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? CHAP. v. I FRIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 115
28th Jane 1757.
who well intends to eat the Country first, perhaps to fight if there he chance, and at least to lie outside the
doors of Silesia and the Lausitz, as well as of Saxony
here! -- and answers, with his own hand, on the in-
stant: "Your Dilection will not be so mad! "* And
at once recals Moritz, and appoints the Prince of Prus-
sia to go and take command. Who directly went; --
a most important step for the King's interests and his
own. Whose fortunes in that business we shall see
before long! --
At Leitmeritz the King continues four weeks, with
his Army parted in this way; waiting how the endless
hostile element, which begirdles his horizon all round,
will shape itself into combinations, that he may set
upon the likeliest or the needfullest of these, when once
it has disclosed itself. Horizon all round is black
enough: Austrians, French, Swedes, Russians, Reichs
Army; closer upon him or not so close, all are rolling
in: Saxony, the Lausitz and Silesia, Brandenburg it-
self, it is uncertain which of these may soonest require
his active presence.
The very day after his arrival in Leitmeritz, --
Tuesday, 28th of June, while that junction with Keith
was going on, and the troops were defiling along the
Bridge for junction with Keith,-- a heavy sorrow had
befallen him, which he yet knew not of. An irrepar-
able Domestic loss; sad complement to these Military
and other Public disasters. Queen Sophie Dorothee,
about whose health he had been anxious, but had again
been set quiet, died at Berlin that day. ** In her
seventy-first year: of no definite violent disease; worn
* In Preuss, n. 58, the pungent little Autograph in full.
** Montyjon, 28th June 1757; born at Hanover, 27th March 1687.
8*
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? 116 SEVEN-YEAKS WAE RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVin.
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
down with chagrins and apprehensions, in this black
whirlpool of Public troubles. So far as appears, the
news came on Friedrich by surprise: -- "bad cough,"
we hear of, and of his anxieties about it, in the Spring
time; then again of "improvement, recovery, in the
fine weather;" -- no thought, just now, of such an
event: and he took it with a depth of affliction, which
my less informed readers are far from expecting of
him.
July 2d, the news came: King withdrew into pri-
vacy; to weep and bewail under this new pungency of
grief, superadded to so many others. Mitchell says:
"For two days he had no levee; only the Princes dined
"with him" (Princes Henri and Ferdinand; Prince of
Prussia is gone to Jung-Buntzlau, would get the sad
message there, among his other troubles): "yesterday,
"July 3d, King sent for me in the afternoon, --, the
"first time he has seen anybody since the news came:
"-- I had the honour to remain with him some hours in
"his closet . I must own to your Lordship I was most
"sensibly afflicted to see him indulging his grief, and
"giving way to the warmest filial affections; recalling
"to mind the many obligations he had to her late Ma-
"jesty; all she had suffered, and how nobly she bore it;
"the good she did to everybody; the one comfort he
"now had, to think of having tried to make her last
"years more agreeable. " * In the thick of public business,
this kind of mood to Mitchell seems to have lasted all
the time of Leitmeritz, which is about three weeks yet:
Mitchell's Notebooks and Despatches, in that part, have
* Papers and Memoirs, i. 253; Despatch to Holderness, 4th July
slightly abridged); -- see lb. i. 357-359 (Private Journal). Westphalen,
n. 14. See (Emres it Frederic, iv. 182.
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? CHAP. v. J PRIEDRIOH AT LEITMERITZ. 117
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
a fine Biographic interest; the wholly human Friedrich
wholly visible to us there as he seldom is. Going over
his past Life to Mitchell; brief, candid, pious to both
his Parents; --. inexpressibly sad; like moonlight on
the grave of one's Mother, silent that, while so much
else is too noisy! --
This Friedrich, upon whom the whole world has
risen like a mad Sorcerer's-Sabbath, how safe he once
lay in his cradle, like the rest of us, mother's love
wrapping him soft: -- and now! These thoughts
commingle in a very tragic way with the avalanche of
public disasters which is thundering down on all sides.
Warm tears the meed of this new sorrow; small in
compass, but greater in poignancy than all the rest to-
gether. "My poor old Mother, oh, my Mother, that
so loved me always, and would have given her own
life to shelter mine! " -- It was at Leitmeritz, as I
guess, that Mitchell first made decisive acquaintance,
that we may almost call intimacy, with the King: we
already defined him as a sagacious, long-headed, loyal-
hearted diplomatic gentleman, Scotch by birth and by
turn of character; abundantly polite, vigilant, discreet,
and with a fund of general sense and rugged veracity
of mind; whom Friedrich at once recognised for what
he was, and much took to, finding a hearty return
withal; so that they were soon well with one another,
and continued so. Mitchell, as orders were, "attended
"theKing's person" all through this War, sometimes in
the blaze of battle itself and nothing but cannon-shot
going, if it so chanced; and has preserved, in his
multifarious Papers, a great many traits of Friedrich,
not to be met with elsewhere.
Mitchell's occasional society, conversation with a
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? 118 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book Xvin.
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
man of sense and manly character, which Friedrich
always much loved, was, no doubt, a resource to Fried-
rich in his lonely roamings and vicissitudes in those
dark years. No other British Ambassador ever had
the luck to please him or be pleased by him, -- most
of them, as Ex-Exchequer Legge and the like Ex-Par-
liamentary people, he seems to have considered dull,
obstinate, wooden fellows, of fantastic, abrupt, rather
abstruse kind of character, not worth deciphering; --
some of them, as Hanbury Williams, with the mis-
chievous tic (more like galvanism or St. Vitus'-dance)
which he called "wit," and the inconvenient turn for
plotting and intriguing, Friedrich could not endure at
all, but had them as soon as possible recalled, -- of
course, not without detestation on their part.
At Leitmeritz, it appears, he kept withdrawn to his
closet, a good deal; gave himself up to his sorrows and
his thoughts; would sit many hours drowned in tears,
weeping bitterly like a child or a woman. This is
strange to some readers; but it is true, -- and ought
to alter certain current notions. Friedrich, flashing like
clear steel upon evil-doers and mendacious unjust per-
sons and their works, is not by nature a cruel man,
then, or an unfeeling, as Rumour reports? Reader, no,
far the reverse; -- and public Rumour, as you may
have remarked, is apt to be an extreme blockhead, full
of fury and stupidity on such points, and had much
better hold its tongue till it know in some measure.
Extreme sensibility is not sure to be a merit; though
it is sure to be reckoned one, by the greedy dim fel-
lows looking idly on: but, in any case, the degree of
it that dwelt (privately, for most part) in Friedrich
was great; and to himself it seemed a sad rather than
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? CHAT, v. ] FRIEDRIC1I AT LEITMERITZ. 119
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
joyful fact. Speaking of this matter, long afterwards,
to Garve, a Silesian Philosopher, with whom he used
to converse at Breslau, he says; -- or let dull Garve
himself report it, in the literal third-person:
"And herein, I," the Herr Garve (venturing to dispute, or
qualify, on one of his Majesty's favourite topics) "believe,
"lies the real ground of 'happiness:' it is the capacity and
"opportunity to accomplish great things. This the King
"would not allow; but said, That I did not sufficiently take "into account the natural feelings, different in different
"people, which, when painful, embittered the life of the
"highest as of the lowest. That, in his own life, he had ex-
perienced the deepest sufferings of this kind: 'And,' added
"he, with a touching tone of kindness and familiarity which
"never occurred again in his interviews with me, 'if you (Er)
"knew, for instance, whatl underwent on the death of my
"Mother, you would see that I have been as unhappy as any
"other, and unhappier than others, because of the greater
"sensibility I had (weil ich mehr Emp/indlichkeit gehabt
"habe). '"*
There needed not this new calamity in Friedrich's
lot just now! From all points of the compass, his enemies, held in check so long, are flooding on: the
confluence of disasters and ill tidings, at this time, very
great. From Jung-Buntzlau, close by, his Brother's
accounts are bad; and grow ever worse, -- as will be
seen! On the extreme West, "July 3d," while Fried-
rich at Leitmeritz sat weeping for his Mother, the
French take Embden from him; "July 5th," the Rus-
sians, Memel, on the utmost East. June 30th, six days
* Fragmente tar ScUUermg des Geistes, des Charaklers und der Ile-
gierung Friedrichs des Zweilen, von Christian Garve (Breslaa, 1798), i. 314-
316. An unexpectedly dull Book (Garve having talent and reputation);
kind of monotonous Preachment upon Friedrich's character; almost no-
thing but the above fraction now derivable from it.
