"My dear Brother, -- The Letters you have written me,
"and the reception I yesterday met with, are sufficient proof
"that, in your opinion, I have ruined my honour and reputa-
tion.
"and the reception I yesterday met with, are sufficient proof
"that, in your opinion, I have ruined my honour and reputa-
tion.
Thomas Carlyle
' 'We are 25,000,' urges the Prince;
"fifteen miles is not much! ' The thing had its difficulties:
"the Prince himself, it appears, faintly thought it feasible:
"'25,000we; 20,000they; only fifteen miles,' saidhe. But
"the variety of Counsellors: 'Cross-roads, defiles, flank-
"march, dangerous,' said they. And so the third course,
"which was incomparably the worst, found favour in Council
"of War: That of leaving Gabel and Puttkammer to their
"fate; and of pushing off for Zittau leftwards through the
"safe Hills, by Kamnitz, Kreywitz, Rumburg; -- which, if
"the reader look, is by a circuitous, nay quite parabolic
"course, twice or thrice as far: -- 'In that manner, let us
"save Zittau and our Main Body! ' said the Council of War.
"Yes, my friends; a cannon-ball, endeavouring to get into
"Zittau from the town-ditch, would have to take a parabolic
"course; -- and the cannon-ball would be speedy upon it,
"and not have Hill roads to go by! This notable parabolic
"circuit of narrow steep roads may have its difficulties for an
"Army and its baggages! " Enough, the poor Prince adopted
that worst third course; and even made no despatch in getting
into it; and it proved ruinous to Zittau, and to much else,
his own life partly included.
15th July 1757.
To the poor Prince there
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? CHAP. v. l PRIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 133
16th-22d July 1757.
"July 16tli-22d. Thursday night, or Friday 3 a. m. , that
"third and incomparably worst course was adopted: Gabel,
"Puttkammer with his wagons, ensigns, kettledrums, all
"this has to surrender in a day: High Road toZittau, for
"the Austrians, is a smooth march, when they like to gather
"fully there, and start. And in the Hills, with their jolts
"and precipitous windings, infested too by Pandours, the
"poor Prussian Main Body, on its wide parabolic circuit, has
"atimeofit! Loses its pontoons, loses most of its baggage;
"obliged to set fire, not to the Pandours, but to your own
"wagons, and necessaries of army life; encamps on bleak
"heights; no food, not even water; road quite lost, road to
"be rediscovered or invented; Pandours sputtering on you
"out of every bush and hollow, your peasant wagoners
"cutting traces and galloping off: -- such are the phenomena
"of that march by circuit leftward, on the poor Prince's part.
"March began, soon after midnight, Saturday26'$,Schmettau
"asvanguard; and" --
And, in fine, by Friday 22d, after not quite a week
of it, the Prince, curving from northward (in parabolic
course, less speedy than the cannon-ball's would have
been) into sight of Zittau, -- behold, there are the
Austrians far and wide to left of us, encamped im-
pregnable behind the Neisse River there! They have
got the Eckart's Hill, which commands Zittau: -- and
how to get into Zittau and our magazines, and how to
subsist if we were in? The poor Prince takes post on
what Heights there are, on his own side of the Neisse;
looks wistfully down upon Zittau, asking How?
About stroke of noon the Austrians, from their
Eckartsberg, do a thing which was much talked of.
They open battery of red-hot balls upon Zittau; kindle
the roofs of it, shingle-roofs in dry July; set Zittau all
on blaze, the 10,000 innocent souls shrieking in vain
to Heaven and Earth; and before sunset Zittau is ashes
and red-hot walls, not Zittau but a cinder-heap, --
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? 134 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XTOI.
20th-22d July 1767.
