even fired upon one another.
At length, as no distinction could be made between friend
and foe, both parties encamped together upon the heath
of Dommitsch, and there passed the night in good fellow
ship, as though belonging to one and the same army.
The king was planning at Elsnig the renewal of the
conflict on the following day, when tidings were brought
of the retreat of the Austrians. By daybreak he quitted
the village, and at a distance perceived horsemen in white
cloaks. It was Zieten, Avho, in the tone of an officer

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 317
making his report, greeted him Avith the Avords : " Your
majesty, the enemy is beaten and retreating." At the
same moment, both dismounted. Frederick threAv him
self into the arms of Zieten, who, overpowered by his
feelings, Avept aloud, without being able to utter a Avord.
Then, turning back to his men, he cried : " My lads, our
king has won the victory ; the enemy is beaten ; long
live our great king !" The cry was cheerfully re-echoed,
but they added : " And father Zieten, our hussar-king,
too !"
Frederick rode from the left wing along the right.
On coming to the regiment of the guard, he dismounted,
and stopped before a blazing watch-fire, around Avhich
several grenadiers were sitting. He spoke affably to them,
and they approached nearer and nearer to the king, and
began to talk about the battle. At last, one of them,
named Rebiak, to whom he had often given money, had
the boldness to ask him where he had been during the
fight, adding that he used always to be at their head and
to lead them into the fire, but this time they had seen
nothing of him. With the utmost condescension, Fre
derick told the grenadier that he had been with the left
wing, and therefore could not head his regiment. Amidst
this conversation, he unbuttoned his coat, as if too Avarm,
and the grenadiers observed a ball drop to the ground,
Avhile the holes in his cloak and uniform attested the
danger to which he had been exposed. Rebiak eagerly
picked up the ball, which passed from hand to hand,
exciting the warmest admiration and enthusiasm. " In
deed, thou art still our old Fritz !" cried the grenadiers, as
with one accord. " Thou sharest every danger with us.
Cheerfully will we die for thee ! Long live the king !"

318 COURT AND TIMES OF
In speaking of this ball in later years, the king would
jocosely observe : " It durst not come any nearer." It
is still preserved in the Museum in Berlin.
While O'Donnel retreated with the Austrian army
along the right bank of the Elbe, and Lascy, with his
corps, proceeded along the left bank towards Dresden,
general Hiilsen, the day after the battle, took possession
of Torgau without striking a blow. Frederick hastened
to anticipate the fleeing enemy, but they reached the
advantageous position in the plain of Plauen before him,
and there the forces of the two Austrian generals again
united. The duke of Deuxponts, who commanded the
troops of the Empire, hastened to cover Dresden, while
the Russians continued their retreat across the Vistula.
The prince of Wirtemberg marched from Saxony with
Werner and Belling to clear Pomerania of the Swedes,
whose service Blucher, at a much later period the pride
of the Prussian army, quitted in September, 1760, to
become a cornet in Belling's hussars. He had entered
in the preceding year among the Swedish hussars, and
been made prisoner near Spantikow in Pomerania by
Landeck, a private in Belling's regiment, who took him
before him upon his horse, and carried him to his colonel.
The latter obtained his release from the Swedish service,
and placed him in his own regiment.
Another of the heroes of the Prussian army at a later
period, baron de l'Homme Courbiere, was already acquir
ing distinction in the same quarter. The son of a Dutch
major, and born at Grbningen in 1733, he entered at the
age of fourteen into the Prussian service, displayed much
ability as captain of engineers at the siege of Schweid
nitz in 1758, and in 1759 commanded as major a partisan

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 3 { 9
battalion, with which he was so active and successful in
Farther Pomerania and before Dresden, that the kino-
conferred on him the order of Merit. After the peace,
he was in garrison in East Friesland. In 1780, he was
promoted to be major-general, and afterwards general of
infantry. So late as 1807, in that war so disastrous to
the Prussian arms, the veteran general proved himself a
worthy pupil of the great Frederick's. When the French
marshal Victor summoned him to surrender Graudenz,
adding that the Russians were driven back beyond the
Niemen, and that the king and queen had fled to Memel,
Courbiere replied : " And if my king has lost his whole
dominions, I will try how long I can remain king of
Graudenz." After his death, in 1 8 1 1 , his majesty caused
a monument to be erected for him on the glacis of the
fortress. The reigning duke of Wirtemberg, who was termed in
derision king of Swabia, was so offended with the impe
rial generals for suffering themselves to be beaten at
Torgau, that he withdrew from the ranks of Frederick's
active enemies, and went home with his troops. For the
same reason, the duke of Deuxponts relinquished the
command of the army of the Empire, which was trans
ferred to count Stolberg.
In the course of this year, nothing of consequence oc
curred between the allied army and the French ; but, just
before the action, which the hereditary prince of Brunswick
commenced with the marquis de Castries near Campen,
between Guelders, Wesel, and Meurs, a French sergeant
of the regiment of Auvergne, named Dubois, distinguished
himself by a rare instance of devotedness to his duty.
Being surrounded by himself in a wood, he chose rather

320 COURT AND TIMES OF
to expire under the bayonets of his enemies than not
rouse his comrades sleeping under arms. He fell,
therefore, shouting, " Help, Auvergne ! here is the
enemy !"
On the 25th of October, Frederick lost his most effi
cient ally, George II. He had lived to see the whole of
Canada conquered by the capture of Quebec, which had
cost the generals on both sides, the gallant Wolf and
Moncalm, their lives. The king had expended so much
of his private property in defraying the expenses of the
war, and alleviating the distresses consequent upon it,
that he died comparatively poor. Mr. Wright, under
secretary of state, writes in November to Mitchell : " The
king's will is so variously reported, that I do not pretend
to vouch for any one of them. That of the most autho
rity I have is that he left only J!35,000, to be equally
divided between the duke [of Cumberland], princess
Amelia, and the landgravine of Hesse. A small parcel
of bank-notes, about £6000, were found in his drawer,
with a desire of their being sent to the countess [of
Kendal], which, with two thousand guineas the king
[George III.] found loose, were sent immediately, and I
hear was all he left : that the great distresses in Germany
since this war began had run away with all that he might
otherwise have left." His grandson and successor, George
III., had no voice for Frederick, as he was entirely
influenced by his mother and Lord Bute, who were
long extremely unpopular on that account. Once more,
however, the treaty with Prussia was renewed on the 12th
of December, 1 760, on the same footing as before ; for
Pitt, the enthusiastic admirer of Frederick, was still in
office, and the nation, even after the court deserted his

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 321
cause, manifested the same warm sympathy as ever for
the " Protestant hero."
The king took up his winter-quarters in Leipzig. In
order to provide for the ensuing campaign, it was neces
sary to have recourse to violent measures. Saxony was
completely drained ; the timber in the forests was sold ;
the farmers of the electoral domains were obliged to
pay their rent a year beforehand. To complete the
regiments, neither mere boys nor the scum of society
were refused. Men were pressed in Saxony, Mecklen
burg, the Anhalt principalities, and Swedish Pomera
nia; and even Austrian prisoners were put into the
Prussian uniform, because the court of Vienna would
not exchange any prisoners of war after the affairs of
Maxen and Meissen. The partisan corps had many of
them behaved extremely well : new ones were therefore
raised. The feAV cadets, children in years, heroes in
sentiments, were inadequate to supply the deficiency of
officers ; but the king hoped even with such an army to
tire out the united forces of all his enemies and to do
his duty.
As for himself personally, Frederick Avas at all times
alike — the same in calamity oppressed by the weight of
care as in the most prosperous circumstances ; the philo
sopher in the camp, as he had been in his Potsdam
hermitage. Leipzig was during this winter his Sans-
Souci, for, while forging arms and thunderbolts against
his foes, he filled up his leisure with music, poetry, cor
respondence, and sought the acquaintance of some of
the most eminent writers and professors of the univer
sity of that city. In Gottsched, Ernesti, and Winkler
he found too much of the stiffness and pedantry of Ger-
VOL. III. Y

322 COURT AND TIMES OF
man scholars, but conceived a very high opinion of the
modest Gellert from a conversation of two hours to
which he invited him. In this interview, the professor
recited from memory one of his beautiful fables, " The
Painter of Athens," and at parting the king begged him
to come again soon, to come often, and to bring his
Fables along with him. Gellert, however, followed, as
he wrote to Rabener, the advice of the son of Sirach :
" Have no fellowship with one that is mightier than thy
self," and went no more. After he was gone, Frederick
observed : " That is a totally different man from Gott-
sched ;" and next day at dinner he said, " Gellert is the
most rational of all the German scholars." To Garve
at Breslau, the king afterwards remarked that Gellert
was the only German of his day who would descend to
posterity, because, though he had confined himself to
one small department of literature, he had laboured in
it most successfully. He encouraged Pauli, the book
seller of Berlin, to print Gellert's Fables as a school-
book, and granted him an exclusive privilege for the
sale of it in his dominions. While at Leipzig, the king
is reported to have said jocosely in conversation with
professor Ernesti : " But Cicero's cook must have spoken
better Latin than you." — " Yes," replied the professor,
" just as a French marquis speaks French more elegantly
than your majesty, but is incapable of writing a line
equal in beauty to your majesty's compositions."
Among the members of the Berlin orchestra who
were summoned to Leipzig was Fasch. He found his
master much altered by the fatigues, cares, and sorrows
of the last five years, with a tincture of melancholy and
gloomy reserve, which formed a striking contrast with

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 323
"his former disposition, and Avas not natural to his years.
The king had music daily, but it was a trouble to him
to play himself.
In his letters written about this time to the countess
Camas, the king gives some particulars concerning his
person and habits. On the 11th of November, he says :
" For these four years, I have given up suppers, because
they will not agree with the trade that I am obliged to
follow ; and in marches my dinner consists of a cup of
chocolate. Immediately after our victory [at Torgau]
we ran like madmen, to try if we could drive the Aus
trians out of Dresden ; but they laughed at us from the
tops of their hills. I turned back directly, and went
like a boy to hide my vexation in one of the cursed
Saxon villages. I assure you, I lead a real dog's life, such
a one as nobody but Don Quixote ever did. This irregu
larity has made me so old that you would scarcely know
me. On the right side of my head my hair has turned
quite gray ; my teeth break and drop out ; my face is
wrinkled like the furbelow of a woman's gown, and my
back arched like that of a monk of La Trappe. My
heart alone remains unchanged, and while I breathe will
cherish the sentiments of esteem and the tenderest
friendship for you, my dear mamma."
Again, on the 27th of November, he writes : " We
are getting our winter-quarters into order. I purpose
taking a little journey, and then I shall go to Leipzig to
rest myself, if rest is to be found there : for me indeed
that is only a metaphysical word, without reality."
The following, dated the 3d of December, though on
a very different subject, will, I trust, not be uninterest
ing. " I congratulate you, my dear mamma, upon your
y 2

324 COURT AND TIMES OF
skill in regard to dropsy. The circumstance is one of
daily occurrence : there is not a court, nay, a convent^
where such things do not happen. I, who am very in
dulgent towards the foibles of our species, shall not
stone the ladies of the court for having children. They
propagate their kind, while those gloomy politicians de
stroy by their mischievous wars. I must confess that
I like these too tender temperaments better than those
dragons of chastity who fall unmerpifully upon their
frail sisters, or quarrelsome women who are really
malicious and wicked. Take care to let the child be
brought up well and not disgrace the family! Let the
poor girl be removed without noise from the court, and
her good name be spared as much as possible."
Lastly, from Meissen, the seat of the celebrated por
celain manufacture, he writes in December. "Here
with I send you, my good mamma, a trifle to put you
in mind of me. You may use this box either for paint,
or patches, or snuff, or bonbons, or pills ; but, to what
ever use you put it, believe at least when you look at
this dog, the emblem of fidelity, that he who sends it
surpasses in fidelity to you all the dogs in the whole
world ; and that his attachment to your person has
nothing in common with the brittle material which is
manufactured at this place. I have ordered porcelain
here for every body ; for Schonhausen, [that is for the
queen] for my sisters-in-law — in short, I am now rich in
this frail material. I hope those to whom it will be sent
will accept it instead of hard cash. For we are poor
devils, dear mamma : we have nothing left but honour,
our swords, and porcelain."
To the marquis d'Argens, who took the warmest in-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 325
terest in the events of the war, and sometimes employed
his pen anonymously against the king's enemies, for in
stance, in the " Letters of a Protestant Clergyman,"
Frederick wrote : " Go to Sans Souci, my dear friend ;
you know that my house and whatever fortune
has left me are entirely at your service. Instead of
rent, I only ask you to write me word in what state
you have found the gallery. Farewell, my dear mar
quis ; drink mineral waters, take your walks, write in
behalf of the good cause ; and, above all, don't forget
your old friends, upon whom God has no doubt laid
a curse, because they are forced to wage incessant war."
The marquis went in December to see the king at
Leipzig. Here he found the monarch for whose destruc
tion half Europe was banded, and who appeared to have
been long engaged in a hopeless struggle for existence,
quietly seated on the bare floor, having before him a
dish containing a fricassee, out of which he was serving
his dogs with their supper. In his hand he had a little
stick, with which he kept them in order, and picked
out the best bits for the favourite. The marquis started
back, clasped his hands in amazement, and exclaimed :
" How it would puzzle the five great powers of Europe
who are leagued against the marquis de Brand enbourg to
guess what he is doing at this moment ! They would,
no doubt, suppose that he is forming some plan for
beating them in the next campaign, that he is collect
ing funds to defray the expences of it, or providing
magazines for man and horse, or meditating negociations
for separating his enemies and gaining new allies. No
thing of the sort ! There he is, sitting quietly in his
room, and feeding his dogs !"