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? 120 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT. [BOOK XVIII.
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
before, the Russians, after as many months of haggling,
did cross the Border; 37,000 of them on this point;
and set to bombarding Memel from land and sea.
Poor Memel (garrison only 700) answered very fiercely,
"sank two of their gunboats" and the like; but the end
was as we see, -- Feldmarschall Lehwald able to give
no relief. For there were above 70,000 other Russians
(Feldmarschall Apraxin with these latter, and Cossacks
and Calmucks more than enough) crossing elsewhere,
south in Tilsit Country, upon old Lehwald. * Lehwald,
with 30,000, in such circumstances -- what is to be-
come of Preussen and him! Nearer hand, the Austrians,
the French, the very ReichsArmy, do now seem intent
on business.
The Reichs Execution Army, we saw how Mayer
and the Battle of Prag had checked it in the birth-
pangs; and given rise to pangs of another sort; the
poor Reichs Circles generally exclaiming, "What!
Bring the war into our own borders? Bring the King
of Prussia on our own throats! " -- and stopping short
in their enlistments and preparations; in vain for
Austrian Officials to urge them. Watching there, with
awe-struck eye, while the 12,000 bombs flew into
Prag.
The Battle of Kolin has reversed all that; and the
poor old Reich is again bent on business in the Exe-
cution way. Drumming, committeeing, projecting and
endeavouring with all her might, in all quarters; and,
from and after the event of Kolin, holding visible En-
campment, in theNiirnberg Country; fractions of actual
troops assembling there. "On the Plains of Fiirth,
"between Fiirth and Farrenbach, east side the River
? Helden-Geschichte, iv. 407-413.
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? CKAP. v. ] FRIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 121
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
"Regnitz, there was the Camp pitched," says my Anony-
mous Friend; who gives me a cheerful Copperplate of
the thing: red pennons, blue, and bright mixed colours;
generals' tents; order-of-battle, and respective rallying
points: with Bamberg Country in front, and the peaks
of the Pine Mountains lying pleasantly behind: a sight
for the curious. * It is the same ground where Mayer
was careering lately; neighbouring nobility and gentry
glad to come in gala, and dance with Mayer. Hither, all
through July, come contingents straggling in, thicker and
thicker; "August 8th," things now about complete, the
Bishop of Bamberg came to take survey of the Reichs-Heer
(Bishop's remarks not given); August 10th, came the
young reigning Duke of Hildburghausen (Duke's grand-
uncle is to be Commander), on like errand; August
11th, the Reichs-Heer got on march. Westward ho!
-- readers will see towards what.
A truly elende, or miserable, Reichs Execution Army
(as the nwVprinter had made it); but giving loud voice
in the Gazettes; and urged by every consideration to
do something for itself. Prince of Hildburghausen, --
a general of small merit, though he has risen in the
Austrian service, and we have seen him with Secken-
dorf in old Turk times, -- has, for his Kaiser's sake,
taken the command; sensible perhaps that glory is not
likely to be rife here; but willing to make himself use-
ful. Kaiser and Austria urge, everywhere, with all
their might: Prince of Hessen-Darmstadt, who lay on
the Weissenberg lately, one of Keith's distinguished
seconds there and a Prussian Officer of long standing,
* J. F. S. (whom I named Anonymous of Hamburg long since; who has
boiled down, with great diligence, the old Newspapers, and gives a great
many dates, notes &c. , without Index), i. 211, 224 (the Copperplate).
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? 122 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVIII.
27tU June -- 20th July 1757.
has, on Kaiser's order, quitted all that, and become Hildburghausen's second here, in the Camp of Fiirth;
thinking the path of duty lay that way, -- though his
Wife, one of the noble women of her age, thought
very differently. * A similar Kaiser's order, backed by
what Law-thunder lay in the Reich, had gone out
against Friedrich's own Brothers, and against every
Reichs Prince who was in Friedrich's service; but, ex-
cept him of Hessen-Darmstadt, none of them had much
minded. ** I did not hear that his strategic talent was
momentous: but Prussia had taught him the routine of
right soldiering, surely to small purpose; and Friedrich,
no doubt, glanced indignantly at this small thing, among
the many big ones.
From about the end of June, the Reichs Army kept
dribbling in: the most inferior Army in the world; no
part of it well drilled, most of it not drilled at all; and
for variety in colour, condition, method, and military
and pecuniary and other outfit, beggaring description.
Hildburghausen does his utmost; Kaiser the like. The
number should have far exceeded 50,000; but was not,
on the field, of above half that number: 25,000; add
at last 8,000 Austrian troops, two regiments of them
cavalry; good these 8,000, the rest bad, -- that was
the Reichs Execution Army; most inferior among
Armies; and considerable part of it, all the Protestant
part, privately wishing well to Friedrich, they say.
Drills itself multifariously in that Camp between Piirth
and Farrenbach, on the east side of Regnitz River.
* Her Letter to Friedrich, "Berlin, 30th October 1757," (Etwres da
Frideric, ixvn. n. 135.
? * In Orlich, FUrtt Uoritt von Anhall-Dessau (Berlin, 1842), pp. 74, 75,
Prince Moritz's rather mournful Letter on the subject, with Priedrich's
sharp Answer.
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? CHAP. v. ] FEIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 123
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
Fancy what a sight to Wilhelmina, if she ever drove
that way; which I think she hardly would. The Bai-
reuth contingent itself is there; theMargraf would have
held out stiff on that point; but Friedrich himself ad-
vised compliance. Margraf of Anspach, -- perverse
tippling creature, ill with his Wife, I doubt, -- has
joyfully sent his legal hundreds; will vote for theReichs
Ban against this worst of Germans, whom he has for
Brother-in-law. Dark days in the heart of Wilhel-
mina, those of the Camp at Fiirth. Days which grow
ever darker, with strange flashings-out of empyrean
lightning from that shrill true heart; no peace more,
till the noble heroine die! --
This elende Reichs-Heer, miserable "Army of the
Circles," is mockingly called "the Hoopers, Coopers
(Tonneliers)," and gets quizzing enough, under that
and other titles, from an Opposition Public. Far other
from the French and Austrians; who are bent that it
should do feats in the world, and prove impressive on
a robber King. Thus too, "for Deliverance of Saxony,"
to cooperate with Reichs-Heer in that sacred object,
thanks to the zeal of Pompadour, Prince de Soubise
has got together, in Elsass, a supplementary 30,000
(40,330 said Theory, but Fact never quite so many);
and is passing them across the Rhine, in Frankfurt
Country, 'all through July, while the drilling at Fiirth
goes on. With these, Soubise, simultaneously getting
under way, will steer north-eastward; join the Reichs-
Heer about Erfurt, before August end; and -- and we
shall see what becomes of the combined Soubise and
Reichs Army after that!
It must be owned, the French, Pompadour and love
of glory urging, are diligent since the event of Kolin.
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? 124 SEVEN" YEARS WAR EISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVIII.
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
In select Parisian circles, the Soubise Army, or even
that of D'Estrdes altogether, -- produced by the tears
of a filial Dauphiness, -- is regarded as a quasi-sacred,
or uncommonly noble thing; and is called by her name,
"L'Armee de la Dauphine," or for shortness, "La
Dauphine" without adjunct. Thus, like a kind of
chivalrous Bellona, vengeance in her right hand, tears
and fire in her eyes, The Dauphiness advances; and will
join Reichs-Heer at Erfurt before August end. Such
the will of Pompadour; Richelieu encouraging, for
reasons of his own. Soubise, I understand, is privately
in pique against poor D'Estrees;* and intends to eclipse
him by a higher style of diligence; though D'Estrees
too is doing his best.