Prussian. Garrison not hurt, nor Magazine as yet; Gar-
rison busy with buckets, I should guess, but beginning
to find the air grow very hot. On the morrow morning,
Zittau is a smouldering cinder-heap, hotter and hotter
to the Prussian Garrison; and does not exist as a City. One of the most inhuman actions ever heard of in
War, shrieks universal Germany; asks itself what could
have set a chivalrous Karl upon this devil-like proce-
dure? "Protestants these poor Zittauers were; shone in
commerce; no such weaving, industrying, in allTeutsch-
land elsewhere: Hah! An eye-sorrow, they, with their
commerce, their weavings, and industryings, to Austrian
Papists, who cannot weave or trade? " that was finally
the guess of some persons; -- wide of the mark, we
may well judge. Prince Xavier of Saxony, present in
the Camp too, made no remonstrance, said others. Alas,
my friends, what could Xavier probably avail, the
foolish fellow, with only three regiments? Prince Karl,
it was afterwards evident, could have got Zittau un-
burnt; and could even have kept the Prussians out of
Zittau altogether. Zittau surely would have been very
useful to Prince Karl. But overnight (let us try to
fancy it so), not knowing the Prussian possibilities,
Prince Karl, screwed to the devilish point, had got his
furnaces lighted, his red-hot balls ready; and so, hurried
on by his Pride and by his other Devils, had -- There
are devilish things sometimes done in War. And whole
cities are made ashes by them. For certain, here is
a strange way of commencing your 'Deliverance of
Saxony! ' And Prince Karl carries, truly, a brand-
mark from this conflagration, and will till all memory
of him cease. As to Zittau, it rebuilt itself. Zittau is
alive again; a strong stone city, in our day. On its
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? CHAP. v. ] FEIEDRICH AT LEITMEEITZ. 135
20th-22d July 1757.
new-built Townhouse stands again "Benefacere et male
audire regium est, To do well, and be ill spoken of, is
the part of kings" (amazingly true of them, -- when
they are not shams). What times for Herrnhuth; pre-
paring for its Christian Sabbath, under these omens
near by!
The Prince of Prussia tells us, he "early next
morning (Saturday, 23d July) had his tents pitched;"
which was but an unavailing procedure, with poor
Zittau gone such a road. "Bring us bread out of that
ruined Zittau," ordered the Prince: his Detachment re-
turns ineffectual, "So hot, we cannot march in. " And
the Garrison Colonel (one Dierecke and five battalions
are garrison) sends out word: "So hot, we cannot, stand
it. " "Stand it yet a very little; and--! " answers the
Prince: but Dierecke and battalions cannot, or at least
cannot long enough; and set to marching out. In firm
order, I have no doubt, and with some modicum of
bread: but the tumbling of certain burnt walls parted
Colonel and men, in a sad way. Colonel himself, with
the colours, with the honours (none of his people, it
seems, though they were scattered loose), was picked
up by an Austrian party, and made prisoner. A
miserable business, this of Zittau!
Next evening, Sunday, after dark, Prince of Prussia
strikes his tents again; rolls off in a very unsuccinct
condition; happily unchased, for he admits that chase
would have been ruinous. Off towards Lobau (what
nights for Zinzendorf and Herrnhuth, as such things
tumble past them! ); thence towards Bautzen; and
arrives in the most lugubrious torn condition any Prus-
sian General ever stood in. Reaches Bautzen on those
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? 136 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVIU.
22d-26th July 1757.
terms; -- and is warned that his Brother will be there
in a day or two.
One may fancy Friedrich's indignation, astonish-
ment and grief, when he heard of that march towards
Zittau through the Hills by a parabolic course; the
issue of which is too guessable by Friedrich. He him-
self instantly rises from Leitmeritz; starts, in fit divi-
sions, by the Pascopol, by the Elbe passes, for Pirna;
and, leaving Moritz of Dessau with a 10,000 to secure
the Passes about Pirna, and Keith to come on with the
Magazines, hastens across for Bautzen, to look into
these advancing triumphant Austrians, these strange
Prussian proceedings. On first hearing of that side-
march, his auguries had been bad enough;* but the
event has far surpassed them. Zittau gone; the Army
hurrying home, as if in flight, in that wrecked con-
dition; the door of Saxony, door of Silesia left wide
open, -- Daun has only to choose! Day by day, as
Friedrich advanced to repair that mischief, the news of
it have grown worse on him. Days rife otherwise in
mere bad news. The Russians in Memel, Preussen at
their feet; Soubise's French and the Reichs Army
pushing on for Erfurt, to "deliver Saxony," on that
western side: and from the French-English scene of
operations -- In those same bad days, Royal Highness
of Cumberland has been doing a feat worth notice in
the above connexion! Read this, from an authentic source:
"Hastenbeck, 22d-26thJulyVlUl. Royal Highness, hitching
"back and back, had got to Hameln, a strong place of his on
"the safe side of the Weser; and did at last, Hanover itself
* Letter to Wilhelmina, "Linay, 22d July" (second day of the march
from Leitmeritz): (Enures, xxvn. i. 298.
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? CHAP. v. ] FRIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 137
i6th July 1757.