326 COURT AND TIMES OF

CHAPTER XXXVI.
Campaign of 1761 — Noble Spirit of General Saldern — Plunder of the
Palace of Hubertsburg, by command of Frederick — Quintus Icilius —
Operations in Western Germany — State of the Hostile Armies in Silesia
— Prussian Camp at Bunzelwitz — Inactivity of the Russians and Aus
trians — Loudon surprises Schweidnitz — Treacherous plot of Baron War-
kotsch, for delivering Frederick into the hands of the Austrians — Em
bassy to the King from the Khan of Crim Tartary — His Negociations
with the Porte — Reduction of Colberg by the Russians — Change in
the English Administration ; Bute, as Prime Minister, declines re
newing the Subsidiary Treaty with Prussia — Gloomy Prospects of
Frederick — Anecdote illustrative of the Enthusiasm of his Subjects in
his Cause.
During the inactivity of the winter, Frederick in
flicted on one of his foes a chastisement which some
would consider as an act of just retaliation, while
stricter moralists may, perhaps, condemn it as a piece
of revenge unworthy of his noble and exalted mind. I
shall state the fact, and leave the reader to adopt which
of these opinions he pleases. Great allowance should
undoubtedly be made for the provocations which he had
received, in the wanton devastations committed by the
Saxons at Charlottenburg, in the cruelties practised by
his enemies at that time, when the highest officers were
doomed to expiate the misfortune of captivity in the
jails of criminals, while defenceless citizens were seized
because they were Prussians, and consigned for years to
damp, noisome dungeons,* and when all means were
* Plesmann, privy councillor of legation, who was supposed to have
given Frederick information of the great coalition formed against him, was
suddenly seized by Austrian soldiers, in 1757, at Hoff in Voigtland,

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 327
approved so they but tended to the one grand object —
the humiliation and overthrow of the Prussian monarch.
Frederick kneAV that the excesses of the Saxons at
Charlottenburg were approved by their sovereign and his
minister, and resolved to repay his foe in the like coin,
by stripping Hubertsburg, the favourite hunting-seat of
king Augustus. On the 17th of February, 1761, he
therefore sent for major-general Saldern, and said :
" You will go to-morrow, as quietly as possible, with a
detachment of infantry and cavalry, to Hubertsburg,
take possession of the palace, make an inventory of all
the moveables that will sell for any price, and pack
them up. The money which they produce is to be
applied to the use of the military hospital, and I will
not forget you."
" Begging your majesty's pardon," replied the gene
ral, " that is contrary to my honour and my oath."
" You would be quite right," calmly rejoined the
king, " if I did not mean to make this desperate mea
sure subservient to a good purpose. But, hark you,
the heads of sovereigns feel nothing when the hair
of their subjects is torn up by the roots ; one must
where he served as the channel of communication between the king and
the margravine of Bayreuth, carried to Vienna, and thrown into a dungeon.
The king demanded his release, but was assured that no such person was
there. At length, Plesmann's family at Magdeburg ascertained that he
had been languishing for three years in the prison called the Stockhaus,
in Vienna, in a cell exposed to a noisome stench and infested with
vermin. Frederick immediately ordered two Austrian officers, prisoners
of war, and favourites of the emperor Francis, to be put under arrest,
and threatened to confine them in a place of the same sort, if Plesmann,
his councillor of legation, was not immediately set at liberty. The unfor
tunate victim of political animosity was accordingly released ; but it was
not long before he died in consequence of the sufferings which he had
undergone. A faithful servant had voluntarily shared his imprisonment,
in order to alleviate the lot of his unfortunate master.

328 COURT AND TIMES OF
touch them where they will themselves be pained. For
this reason I expect you to execute my orders."
" Your majesty," answered the high-spirited and in
flexible warrior, " may send me this instant to attack
the enemy and his most formidable batteries : I will
obey without hesitation and without flinching. But I
cannot, dare not, act contrary to honour, oath, and
duty." " Well, well, but what / command cannot dishonour
you. Go and execute my commission."
" Your majesty will easily find some other officer for
this commission ; my honour, oath, and duty, I repeat,
forbid me to undertake it."
" Saldern," exclaimed the king, turning from him
with a look of displeasure, " you don't want to be
rich !"
In this dilemma, the king selected Quintus Icilius for
the expedition. More complaisant and less scrupulous
than Saldern, he proceeded with his partisan battalion
to Hubertsburg and executed the commission. The
greater part of the booty went into the pockets of the
plunderers, who Avere required to pay only 100,000
dollars to the military hospitals. But neither the com
mander nor his corps could ever rid themselves of the
stain which this act attached to their character — nay,
Frederick very often rallied his favourite companion,
Quintus, most unmercifully on the subject. When, after
the war was over, he applied in 1764 to his majesty to
reimburse his officers for recruiting expences which they
had paid out of their own pockets, the king's pithy re
ply, written with his own hand, was : " Your officers
have thieved like ravens. They shall get nothing."

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 329
Years afterwards he said to their commander : " When
ever I speak to you, my dear Quintus Icilius, I cannot
help recollecting Hubertsburg and mechanically clap
ping my hands to my pockets." I must confess that to
me it seems rather ungenerous to reproach an officer,
Avhose duty, according to the military code, was implicit
obedience, for the execution of a peremptory order issued
by himself.
Sulzer, in the " Letters of the Swiss," has thus ex
plained the motives of Frederick for an act which one
of his own generals refused to commit as dishonourable.
" As for the affair of Hubertsburg, I certainly wish that
it had not happened ; still it may be easily justified.
You know that the troops not only gutted completely
the royal palace of Charlottenburg, but polluted it be
sides with filth that needs no describing. The king
made a formal complaint on this subject, and waited
nearly three months to see whether the king of Poland
would offer a word of excuse through the English mi
nister at Warsaw. A pretty strong threat was thrown
out about Hubertsburg ; but not a syllable was tendered
in excuse, according to the usage on such occasions.
After this long delay, the king, seeing how uncour-
teously he was treated, determined to execute his threat.
Such was the explanation given by Frederick himself
to the marquis d'Argens."
In France, where prince and people were alike the
slaves of Fashion, the league with the house of Habs-
burg had long lost the charm of novelty ; the enthu
siasm in behalf of Catholic enterprises had subsided ;
the nation groaned under the burdens of a war in favour
of its hereditary foe ; and in March, 1761, the court of

330 COURT AND TIMES OF
Versailles proposed to the kings of England and Prussia a
congress for a general peace to be held in the city of
Augsburg. The ministers were already appointed, but
difficulties and disagreements arose ; and the family
compact of the Bourbon sovereigns for the mutual
guarantee of all their possessions, concluded in August,
1761, had the effect of spreading the flames of war
wider than ever. The immediate consequence was a
stroke for Prussia. Pitt, the great champion of Fre
derick, resigned his office, because England hesitated to
declare war against Spain. The hostilities which soon
followed betAveen those powers, and in which Portugal
was involved, are foreign to my present purpose.
The new campaign against Prussia presents a re
markable spectacle. Bent on annihilating the king, his
leagued foes strained all their powers, so that, as Fre
derick himself observes, " with fewer of his own people
and allies, Alexander overturned the Persian monarchy."
He too was prepared, but no battle was fought. The
awfully superior hosts of his foes were afraid to attack
the hero whose prudence and perseverance were inr
vincible. Napoleon justly remarked : " It was not the
Prussian army that for seven years defended Prussia
against the three mightiest poAvers of Europe, but Fre
derick the Great."
Let us first take a rapid glance at the operations of
the allies against the French in western Germany. The
army of the latter, though under as incompetent com
manders, was very different from that which had been
beaten at Rossbach. Marshal Broglio was in Hesse, and
pushed forward from Gottingen a corps of Saxons under
count Solms, and of French under count Stainville, into

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 331
Thuringia. The king encouraged duke Ferdinand to
enter Hesse, promising to send general Sydow Avith
7000 Prussians to join him. These fell in, on the 15th
of February, with the enemy at Langensalza, put the
French cavalry to flight on the right bank of the Salza,
and thereby obliged the Saxon infantry to retreat to
the other bank : 3000 prisoners, 6 pair of colours, and
4 pieces of cannon, were the trophies of the day. Fer
dinand himself, whose private letters express great
weariness of the war, spent all March in besieging Cassel,
but without success. At Stangerode, Broglio's superior
force triumphed on the 21st over the hereditary prince ;
but in an action Avith the French at Vellinghausen on
the 16th of July the duke had the advantage. Nothing
of greater consequence occurred in this quarter.
Turn we now to Silesia, the principal theatre of the
war. Here Frederick himself commanded against the
Austrians and Russians, while his brother Henry op
posed Daun in Saxony. Loudon headed this year a
separate army of 60,000 men in Silesia, which was in
tended to unite with the Russians in order to make sure
of victory. The force of the latter under Buturlin
amounted to 70,000. Against both Frederick could
not muster more than 50,000 ; and, with all his efforts
to keep back the Russians from the Oder, he could not
prevent Buturlin from crossing that river on the 12th
of August at Leubus, and forming a junction five days
afterwards with his allies at Striegau.
The king was now impelled to adopt a new system of
defence — to occupy a camp where he could protect both
himself and the fortress of Schweidnitz. With this
view he chose the position of Bunzelwitz, not far from

332 COURT AND TIMES OF
that town, and with unexampled despatch surrounded
himself, before the enemy was aware, with fortifications
which could not easily be attacked. This camp has
excited the universal admiration of military men as a
master-piece of art, exhibiting a happy combination of
the principles of tactics with those of field-fortification.
It resembled a fortress, of which the hill of Wiirben
might be considered as the citadel. From this height
to the village of Bunzelwitz the camp was covered by a
morass. The outlets of the villages of Bunzelwitz and
Jauernick were fortified, and great batteries constructed.
By the cross-fire of these, the front, on which Loudon
might have attacked the king, was so defended, that
the Austrians must have taken both villages before they
could come at the army. Between the villages, and a
little further back, was the front of the army, covered
by entrenchments, provided Avith a numerous artillery ;
and from one to the other were passages to afford the
cavalry scope to act in case of necessity. Beyond
Jauernick were four entrenched hills, which commanded
the whole ground ; before these Avas a muddy ditch,
which might have been defended with small arms, if the
enemy had thrown bridges across. Further to the right,
the wood called the Nonnenbusch was obstructed by an
abattis, defended by jagers and partisan corps. At the
extreme right commenced the flank, which, running
parallel to the Striegauwater, terminated in a wood,
covered by a ravine coming from Peterwitz. In this
wood was a disguised battery, connected behind an
abattis with a second battery, at the extremity of the
same Avood, towards Neuendorf, covering an entrench
ment connected with the works on the height of Wiirben.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 333
The entrenchments were all 16 feet across; the ditches
16 feet wide and 12 deep : the front was enclosed with
strong palisades, and all the salient parts of the works
were undermined. Before the mines were trous de loup,
and before them chevaux de frise. This camp was de
fended by 480 pieces of cannon, and 182 mines were
- ready for exploding. The king, Zieten, and Ramin each
undertook the defence of one of the points of attack
which the camp presented ; and, to guard against sur
prise, the soldiers slept in the day-time, and were under
arms at night.
Cooped up in this position for five weeks, without any
tidings from the other divisions of his army, so active a
mind as the king's could not help indulging the most
gloomy forebodings. At the same time he shared all
hardships with the common soldiers, staying in the outer
most trenches, and sometimes sleeping on the bare
ground. " Take a truss of straw with you," said he one
day to his attendants, " that I may not have to lie on
the ground again, as I did last night." At another
time he was sleeping under a small tent, when a violent
thunder-storm took place in the night. " I never yet
had such convenient quarters," said he next morning to
Zieten. " How so ?" replied the general. " I should
have thought otherwise." — " Why the Avater ran in a
stream under my camp-bed. I had it at first hand, both
for drinking and washing."
Zieten, whose simple Avay of thinking pleased the king,
was frequently his comforter during this period of com
pulsory inactivity. One moonlight night, impelled by
uneasiness, Frederick went to the hut of the general.
" This will not do ! it cannot do !" exclaimed the king,

334 COURT AND TIMES OF
several times. " And yet all will end well," replied his
old comrade. Frederick looked at him incredulously,
and asked, in a somewhat sarcastic tone, if he had gained
some new ally. " Not exactly," answered Zieten. " I
rely upon Him above : He will not forsake us." — " But
He has ceased to perform miracles," sighed the king.
" Nor do we need any ; still He fights for us, and will
not let us sink." The event justified Zieten's confi
dence. The enemy's commanders, though at the head of
130,000 men, were afraid to attack the lion in his lair,
either separately or jointly. Buturlin was unwilling to
risk his reputation in so hazardous an enterprise ; Lou
don strove to conquer his scruples, and over the bottle
the Russian marshal promised to assist him in storming
the Prussian camp on the 1st of September. On cooler
consideration, however, he changed his mind. For seve
ral days longer he remained inactive, and then broke up
on the 10th of September, and retired towards Jauer,
because the Austrians could not supply him with provi
sions. Loudon, now considering himself unsafe, fell
back also into the mountains, and re-occupied his old
camp near Kunzendorf. Thus was Frederick's army
released from a position in which, from the 20th of
August to the 25 th of September, it had endured famine
and inexpressible hardships.
Frederick, conceiving that it might be Buturlin's in
tention to proceed to Pomerania or Brandenburg, with
a view to divert him from such a purpose, ordered gene
ral Platen, who had gone with 7000 men to cover Bres
lau, to march to Posen, and to destroy the Russian
magazines there. This rather hazardous expedition

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 335
was ably executed. At Gostyn, beyond Polish Lissa,
Platen fell in, on the 1 1th of September, with a convoy
of 5000 waggons, which he took, as well as half the
escort of 4000 men, and destroyed three of the largest
Russian magazines. This brought Buturlin back across
the Oder on the 13th.
Loudon, meanwhile, remained quietly in his strong
camp. To draw him, if possible, out of Silesia, Fre
derick quitted his camp at Bunzelwitz, and marched
into the country of Miinsterberg, as though he purposed
to penetrate into the county of Glatz or Moravia. When
the Prussian army was two days' march from Schweid
nitz, Loudon resolved to take advantage of its absence,
and to surprise that fortress. Circumstances favoured
his design. Czernitschef, who, with a corps of 20,000
men, still continued with him, was ready to lend his
assistance ; many of the Austrian officers were acquainted
with the localities of the fortress ; Loudon learned from
deserters that Zastrow, the commandant, was accus
tomed to pass the night at balls and other diversions ;
and lastly an Italian, named Rocca, who was a prisoner
of Avar there, and had contrived to insinuate himself
into the confidence of the commandant, is said to have
gained the imperial general an opportunity for the attack.
In the night of the 1st of October, Loudon suddenly
appeared before Schweidnitz, and attacked all the out
works at one and the same time. All were carried after
more or less resistance. The Russian grenadiers then
scaled the wall of the town and opened the gates to the
Austrians. Zastrow surrendered at discretion.
For this success, achieved with the loss of 68 officers
and 1280 men, Loudon had well nigh earned punishment