July 3d, we saw the D'Estrdes people taking
Embden; D'Estrdes, quiet so long in his Camp^at
Bielefeld, had at once bestirred himself, Kolin being
done; -- shot out a detachment leftwards, and Embden
had capitulated that day. Adieu to the Shipping
Interests there, and to other pleasant things! "July
9th, after sunset," D'Estrdes himself got on march from
Bielefeld; set forth, in the cool of night, 60,000 strong,
and 10,000 more to join him by the road (the rest are
left as garrisons, reserves, -- 1,000 marauders of them
swing as monitory pendulums, on their various trees,
for one item), -- direct towards Hanover and Royal
Highness of Cumberland; who retreats, and has re-
treated, behind the Ems, the Weser, back, ever back;
and, to appearance, will make a bad finish yonder.
* "Reappeared unexpectedly in Paris11 from D'Estrees's Army), "22d
June" (four days after Kolin); got up this Dauphi,iess Army, by aid of
Pompadour, with Richelieu, &c: liarbicr, iv. 227, 231. Richelieu "busy at Strasburg lately" (29th July: Collini's Voltaire, p. 191).
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? CHAP, v. ] TRIED RICH AT LEITMERITZ. 125
1st July 1757.
To Friedrich, waiting at Leitmeritz, all these things
are gloomily known; but the most pressing of them is
that of the Austrians and Jung-Buntzlau close by. Let
us give some utterances of his to Wilhelmina, nearly
all we have of direct from him in that time; and then
hasten to the Prince of Prussia there:
Friedrich to Wilhelmina (at Baireuth).
Leitmeritz, 1st July 1751. * * "Sensible as heart can
"be to the tender interest you deign to take in what concerns
"me. Dear Sister, fear nothing on my score: men are
"always in the hand of what we call Fate ('Predestination,
Gnadenwahl,' -- Pardon us, Papa! -- "ce qu'on nomme le
"destin); accidents willbefal people, walking on the streets,
"sitting in their room, lying in their bed; and there are
"many who escape the perils of war. " * * "I think, through
"Hessen will be the safest route for your Letters, till we see;
"-- and not to write just now except on occasions of im-
"portance. Here is a piece in cipher; anonymous," -- in-
tended for the Newspapers, or some such road.
July 5th. "By a Courier of Plotho's, returning to Regens-
"burg" (who passes near you), "I write to apprise my dear
"Sister of the new misery which overwhelms us. We have
"no longer a Mother. This loss puts the crown on my sorrows.
"I am obliged to act; and have not time to give free course
"to my tears. Judge, I pray you, of the situation of a
"feeling heart put to so cruel a trial. All losses in the world
"are capable of being remedied; but those which Death
"causes are beyond the reach of hope. "
July 7th. "You are too good; I am ashamed to abuse
"your indulgence. But do, since you will, try to sound the
''' French, what conditions of Peace they would demand; one
"might judge as to their intentions. Send that Mirabeau
"fee M. de Mirabeau) to France. Willingly will I pay the
"expense. He may offer as much as five million thalers"
(750,000*. ) "to the Favourite" (yes, even to the Pompadour)
"for Peace alone. Of course, his utmost discretion will be
"needed;" -- should the English get the least wind of it 1 But
if they are gone to St. Vitus, and fail in every point, what
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? 126 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVIII.
13th July 1757.
can one do? Ce M. de Mirabeau, readers will be surprised to
learn, is an Uncle of the great Mirabeau's; who has fallen
into roving courses, gone abroad insolvent; and "directs the
Opera atBaireuth," in these years! -- One Letter we will
give in full:
"My deabest Sisteb, -- Your Letter has arrived: I see in
"it your regrets for the irreparable loss we have had of the
"best and worthiest Mother in this world. I am so struck
"down with all these blows from within and without, that I
"feel myself in a sort of stupefaction.
"The French have just laid hold of Friesland" (seized
Embden, July 3d); "are about to pass the Weser: they have
"Swedes are sending 17,000men" (rather more if anything;
but they proved beautifully ineffectual) "into Pommern," --
will be burdensome to Stralsund and the poor country people
mainly; having no Captain over them but a hydra-headed
National Palaver at home, and a Long-pole with Cocked-hat
on it here at hand. "The Russians are besieging Memel"
(have taken it, ten days ago): "Lehwald has them on his
"front and in his rear. The Troops of the Reich," from
your Plains of Fiirth yonder, "are also about to march. All
"this will force me to evacuate Bohemia, so soon as that
"crowd of Enemies gets into motion.
"I am firmly resolved on the extremest efforts to save my
"Country. We shall see (quitte a voir) if Fortune will take a
"new thought, or if she will entirely turn her back upon me.
"Happy the moment when I took to training myself in philo-
"sophy! There is nothing else that can sustain the soul in a
"situation like mine. I spread out to you, dear Sister, the
"detail of my sorrows: if these things regarded only myself,
"I could stand it with composure; but I am bound Guardian
"of the safety and happiness of a People which has been put
"under my charge. There lies the sting of it: and I shall
"have to reproach myself with every fault, if, by delay or
"by overhaste, I occasion the smallest accident; all the
"more as, at present, any fault may be capital.
"What a business! Here is the liberty of Germany, and
"thatProtestant Cause for which so much blood has been
"shed; here are those Two great Interests again at stake
"Leitmeritz, 13th July 1757.
declare War against me; the
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? CHAP. v. ] FEEEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 127
27th June - 20th July 1757.
"and the pinch of this huge game is such, that an unlucky
"quarter of an hour may establish over Germany the tyran-
nous domination of the House of Austria forever! I am in
"the case of a traveller who sees himself surrounded and
"ready to be assassinated by a troop of cutthroats, who
"intend to share his spoils. Since the League of Cambrai"
(1508--1510, with a Pope in it and a Kaiser and Most
Christian King, iniquitously sworn against poor Venice; --
to no purpose, as happily appears), "there is no example of
"such a Conspiracy as that infamous Triumvirate" (Austria,
France, Russia) "now forms against me. Was it ever seen
"before that three great Princes laid plot in concert to
"destroy a Fourth, who had done nothing against them?
"I have not had the least quarrel either with France or with
"Russia, still less with Sweden. If, in common life, three
"citizens took it into their heads to fall upon their neighbour,
"and burn his house about him, they very certainly, by
"sentence of tribunal, would be broken on the wheel. What!
"and will Sovereigns, who maintain these tribunals and
"these laws in their States, give such example to their
"subjects? " -- "Happy, my dear Sister, is the obscure man,
"whose good sense, from youth upwards, has renounced all
"sorts of glory; who, in his safe low place, has none to envy
"him, and whose fortune does not excite the cupidity of
"scoundrels!
"But these reflections are vain. We have to be what our
"birth, which decides, has made us in entering upon this
"world. I reckoned that, being King, it beseemed me to
"think as a Sovereign; and I took for principle, that the
"reputation of a Prince ought to be dearer to him than life.
"They have plotted against me; the Court of Vienna has
"given itself the liberty of trying to maltreat me; my honour
"commanded me not to suffer it. We have come to War; a
"gang of robbers falls on me, pistol in hand: that is the
"adventure which has happened to me. The remedy is diffi-
"cult: in desperate diseases there are no methods but
"desperate ones.
"I beg a thousand pardons, dear Sister: in these three
"long pages I talk to you of nothing but my troubles and
"affairs. A strange abuse it would be of any other person's
"friendship. But yours, my dear Sister, yours is known to
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? 128 SEVEN-YEARS WAE EISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XvIII.
30th June -- 22d July 1757.