"being now nigh, call halt; and resolve to make a stand. July
"22d" (very day while the Prince of Prussia came in sight of
Zittau, with the Austrians hanging over it), "Royal Highness
"took post in that favourable vicinity of Hameln; atperfect
"leisure to select his ground: and there sat waiting D'Estre'es,
"-- swamps for our right wing, and the Weser not far off;
"small Hamlet of Hastenbeck in front, and a woody knoll for
"our left; -- totally inactive for four days long; attempting
"nothing upon D'Estre'es and his intricate shufflings, but
"looking idlynoonward to the courses of the sun, till DTistre'es
"should come up. Royal Highness is much swollen into
"obesity, into flabby torpor; a changed man since Pontenoy
''times; shockingly inactive, they say, in this post at Hasten-
"beck. D'Estre'es, too, is ridiculously cautious, 'has manceuv-
"ered fifteen days in advancing about as many British
"miles. ' D'Estrees did at last come up (July 25th), nearly two
"to one of Royal Highness, -- 72,000 some count him, but
"considerably anarchic in parts, overwhelmed with Court
"Generals and Princes of the Blood, for one item; -- and
"decides on attacking, next morning. D'Estrdes duly went to
"reconnoitre, but unluckily 'had mist suddenly falling. ' --
"'Well; we must attack, all the same! '
"And so, 26th July, Tuesday, there ensued a Battle of
"Hastenbeck: the absurdest Battle in the world; and which
"ought, in fairness, to have been lost by both, though Royal
"Highness alone had the ill luck. Both Captains behaved "very poorly; and each of them had a subaltern who behaved
"well. D'Estre'es, with his 70,000 versus 40,000 posted there,
"knows nothing ofRoyalHighness's position; sees only Royal
"Highness's left wing on that woody Height; and, after hours
"of preliminary cannonading, sends out General Chevert
"upon that. Chevert, his subaltern" (a bit of right soldier-
stuff, the Chevert whom we knew at Prag, in old Belleisle
times), "goes upon it like fury; whom the Brunswick Grena-
"diers resist in like humour, hotter and hotter. Some hard
"fighting there, on Royal Highness's left; Chevert very fiery,
''Grenadiers very obstinate; till, on the centre, westward, in
"Royal Highness's chief battery there, some spark went the
"wrong way, and a powder-wagon shot itself aloft with
"hideous blaze and roar; and in the confusion, the French
"rushed in, and the battery was lost. Which discouraged the
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? 138 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XvIII
26th July 1757.
"Grenadiers; so thatChevert made some progress upon them,
"on their woody Height, and began to have confident hope.
"Had Chevert known, or had D'Estrdes known, there was,
"close behind said Height, a Hollow, through which these
"Grenadiers might have been taken in rear. Dangerous
"Hollow, much neglected by Royal Highness, who has only
"GeneralBreitenbach with a weak party there. This Breiten-
"bach, happening to have a head of his own, and finding
"nothing to do in that Hollow or to rightward, bursts out, of
"his own accord, onChevert's left flank; cannonading, volley-
"ing, horse-charging; -- the sound of which (* Hah, French
"there too! ') struck a damp through Royal Highness, who
"instantly ordered retreat, and took the road. What singular
"ill luck that sound of Breitenbach to Royal Highness! For
"observe, the effect of Breitenbach, -- which was, to recover
"the lost battery (gallant young Prince of Brunswick, 'Here-
"ditary Prince,' or Duke that is to be, striking in upon it with
"bayonet-charge at the right moment), -- made D'Estrees
"too order retreat! ' Battle lost,' thinks D'Estre'es;-- and with
"good cause, had Breitenbach been supported at all. But no
"subaltern durst; and Royal Highness himself was notover-
"takeable, so far on the road. Royal Highness wept on hear-
"ing; the Brunswick Grenadiers too are said to have wept
"(for rage); and probably Breitenbach and the Hereditary
"Prince. "*
This is the last of Royal Highness's exploits in War. The
retreat had been ordered "To Hannover;" but the bagagge
by mistake took the road for Minden; and Royal Highness
followed thither, --much the same what road he or it takes.
Friedrich might still hope he would retreat on Magdeburg;
40,000 good soldiers might find a Captain there, and be
valuable against a D'Estre'es and Soubise in those parts. But
no; it was through Bremen Country, to Stade, into the Sea,
that Royal Highness, by ill luck, retreated! He has still one
great vexation to give Friedrich, -- to us almost a comfort,
knowing what followed out of it; -- and will have to be men-
tioned one other time in this History, and then go over our
horizon altogether.
* Mauvillon, i. 228; Anonymous of Hamburg, i. 206 (who gives a Plan and all manner of details, if needed by anybody); Kausler; &c. &c.
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? CHAP, v. ] FRIEDRICH AT LB1TMERITZ. 139
28th July 1757.