336 COURT AND TIMES OF
instead of thanks, because he had not consulted the
Aulic Council in Vienna ; and the empress was vexed
at receiving the first news of the event from her consort,
whom she excluded from all participation in public
affairs. Some patrons of Loudon's, however, had suffi
cient influence to pacify Maria Theresa so far, that she
did at least thank her general, and ordered a gratuity
of 1 3 florins to be paid to each of his soldiers. Loudon
himself was never forgiven for the exploit. In the fol
lowing year, a less important command was allotted to
him ; and he was in such disgrace at court that, for
seventeen years, that is to say, while the empress lived,
he, obtained no promotion.
Zastrow, the Prussian commandant, on his return from
captivity after the peace, was tried by a court-martial,
sentenced to imprisonment in a fortress, and deprived of
his regiment. He then entered into the service of the
elector of Hesse, in which he held the rank of lieutenant-
general at his death.
By this unexpected disaster, Frederick lost the key of
Silesia, and with it half of that important province. His
object now was to cover the capital and the other for
tresses, to prevent the further progress of the enemy,
and to succour prince Eugene of Wirtemburg, who
could scarcely maintain his ground near Colberg. He
would fain have drawn Loudon into a pitched battle ;
bnt he remained quietly in his camp at Freiberg, which
kept him in communication with Saxony, Bohemia, and
Moravia. The king, therefore, put his troops into can
tonments in the villages about Strehlen, while he him
self had his head-quarters at Waiselwitz, whence he de-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 337
spatched general Schenkendorf with 4000 men to
Pomerania. Frederick had need of rest after the fatigues of
Bunzelwitz. Le Cat, Avriting to Algarotti on the 3d of
October, from Strehlen, says : " You predicted that
this campaign would be very harassing. His majesty,
incessantly engaged in business, passed every night from
the 26th of August to the 10th of September, at a
redoubt." In cantonments, therefore, both the king
and his troops were the more inclined to indulge in
repose. His quarters, about 150 paces distant from
Strehlen on the Ohlau, were guarded only by a single
company of grenadiers ; and this circumstance suggested
a design of the blackest treachery. For six years the
mightiest powers of Europe had been leagued for the
overthrow of a single man, and, what they had not been
able to accomplish with their united efforts, a protestant,
a gentleman, a subject of Frederick's, plotted to effect
by surprise.
Henry Gottlob baron Warkotsch, proprietor of the
estates of Schbnbrunn and Upper and Lower Rosen,
nine or ten miles from Strehlen, had served till 1756 as
captain in the Austrian army. He then succeeded to
the above-mentioned estates of his deceased brother,
and took the oath of allegiance to the king of Prussia,
Avhose favour he enjoyed, as Avell as the regard of some
of the high functionaries of state: He was married,
and of the Lutheran confession. This man nevertheless
entered into a plot with a catholic priest, named Schmidt,
who lived at Siebenhuben, and colonel Wallis, com
mander of the Austrian regiment of Loudon, for be
traying Frederick into the hands of the Imperialists.
VOL. III. Z

338 COURT AND TIMES OF
The motive for this base treason has never been satis
factorily explained. It was not religious fanaticism,
neither was it the love of lucre by which the traitor was
stimulated, though some historians have stated without
any foundation whatever that he was to have had a re-
Avard of 100,000 ducats. His gamekeeper or hunts
man, Matthias Kappel, who, as we shall see, was ex
pected to perform other services besides those connected
with that situation, and to whom Frederick owed his
preservation from the near-impending danger, alleges
that Warkotsch was dissatisfied with the strict super
intendence of the Prussian administrative authorities,
and conceived that the Austrians, if they should regain
possession of Silesia, would wink at his tyrannical treat
ment of his dependents.
Whatever may have been his motive, the baron ap
pears to have harboured his base design for some time.
It is related that, so early as the 15th of August, the
anniversary of the battle of Liegnitz, when the king
gave a ball to a regiment which chanced to lie at Schbn-
brunn, one of the baron's estates, he resolved to avail
himself of the tumult occasioned by the festivity, aud
he had the more reason to anticipate a successful result,
as on such days the king generally withdrew from the
noisy hilarity of the scene into solitude. Warkotsch
was intimately acquainted with the locality. Disguised
Austrians were to surprise the king in his apartment,
and to carry him off alive or to kill him. The Austrians
were already waiting in ambush, in a neighbouring stone-
quarry, for the signal, when Zieten, who Avas stationed
in this quarter, shifted his position that very night, and
advanced with his hussar-regiment to the environs of

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 339
the village. This circumstance saved the king for that
time. It is remarkable that Zieten himself was not
aware of any particular reason for changing his quarters
precisely that night. The execution of the plot was
deferred till a more suitable opportunity.
In the month of November, a favourable occasion
seemed to present itself. The Prussian army lay in the
vicinity of Strehlen, and the king had taken up his
quarters in the open village of Waiselwitz, at the house
of M. Briickampf, inspector of buildings, situated near
the Ohiau, a stream only ten paces broad, and across
which there was moreover a bridge. It might be easily
approached through gardens, and a surprise by night
seemed to promise the more certain success, as the
guard-house was distant, and the many comers and
goers to and from the head-quarters would render it an
easy task to secure the two grenadiers on duty before
the door. The frequent visits of the baron to the head
quarters, and the confidence which he gained by the
exhibition of affected loyalty to his sovereign, enabled
him to learn the strength of the post, any changes that
were made in it, and what orders were given in case of
an attack ; while his knowledge of the country made
him acquainted with the most private routes. A brisk
correspondence carried on through Schmidt with colonel
Wallis had settled all the details of the plan, and a last
letter was to fix the time for its execution. I shall now
proceed in the words of Kappel, as reported in the
work of Kiister, to which I have already adverted.
" About this time I had to ride every other day Avith
the baron to head-quarters, and he was frequently per
mitted to pay his respects to the king. The latter had
z 2

340 COURT AND TIMES OF
taken up his abode in a small house at the extremity of
the village towards the hills, and was guarded by only
thirteen men of his guard. There were no other soldiers
in the outskirts of the place, because there are very few
houses there.
" Now I had to carry a letter every week to Schmidt,
the catholic minister or curate of Siebenhuben, and this
letter, sealed by my master, but without direction, I
had to deliver into Schmidt's own hands. Though I
knew not what this blind correspondence was about,
yet, having to go on the same errand every week, I be
gan to be suspicious. At last I was ordered to carry
the letters to general Wallis, between Miinsterberg and
Kloster Hennrigau, upon pretext that they were about
some Hungarian wine, which my master wished general
Wallis to get for him. But I never had a written
answer given me by the latter, but always the verbal
message that he would attend to the matter. Schmidt
was entrusted with all the answers for my master, and
when we were not at home, he waited till we returned.
" At length, on the 29th of November, I was with
my master at the head-quarters in Strehlen, Avhere we
stayed till twelve o'clock at night, and my master visited
several gentlemen of the army. Last of all he called
to see Eichel, the privy cabinet councillor, and stopped
two hours with him. All this time I was obliged to
wait for him before Eichel's quarters, till I could no
longer bear the cold, with the horses ; especially as I
durst not make any noise with them, because the house
was close to that in which the king lodged.
" At length my master came and ordered me to bring
the horses. We hastened away at the back of the king's

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 341
quarters, over the bridge near the fulling-mill, past the
footpath to Treppendorf, where some of Zastrow's dra
goons were posted. My master asked me if I had not
observed that the king of Prussia Avas very much ex
posed in his quarters, having no other protection but
about thirteen men of his guard ; that no Austrian gene
ral was so ill protected as the king, and if the Austrians
kneAv this, they might come and carry him off with the
greatest ease. 'Who is to tell the Austrians that?'
said I. He asked me if I did not suppose that they
had spies. I answered : ' Even though they may have
spies, yet, if God does not permit, they will not get hold
of the king.' The baron desired me in reply not to be
so silly as to imagine that God cared about the king :
on the contrary, he left great personages like him to
take care of themselves. I earnestly begged him not
to talk so loud : somebody near, patroles, sentinels,
might overhear us, and then we might get into trouble.
He then ordered me to come and ride by his side, that
he might not have occasion to talk so loud, and I com
plied. Thereupon my master said to me : ' I will con
vince you. How often have we rode from the head
quarters at night, without having ever seen a patrole or
even a sentinel on the hill ! ' adding that it was very
cold, and they Avere all in their quarters, without feeling
any apprehension that the Austrians would come to
attack them.
" About two o'clock in the morning we arrived at
Schbnbrunn : my master ordered me to go to bed, as I
must have been long enough in the cold. When I en
tered my room, my wife told me that before I went to
bed I must deliver to the baron a letter left by curate

342 COURT AND TIMES OF
Schmidt, with a particular charge that it should be given
to my master when he came home, let it be ever so late.
It was another letter without address, which my wife
handed to me, asking at the same time what was the
meaning of it that the letter had no direction; be
sides, Schmidt had been half the day till late in the
evening with the baroness, and might therefore have
given the letter to her. The curate had said that, if we
should come home late, my wife need only give me the
letter, and I should know what to do with it ; and that
it was about a matter of great importance.
" I took the letter to my master in his bed-chamber,
without knowing that the baroness was still up; but
I found her sitting there, and delivered the letter to the
baron with the curate Schmidt's compliments. The
baroness was very angry that Schmidt should have been
with her half the day and not have given her the letter.
The baron ordered her to go to her chamber, as it was
high time to be in bed, adding that she had nothing to
do with his letters. He then desired me to go to bed.
In half an hour the baron came to my door, called me,
and ordered me to come to him. He had a candle and a
letter in his hand : he gave me the letter, with directions
to take it at four o'clock that same morning to the place
of its destination. I immediately asked whether I was to
wait for an answer ; he replied that I had no need to wait.
I then begged permission to go to Schmidt's church as I
came back, because it was the day on which the Catholics
celebrate the feast of St. Andrew, and he gave me leave."
Respecting the motive of his further proceedings
Kappel leaves us in utter uncertainty. Whether it was,
as some assert, personal revenge against his master for
having sent him off again almost without rest, after a

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 343
day of severe fatigue ; or whether his suspicion, excited
by the conversation during the ride home, was converted
into certainty by the letter left by Schmidt, and his
moral feeling Avas sufficiently aAvakened to guide him
amid conflicting duties into the right path — he tells us
that, after tarrying two hours, when he thought that his
master was asleep, he broke open the envelope, in which
he found a letter, superscribed " A Monsieur Monsieur le
Baron de Wallis." This letter, disclosing the nature of
the plot, Avas as follows :
" Nothing neAV has occurred. The coach still stands
at the door : it Avas, probably, removed at the time to
which you allude on account of the frequent rain. There
is not a piquet any Avhere, no main guard, no sutler.
The head-quarters are not so pompous as Avith you. I
have been there to-day. Li the day-time I saw a sentry
in the street, but at night I could not perceive any, so
that there are at most a couple of sentinels posted at
the door of the room, Avhich is very small, and one at the
house-door. You need not be afraid. Your success
will be most brilliant ; but if, contrary to all probability,
you should fail, the worst that can befall you is to be
made prisoner. Let me tell you for your information,
that there are now twenty or thirty foot jagers at Po
gart, to prevent desertion. Now, as you have guides,
it is not at all necessary that you should go through
Pogart, but you may leaA'e it on your left. To-morroAV
the military chest is going off, and to-day the artillery.
Monday night would, therefore, be the best ; as I cannot
answer for it that the bird will not have flown by Tues
day night. Adieu !"
" When I had read this letter," proceeds Kappel, " I

344 COURT AND TIMES OF
was seized with a violent shudder, and had great diffi
culty to decide what to do, as I durst not trust the
secret to any body, not even to my wife.* At length,
by a guidance Avhich must have come from a higher
hand, I bethought me that there was in the village a
Protestant minister named Gerlach, with whom I durst
not hold intercourse, because my master was his declared
enemy. To him I went and begged him to do me a fa
vour : I had a secret to communicate to him, which con
cerned the king of Prussia, and to ask if he would make
me a copy of this letter. He was ready to do so, but
made me tell him what I intended to do Avith it. I told
the truth, that I meant to carry the baron's letter to the
king, and to send the copy to general Wallis. The mi
nister complied Avith my request, with many wishes that
I might succeed in my errand.
" I sent off my apprentice with the copy to general
Wallis, having previously sealed it with the baron's seal,
and charged my apprentice, in case the baron should ask
him on his return home where he had been, not to say a
Avord that might betray me, as I ought to have delivered
the letter myself. This I did that the baron might not
conceive any sort of suspicion. So at eight in the
morning of the 30th of November I carried the original
myself to Strehlen to the king.
* From the judicial proceedings against Warkotsch, which were par
tially published, it appears that there are some inaccuracies in this narra
tive of Kappel's, which was not committed to writing till 1791, and then of
course from memory. Thus, for instance, it was at the instigation of his
wife that he opened the letter, the contents of which were communicated
to her. It was she too who seems to have persuaded him to apply, in this
most important matter, to Gerlach, tbe Protestant minister of the place.
The letter quoted above is not given in Kappel's Narrative, but is extracted
from Preuss. Though that, narrative is highly interesting, its tone is evi
dently palliative.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 345
" On my arrival — I had borrOAved a horse by the Avay
to get there the sooner — I found the king's carriage be
fore the door, fastened my horse to the carriage, and
went straight to the king's quarters, and Avould have
gone into the room where he was. But I was stopped
by his guard, who told me that it was not the way for
people to run right in to the king. I said to the guard
that I must speak with the king immediately ; that
I had things of importance to deliver to him. I received
for answer, that the officer on duty was in the next
room, that I must speak to him, and perhaps he would
take my message to the king. By him I was told that
he was, to be sure, the officer on duty, but not there to
take messages to the king from people who looked so
wild as I did ; adding that I must go right across the
road, where I should find adjutant-general Krusemark,
whose duty it was to acquaint the king with my busi
ness. I said that I had an open letter which the king
must have immediately, and, if he would not believe me,
he might read it. He replied that he durst not read any
letters which the king ought to have. So I was obliged
to be gone to general Krusemark, and the officer sent a
soldier after me to see what became of me.
" The general ordered me to be admitted forthwith.
I handed him the letter, and related the Avhole affair,
just as it had happened. Upon this the general dressed
himself in haste, and locked me in his room, charging
me not to go to the window, as I was well known
in Strehlen, till either he or somebody else came to
fetch me.
"In a quarter of an hour there came an officer, Avho
unlocked the door, and said that I was to go immedi-