"me; and I am persuaded you are not impatient when I open
"my heart to you: -- a heart which is yours altogether; being
"filled with sentiments of the tenderest esteem, with which
"I am, my dearest Sister, your" (in truth, affectionate
Brother at all times) "F. " *
Prince August Wilhelm finds a bad Problem at Jung-
Buntzlau; and does it badly: Friedrich thereupon
has to rise from Leitmeritz, and take the Field else-
where, in bitter Haste and Impatience, with Outlooks
worse than ever.
The Prince of Prussia's Enterprise had its intri-
cacies; but, by good management, was capable of being
done. At least, so Friedrich thought; -- though, in
truth, it would have been better had Friedrich gone
himself, since the chief pressure happened to fall there!
The Prince has to retire, Parthian-like, as slowly as
possible, with the late Kolin or Moritz-Bevern Army,
towards the Lausitz, keeping his eye upon Silesia the
while; of course securing the passes and strong places
in his passage, for defence of his own rear at lowest;
especially securing Zittau, a fine opulent Town, where
his chief Magazine is, fed from Silesia now. The Army
is in good strength (guess 30,000), with every equip-
ment complete; in discipline, in health and in heart,
such as beseems a Prussian Army, -- probably longing
rather, if it venture to long or wish for anything not
yet commanded, to have a stroke at those Austrians
again, and pay them something towards that late Kolin
score.
The Prince arrived at Jung-Buntzlau, June 30th;
Winterfeld with him, and, at his own request, Schmettau. * (Biuret de Frideric, on, u 294, 295,296-8.
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? CHAP. v. ] FRIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 129
30th June -- 22d July 1757.
The Austrians have not yet stirred: if they do, it may
be upon the King, it may be upon the Prince: in three
or even in two marches, Prince and King can be toge-
ther, -- the King only too happy, in the present op-
pressive coil of doubts, to find the Austrians ready for
a new passage of battle, and an immediate decision.
The Austrians did, in fact, break out, -- seemingly,
at first, upon the King; but in reality upon the Prince,
whom they judge safer game; and the matter became
much more critical upon him than had been expected.
The Prince was thought to have a good judgment
(too much talk in it, we sometimes feared), and fair
knowledge in military matters. The King, not quite
by the Prince's choice, has given him Winterfeld for
Mentor; Winterfeld, who has an excellent military head
in such matters, and a heart firm as steel, -- almost
like a second self in the King's estimation. Excellent
Winterfeld; -- but then there are also Schmettau,
Bevern and others, possibly in private not too well
affected to this Winterfeld. In fact, there is rather a
multitude of Counsellors; -- and an ingenuous fine-
spirited Prince, perhaps more capable of eloquence on
the Opposition side, than of condensing into real wis-
dom a multitude of counsels, when the crisis rises, and
the affair becomes really difficult. Crisis did rise: the
victorious Austrians, after such delay, had finally made
up their minds to press this one a little, this one rather
than the King, and hang upon his skirts; Daun and
Prince Karl set out after him, just about the time of
his arrival, -- "70,000 strong," the Prince hears, in-
cluding plenty of Pandours. Certain it is, the poor
Prince's mind did flounder a good deal; and his pro-
cedures succeeded extremely ill on this occasion. Cer-
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. X. 9
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? 130 SEVEN-YEARS WAE EISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XvIII.
30th June -- 22d July 1757.
tain, too, that they were extremely ill taken at head-
quarters: and that he even died soon after, -- chiefly
of broken heart, said the censorious world. It is well
known how Europe rang with the matter for a long
while; and Books were printed, and Documents, and
Collections by a Master's Hand. * We, who can spend
but a page or two on it, must carefully stand by the
essential part.
"June 30th-- July 3d, Prince at Jung-Buntzlau, in chief
"command. Besides Winterfeld, the Generals under him
"are Ziethen, Schmettau, Fouquet, Retzow, Groltz, and
"two others who need not be of our acquaintance. Im-
"possible to stay there, thinks the Prince, thinks every-
"body; and they shift to Neuschloss, westward thirty miles.
"July 1st, Daun had crossed the Elbe (Daun let us say for
"brevity, though it is Daun and Karl, or even Karl and
"Daun, Karl being chief, and capable of saying so at times,
"though Daun is very splendent since Kolin), -- crossed the
"Elbe above Brandeis; Nadasti, with precursor Pandours,
"now within an hour's march of Jung-Buntzlau; -- and it was
"fimetogo.
'. '. July 3d-6th, At Neuschloss, which is thought a strong
"position, key of the localities there, and nearer Friedrich
"too, the Prince staid not quite four days; shifted to Bohm
"(BohmiscA) Leipa, July 7th, -- rather off from Leitmeritz,
"but a march towards Zittau, where the provisions are. 'A
"bad change,' said the Prince's friends afterwards; 'change
"advised by Winterfeld, -- who never mentioned that
"circumstance to his Majesty, many as he did mention, not
"inthe best way! ' -- Prince gets to Bohm Leipa, July 7th;
"stays there, in questionable circumstances, nine days.
"Bohm Leipa is still not above thirty miles north-east-
"ward of the King; and it is about the same distance south-
* Lettres Secrdtes touchant la Derni&re Guerre; de Main de Maitre; divi-
sies en deux parties (Francfort et Amsterdam, 1772): this is the Prince's
own Statement, Proof in hand. By far the clearest Account is in Schmet-
Idu's Leben (by his Son), pp. 353-384. See also Preuss, n. 57-61, and espe-
cially n. 407.
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? CHAP. v. ] PEIEDRICH AT LEITMEIUTZ. 131
30th June -- 22d July 1757.
"westward from Zittau, out of which fine Town, partly by
"cross-roads, the Prince gets his provisions on this march.
"From Zittau hitherward, as far as the little Town of Gabel,
"which lies about half way, there is broad High Road, the
"great Southern Kaiser-Strasse: from Gabel, for Bohm
"Leipa, you have to cross south-westward by country roads;
"the keys to which, especially Gabel, the Prince has not
"failed to secure by proper garrison parties. And so, for
"about a week, not quite uncomfortably, he continues at
"Bohm Leipa; getting in his convoys from Zittau. Diligently
"scanning the Pandour stragglings and sputterings round
"him, which are clearly on the increasing hand. Diligently
"corresponding with the King, meanwhile; who much dis-
courages undue apprehension, or retreat movement till
"the last pinch. 'Edging backward, and again backward,
"you come bounce upon Berlin one day, and will then have
"to halt! ' -- which is not pleasant to the Prince. But, in-
"disputably, the Pandour spurts on him do become Pandour
"gushings, with regulars also noticeable: it is certain the
"Austrians are out, -- pretending first to mean the King and
"Leitmeritz; but knowing better, and meaning the Prince
"and Bohm Leipa all the while. " -- By way of supplement,
take Daun's positions in the interim:
Daun and Karl were at Podschernitz, 26th June; 1st July,
cross the Elbe, above Brandeis (Nadasti now within an hour's
march of Jung-Buntzlau) ;7th July (day while the Prince is
flitting to Bohm Leipa), Daun is through Jung-Buntzlau to
Munchengratz; thence to Liebenau; 14th, to Niemes, not
above four miles from the Prince's rightmost outpost (right-
most or eastmost, which looks away from his Brother); while
a couple of advanced parties, Beck and Macguire, hover on
his flank Zittau-ward, and Nadasti (if he knew it) is pushing
on to rear.
"Thursday, 14th July, About six in the evening, atBohm
"Leipa, distinct cannon-thunder is heard from north-east:
"'Evidently Gabel getting cannonaded, and our wagon
"convoy' (empty, going to Zittau for meal, GeneralPutt-
"kammer escorting) 'is in a dangerous state! ' And by and
"by hussar parties of ours come in, with articulate news to
"that bad effect: 'Gabel under hot attack of regulars; Putt-
"kammer with his 3,000 vigorously defending, will expect to
a*
>
?