346 COURT AND TIMES OF
ately to the king. He brought with him a blue roque-
laure and a hat with feathers : these he made me put
on, and I left my laced hat in the general's room. There
was not a person with the king besides general Kruse
mark The king came up close to me, and asked if I
kneAv what had made my master so bitter an enemy to
him. I said I knew nothing more than that he had
often expressed to me how dissatisfied he was with the
government of the king of Prussia, because he could not
do as he pleased with the peasants on his estates. The
king questioned me concerning all the circumstances
that I was acquainted with. I told him every thing ;
how long the correspondence had been going on, and
what was to have happened the very next night. The
king listened to me without saying a word till I had
finished. He then asked how long I had been in the
service of the baron ; I said eight years. The king then
said I must not stay with him any longer, and asked
from what country I was. I said, from Bohemia. ' From
what part ?' ' From MitroAvitz, near Collin.' The king
answered ; ' I am acquainted Avith that part.' He then
came quite close to me, and said : — ' And so you
are a Catholic ?' — I answered, ' Yes, your majesty.' —
' And your master a Lutheran ?' — - Yes, your majesty.'
— '- Look you, gamekeeper,' said he, ' there are honest
men and scoundrels in all religions. In this matter you
are not acting from your own impulse. You are not to
blame. You are decidedly an instrument for my safety
in the hand of a higher poAver.' "
The king presently ordered captain Rabenau, of
Zastrow's dragoons, to take ten men and seize the tAvo
traitors, Warkotsch and Schmidt. Unacquainted with

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 347
the occasion for this order, Rabenau gave implicit credit
to the story of the artful Warkotsch, who represented
his arrest as the consequence of some complaint made by
Schlaberndorf, the minister, on account of forage which he
had neglected to supply ; he allowed the baron to go to
his bedroom to dress, and thence he contrived to escape
by a secret door ; so that before his flight was discovered
he was with the Austrians in the mountains. The offi
cer returned with a long face, and made his report.
" Rabenau," said the king, " you are a stupid fellow !"
And this was the only reprimand that he received.
Schmidt Avas taken in the house of a gentleman, on whose
guarantee he was suffered to go for a feAV moments out
of sight of the soldiers, and found means to escape also
through the sewer from the privies.
The regency of Breslau, after a due investigation of
the case, passed the following sentence on the 22d of
March, 1762 — that the property of both culprits, move
able and immoveable, should be confiscated, excepting
that portion of the baron's to Avhich his Avife had a claim ;
that Warkotsch should be quartered alive ; that Schmidt
should be first beheaded, and then quartered ; and that,
till their persons were secured, this part of the sentence
should be executed upon them in effigy. Frederick, Avho
was averse to capital punishments in general, and for
high treason in particular, and was glad that the two
criminals had escaped, had no hesitation to confirm this
sentence. " That may be done," said he, as he signed
it, " for the portraits are probably no better than the
originals." The estates of Warkotsch were sold, and, after the
payment of all just claims upon them, the surplus Avas

348 COURT AND TIMES OF
applied to the benefit of the schools of Glogau and
Breslau. He himself lived afterwards upon a pension
assigned to him by the Austrian government, and died
at Raab in Hungary. It was never known Avhat became
of Schmidt. Wallis, their accomplice, who a year before
had been made prisoner of war at Neisse and exchanged,
and Avho had materially contributed to the capture of
Schweidnitz, dishonoured himself even in the eyes of his
own countrymen by his participation in this plot. The
family of the counts Wallis even publicly declared that
the colonel (whose real name was Wallisch) was no rela
tion of theirs.
The king Avas not unmindful of those to whom he owed
his preservation. He gave Gerlach a good living near
Brieg ; and Kappel was appointed inspector of woods at
Quaden-Germendorf, near Oranienburg, where he lived
very comfortably upwards of thirty years, and received,
as his son-in-law, professor Zelter, director of the Sing
ing Academy in Berlin used to relate, many substantial
favours from the king. Frederick had purposely " tied
him to the manger," where he could help himself ; and,
in 1781, he gave him 4000 dollars to rebuild his house,
which had been burned down. Bbhmelt, Kappel's ap
prentice, had an appointment given to him at Bromberg.
The house at Waiselwitz, where the king was to have been
surprised, was preserved with great care, till it was acci
dentally burned in 1834.
The camp near Strehlen was remarkable for a circum
stance of a different kind. Here, in the month of Octo
ber, when Frederick was reduced to the greatest straits,
he was visited by an ambassador from the khan of Crim
Tartary. Mustapha Aga, who brought assurances of

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 349
friendship and an offer to furnish troops for a pecuniary
consideration, Avas very graciously receiAred. Baron Golz
Avent back Avith him to lead 16,000 Tartars through
Poland, along the Carpathian mountains to Kosel, Avhere
they were to arrive in the following March. The khan
was at the same time to make an incursion into Russia.
Golz and the ambassador set out from Breslau on the 3d
of December, and arrived on the 27th of January, 1762,
at Baktschiserai . The khan professed warm friendship
for the king, and begged that he Avould send him a phy
sician to cure him of an hemorrhoidal complaint. Golz
communicated this wish by a courier, and Dr. Frese, who
was sent in consequence to the Crimea, soon effected a
cure. As the change of sovereign in Russia at the com
mencement of the folloAving year altered the Avhole poli
tical system, Frederick had no further need of the assist
ance of the Tartars, which might otherwise have been
very serviceable to him ; for Kerim Gherai was a high-
spirited, energetic, and enlightened prince, and disposed
to all that was great and good. France subsequently
sought his alliance through the celebrated baron Tott.
The khan set out in January, 1769, to the assistance of
Poland, but he died by the way at the age of about sixty.
With the Porte Frederick had endeavoured to esta
blish amicable relations very soon after his accession, but
to no purpose, notAvithstanding the mediation of France
and Sweden. After the peace of Aixda-Chapelle, similar
overtures were made, but with no better success. On
the death of Mahmoud I., towards the end of 1754, the
king sent a Latin letter of congratulation to his succes
sor, Othman III. The bearer, whose original name was
Haude, after being in the employ of M. Hiibsch, merchant

350 COURT AND TIMES OF
of Constantinople, belonged for some time to the Aus
trian embassy there, then entered into the military service
as cornet, and returned in 1754 to his native country,
Silesia. He became known to the king, Avho took him
into his retinue, gave him the name and arms of the ex
tinct family of Rexin, and, regarding him as a fit person
to be employed in his negociations with the Porte, he
sent him, in 1755, with the title of commercial councillor,
to Constantinople, to present the above-mentioned letter
of congratulation to the sultan. The mufti was favour
able, but the reis effendi adverse to the overtures of
Prussia. Rexin was therefore dismissed with a reply
from the sultan to the king ; but an intimation was given
in a note to the Swedish ambassador, who had warmly
interested himself in Frederick's behalf, that, in order to
consolidate the good understanding with the king of
Prussia, another happy year must be awaited, if so it
pleased Almighty God.
On the death of Othman III., in 1757, Rexin was
again sent with congratulations to Mustapha III., who
had used Frederick's Anti-Machiavel for his own instruc
tion and that of his son. Raghib, who, when grand visir,
had been hostile to Prussia, was now well-disposed to
wards the negociator, who, with captain Varenne, the
king's aide-de-camp, remained at Smyrna, till they were
permitted to come with great secrecy to Constantinople.
The French and Austrian ambassadors, however, scented
them out, and frustrated the purpose of their coming.
Thus it was not till March, 1761, that the first treaty
of amity was concluded between Prussia and the Porte,
upon which Rexin appeared in the character of ambas
sador extraordinary at Constantinople. He had spared

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 351
no pains, and spent 80,000 piastres to accomplish his
object ; and the Russian and Austrian envoys would
gladly have given 100,000 ducats to get the treaty an
nulled ; for the sultan collected a large army near
Belgrade ; and, had death spared the Russian empress
Elisabeth, it is possible enough that Frederick's Turkish
and Tartar allies might have made such a diversion as
would have given a decidedly favourable turn to his
affairs. Before the conclusion of the year, Frederick was
doomed to experience another mortification in the re
duction of Colberg by the Russians, who besieged that
fortress for three successive years. The first siege was
in 1759, after the battle of Zorndorf. The place was
garrisoned by only 700 provincial militia, but, with the
assistance of the tOAvnspeople, the commandant, colonel
von der Heyde, made so gallant a defence for 29 days
that the enemy raised the siege and evacuated all Po
merania. In August and September, 1760, the Russians
laid siege to Colberg a second time, while a combined
Russian and Swedish fleet of 30 sail of the line and
frigates, besides smaller vessels of war and 40 transports,
attacked the place by sea. In the space of four days
the enemy threAV into the town upwards of 700 bombs,
besides red-hot balls. Heyde, however, regardless of the
bombardment, Avhich devastated the town, defended it
with not less intrepidity than on the former occasion.
The citizens beheld their houses burnt to ashes without
a murmur ; courageously awaiting the arrival of general
Werner, who was hastening from Silesia to their relief.
With four battalions and nine squadrons he threw him
self into the fortress, after a forced march of 230 miles,

352 COURT AND TIMES OF
on which the enemy fled partly by land, partly on board
the ships which stood out to sea, leaving behind 15 pieces
of cannon, 7 mortars, provisions of all kinds, and 600
prisoners. " Indeed," said the king, " it was reserved
for general Werner to put to flight a fleet with a few
squadrons of hussars," and he ordered a medal to be
struck in honour of the defender and the deliverer of Col
berg. In August, 1761, the Russians invested the for
tress, for the third time, both by sea and land. Roman-
zof, who commanded the enemy, remained inactive on
the Gbllenberg, eastward of Kbslin, till the combined
Russian and Swedish fleet appeared off the fortress.
He then reduced the prince of Wirtemberg, who, with
6000 Prussians, occupied an entrenched camp under the
guns of the fortress, to such straits that the king was
obliged to send generals Schenkendorf and Anhalt to his
succour ; but too late to save the place. The rations of
the garrison and the armed burghers were diminished,
but they resolved to hold out to the last extremity.
Winter came on, and the cold was intense. The Rus
sians nevertheless persevered. Heyde defended the place
with his wonted intrepidity. He ordered water to be
poured down the walls, which the frost rendered as slip
pery as glass, and repulsed all the assaults of the be
siegers. At length, when every morsel of bread was
consumed, and the fortress had been summoned for the
tenth time, the gallant Prussian commandant capitu
lated on the 16th of December, after a siege of four
months. The 300 men composing the garrison were
paraded in triumph, as a curiosity, through Petersburg;
and the Russians now ventured to winter for the first
time in Pomerania and the New Mark.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 353
Paul Werner, born in 1707 at Raab in Hungary, was
in the Austrian service from 1723 to 1750, and had
made twenty-six campaigns (eight against Spain, eight
against France, six against the Turks, and four against
the Prussians) without attaining a higher rank than that
of captain. He entered therefore into the Prussian ser
vice as sub-lieutenant, and, on the breaking out of the
seven years' Avar, his regiment belonged to the corps
under the eommand of marshal Schwerin, in which he
so distinguished himself that in 1758 he was promoted
to be major-general, and obtained the order of Merit.
Entrusted, as we have seen, with the command of a
separate corps, destined for the relief of Colberg, after
he had accomplished that object, he drove the Swedes
out of New Hither Pomerania, and was in 1761 pro
moted to be lieutenant-general out of his turn. On the
reduction of Colberg by the Russians, he was made pri
soner and carried to Konigsberg, where he remained till
the death of the empress Elisabeth. Peter III. endea
voured to gain him for the Russian service, but he de
clined his offers, assumed the command of a Prussian
corps in 1763, penetrated into Moravia, and won, before
the face of the king, the brilliant victory of Reichenbach.
After the peace, he retired to his estate at Pitschen,
where he died in 1785.
The brave governor of Colberg, von der Heyde, was a
native of Lower Lusatia, but entered into the Prussian
service, and while major was appointed commandant
of the castle of Friedrichsburg, near Konigsberg, and
was afterwards sent in the same quality to the fortress
which he so gallantly defended, and where he died in
1765, at the age of 62.
VOL. III. A A

354 COURT AND TIMES OF
Against the Swedes, under general Ehrensward, the
war was this year carried on by colonel Belling, at the
head of 1500 hussars and four infantry battalions, with
such success that before the enemy had time to attempt
any thing they were obliged to seek refuge under the
guns of Stralsund. Hence the king says of that officer,
that a description of the deeds of this man appears very
like a narrative of the adventures of Amadis.
If we consider the situation of Frederick at this pe
riod, when Dresden, Schweidnitz, Colberg, were in the
hands of his enemies, and when the ground upon which
he could move with freedom became more and more
contracted, we feel justly apprehensive that it will not
be possible for him to escape destruction. A fresh
stroke nevertheless awaits him — the change of the
English ministry on the 5th of October, 1761. " The
welfare of England," as some of the lords alleged in
their protest, " was committed to persons whose abili
ties there was reason to doubt." This shaft was aimed
chiefly at the earl of Bute, who, in 1746, gained the in
timate confidence of the prince of Wales, and, at his
death, in 1 751, was appointed by his widow, a princess of
Saxe-Gotha, preceptor of her son, afterwards George III.
On his accession to the throne, Bute acquired very great
influence. The young king, in his first speech to parlia
ment, solemnly promised indeed to fulfil the treaty with
the king of Prussia, and the Commons in their address
declared that they could not sufficiently admire the un
conquerable firmness of Frederick, and the inexhaustible
resources of his genius, and that they most cheerfully
granted the subsidies for his support. Bute nevertheless
prevailed upon his master not to renew the subsidiary

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 355
treaty between England and Prussia ; and the narrow-
minded party of the favoured minister urged the expe
diency of a separate peace, regardless of obligations
contracted in the face of the whole world.
At the conclusion of 1761, Frederick's prospects were
indeed most gloomy. Deeply depressed by the ruin of
his country, he spoke very little and took his meals
alone. The reader need only turn to the poems which
he wrote at this period, especially the Epistle to d'Argens,
of the 8th of November ; the Epistle on the Wickedness
of Men, of the 1 1th ; the Stoic, of the 15th ; the Empe
ror Otho to his Friends, after the loss of the battle of
Bedriacum, of the 1st of December; Cato of Utica to
his Son and his Friends, before he commits Suicide, of
the 8th of December ; and lastly, The Violin, a tale, of
the 26th. It makes one shudder to find the king's Muse
singing such subjects only as have- a tendency to confirm
his desponding heart in the idea that it is impossible for
him to escape the fate which Vitellius brought upon
Otho, and Caesar's victory at Thapsus upon Cato. Fre
derick, however, persevered and — triumphed. But the
poison which he carried about him at this time was
found, still unpacked, after his death. It consisted of
five or six pills, in a narrow glass tube.
While his great qualities awakened profound admira
tion and enthusiasm in the countries of his enemies, it is
no wonder that the sympathies of his own subjects should
have been still more strongly excited. In his armies we
meet with Amazons. " I am the more certain," he writes
to Voltaire, " to surmount all my difficulties, since there
is in my camp a virgin heroine who is even braver than
Joan of Arc. This divine damsel was born in the heart
A A 2

356 COURT AND TIMES OF
of Westphalia, in the country of Hildesheim." Her
name was Anne Sophie Detloff. She was born at Trep-
tow, on the Rega ; first served six months in the garri
son of Colberg, then two years as cuirassier in prince
Henry's regiment, fought at Kay and Kunersdorf, and
received several wounds as grenadier, at Strehla in Sax
ony, on the 20th of August, 1760, and at Torgau. As
a soldier, this valiant female went by the name of Charles
Henry Buschmann. After serving four years she ob
tained her dismission, and married in 1761 a comrade
of Rbbel's regiment of foot, to which she had last be
longed for three months.
A shepherd of the country of Halberstadt, seventy
years old, prided himself on having six sons in the king's
service. When, in the last years of the war, the seventh,
the last prop of his age, was demanded, he said to the
officer : " Tell me frankly, captain, if the king is in very
great distress. If he is, take my son and me too : but if
he is not, pray leave me my son."
A youth, of very promising talents for painting, on
reading in Plutarch that Themistocles, who was of low
birth, could not sleep all night when he heard of the
victory of Miltiades, was so excited that he could not
close his eyes, and for a week was profoundly thoughtful
and reserved. At length his tutor found a letter which
his pupil had addressed to him. "I feel," said he,
" that, like Themistocles, I can form the resolution to
die for my country. I am going to be a soldier."
At Briinen, near Wesel, a monument erected in 1791
by general Schlieffen records the patriotic spirit of the
people of that place, who, when some of their sons had,
during this war, deserted their colours and returned

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 357
home, rose, men and women, and drove the runaAvays
out of the village. Very similar was the conduct of the
people of the county of Ravensberg. When that, with
the other Prussian territories in Westphalia, was de
clared a conquered country, and the French arms were
set up instead of the Prussian, about fifty of the natives
serving in the king's armies, considering themselves re
leased from their obligations, deserted their regiments
and went back to their families. These, however, re
fused to harbour them ; the inhabitants of the country
forswore all intercourse with them, and the church de
nied them confession and the sacraments. They were
thus compelled to return to their colours ; and the very
enemy could not help admiring the noble spirit of the
people.

358 COURT AND TIMES OF

CHAPTER XXXVII.
State of the Prussian Army at the close of 1761 — Change produced in the
King's disposition by external circumstances — Death of the Empress
Elisabeth of Russia, and Accession of Peter III. — Favourable change in
Frederick's affairs — Peace between Russia and Prussia — Treacherous
Policy of Lord Bute — Tbe Emperor Peter; his enthusiastic admiration
of the King — The Empress Catherine — Peace between Prussia and Swe
den — Tardiness of the Austrians to recommence hostilities — Literary
Occupations of the King — He is joined by Czernitschef with a Russian
Corps — Dethronement ofPeter III. — Czernitschef receives orders to leave
the King, and return to Poland — Battle of Burkersdorf — Friendly dispo
sition of the Empress Catherine — The King besieges and recovers
Schweidnitz — Operations in Saxony and in western Germany — England
concludes a separate Peace with France — Duke Ferdinand resigns the
command of the allied Army — Expedition of General Kleist — Prepara
tions for a new Campaign — Peace between Prussia and Austria — Return
of the King to Berlin — Losses of the belligerent Powers.
Never were Frederick's resources so completely ex
hausted,' never were his prospects so discouraging, dur
ing the whole of this eventful struggle for life or death,
as at the close of 1761. He acknowledges himself that,
at the conclusion of the campaign, the army which he
commanded in person amounted to only 30,000 men,
and that of prince Henry to no more ; while the force
opposed to the Russians in Pomerania was annihilated.
Most of his provinces were laid waste, and occupied by
the enemy. England refused further subsidies, and the
king knew not where to procure men and horses to com
plete his regiments, where to find provisions, or how to
effect the safe conveyance of supplies to the army. Not
only from the diminution of its numerical force, but also
from the nature of its composition, was the Prussian army
at this time in a truly deplorable state. In the many hard-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 359
fought battles in which it had been engaged, the veteran
troops had been almost entirely swept away, and their
places were supplied by deserters, vagabonds, and the
scum of all nations. Orders were even issued that the
sons of country gentlemen, who were at all qualified for
officers, should be levied along with the recruits. Of
course, the spirit which pervaded these troops and their
intrinsic value had sunk proportionably ; and the strictest
discipline was required to keep them in any kind of order.
No wonder that many instances of great demoralization
should have occurred, especially among the rabble com
posing the partisan corps, which were augmented in pre
ference, by way of counterpoise to the light troops of
the Austrians. The mistrust of the bravery and fidelity
of such troops in general was fully justified, as mutiny
and desertion en masse were not rare occurrences, accord
ing to the History of the Seven Years' War, published
by the officers of the staff. " Thus," we are told in that
work, " during an engagement, the battalion of Labadie,
after murdering several of their officers, went over with
their arms to the enemy ; an officer and upwards of 90
men of Wunsch's battalion quitted the ranks, likewise,
during a battle ; and it Avas thought necessary to shoot
several subalterns and soldiers belonging to another
battalion, in order to suppress the spirit of mutiny — to
say nothing of minor occurrences. Of military discipline
and regularity they had but very lax notions ; and, as a
trait of their rude licentiousness, it may be mentioned
that a partisan battalion of no more than some 200 took
along with it no fewer than 50 waggons, containing sut
lers, women, and drunken men."
The difficulty of raising the resources requisite for the

360 COURT AND TIMES OF
continuation of the struggle, as well as the debased cha
racter of the soldiery with which it was to be carried on,
produced in Frederick such a despondency, that the state
of his mind at this time, as expressed in his letters,
excites the deepest sympathy. But, in spite of his
doubts of ultimate success, we find him still breathing
noble defiance, and a determination to resist to the
utmost, and displaying an activity indefatigably exerted
alike for the general interest of the state, and in the
minutest details for the equipment of a company or the
drilling of a recruit.
To many of his faithful followers, however, the cause
of their country appeared so desperate, that they gave
it up for lost. " It is not possible," writes Mbllendorf,
on the 12th of December, 1761, at Breslau, "that the
war can last another year. Our resources are at an end,
and I fear the worst — not on account of the numbers of
our enemies — no, my friend, but on account of the
wretched composition of our army. Had our foes only
mercenaries in their service, such phenomena would not
surprise me ; but, under prevailing circumstances, I
cannot help being astonished, and it seems to me that
many act like blind people either from interest or stu
pidity. One is a rogue as well as another. 0 my friend,
how dreadful it is to be compelled to plunge into a cala
mity that one foresees, and that might have been pre
vented had one not been counteracted ! It is horrible,
most horrible ! Honour, justice, disinterestedness —
these sublime virtues of our forefathers are no longer
knoAvn among us. The term ' public weal' is an empty
sound : among us private interest alone is studied. Peo
ple have ceased to blush at dishonour, they reconcile

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 361
themselves to it by giving it another name. Formerly
the least of such acts would have merited the gallows :
now the perpetrator of such infamies holds his head erect,
and defies the public gaze."
I shall quote another passage from the correspondence
of the same officer : " Private interests and their colli
sions are plunging us into ruin ; still I am less afraid of
the superiority of our enemies than of our own internal
disorganization. The soldier cannot live ; he is in want
of the first necessaries; he begins to steal; he degrades
himself into a thief without honour or conscience, and
this want of honour stamps him a coward. This natu
rally relaxes the bands of discipline, the true and almost
the only tie that binds armies together. The officer is
in the same predicament, and has almost sunk to so low
a point as to forget honour and character. He plunders
the country, and ends with cheating the king : even the
honourable man cannot prevent this system, because he
is aware that it is impossible to subsist by any other
means. The captain is obliged to pay for the clothing
of the soldier twice as much as the king allows him for
it. Whence is he to get the difference ? Of course, by
illicit means, to Avhich it is not possible to set any bounds.
This, unfortunately, is a daily increasing evil, and there
appears to be no way of stopping it. Such is, in a few
words, the crater on which we stand !"
A melancholy picture this of a melancholy time ! — but
it seems more than probable, from the close intimacy
subsisting between the patriotic writer and the noble-
minded general Saldern, that the colours are overcharged.
The latter had, in spite of his brilliant services at the
battle of Torgau, fallen into disgrace with the king, and,

362 COURT AND TIMES OF
mentally depressed by the state of things, was sickening
in what might almost be called inactivity, so that his
friends, and among them Mbllendorf, were apprehensive
that he would be obliged to leave the army entirely.
The hearts of such men were wrung by the disgrace which
the corps of officers and the army in general began to
bring upon themselves, and they regarded this mode of
acting as a sign of a general dissolution which nothing
could prevent.
Amidst all his embarrassments, the king betrayed no
signs of despondency to his troops ; nay, he did not dis
close all his griefs even to his friends. Hence he writes
to d'Argens : " You are not sufficiently acquainted with
circumstances to form a correct idea of the dangers which
threaten the State. I am aware of and must conceal
them : I keep all that is alarming to myself, and com
municate to the public only hopes and the little good
news that I am able to give it."
Care and anxiety, nevertheless, preyed upon the spirits
of the hero ; and he who could once control his feelings
to such a degree, that not the slightest indication of the
storms of passion was perceptible in his countenance,
withdrew from the sight of his most devoted friends into
solitude, now that the symptoms of premature age mani
fested themselves more decidedly, renounced all those
pleasures and pursuits in which his mind had once de
lighted, nay, even despaired of every thing, and was ready,
like Cato, to put an end to the tragedy. What wonder
that, after such bitter experience, we should discover in
Frederick a totally altered character ! — no faith, no love,
no hope ! Reason, law, duty, now became the prime
movers of his actions ; and, in sacrificing himself and his

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 363
feelings to these, he performed most worthily the task
of a monarch, and actually ascended to that height to
Avhich the love and enthusiasm of the admiring multitude
had long since raised him.
From the period when he was deserted by his English
ally dates his antipathy to this country and its institu
tions ; and, in spite of the occasional influences of the
political magnet, no sympathetic power ever drew the
needle again towards this island ; while, for a long time,
it pointed invariably to that quarter whence relief came
so unexpectedly in the moment of his deepest distress.
To this cause is to be traced the rude shock given some
years afterwards to the European balance of power ; for
Poland would not have been partitioned, had not Bute
loosed Frederick's hand, and attempted to trample him
in the dust into the bargain.
The opening of 1762, clouded by the most gloomy
prospects, nevertheless brought with it an event which
totally changed the aspect of Frederick's affairs, and
furnishes a most striking lesson that, in all the concerns
of life, nothing but fortitude and perseverance can ena
ble men to surmount difficulties and dangers. On the
5 th of January, death removed the king's mortal enemy,
the empress Elisabeth, from the throne of Russia. Her
successor, Peter III., son of her elder sister Anne, was
born duke of Schleswig Holstein in 1728; and, while
grand-duke, such was his respect for the king of Prussia,
that he would never attend the council of state when
any measures against him were to be discussed.
Frederick lost no time in despatching his aide-de
camp, baron Goltz, from Breslau to Petersburg, to con
gratulate the new sovereign of Russia on his accession, to

364 COURT AND TIMES OF
assure him of his entire regard and friendship, and to
intimate that all the Russian prisoners of war should be
released. Accordingly, the king immediately sent for
brigadier Lewel, who had been taken in the course of
the preceding year by Zieten near Glogau, returned him
his SAVord, and set at liberty all the other prisoners,
giving them permission to repair to the Russian army at
Posen. Lewel, with several Prussian officers, dined the
same day with the king, who also addressed to colonel
count Haerd, then a prisoner of war in Petersburg, let
ters which were to be shown to the emperor, and were
calculated to awaken sentiments favourable to Fre
derick. Peter felt highly flattered by these attentions, and
collected the Prussian prisoners, most of whom were
languishing in Siberia, for the purpose of sending them
back to their own country. Meanwhile, he despatched
an aide-de-camp to Breslau, to compliment the king;
and an armistice between Prussia and Russia was con
cluded at Stargard by duke Augustus William of Bevern
and prince Michael Wolkonsky, as a preliminary to
peace. That, however, lord Bute would fain have pre
vented. He strove not only to dissuade the czar from
any treaty with Prussia, but even proposed that he
should select any part of the Prussian dominions he
pleased, provided that he would allow his troops to con
tinue to act in conjunction with the Austrians. Peter
was so indignant at this proposal that he immediately
communicated the despatch of his ambassador to the
king. Sir Andrew Mitchell hereupon Avrote from Bres
lau on the 3rd of May, 1762, to lord Bute himself, that
he had learned with concern that the king Avas accurately

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 365
informed respecting an interview Avhich the prime mi
nister (Bute) had had, after the death of the empress,
with prince Galitzin on this subject, and that the sub
stance of their conversation had been communicated to
him (Mitchell) by count Finkenstein, in the name of the
king, "who," he adds, "on first receiving the intelli
gence, was almost furious, and to this moment cannot
talk with temper on the subject."
There is no doubt that the British nation in general,
though as hearty as ever in the cause of the king of
Prussia, was becoming weary of the war. Bute's ob
ject Avas to put an end to it ; and, in his ignorance of
all the bearings of foreign politics, he conceived that the
most effectual method of accomplishing it would be not
only to withhold the usual supplies from England, but to
stimulate Frederick's enemies to renewed efforts for
crushing the ally of his own sovereign. This odious
treachery was thwarted by the straightforward conduct
of the czar, and on the 5 th of May peace was signed at
Petersburg, though Elisabeth on her deathbed had ex
torted from the senate a promise not to treat with
Prussia, unless in concert with her allies.
To prove to the world that his actions were not go
verned by interest, and that the present pacification ori
ginated in the pure love of peace, Peter promised within
two months to restore to the king all the conquests
made by his troops during the war. The province of
Prussia was accordingly released on the 8th of July from
its oath of allegiance to Russia, and evacuated ; nay, the
two powers must have been from the first united by a
closer bond than was publicly acknoAvledged ; for count
Czernitschef returned at the head of 15,000 men from