? CHAP. v. I FRIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 115
28th Jane 1757.
who well intends to eat the Country first, perhaps to fight if there he chance, and at least to lie outside the
doors of Silesia and the Lausitz, as well as of Saxony
here! -- and answers, with his own hand, on the in-
stant: "Your Dilection will not be so mad! "* And
at once recals Moritz, and appoints the Prince of Prus-
sia to go and take command. Who directly went; --
a most important step for the King's interests and his
own. Whose fortunes in that business we shall see
before long! --
At Leitmeritz the King continues four weeks, with
his Army parted in this way; waiting how the endless
hostile element, which begirdles his horizon all round,
will shape itself into combinations, that he may set
upon the likeliest or the needfullest of these, when once
it has disclosed itself. Horizon all round is black
enough: Austrians, French, Swedes, Russians, Reichs
Army; closer upon him or not so close, all are rolling
in: Saxony, the Lausitz and Silesia, Brandenburg it-
self, it is uncertain which of these may soonest require
his active presence.
The very day after his arrival in Leitmeritz, --
Tuesday, 28th of June, while that junction with Keith
was going on, and the troops were defiling along the
Bridge for junction with Keith,-- a heavy sorrow had
befallen him, which he yet knew not of. An irrepar-
able Domestic loss; sad complement to these Military
and other Public disasters. Queen Sophie Dorothee,
about whose health he had been anxious, but had again
been set quiet, died at Berlin that day. ** In her
seventy-first year: of no definite violent disease; worn
* In Preuss, n. 58, the pungent little Autograph in full.
** Montyjon, 28th June 1757; born at Hanover, 27th March 1687.
8*
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? 116 SEVEN-YEAKS WAE RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVin.
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
down with chagrins and apprehensions, in this black
whirlpool of Public troubles. So far as appears, the
news came on Friedrich by surprise: -- "bad cough,"
we hear of, and of his anxieties about it, in the Spring
time; then again of "improvement, recovery, in the
fine weather;" -- no thought, just now, of such an
event: and he took it with a depth of affliction, which
my less informed readers are far from expecting of
him.
July 2d, the news came: King withdrew into pri-
vacy; to weep and bewail under this new pungency of
grief, superadded to so many others. Mitchell says:
"For two days he had no levee; only the Princes dined
"with him" (Princes Henri and Ferdinand; Prince of
Prussia is gone to Jung-Buntzlau, would get the sad
message there, among his other troubles): "yesterday,
"July 3d, King sent for me in the afternoon, --, the
"first time he has seen anybody since the news came:
"-- I had the honour to remain with him some hours in
"his closet . I must own to your Lordship I was most
"sensibly afflicted to see him indulging his grief, and
"giving way to the warmest filial affections; recalling
"to mind the many obligations he had to her late Ma-
"jesty; all she had suffered, and how nobly she bore it;
"the good she did to everybody; the one comfort he
"now had, to think of having tried to make her last
"years more agreeable. " * In the thick of public business,
this kind of mood to Mitchell seems to have lasted all
the time of Leitmeritz, which is about three weeks yet:
Mitchell's Notebooks and Despatches, in that part, have
* Papers and Memoirs, i. 253; Despatch to Holderness, 4th July
slightly abridged); -- see lb. i. 357-359 (Private Journal). Westphalen,
n. 14. See (Emres it Frederic, iv. 182.
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? CHAP. v. J PRIEDRIOH AT LEITMERITZ. 117
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
a fine Biographic interest; the wholly human Friedrich
wholly visible to us there as he seldom is. Going over
his past Life to Mitchell; brief, candid, pious to both
his Parents; --. inexpressibly sad; like moonlight on
the grave of one's Mother, silent that, while so much
else is too noisy! --
This Friedrich, upon whom the whole world has
risen like a mad Sorcerer's-Sabbath, how safe he once
lay in his cradle, like the rest of us, mother's love
wrapping him soft: -- and now! These thoughts
commingle in a very tragic way with the avalanche of
public disasters which is thundering down on all sides.
Warm tears the meed of this new sorrow; small in
compass, but greater in poignancy than all the rest to-
gether. "My poor old Mother, oh, my Mother, that
so loved me always, and would have given her own
life to shelter mine! " -- It was at Leitmeritz, as I
guess, that Mitchell first made decisive acquaintance,
that we may almost call intimacy, with the King: we
already defined him as a sagacious, long-headed, loyal-
hearted diplomatic gentleman, Scotch by birth and by
turn of character; abundantly polite, vigilant, discreet,
and with a fund of general sense and rugged veracity
of mind; whom Friedrich at once recognised for what
he was, and much took to, finding a hearty return
withal; so that they were soon well with one another,
and continued so. Mitchell, as orders were, "attended
"theKing's person" all through this War, sometimes in
the blaze of battle itself and nothing but cannon-shot
going, if it so chanced; and has preserved, in his
multifarious Papers, a great many traits of Friedrich,
not to be met with elsewhere.
Mitchell's occasional society, conversation with a
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? 118 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book Xvin.
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
man of sense and manly character, which Friedrich
always much loved, was, no doubt, a resource to Fried-
rich in his lonely roamings and vicissitudes in those
dark years. No other British Ambassador ever had
the luck to please him or be pleased by him, -- most
of them, as Ex-Exchequer Legge and the like Ex-Par-
liamentary people, he seems to have considered dull,
obstinate, wooden fellows, of fantastic, abrupt, rather
abstruse kind of character, not worth deciphering; --
some of them, as Hanbury Williams, with the mis-
chievous tic (more like galvanism or St. Vitus'-dance)
which he called "wit," and the inconvenient turn for
plotting and intriguing, Friedrich could not endure at
all, but had them as soon as possible recalled, -- of
course, not without detestation on their part.
At Leitmeritz, it appears, he kept withdrawn to his
closet, a good deal; gave himself up to his sorrows and
his thoughts; would sit many hours drowned in tears,
weeping bitterly like a child or a woman. This is
strange to some readers; but it is true, -- and ought
to alter certain current notions. Friedrich, flashing like
clear steel upon evil-doers and mendacious unjust per-
sons and their works, is not by nature a cruel man,
then, or an unfeeling, as Rumour reports? Reader, no,
far the reverse; -- and public Rumour, as you may
have remarked, is apt to be an extreme blockhead, full
of fury and stupidity on such points, and had much
better hold its tongue till it know in some measure.
Extreme sensibility is not sure to be a merit; though
it is sure to be reckoned one, by the greedy dim fel-
lows looking idly on: but, in any case, the degree of
it that dwelt (privately, for most part) in Friedrich
was great; and to himself it seemed a sad rather than
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? CHAT, v. ] FRIEDRIC1I AT LEITMERITZ. 119
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
joyful fact. Speaking of this matter, long afterwards,
to Garve, a Silesian Philosopher, with whom he used
to converse at Breslau, he says; -- or let dull Garve
himself report it, in the literal third-person:
"And herein, I," the Herr Garve (venturing to dispute, or
qualify, on one of his Majesty's favourite topics) "believe,
"lies the real ground of 'happiness:' it is the capacity and
"opportunity to accomplish great things. This the King
"would not allow; but said, That I did not sufficiently take "into account the natural feelings, different in different
"people, which, when painful, embittered the life of the
"highest as of the lowest. That, in his own life, he had ex-
perienced the deepest sufferings of this kind: 'And,' added
"he, with a touching tone of kindness and familiarity which
"never occurred again in his interviews with me, 'if you (Er)
"knew, for instance, whatl underwent on the death of my
"Mother, you would see that I have been as unhappy as any
"other, and unhappier than others, because of the greater
"sensibility I had (weil ich mehr Emp/indlichkeit gehabt
"habe). '"*
There needed not this new calamity in Friedrich's
lot just now! From all points of the compass, his enemies, held in check so long, are flooding on: the
confluence of disasters and ill tidings, at this time, very
great. From Jung-Buntzlau, close by, his Brother's
accounts are bad; and grow ever worse, -- as will be
seen! On the extreme West, "July 3d," while Fried-
rich at Leitmeritz sat weeping for his Mother, the
French take Embden from him; "July 5th," the Rus-
sians, Memel, on the utmost East. June 30th, six days
* Fragmente tar ScUUermg des Geistes, des Charaklers und der Ile-
gierung Friedrichs des Zweilen, von Christian Garve (Breslaa, 1798), i. 314-
316. An unexpectedly dull Book (Garve having talent and reputation);
kind of monotonous Preachment upon Friedrich's character; almost no-
thing but the above fraction now derivable from it.