366 COURT AND TIMES OF
Poland to Silesia, and arrived at Lissa on the 30th of
June. Frederick reviewed these auxiliaries on the day of
their arrival, and, to enable them to distinguish the
more readily the Prussian cavalry from the Austrian, he
ordered the former to wear plumes of feathers, which
have ever since been retained. To this review and to
these troops the king adverted in conversation with the
marquis de Bouille, during his visit to Prussia in 1784.
He praised the Russians, their hardiness, their tempe
rance, and their firmness. " When I reviewed the Cos
sacks," said he, " as they rode past me, they clapped
their hands to their long beards. I took this at first for
a sort of salutation after their fashion, and returned it :
but no such thing. Peter III. had issued orders that
they should be obliged to take off their beards, and their
gesture was merely intended to draw my attention to
that ornament, and to express their petition that they
might be allowed to retain it. I granted it most cheer
fully, and they loaded me with good wishes and bene
dictions." The Russian soldiers were indeed fond of the king,
and even when opposed to him in the field they talked
with admiration of Feodor Feodorwitz, as they called
Frederick. " God grant him health !" said they. " He
is a great soldier. What should not we do, if he com
manded us !" Thus their sentiments coincided with
those of their sovereign.
Peter never spoke of the king but in terms of the
highest respect. He carried a portrait of him in the
ring on his finger, and laid aside the order of St. An
drew to wear that of the Black Eagle. He was ac-

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 367
quainted with the minutest particulars of the king's
campaigns, with all the Prussian military regulations,
and Avith the uniform and strength of all Frederick's
regiments. His enthusiasm went so far that he publicly
declared that he would put all his troops on the same
footing, and so he really did soon afterwards. All the old
uniforms were changed, and the emperor Avas the first to
throw off his own. At his request, the king gave him
the infantry regiment of Itzenblitz, at the head of which
the duke of Bevern fought gloriously at Lowositz, which
prince Henry had led on foot into the fire at Prague,
and which had displayed great gallantry throughout the
whole war. This regiment, when first raised by colonel
the marquis de Varennes in 1 687, was composed entirely
of French refugees : it had ever since been in garrison
in Berlin, had its recruiting canton in the Middle and
Uker Mark, and henceforward was called "the Empe
ror's regiment."
Frederick, who, in return, was appointed colonel of
the 2d Moskowsky regiment of infantry, was thoroughly
sensible of the value of Peter's attachment. " The em
peror of Russia," he wrote to d'Argens, " is a divine
man, to whom I must erect altars." Neither was he
behindhand in demonstrations of the sincerest friendship,
and he proved that he took a deep interest in the wel
fare of his new ally. He warned him to be upon his
guard, because the people were adverse to the arma
ments against Denmark, because the clergy were alarmed
for their property, the nobles for their consequence, and
the Russian household troops complained of too great
severity and of the preference given to natives of Hol
stein. The king, in his solicitude for the czar, went

368 COURT AND TIMES OF
still further : he spoke in behalf of his imperial consort,
who felt herself aggrieved in various ways.
Sophia Augusta Frederica, afterwards the famous Ca
therine II., was born in 1729 at Stettin, where her
father, prince Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst-
Dornburg, resided as a general in the Prussian service,
and governor. On the death of his cousin in 1742, he
succeeded him in the principality. Frederick had double
reason to espouse the cause of this princess, as it was
through his recommendation that she had been united,
to Peter while grand-duke ; but in this instance his con
ciliatory efforts proved unavailing. On the one hand,
the emperor had no consideration for the feelings of his
consort, and on the other she did not possess sufficient
command over herself to conceal her discontent and
mortification. The breach between the imperial pair
seems to have become irreparable on the emperor's birth
day, the 21st of February, 1762, which was celebrated
with great splendour at Sarskoje-Selo, and on which the
empress was obliged to confer the order of St. Cathe
rine on countess Elisabeth Woronzow, who had the title
of lady of honour, and was Peter's mistress. From that
moment the empress, whose favour even then Soltikof,
count Poniatowski, and Gregory Orlof, are said to have
successively enjoyed, shut herself up in her apartments
during the remainder of the festivities, which lasted
eight days.
As soon as the peace of Petersburg was concluded,
Sweden too desired repose. The queen, Frederick's
sister, introduced the negociations : an armistice for
three months was agreed upon, and peace was signed at
Hamburg on the 22d of May. The treaty of Stockholm

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 369
in 1720 Avas renewed; the state of things before the war
was re-established, and no indemnities were demanded
on either side.
Frederick joyfully availed himself of the benefits
which Providence dispensed. " This is the first gleam
of sunshine that bursts upon us," he writes on the 31st
of January to count Finkenstein — " God be praised ! It
is to be hoped that fair days will succeed the storms. —
God grant it !"— When the countess Camas expressed
her joy at the two treaties of peace, he answered her
from his eamp at Betlern near Breslau, on the 8th and
27th of June — " I am convinced that you take the
warmest interest in the fortunate events which have
lately happened. According to all appearance, you
may soon be again quiet inhabitants of Berlin.. Every
thing has an end, and so it is to be hoped this odious
war will have too. Since death tucked up a certain
northern strumpet, our situation has been far more
tolerable than before. It is to be hoped that other cir
cumstances of the like fortunate kind may occur, of
which we may profit to obtain a good peace. You talk
of Berlin, but I do not wish you to sit there like the
birds on the boughs, but that you may live in becoming
ease ; and I anxiously await the moment when I can
see this security rest on a solid foundation, that I may
be able to let you know that you may return."
Maria Theresa contributed to lighten Frederick's cares.
In reliance upon Russia, she discharged 20,000 of her
troops in December, 1761. During this winter, her
army was moreover attacked by an epidemic disease,
and, what those brave soldiers regarded as a great mis
fortune, Loudon, finding himself exposed to various
VOL. III. B B

370 COURT AND TIMES OF
mortifications, relinquished his command as soon as
Daun had recovered.
Excellent generals, Manteuffel, Werner, Knobloch,
and great numbers of Prussian soldiers, began to return
from captivity ; and the province of Prussia, which had
not sent a man to Frederick's colours since 1758, was
now able to furnish a considerable number of recruits.
The consequences of the change in Frederick's pro
spects in the early part of 1762 were manifested in the
tardiness of his enemies to resume military operations.
He continued to reside at Breslau, and took advantage
of this long period of repose for various, purposes, and
among the rest for conversing with German literati.
The works with which he was chiefly occupied were De
Thou's admirable History, Fleury's Ecclesiastical His
tory, and Lucretius. He seems to have been of opinion
that Lucretius had in his third canto exhausted every
thing that could be said concerning the soul ; and in a
letter to d'Alembert, many years afterwards, he ob
serves — " When I am depressed, I read the third book
of Lucretius, and that eases me : it is only a palliative,
but against diseases of the soul we have no other reme
dies." The new literary works which his friends trans
mitted to him till the spring he reserved for the next
winter, as he did not pretend to read during the cam
paign. He sent this year, as he had done in the preceding,
for the prince of Prussia. The court was still residing
at Magdeburg, whither Sack, the court-chaplain, had
followed it by special command, to continue the reli
gious instruction of the heir to the throne and his bro
thers and sisters. In January, 1762, that worthy divine

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 371
confirmed the prince in the queen's cabinet. Frederick
Avished now to initiate his nephew into the military pro
fession, and therefore kept the prince about him from
this time till the conclusion of peace.
The king proposed to himself two grand objects in
the ensuing campaign — the recovery of Dresden and
that of Schweidnitz. Prince Henry continued to act
the same part in Saxony which he had throughout the
whole of the preceding year performed with such extra
ordinary success against the great Austrian army under
Daun and the army of the Empire. In Silesia, Frederick
himself prepared to increase his military renown. His
force amounted to 66,000 men. Daun, who arrived on
the 12th of May at his strong position near Kunzendorf,
had 80,000, including 10,000 in garrison at Schweid
nitz ; and 8000 Austrians guarded the passes of Silber-
berg and Wartha. Both parties were still in canton
ments, when, on the 20th of May, count Schwerin
reached Breslau with the treaty of peace and alliance
between Prussia and Russia. The peace was solemnly
proclaimed. Hostilities were deferred till Czernitschef,
who had parted from Loudon and retired to Poland,
should have joined the king.
Schweidnitz had been most amply supplied by the
Imperialists. It could not be besieged with any pro
spect of success while Daun continued in communica
tion with the fortress and watched every motion of the
Prussians. The Austrian cunctator stood like a wall on
the entrenched heights of Burkersdorf, Ludwigsdorf, and
Leutmannsdorf. Even diversions towards the mountains
of Silesia and towards Bohemia, which were designed to
alarm the enemy on account of his magazines, proved
b b 2

372 COURT AND TIMES OF
unavailing. Frederick was therefore obliged to come to
the determination to attack Daun upon his hills : but,
before he could carry it into execution, news arrived
that Peter III. had been dethroned by the empress on
the 9th of July, at the moment when he was about to
lead his army against the Danes ; for which purpose the
king had engaged by treaty to furnish an auxiliary corps
of 6000 men.
These tidings were a thunderbolt to Frederick, when
brought to him on the 19th of July by Czernitschef,
who added, that the senate had ordered him to cause
the army to swear allegiance to the new sovereign, and
to return to Poland. At the same time, intelligence was
received from Prussia and Pomerania that the Russian
troops there were preparing to renew hostilities, and
that the public coffers in the former province had been
seized by the Russian commissaries. Frederick, how
ever, judged that any hostile demonstrations of Cathe
rine's were intended only to afford a security that he
sbould not compel Czernitschef to declare himself in
favour of the captive emperor. The king made no op
position whatever to the return of the Russians, but he
requested their commander, as an especial favour, to
defer his departure for three days. Czernitschef, over
come by the charm of Frederick's eloquence, complied
Avith a good grace.
These three days Avere precious. Frederick availed
himself of them, in his singular situation, for a daring
enterprise. He resolved to attack the Austrians ; the
Russians were drawn up merely for parade to daunt the
enemy, ignorant of the occurrences at Petersburg, while
an attack on the hills of Burkersdorf and Leutmannsdorf

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 373
was made by general Neuwied, to whom the king had
sent his aide-de-camp major William Anhalt, " to exe
cute implicitly the highest orders." When the king was
informed, and indeed could himself see, that general
Mbllendorf had stormed the entrenchments at Burkers
dorf, and that his troops had penetrated to the enemy's
positions on the hills near Leutmannsdorf, he sent for
Anhalt, promoted him to lieutenant-colonel, and sent
him eight orders of Merit, to be distributed as he thought
proper. The Russian generals had during these attacks
remained with their troops in their former position on
the top of the hills, and had witnessed this heroic and
admirably executed enterprise. When the victory was
completely won, he sent to request Czernitschef to come
down to him in the valley of Burkersdorf, which the
general immediately did, and was received by the king
with a cordial embrace. This action was fought on the
21st of July. Daun retreated to Tannhausen in the
mountains, leaving behind a great number of prisoners
and 17 pieces of cannon. On the 22d, Czernitschef re
luctantly quitted his ally, whom he equally loved and
admired, and who, at his departure, sent him a gold
sword richly set with brilliants, worth 27,000 dollars,
by the hands of count Schwerin, who was expressly
charged to beg him " to accept it as a keepsake, which
might serve to remind him of his ever-grateful royal
friend." The Russian general presented the king with
two Cossack horses and two dromedaries.
The dethroned emperor Peter III. had been conveyed
to a small country-seat belonging to the Hetman Rasu-
mowsky, and there murdered by Teplof, Alexis Orlof,
brother of Gregory, Catherine's favourite, and prince

374 COURT AND TIMES OF
Baratinsky. The news of this event filled Frederick
Avith the deepest sorrow. To a letter on business to
prince George of Holstein-Gottorp, he added, with his
own hand, " What doings there have been in Petersburg !
I say nothing, but I mourn before all the world for the
honest and dear emperor." To le Cat he wrote — " My
dear Peter dethroned and dead ! Is there any fate that
is like mine !" — " This prince," he wrote to d'Argens,
" had all the qualities of the heart that can be wished
for, but not quite so much prudence ; and a great deal
of this is required to govern that nation. To-day I am
told that he died of the colic." In a letter to one of his
ministers on this occasion, he thus expresses himself —
" The poor emperor of Russia, you see, is dethroned by
his wife : no more than Avas expected. The empress has
great abilities, no religion, and the inclinations of the
late one, but cloaked at the same time by devotion. It
is the second volume of the history of Zeno the Greek
emperor and his wife Ariadne, and of Catherine de Me-
dicis. The former chancellor Bestuchef was the great
favourite of this princess ; and, as he was wholly at
tached to guineas, I flatter myself that the present en
gagements will subsist. The poor emperor thought to
imitate Peter I., but he had not genius for it. It is said
that he was murdered."
So strong was the feeling of gratitude entertained by
Frederick for the emperor, that, in 1779, when count
Gbrtz was going as ambassador to Petersburg, the king
said to him with tearful eyes — " I shall ever lament
Peter the third ; he was my only friend, my deliverer —
but for him I must have been crushed."
In Russia, a notion had been too hastily conceived

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 375
that the unfortunate emperor had been instigated by
Frederick to all his innovations. The empress Catherine
was the more astonished to find among Peter's papers
letters from the king, not only proving the very reverse,
but also the warm interest which he had invariably
manifested for herself. All hostile proceedings were, of
course, stopped ; and, on the 6th of August, marshal
Lehwald arrived at Konigsberg, preceded by a great num
ber of postillions blowing horns, to take formal possession
of the kingdom as Prussian governor. The new empress,
indeed, had never been at heart inimically disposed to-
Avards her native country ; nay, when the magistrates of
her birthplace, Stettin, congratulated her on her acces
sion to the throne, she received their letter most gra
ciously, and sent them, in April, 1763, through the high
chancellor Woronzow, the gold and silver coronation
medal, together with a present of one thousand ducats
for the shooting association, and a promise that the ma
gistrates should in future be furnished with a specimen
of all the commemorative medals struck in the Russian
empire. Meanwhile, the king had made all possible preparations
for the siege of Schweidnitz. The place had been most
abundantly provisioned and supplied. The garrison, com
posed of 11,000 men, was commanded by count Guasco,
while the defence of the fortress was conducted by gene
ral Gribauval. The king entrusted the chief command
of the besieging army to general Tauentzien, under whom
major Lefebvre, a friend and countryman of Gribauval's,
acted as engineer. These two officers, though pursuing
different systems, had both proved themselves to be mas
ters in their line, as well by their writings as by their

376 COURT AND TIMES OF
actions ; so that the siege promised to furnish a most
instructive school for the assault and defence of fortifi
cations. On the 4th of August, Tauentzien invested the town ;
the trenches were opened on the 7th. Two armies covered
the important enterprise ; the one,, under the king, in the
camp of Peterswalde ; the other, under the duke of Be
vern, on the heights of Mittelpeile, towards Gnadenfrey.
Daun purposed to fall upon Bevern with a greatly supe
rior force, to surround and take him, and thereby to raise
the siege of Schweidnitz. But the duke was on his guard :
he took the most judicious precautions ; and, though
assailed on all sides by four hostile corps at once, on the
16th of August, at Riechenbach, he defended himself
with extraordinary skill and intrepidity. The king lost
not a moment in sending succour, and hastened in person
with Werner's hussars to the duke's assistance, while
Zieten assumed the command at Peterswalde ; and Daun,
finding himself foiled, retired by Wartha and Glatz to
Scharfeneck, where he remained, " without exhibiting
any sign of life," says the king, till the conclusion of the
campaign. Schweidnitz had now nothing to hope for. Guasco
opened negociations ; but, as free egress for the numerous
garrison was out of the question, the siege was vigorously
prosecuted. Le Febvre had made but little impression,
when, on the 20th of September, after the siege had lasted
forty-five days, Frederick hastened to. the assistance of
his desponding engineer. At length, a howitzer grenade
set fire to a powder-magazine in the fortress, and a whole
bastion of fort Jauernick was blown up, together with
two Austrian grenadier companies. The Prussians now

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 377
threatened to storm the place ; and, on the 9th of Octo
ber, Guasco determined to capitulate. He accordingly
sent an officer, who produced a great number of articles,
detailing at great length the terms on which he proposed
to surrender. The king cut the matter very short. Turn
ing to Dieskau, commander of the artillery, who happened
to be Avith him, he said, " Hark ye, my dear Dieskau, you
can settle every thing with this gentleman, but no discus
sion ! They are all prisoners of war — that is the only
condition to be made. In this case you must follow the
precept of the Bible : ' Let your communication be Yea,
yea, Nay, nay ; for whatsoever is more than these cometh
of evil.' " The garrison, of course, became prisoners of war.
The populace of Vienna did not fail to express their
opinion of the conduct of the Austrian general on the
loss of this important fortress. The state carriage of his
lady was several times assailed Avith a volley of nightcaps.
Among the caricatures of which Daun Avas the subject
there Avas one representing the siege of Schweidnitz.
General Guasco was standing on the ramparts calling for
help. At a great distance was seen Daun's army drawn
up in parade as spectators of the siege. The marshal
was seated before the front in an arm-chair, with a large
nightcap on his head, holding up Avith both hands the
consecrated sword given him by the pope, as if impart
ing his blessing to the troops. The sword was in the
sheath, upon Avhich were the Avords : " Thou shalt not
kill." On the left stood Loudon, with doAvncast eyes,
and his hands tied behind him ; on the right Lascy, with
a roll of parchment in his hand, inscribed : " Plan of the
campaign of 1763."
Silesia being now entirely cleared of the enemy, the king

378 COURT AND TIMES OF
returned to his own head-quarters at Peterswalde, and
thence proceeded in a few days for Saxony. The prince of
Prussia was left behind at Schweidnitz till the Austrian
prisoners had marched past him and laid down their arms.
While the king was recovering Schweidnitz, the for
tress of Ciistrin was in imminent danger from the captive
Croats, who expected Austrian succours from Cottbus,
and would certainly have made themselves masters of the
place but for the gallantry of lieutenant Thiele, of the
provincial battalion, and the presence of mind of the
chaplain to the garrison.
In Saxony, general Serbelloni was commander-in-chief
of the Imperialists. His object was to form a junction
with the troops of the Empire, and to beat prince Henry.
The latter, however, detached Seydlitz and other gene
rals to make diversions in Bohemia, which they did with
such success, that the empress became dissatisfied with
her general, who had suffered a defeat on the 12th of
May, near Dbbeln. He was superseded by Haddik, who,
thinking to display more energy, and to gain himself a
reputation, effected a junction with the troops of the
Empire. On the 30th, Henry took up a camp near
Freiberg. The enemy, being superior in force, began to
carry his designs into execution. General Belling was
driven from his position, and the Prussian army was
placed in no little jeopardy. Frederick, well aware
of the wholly disproportionate strength of his brother to
that of the two united armies, sent general Wied to his
succour. Daun observing this, despatched assistance
to Haddik ; but both reinforcements arrived too late.
Henry had already quitted his camp, and, on the 29th
of October, attacked the troops of the Empire and the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 379
Austrians, under count Solms, in their entrenchments
near Freiberg, and beaten them. Seydlitz had there
another opportunity of distinguishing himself with the
cavalry. General Kleist pursued the enemy to the gates
of Prague. The king received intelligence of this vic
tory while on his march from Silesia to Saxony, where
he put his army into winter-quarters.
The Austrians, too, were desirous of repose. Out of
all their conquests, they retained only the county of
Glatz and a small district round Dresden, where general
Neuwied had an action with them on the 7th of Novem
ber, near Spechtshausen : this was the last fought during
the seven years' war. A truce was concluded between
Prussia and Austria, on the 24th of November, at Wils
druf, but only for the electorate of Saxony and Silesia.
The king placed his army in quarters, so as to form a
chain from Thuringia through Saxony and Lusatia to
Silesia, and, after staying himself for some time at
Meissen, he went to Leipzig for the winter.
In western Germany, the French had formed great
plans for the opening of this campaign. Broglio was no
longer at the head of their armies. Soubise and d'Estrees
commanded on the Upper, and the prince of Conde on
the LoAver, Rhine. Though Lord Bute failed to send
the promised reinforcements, the allies were generally
successful. In the action at Wilhelmsthal, on the 24th
of June, duke Ferdinand triumphed over Soubise and
d'Estrees, and, on the 23d of July, in that at Lutter-
berg, over prince Xavier. Thus the war was carried on
during the summer with variable fortune, and new enter
prises were planned after the duke de Nivernois had gone
in September to London and the duke of Bedford to Paris

380 COURT AND TIMES OF
to treat for peace. Prince Frederick of Brunswick, bro
ther of the hereditary prince, commenced the siege of
Cassel. The trenches were opened on the 16th of Octo
ber, and, on the 1st of November, general Diesbach was
obliged to capitulate. Two days afterwards, the preli
minaries of peace were signed at Fontainebleau, and, by
the 1 3th article, neither party was to afford further aid
to its former allies. This intelligence was communicated
by the French commanders to duke Ferdinand, who was
in camp at Kirchhain : they acquainted him also that,
according to their instructions, the French were to keep
possession of Cassel and Ziegenhain ; but, to the article
respecting Cassel, d'Estrees had annexed this remark :
" The fortune of arms decides this article ;" and, as no
news had yet arrived from London, the siege of Ziegen
hain was continued.. A meeting of the generals and
principal officers on both sides was appointed for the 8th
of November, at the head-quarters of the French, who
desired a suspension of hostilities. Ferdinand readily
assented, but required the surrender of Ziegenhain. Be
fore this point could be settled, he received intelligence
from London of the signature of the preliminaries, which
put an end to hostilities on the following day.
On the 23d, the duke congratulated his Britannic ma
jesty on the peace, and solicited permission to resign the
chief command. Having received, on the 3d of Decem
ber, a reply signifying the king's assent to his wish, he
took leave of the allied army on the 23d, and resigned
to general Sporcken a command in which he had won the
attachment of the leaders of the different troops com
posing his army, by doing justice to the merits of each,
and disinterestedly studying the general welfare. After

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 381
gaining a battle, it av&s no uncommon thing with him to
reward the officers out of his private resources. Like
Frederick, he bound all by the ties of honour, and like
him, too, he contrived to secure the esteem of his pri
soners. When, a few days after the action at Wilhelms-
thal, he invited to dinner the French officers taken on that
occasion, who had lost the whole of their baggage, he
opened a box, brought by way of dessert, and invited
each of his guests to help himself. To their astonish
ment, they found that it contained a great quantity of
gold Avatches, snuff-boxes, rings, and other articles of
jewelry. The peace between England and France could not fail
to excite universal indignation. Through the genius of
Pitt, Great Britain had gained a decided naval superi
ority over France and Spain : she had raised herself to
the first maritime power in Europe, and was in a condi
tion to prescribe terms to her exhausted and vanquished
adversary. Voltaire says that, by her connexion Avith
Austria, France was more drained of men and money in
six years than she had been by all her wars with that
house in the course of two centuries. The sacrifices de
manded by the conqueror were, nevertheless, extremely
moderate. France was merely required to cede Canada,
and the British minister agreed to give up all the other
conquests made during the seven years' war, at an ex
pense of 75 millions sterling, the amount added by it to
the funded debt of Great Britain. The allies of England
were abandoned to the mercy of the enemy ; Hesse, which
had suffered so inexpressibly, obtained no compensation ;
and the French were allowed to retain possession of the
Westphalian provinces of the king of Prussia. Frede-

382 COURT AND TIMES OF
rick's ambassador in London protested against this peace,
so faithless in regard to his court ; for, according to the
3d article of the treaty of the 11th of April, 1758, Eng
land engaged to conclude in concert only peace, truce,
neutrality, or any other convention. The British nation,
therefore, cried out against the peace as inconsistent with
the national honour, and even talked of treason : nay,
Dr. Musgrave, an English physician, practising in Paris
in 1763, asserted that the dowager princess of Wales and
lord Bute had received money from France for this peace ;
and he made the same declaration in 1770 at the bar of
the House of Commons. In Junius's Letters, the whole
affair is lashed most severely ; and the yet unknown au
thor of those celebrated pieces plumply charges the duke
of Bedford with having sold and betrayed his country.
We must revert once more to lord Bute. This mi
nister had made the same kind of proposals for peace to
the cabinet of Vienna that he had done to Peter III., and
offered to guarantee to the empress any Prussian province
she pleased. Kaunitz indignantly rejected this overture,
which he attributed to a wish on the part of England to
separate the imperial court from that of Versailles, and
intimated that the empress-queen was sufficiently pow
erful to enforce her own pretensions. M. de Bussi was
accordingly sent to London, and Mr. Hans Stanley to
Paris, to open those negociations which Nivernois and
Bedford brought to a conclusion.
Frederick, who had so long maintained the conflict
with honour, would not purchase peace at the price of
a single village. This he had repeatedly declared to the
French cabinet ; for, knowing that Voltaire had always
shewn an itch for dabbling in politics, he availed himself

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 383
of his letters to that writer to get his sentiments con
veyed to the proper quarter. Hence Voltaire writes to
count d'Argental, on the 11th of January, 1760: "As
for Luc, I have merely transmitted to the duke de Choi
seul the letters Avhich he wrote to me for the purpose of
being shewn ; so that I have been a mere bureau d'ad-
dresse." Hence, too, it is that the king thus writes in
April, 1 760, to Voltaire : " The conditions of peace which
you mention appear to me so absurd, that I shall send
them to the madhouse, for there they can be properly
answered. Your ministers may depend upon it that I
will defend myself with desperation, and not subscribe
any peace but upon conditions consistent with the honour
of my nation. What logic ! You say I ought to cede
Cleves, because its inhabitants are a stupid race. What
would your ministers say, if any one were to demand
Champagne from you, because it is a common saying
that 99 sheep and 1 Champagner make 100 head of
cattle ! Away with all such ridiculous projects !"
But the king felt the necessity of devising new and
bold strokes, in order to produce a more general and
sincere outcry for peace by means of new alarms. He
increased the corps of general Kleist to 6000 men, and
ordered him to march into Franconia, to penetrate into
the empire, and to levy all the military contributions
that he was able. On the 1 3th of November, Kleist set
out with 6000 men from Oederau in the Erzgebirge on
his remarkable expedition, laid Bamberg, Wiirzburg,
Windsheim, and other towns, under contribution, and
appeared before Niirnberg, which gave him 1 2 new pieces
of cannon and a million and a half of dollars. His troops
scoured the country to the gates of Ratisbon, so that

384 COURT AND TIMES . OF
terror pervaded the banks of the Danube, and the Diet
solicited protection from baron Plotho. The princes of
the empire, spiritual and temporal, now cried out for
peace, to the great satisfaction of the king. In Decem
ber, Mecklenburg made its peace with Prussia, and bor
rowed of Denmark 120,000 dollars, to pay up the arrears
of its contribution. The Palatinate and Bavaria recalled
their contingents; and, on the 19th of January, 1763,
the emperor declined the further aid of the army of the
Empire, which was dissolved on the 11th of February.
General Kleist, who was instrumental in producing
these important results, was a native of Stavenow, in
Pomerania. In 1758, he was, as we have seen, a colonel
and commander of the regiment of green hussars ; but, in
,1760, his patriotism impelled him to raise five squadrons
of partisan dragoons, and a battalion of green Croats,
as they were called. His noble conduct towards those
under his command, as well as the fame of his achievements,
soon filled the ranks of these troops ; and, with this cer
tainly select corps, he executed the most brilliant enter
prises, so that he soon became a terror to his enemies, and
acquired the character of one of the first partisans — nay,
even of a rival to the great Seydlitz. Kleist died in
1767, at the early age of 42, at Zeschkendorf, in Silesia,
of the small-pox, which he caught from the horror he felt
at the sight of the corpse of a person who had died of
that disease.
Frederick availed himself of the period of repose to
muster all his strength for a neAV campaign, which should
bring the conflict to an issue. As he had now Austria
only to contend with, he could henceforth concentrate all
his force at one point. He purposed, by enlisting troops