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? 120 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT. [BOOK XVIII.
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
before, the Russians, after as many months of haggling,
did cross the Border; 37,000 of them on this point;
and set to bombarding Memel from land and sea.
Poor Memel (garrison only 700) answered very fiercely,
"sank two of their gunboats" and the like; but the end
was as we see, -- Feldmarschall Lehwald able to give
no relief. For there were above 70,000 other Russians
(Feldmarschall Apraxin with these latter, and Cossacks
and Calmucks more than enough) crossing elsewhere,
south in Tilsit Country, upon old Lehwald. * Lehwald,
with 30,000, in such circumstances -- what is to be-
come of Preussen and him! Nearer hand, the Austrians,
the French, the very ReichsArmy, do now seem intent
on business.
The Reichs Execution Army, we saw how Mayer
and the Battle of Prag had checked it in the birth-
pangs; and given rise to pangs of another sort; the
poor Reichs Circles generally exclaiming, "What!
Bring the war into our own borders? Bring the King
of Prussia on our own throats! " -- and stopping short
in their enlistments and preparations; in vain for
Austrian Officials to urge them. Watching there, with
awe-struck eye, while the 12,000 bombs flew into
Prag.
The Battle of Kolin has reversed all that; and the
poor old Reich is again bent on business in the Exe-
cution way. Drumming, committeeing, projecting and
endeavouring with all her might, in all quarters; and,
from and after the event of Kolin, holding visible En-
campment, in theNiirnberg Country; fractions of actual
troops assembling there. "On the Plains of Fiirth,
"between Fiirth and Farrenbach, east side the River
? Helden-Geschichte, iv. 407-413.
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? CKAP. v. ] FRIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 121
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
"Regnitz, there was the Camp pitched," says my Anony-
mous Friend; who gives me a cheerful Copperplate of
the thing: red pennons, blue, and bright mixed colours;
generals' tents; order-of-battle, and respective rallying
points: with Bamberg Country in front, and the peaks
of the Pine Mountains lying pleasantly behind: a sight
for the curious. * It is the same ground where Mayer
was careering lately; neighbouring nobility and gentry
glad to come in gala, and dance with Mayer. Hither, all
through July, come contingents straggling in, thicker and
thicker; "August 8th," things now about complete, the
Bishop of Bamberg came to take survey of the Reichs-Heer
(Bishop's remarks not given); August 10th, came the
young reigning Duke of Hildburghausen (Duke's grand-
uncle is to be Commander), on like errand; August
11th, the Reichs-Heer got on march. Westward ho!
-- readers will see towards what.
A truly elende, or miserable, Reichs Execution Army
(as the nwVprinter had made it); but giving loud voice
in the Gazettes; and urged by every consideration to
do something for itself. Prince of Hildburghausen, --
a general of small merit, though he has risen in the
Austrian service, and we have seen him with Secken-
dorf in old Turk times, -- has, for his Kaiser's sake,
taken the command; sensible perhaps that glory is not
likely to be rife here; but willing to make himself use-
ful. Kaiser and Austria urge, everywhere, with all
their might: Prince of Hessen-Darmstadt, who lay on
the Weissenberg lately, one of Keith's distinguished
seconds there and a Prussian Officer of long standing,
* J. F. S. (whom I named Anonymous of Hamburg long since; who has
boiled down, with great diligence, the old Newspapers, and gives a great
many dates, notes &c. , without Index), i. 211, 224 (the Copperplate).
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? 122 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVIII.
27tU June -- 20th July 1757.
has, on Kaiser's order, quitted all that, and become Hildburghausen's second here, in the Camp of Fiirth;
thinking the path of duty lay that way, -- though his
Wife, one of the noble women of her age, thought
very differently. * A similar Kaiser's order, backed by
what Law-thunder lay in the Reich, had gone out
against Friedrich's own Brothers, and against every
Reichs Prince who was in Friedrich's service; but, ex-
cept him of Hessen-Darmstadt, none of them had much
minded. ** I did not hear that his strategic talent was
momentous: but Prussia had taught him the routine of
right soldiering, surely to small purpose; and Friedrich,
no doubt, glanced indignantly at this small thing, among
the many big ones.
From about the end of June, the Reichs Army kept
dribbling in: the most inferior Army in the world; no
part of it well drilled, most of it not drilled at all; and
for variety in colour, condition, method, and military
and pecuniary and other outfit, beggaring description.
Hildburghausen does his utmost; Kaiser the like. The
number should have far exceeded 50,000; but was not,
on the field, of above half that number: 25,000; add
at last 8,000 Austrian troops, two regiments of them
cavalry; good these 8,000, the rest bad, -- that was
the Reichs Execution Army; most inferior among
Armies; and considerable part of it, all the Protestant
part, privately wishing well to Friedrich, they say.
Drills itself multifariously in that Camp between Piirth
and Farrenbach, on the east side of Regnitz River.
* Her Letter to Friedrich, "Berlin, 30th October 1757," (Etwres da
Frideric, ixvn. n. 135.
? * In Orlich, FUrtt Uoritt von Anhall-Dessau (Berlin, 1842), pp. 74, 75,
Prince Moritz's rather mournful Letter on the subject, with Priedrich's
sharp Answer.
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? CHAP. v. ] FEIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 123
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
Fancy what a sight to Wilhelmina, if she ever drove
that way; which I think she hardly would. The Bai-
reuth contingent itself is there; theMargraf would have
held out stiff on that point; but Friedrich himself ad-
vised compliance. Margraf of Anspach, -- perverse
tippling creature, ill with his Wife, I doubt, -- has
joyfully sent his legal hundreds; will vote for theReichs
Ban against this worst of Germans, whom he has for
Brother-in-law. Dark days in the heart of Wilhel-
mina, those of the Camp at Fiirth. Days which grow
ever darker, with strange flashings-out of empyrean
lightning from that shrill true heart; no peace more,
till the noble heroine die! --
This elende Reichs-Heer, miserable "Army of the
Circles," is mockingly called "the Hoopers, Coopers
(Tonneliers)," and gets quizzing enough, under that
and other titles, from an Opposition Public. Far other
from the French and Austrians; who are bent that it
should do feats in the world, and prove impressive on
a robber King. Thus too, "for Deliverance of Saxony,"
to cooperate with Reichs-Heer in that sacred object,
thanks to the zeal of Pompadour, Prince de Soubise
has got together, in Elsass, a supplementary 30,000
(40,330 said Theory, but Fact never quite so many);
and is passing them across the Rhine, in Frankfurt
Country, 'all through July, while the drilling at Fiirth
goes on. With these, Soubise, simultaneously getting
under way, will steer north-eastward; join the Reichs-
Heer about Erfurt, before August end; and -- and we
shall see what becomes of the combined Soubise and
Reichs Army after that!
It must be owned, the French, Pompadour and love
of glory urging, are diligent since the event of Kolin.
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? 124 SEVEN" YEARS WAR EISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVIII.
27th June -- 20th July 1757.
In select Parisian circles, the Soubise Army, or even
that of D'Estrdes altogether, -- produced by the tears
of a filial Dauphiness, -- is regarded as a quasi-sacred,
or uncommonly noble thing; and is called by her name,
"L'Armee de la Dauphine," or for shortness, "La
Dauphine" without adjunct. Thus, like a kind of
chivalrous Bellona, vengeance in her right hand, tears
and fire in her eyes, The Dauphiness advances; and will
join Reichs-Heer at Erfurt before August end. Such
the will of Pompadour; Richelieu encouraging, for
reasons of his own. Soubise, I understand, is privately
in pique against poor D'Estrees;* and intends to eclipse
him by a higher style of diligence; though D'Estrees
too is doing his best.
July 3d, we saw the D'Estrdes people taking
Embden; D'Estrdes, quiet so long in his Camp^at
Bielefeld, had at once bestirred himself, Kolin being
done; -- shot out a detachment leftwards, and Embden
had capitulated that day. Adieu to the Shipping
Interests there, and to other pleasant things! "July
9th, after sunset," D'Estrdes himself got on march from
Bielefeld; set forth, in the cool of night, 60,000 strong,
and 10,000 more to join him by the road (the rest are
left as garrisons, reserves, -- 1,000 marauders of them
swing as monitory pendulums, on their various trees,
for one item), -- direct towards Hanover and Royal
Highness of Cumberland; who retreats, and has re-
treated, behind the Ems, the Weser, back, ever back;
and, to appearance, will make a bad finish yonder.
* "Reappeared unexpectedly in Paris11 from D'Estrees's Army), "22d
June" (four days after Kolin); got up this Dauphi,iess Army, by aid of
Pompadour, with Richelieu, &c: liarbicr, iv. 227, 231. Richelieu "busy at Strasburg lately" (29th July: Collini's Voltaire, p. 191).
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? CHAP, v. ] TRIED RICH AT LEITMERITZ. 125
1st July 1757.
To Friedrich, waiting at Leitmeritz, all these things
are gloomily known; but the most pressing of them is
that of the Austrians and Jung-Buntzlau close by. Let
us give some utterances of his to Wilhelmina, nearly
all we have of direct from him in that time; and then
hasten to the Prince of Prussia there:
Friedrich to Wilhelmina (at Baireuth).
Leitmeritz, 1st July 1751. * * "Sensible as heart can
"be to the tender interest you deign to take in what concerns
"me. Dear Sister, fear nothing on my score: men are
"always in the hand of what we call Fate ('Predestination,
Gnadenwahl,' -- Pardon us, Papa! -- "ce qu'on nomme le
"destin); accidents willbefal people, walking on the streets,
"sitting in their room, lying in their bed; and there are
"many who escape the perils of war. " * * "I think, through
"Hessen will be the safest route for your Letters, till we see;
"-- and not to write just now except on occasions of im-
"portance. Here is a piece in cipher; anonymous," -- in-
tended for the Newspapers, or some such road.
July 5th. "By a Courier of Plotho's, returning to Regens-
"burg" (who passes near you), "I write to apprise my dear
"Sister of the new misery which overwhelms us. We have
"no longer a Mother. This loss puts the crown on my sorrows.
"I am obliged to act; and have not time to give free course
"to my tears. Judge, I pray you, of the situation of a
"feeling heart put to so cruel a trial. All losses in the world
"are capable of being remedied; but those which Death
"causes are beyond the reach of hope. "
July 7th. "You are too good; I am ashamed to abuse
"your indulgence. But do, since you will, try to sound the
''' French, what conditions of Peace they would demand; one
"might judge as to their intentions. Send that Mirabeau
"fee M. de Mirabeau) to France. Willingly will I pay the
"expense. He may offer as much as five million thalers"
(750,000*. ) "to the Favourite" (yes, even to the Pompadour)
"for Peace alone. Of course, his utmost discretion will be
"needed;" -- should the English get the least wind of it 1 But
if they are gone to St. Vitus, and fail in every point, what
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? 126 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVIII.
13th July 1757.
can one do? Ce M. de Mirabeau, readers will be surprised to
learn, is an Uncle of the great Mirabeau's; who has fallen
into roving courses, gone abroad insolvent; and "directs the
Opera atBaireuth," in these years! -- One Letter we will
give in full:
"My deabest Sisteb, -- Your Letter has arrived: I see in
"it your regrets for the irreparable loss we have had of the
"best and worthiest Mother in this world. I am so struck
"down with all these blows from within and without, that I
"feel myself in a sort of stupefaction.
"The French have just laid hold of Friesland" (seized
Embden, July 3d); "are about to pass the Weser: they have
"Swedes are sending 17,000men" (rather more if anything;
but they proved beautifully ineffectual) "into Pommern," --
will be burdensome to Stralsund and the poor country people
mainly; having no Captain over them but a hydra-headed
National Palaver at home, and a Long-pole with Cocked-hat
on it here at hand. "The Russians are besieging Memel"
(have taken it, ten days ago): "Lehwald has them on his
"front and in his rear. The Troops of the Reich," from
your Plains of Fiirth yonder, "are also about to march. All
"this will force me to evacuate Bohemia, so soon as that
"crowd of Enemies gets into motion.
"I am firmly resolved on the extremest efforts to save my
"Country. We shall see (quitte a voir) if Fortune will take a
"new thought, or if she will entirely turn her back upon me.
"Happy the moment when I took to training myself in philo-
"sophy! There is nothing else that can sustain the soul in a
"situation like mine. I spread out to you, dear Sister, the
"detail of my sorrows: if these things regarded only myself,
"I could stand it with composure; but I am bound Guardian
"of the safety and happiness of a People which has been put
"under my charge. There lies the sting of it: and I shall
"have to reproach myself with every fault, if, by delay or
"by overhaste, I occasion the smallest accident; all the
"more as, at present, any fault may be capital.
"What a business! Here is the liberty of Germany, and
"thatProtestant Cause for which so much blood has been
"shed; here are those Two great Interests again at stake
"Leitmeritz, 13th July 1757.
declare War against me; the
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? CHAP. v. ] FEEEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 127
27th June - 20th July 1757.
"and the pinch of this huge game is such, that an unlucky
"quarter of an hour may establish over Germany the tyran-
nous domination of the House of Austria forever! I am in
"the case of a traveller who sees himself surrounded and
"ready to be assassinated by a troop of cutthroats, who
"intend to share his spoils. Since the League of Cambrai"
(1508--1510, with a Pope in it and a Kaiser and Most
Christian King, iniquitously sworn against poor Venice; --
to no purpose, as happily appears), "there is no example of
"such a Conspiracy as that infamous Triumvirate" (Austria,
France, Russia) "now forms against me. Was it ever seen
"before that three great Princes laid plot in concert to
"destroy a Fourth, who had done nothing against them?
"I have not had the least quarrel either with France or with
"Russia, still less with Sweden. If, in common life, three
"citizens took it into their heads to fall upon their neighbour,
"and burn his house about him, they very certainly, by
"sentence of tribunal, would be broken on the wheel. What!
"and will Sovereigns, who maintain these tribunals and
"these laws in their States, give such example to their
"subjects? " -- "Happy, my dear Sister, is the obscure man,
"whose good sense, from youth upwards, has renounced all
"sorts of glory; who, in his safe low place, has none to envy
"him, and whose fortune does not excite the cupidity of
"scoundrels!
"But these reflections are vain. We have to be what our
"birth, which decides, has made us in entering upon this
"world. I reckoned that, being King, it beseemed me to
"think as a Sovereign; and I took for principle, that the
"reputation of a Prince ought to be dearer to him than life.
"They have plotted against me; the Court of Vienna has
"given itself the liberty of trying to maltreat me; my honour
"commanded me not to suffer it. We have come to War; a
"gang of robbers falls on me, pistol in hand: that is the
"adventure which has happened to me. The remedy is diffi-
"cult: in desperate diseases there are no methods but
"desperate ones.
"I beg a thousand pardons, dear Sister: in these three
"long pages I talk to you of nothing but my troubles and
"affairs. A strange abuse it would be of any other person's
"friendship. But yours, my dear Sister, yours is known to
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? 128 SEVEN-YEARS WAE EISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XvIII.
30th June -- 22d July 1757.