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 385
disbanded by other powers, to augment his army to
200,000 men ; and, to enable him to accomplish this
object, Saxony was required to sacrifice her last resources.
An extraordinary war-contribution of 400,000 ducats
was demanded of the city of Leipzig ; but the interces
sion of Gotzkowski induced the king to be content
with a smaller sum. The other cities and circles of the
electorate were obliged to pay similar contributions ; and
it was therefore no wonder that the Saxon court should
be desirous of peace before the country was completely
drained. The king wished for it with equal sincerity ;
but he was too good a politician not to perceive that the
first overtures ought not to proceed from him.
Maria Theresa, forsaken by her allies, had little reason
to expect that Fortune would prove more favourable to
her unaided exertions against her heroic adversary. She
was burdened with debt; her ministers and generals
were at variance, and the Empire was anxious for peace.
An army of 100,000 Turks was, moreover, assembled on
the Hungarian frontiers. In this untoward state of
affairs, her proud heart yielded to necessity, and she took
the first step towards conciliation. The agent whom
she employed for this purpose was Frederick Christian
Leopold, electoral prince of Saxony.
During the king's stay at Meissen, baron Fritsch, a
privy councillor, brought him a letter from this prince,
in which, apparently of his own accord, he inquired on
what terms Frederick would be disposed to treat. The
king was at first shy ; but, on learning that this corre
spondence was opened at the instigation of the cabinet
of Vienna, he thanked the prince for the trouble which
he had taken to reconcile the belligerent powers, and
vol. in. c c

386 COURT AND TIMES OF
assured him that, for his part, he was ready to do every
thing consistent with his dignity for the restoration of
peace. A few days afterwards, the king left Meissen to
inspect his cordon on the frontiers of Bohemia and the
Empire ; and then he established himself in Leipzig for
the winter. Here baron Fritsch soon arrived with an
answer from Vienna relative to the bases of the negoci
ations for peace.
The king now sent for Hertzberg, privy councillor of
legation, and directed him to proceed to Hubertsburg
and negociate with the imperial plenipotentiary, aulic
councillor Collenbach, and baron Fritsch, the Saxon am
bassador. For this important business, Hertzberg re
ceived very short verbal instructions ; but a day was
fixed by which the negociations should terminate. The
conferences commenced on the 31st of December, and
peace was actually concluded by the specified time, the
15 th of February.
Frederick insisted, as the fundamental condition of
peace, on the status quo ante helium, and promised on
his part to restore the electorate of Saxony to the king
of Poland. In vain did the court of Vienna seek to en
force its ancient prerogatives in regard to the princes of
the Empire, and insist on retaining the county of Glatz ;
Frederick, who was not to be conquered in the field,
would not be foiled upon paper. His demand was at
length assented to without qualification ; nay, the im
perial plenipotentiary even promised not to destroy the
new fortifications erected by the Austrians at Glatz, but
to give them up with the place. Frederick engaged to
vote for the archduke Joseph at the approaching elec
tion of king of the Romans. With Saxony things were

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 387
replaced on the same footing as by the peace of Dres
den ; and the 9th article ensured to the elector a free
passage through Silesia to Poland.
The king was perfectly satisfied with his plenipoten
tiary. When he went to Hubertsburg, he called upon
Hertzberg, and said : " You have made a good peace,
much in the same way as I made war — one against
three." He had previously appointed him second mi
nister of state, in the place of count Finkenstein, on
his promotion to the post of first minister, vacant by
the death of count Podewils.
No separate peace was concluded between France and
Prussia, because, after the treaty of Hubertsburg, there
was nothing to settle between the two powers. I must
not omit mentioning, however, that the king had to re
sort to a military threat before he could carry his point
with the court of Versailles. When the Anglo-German
army was broken up, the British legion, 3000 strong,
was disbanded. Frederick immediately took it into his
service, and reinforced it by 800 dragoons, under colonel
Bawr, and as many volunteers from Brunswick. This
corps of between five and six thousand men proceeded
straight to the frontiers of Cleves, with orders to take
Wesel. France, apprehensive of a renewal of the war,
made overtures for an amicable adjustment of the affair,
when the treaty of Hubertsburg put an end to its alarm.
The restoration of the fortresses in the country of Cleves,
previously occupied by the French, was effected by
means of a convention, concluded on the 11th of
March, 1763, in Wesel, between the marquis de Lan-
geron, the commandant, and colonel Bawr, upon which
c c 2

388 COURT AND TIMES OF
that officer and Meyen, director of the chamber of
Cleves, took possession of the duchy in the name of the
king. France and Spain had concluded their peace with
England and Portugal in Paris five days before that of
Hubertsburg was signed. Great Britain was the only
power that gained an increase of territory. Louis XV.
declined congratulations on the peace, as his celebrated
predecessor had suffered that of Utrecht to pass without
rejoicings. What were Frederick's feelings on the ardently de
sired return of peace may be inferred from his let
ters to old and intimate friends from Dahlen, in which
village he resided during the negociations at Huberts
burg. On the 6th of March, he says to the countess
Camas : " I shall at last see you again, my dear mamma,
and I hope at the end of this or the beginning of next-
month. You will find me grown old, almost in my
dotage, gray as an ass — a man who is losing a tooth
almost every day, and is half a cripple with the gout.
There is our good margrave of Bayreuth gone, and that
grieves me much. We lose our friends ; but our ene
mies seem as if they would live for ever." To d'Argens
he writes : " Here is peace at last, in good earnest, my
dear marquis ; this time you will be sure to have pos
tillions and the whole train that accompanies them. And
so, God be praised, this will be the end of my military
doings ! You ask what I am about here at Dahlen.
Cicero is daily delivering orations before me : that
against Verres I finished some time since, and now I am
at that for Mursena. I have besides been reading the

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 389
whole of Batteux * So you see that I am not idle.
And what are you about, my friend ? You must not be
impatient : the river is already navigable, and you will
have plenty of time to get your things to Potsdam be
fore I arrive there. Till the 1 3th, I shall be either here
or at Torgau. My journey to Silesia will take from 15
to 17 days, so that I cannot be in Berlin before the 31st
of this month or the second of April. I will not come
to you on the 1st, or the wags would not fail to play off
their jokes about me. I am quietly engaged here upon
the internal arrangements for the provinces : the prin
cipal of those relating to the army are already fixed. I
long for mental repose and for a little relief from busi
ness, to enjoy myself, now that my passions are calm, to
reflect upon myself, to shut myself up in the recesses of
my soul, and to keep myself aloof from all pomp, which,
I must confess, is growing daily more and more intole
rable to me."
Such was the disposition in which the king arrived at
eight in the evening of the 30th of March, quite unob
served, after dark, in Berlin, declining the triumph
which the citizens, headed by the marquis d'Argens,
had prepared for him, after so many trials and tribula
tions, at the Frankfurt gate. Duke Ferdinand of Bruns
wick and general Lentulus were in the carriage with
him. As it was known that the king would arrive on
that day, the streets Avere thronged, and, for two miles
* Charles Batteux, a F'rench writer, whose opinions on art were long
held in high estimation, was born in 1713 at Allond'hui, a village in the
diocese of Rheiras, became a member of the French Academy of Sciences
in 1761, and died in 1780. His inquiries were directed chiefly to poetry.
His principal works were : " Les beaux Arts reduit a, un meme prineipe,"
and " Cours de Belles Lettres, ou Principes de la Litterature." It was
probably to the first of these that the king refers.

390 COURT AND TIMES OF
and a half beyond the city wall to the palace, the
burghers in their best clothes had lined the way by
which he was to come. At nightfall most of them pro
vided themselves with torches, and, when the sound of
distant carriages at length announced the approach of
the sovereign, he was hailed with prodigious shouts of
" Long live the king !"
The queen had returned to the capital on the 16th of
February, amidst great rejoicing, and the first troops,
the brave regiment of Forcade, made their entry on the
24th, when the provincial battalion was broken up. On
the 5th of March peace was proclaimed in the capital
by Schirrmeister, secretary of state, as herald ; and the
same ceremony was performed at Breslau by Lessing,
the celebrated writer. On the 4th of April, the impor
tant event was celebrated with great rejoicings and illu
minations throughout the whole kingdom. The state
was saved. Frederick had shed fresh glory on the
country ; the lowest of his subjects, to whom the war
had left absolutely nothing, prided himself on being a
Prussian; and the father of his country, with affectionate
solicitude', set about healing the wounds which had dimi
nished its population by half a million.
" Perhaps," emphatically remarked Mr. Pitt, after his
resignation of office, in reference to Frederick — " per
haps that wonderful man would have extricated himself
from his difficulties without our assistance : he possesses
talents which, so far as the powers of man extend, do
honour to the human mind." Whatever may be thought
of the first of these propositions of the illustrious states
man, it is impossible that there can be any difference of
opinion on the second.

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 391
The king calculates that the war cost him 180,000
soldiers and upAvards of 1500 officers; 31 generals and
161 staff-officers had either fallen in battle or died of
their wounds. In the whole, the Prussian army lost
during the war about 4000 officers, for accidents and
disease carried off about the same number as the sword.
The Russians, who had fought four great battles,
reckoned their total loss at 120,000 men. That power
had not gained any extension of territory, but it had
acquired a military reputation in the West, and, what
was still more, it had established its authority in Poland.
Many of its officers who distinguished themselves at a
later period were initiated into the military career during
the war against Frederick ; Romanzof, the Turk- tamer,
and his able quarter-master-general Bawr, who received
his training under duke Ferdinand against the French
and under Frederick himself, and likewise Suworof-
Rymnikski, who joined the army shortly before the
battle of Kunersdorf, and distinguished himself against
the advanced-guard of general Platen, under Courbiere.
The Austrians, who had been engaged in ten battles,
had sustained a total loss of 140,000 men, including
the garrisons of Breslau and Schweidnitz. The French,
by their own calculation, had lost 200,000 ; the allied
English and Germans, 160,000; the Swedes, 25,000;
the princes of the empire, 28,000. Thus, Frederick com
puted the loss of the belligerent powers at 853,000 dead.
The finances of the several countries had likewise suf
fered severely, but those of Russia the least. The em
press Elisabeth, notwithstanding her great profusion, left
no debts, but 40 pood or 1320 Hamburg pounds' weight
of gold in her treasury. Great Britain, which contracted

392 COURT AND TIMES OF
no public debts till her commerce began to flourish, had,
in 1755, a funded debt somewhat exceeding 72 millions
sterling, which was doubled by the war, independently
of the considerable sums advanced out of his private
property by George II. France had a debt of 2000
million livres. So early as 1759, the king's revenues
for the following year, amounting at that time to 236
million livres, were levied beforehand. Silhouette, the
finance-minister, nevertheless contrived, in spite of a de
ficit of 217 million, to restore credit and to raise money
for the prosecution of the war ; and, as anticipations
were no longer practicable, he proposed various taxes,
which affected the wealthy classes only, for augmenting
the revenue ; for instance, an increased stamp-duty on
silver-plate and jewelry ; a tax on servants, carriages,
saddle-horses, &c. : but by these means he accelerated
his fall. Austria had a debt of 500 million florins, and
Sweden was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Unfortunate Saxony calculated her loss at 90,000
men and 70 million dollars in contributions and sup
plies, besides contracting a debt of 29 million in bills of
the Steuer, 9 million more in debts of the chamber and
court, and 2-J million still payable to Prussia as contri
bution. In 1807, upwards of 15 million dollars of the
state debt contracted during the war, and 12 million in
debts of the chamber, remained unpaid.
Frederick, in his History of the Seven Years' War,
declares that in the first year of peace he satisfied all
the creditors of the state, and that the expenses of the
war were paid to the last farthing. Thus, Prussia had
not contracted any debt, but the specie of the country
was quite exhausted ; the silver plate in the palace of

FREDERICK THE GREAT. 393
Potsdam, together with the diamond buttons and other
decorations of Frederick I., were gone ; and the Avhole
kingdom, especially the margravate of Brandenburg,
Avas dreadfully devastated. All the king's enemies had
drained his dominions, and levied moreover contribu
tions to the amount of 125 millions of dollars. The
fields lay uncultivated for Avant of cattle and seed-corn,
and partly also for want of hands to till them. But the
king had it in his poAver to take immediate steps for
the relief of his subjects. To Pomerania alone he gave
12,327 horses, 7440 sacks of flour, 21,520 quarters of
rye, 80,000 of barley, and 29,000 of oats; and in like
manner he assisted the other provinces. As the regi
ments of the line contained more natives than foreigners,
40 men out of the 162 composing each company were
sent to their homes. The garrison regiments were com
pleted out of the partisan corps, and the natives belong
ing to the latter Avere dismissed. In the cavalry, 150
men in every regiment Avere disbanded, and 400 in the
hussars. In this manner, the provinces gained more than
30,000 hands for the purposes of agriculture, and the
army was still kept up to the complement of 151,000
men. Out of the money already provided for the next
campaign, the king assigned 3 million dollars for the
relief of Silesia, 1,400,000 for Pomerania and the New
Mark, 800,000 for Prussia, 800,000 for the Electoral
Mark, 100,000 for Cleves : and in the countries of Hal
berstadt, Hohenstein, and Crossen, the taxes were re
duced one-half.
Archenholtz, the historian of the war, and an eye
witness of the miseries Avhich it inflicted, draAvs a pic
ture so deplorable of the state in which it left Germany

394 FREDERICK THE GREAT.
in general as almost to exceed belief. " The sufferings
of great part of Germany," he says, " had been immense.
Whole provinces had been laid waste ; and even in those
that were not, internal commerce and industry were
almost annihilated ; and this too in spite of the large
sums which France, England, Russia, and Sweden, had
scattered over them, either through their armies or by
means of subsidies. The amount of these sums is cal
culated at 500 million dollars. Great part of Pome
rania and Brandenburg was converted into a desert.
There were provinces in which scarcely any men were
to be found, and Avhere the women were therefore obliged
to guide the plough. In others, women were as scarce
as men. At every step appeared extensive tracts of un
cultivated land, and the most fertile plains in Germany,
on the banks of the Oder and the Wesel, looked like the
wilds of the Ohio and Oronoko. An officer affirmed
that he passed through seven villages in the Hessian
dominions, and met with only a single individual — the
pastor of one of them."
Such were the only results of a contest that left all
the parties precisely at the point from which they set
out ; that confirmed to Frederick his undiminished pos
sessions ; and that baffled every object for which his
enemies had leagued against him.

END OF VOL. III.

LONDON :
F. SHOBERI,, JON., 51, RUPERT STREET, HAYMARRET,
PRINTER TO H. R. H. PRINCE ALBERT.

YM F- IMWFR$ITY» IBRARY

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