"me; and I am persuaded you are not impatient when I open
"my heart to you: -- a heart which is yours altogether; being
"filled with sentiments of the tenderest esteem, with which
"I am, my dearest Sister, your" (in truth, affectionate
Brother at all times) "F. " *
Prince August Wilhelm finds a bad Problem at Jung-
Buntzlau; and does it badly: Friedrich thereupon
has to rise from Leitmeritz, and take the Field else-
where, in bitter Haste and Impatience, with Outlooks
worse than ever.
The Prince of Prussia's Enterprise had its intri-
cacies; but, by good management, was capable of being
done. At least, so Friedrich thought; -- though, in
truth, it would have been better had Friedrich gone
himself, since the chief pressure happened to fall there!
The Prince has to retire, Parthian-like, as slowly as
possible, with the late Kolin or Moritz-Bevern Army,
towards the Lausitz, keeping his eye upon Silesia the
while; of course securing the passes and strong places
in his passage, for defence of his own rear at lowest;
especially securing Zittau, a fine opulent Town, where
his chief Magazine is, fed from Silesia now. The Army
is in good strength (guess 30,000), with every equip-
ment complete; in discipline, in health and in heart,
such as beseems a Prussian Army, -- probably longing
rather, if it venture to long or wish for anything not
yet commanded, to have a stroke at those Austrians
again, and pay them something towards that late Kolin
score.
The Prince arrived at Jung-Buntzlau, June 30th;
Winterfeld with him, and, at his own request, Schmettau. * (Biuret de Frideric, on, u 294, 295,296-8.
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? CHAP. v. ] FRIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 129
30th June -- 22d July 1757.
The Austrians have not yet stirred: if they do, it may
be upon the King, it may be upon the Prince: in three
or even in two marches, Prince and King can be toge-
ther, -- the King only too happy, in the present op-
pressive coil of doubts, to find the Austrians ready for
a new passage of battle, and an immediate decision.
The Austrians did, in fact, break out, -- seemingly,
at first, upon the King; but in reality upon the Prince,
whom they judge safer game; and the matter became
much more critical upon him than had been expected.
The Prince was thought to have a good judgment
(too much talk in it, we sometimes feared), and fair
knowledge in military matters. The King, not quite
by the Prince's choice, has given him Winterfeld for
Mentor; Winterfeld, who has an excellent military head
in such matters, and a heart firm as steel, -- almost
like a second self in the King's estimation. Excellent
Winterfeld; -- but then there are also Schmettau,
Bevern and others, possibly in private not too well
affected to this Winterfeld. In fact, there is rather a
multitude of Counsellors; -- and an ingenuous fine-
spirited Prince, perhaps more capable of eloquence on
the Opposition side, than of condensing into real wis-
dom a multitude of counsels, when the crisis rises, and
the affair becomes really difficult. Crisis did rise: the
victorious Austrians, after such delay, had finally made
up their minds to press this one a little, this one rather
than the King, and hang upon his skirts; Daun and
Prince Karl set out after him, just about the time of
his arrival, -- "70,000 strong," the Prince hears, in-
cluding plenty of Pandours. Certain it is, the poor
Prince's mind did flounder a good deal; and his pro-
cedures succeeded extremely ill on this occasion. Cer-
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. X. 9
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? 130 SEVEN-YEARS WAE EISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XvIII.
30th June -- 22d July 1757.
tain, too, that they were extremely ill taken at head-
quarters: and that he even died soon after, -- chiefly
of broken heart, said the censorious world. It is well
known how Europe rang with the matter for a long
while; and Books were printed, and Documents, and
Collections by a Master's Hand. * We, who can spend
but a page or two on it, must carefully stand by the
essential part.
"June 30th-- July 3d, Prince at Jung-Buntzlau, in chief
"command. Besides Winterfeld, the Generals under him
"are Ziethen, Schmettau, Fouquet, Retzow, Groltz, and
"two others who need not be of our acquaintance. Im-
"possible to stay there, thinks the Prince, thinks every-
"body; and they shift to Neuschloss, westward thirty miles.
"July 1st, Daun had crossed the Elbe (Daun let us say for
"brevity, though it is Daun and Karl, or even Karl and
"Daun, Karl being chief, and capable of saying so at times,
"though Daun is very splendent since Kolin), -- crossed the
"Elbe above Brandeis; Nadasti, with precursor Pandours,
"now within an hour's march of Jung-Buntzlau; -- and it was
"fimetogo.
'. '. July 3d-6th, At Neuschloss, which is thought a strong
"position, key of the localities there, and nearer Friedrich
"too, the Prince staid not quite four days; shifted to Bohm
"(BohmiscA) Leipa, July 7th, -- rather off from Leitmeritz,
"but a march towards Zittau, where the provisions are. 'A
"bad change,' said the Prince's friends afterwards; 'change
"advised by Winterfeld, -- who never mentioned that
"circumstance to his Majesty, many as he did mention, not
"inthe best way! ' -- Prince gets to Bohm Leipa, July 7th;
"stays there, in questionable circumstances, nine days.
"Bohm Leipa is still not above thirty miles north-east-
"ward of the King; and it is about the same distance south-
* Lettres Secrdtes touchant la Derni&re Guerre; de Main de Maitre; divi-
sies en deux parties (Francfort et Amsterdam, 1772): this is the Prince's
own Statement, Proof in hand. By far the clearest Account is in Schmet-
Idu's Leben (by his Son), pp. 353-384. See also Preuss, n. 57-61, and espe-
cially n. 407.
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? CHAP. v. ] PEIEDRICH AT LEITMEIUTZ. 131
30th June -- 22d July 1757.
"westward from Zittau, out of which fine Town, partly by
"cross-roads, the Prince gets his provisions on this march.
"From Zittau hitherward, as far as the little Town of Gabel,
"which lies about half way, there is broad High Road, the
"great Southern Kaiser-Strasse: from Gabel, for Bohm
"Leipa, you have to cross south-westward by country roads;
"the keys to which, especially Gabel, the Prince has not
"failed to secure by proper garrison parties. And so, for
"about a week, not quite uncomfortably, he continues at
"Bohm Leipa; getting in his convoys from Zittau. Diligently
"scanning the Pandour stragglings and sputterings round
"him, which are clearly on the increasing hand. Diligently
"corresponding with the King, meanwhile; who much dis-
courages undue apprehension, or retreat movement till
"the last pinch. 'Edging backward, and again backward,
"you come bounce upon Berlin one day, and will then have
"to halt! ' -- which is not pleasant to the Prince. But, in-
"disputably, the Pandour spurts on him do become Pandour
"gushings, with regulars also noticeable: it is certain the
"Austrians are out, -- pretending first to mean the King and
"Leitmeritz; but knowing better, and meaning the Prince
"and Bohm Leipa all the while. " -- By way of supplement,
take Daun's positions in the interim:
Daun and Karl were at Podschernitz, 26th June; 1st July,
cross the Elbe, above Brandeis (Nadasti now within an hour's
march of Jung-Buntzlau) ;7th July (day while the Prince is
flitting to Bohm Leipa), Daun is through Jung-Buntzlau to
Munchengratz; thence to Liebenau; 14th, to Niemes, not
above four miles from the Prince's rightmost outpost (right-
most or eastmost, which looks away from his Brother); while
a couple of advanced parties, Beck and Macguire, hover on
his flank Zittau-ward, and Nadasti (if he knew it) is pushing
on to rear.
"Thursday, 14th July, About six in the evening, atBohm
"Leipa, distinct cannon-thunder is heard from north-east:
"'Evidently Gabel getting cannonaded, and our wagon
"convoy' (empty, going to Zittau for meal, GeneralPutt-
"kammer escorting) 'is in a dangerous state! ' And by and
"by hussar parties of ours come in, with articulate news to
"that bad effect: 'Gabel under hot attack of regulars; Putt-
"kammer with his 3,000 vigorously defending, will expect to
a*
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