Whether Friedrich had hoard of Hastenbeck the
day his Brother and he met (July 29th, at Bautzen),
I do not know: but it is likely enough he may have
got the news that very morning; which was not calcu-
lated to increase one's good humour! His meeting with
the Prince is royal, not fraternal, as all men have
heard. Let us give, with brevity, from Schmettau
Junior, the exact features of it; and leave the candid
reader, who has formed to himself some notion of king-
ship and its sorrows and stern conditions (having per-
haps himself something of kingly, in a small potential
way), to interpret the matter, and make what he can
of it:
"Bautzen, 29th July 1757. The King with reinforcement is
"coming hither, from the Dresden side; to take up the reins
"of this dishevelled Zittau Army; to speed with it against the
"Austrians, and, if humanly possible, lock the doors of Silesia
"and Saxony again, and chase the intruders away. Prince of
"Prussia and the otherGeneralshave notice, the night before:
"'At 4 a. m. to-morrow (29th), wait his Majesty. ' Prince and
"Generals wait accordingly, all there but Goltz and Winter- "feld; they not, which is noted.
"For above an hour, no King; Prince and Generals ride
"forward: -- there is the King coming; Prince Henri, Duke
"Ferdinand of Brunswick, and others in his train. King
"noticing them, at about 300 paces distance, drew bridle;
"Prince of Prussia did the like, train and he saluting with
"their hats, as did the King's train. in return. King did not
"salute; -- on the contrary, he turned his horse round, and
"dismounted, as did everybody else on such signal. King lay
"down on the ground, as if waitingthe arrival of hisVanguard;
"and bade Winterfeld and Goltz sit by him. " Poor Prince of
Prussia, and battered heavy-laden Generals! "After a minute
"or two, Goltz came over and whispered to the Prince.
"'Hither, meine Herren, allofyou; a message from his Ma-
"iesty! ' cried the Prince. Whereupon, to Generals and
''Prince, Goltz delivered, in equable official tone, these
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? 140 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book. XVIII.
30th July 1757.
"affecting words: 'His Majesty commands me to inform your
"Koyal Highness, That he has cause to be greatly discon-
"tented with you; that you deserve to have a Court-martial
"held over you, which would sentence you and all your
"Generals to death; but that his Majesty will not carry the
"matter so far, being unable to forget that in the Chief
"General he has a Brother! '"*
The Prince answered, He wanted only a Court-
martial; and the like, in stiff tone. Here is the Letter
he writes next day to his Brother, with the Answer:
Prince of Prussia to the King.
"Bautzen, 30th July 1757.
"My dear Brother, -- The Letters you have written me,
"and the reception I yesterday met with, are sufficient proof
"that, in your opinion, I have ruined my honour and reputa-
tion. This grieves, but it does not crush me, as in my own
"mind I am not conscious of the least reproach. I am perfectly
"convinced that I did not act by caprice: I did not follow the
"counsels of people incapable of giving good ones; I have
"done what I thought to be suitablest for the Army. All your
"Generals will do me that justice.
"I reckon it useless to beg of you to have my conduct in-
"vestigated: this would be a favour you would do me; so I
"cannot expect it. My health has been weakened by these
"fatigues, still more by these chagrins. I have gone to lodge
"in the Town, to recruit myself.
"I have requested theDuke of Bevern to present theArmy
"Reports; he can give you explanation of everything. Be
"assured, my dear Brother, that in spite of the misfortunes
"which overwhelm me, and which I have not deserved, I shall
"never cease to be attached to the State; and as a faithful
"member of the same, my joy will be perfect when I learn the
"happy issue of your Enterprises. Ihave the honour to be,"--
August Wilhelm. **
* Schmettau, pp. 384-5.
** Main de Maitre, p. 21.
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? CHAP, v. ] FRIEDRICII AT LEITMERITZ.
30th July 1757.
King's Answer, the same day.
"Camp near Bautzen, 30th July 1757.
"My dear Brother, -- Your bad guidance has greatly
"deranged my affairs. It is not the Enemy, it is your ill-
"judged measures that have done me all this mischief. My
"Generals are inexcusable; either for advising you so ill, or
"in permitting you to follow resolutions so unwise. Your ears
"are accustomed to listen to the talk of flatterers only. Daun
"has not flattered you; -- behold the consequences. In this
"sad situation, nothing is left for me but trying the lastex-
"tremity. I must go and give battle; and if we cannot conquer,
"we must all of us have ourselves killed.
"I do not complain of your heart; but I do of your incapa-
city, of your want of judgment in not choosing better
"methods. A man who"" (like me; mark the phrase, from such
a quarter! ) "has but a few days to live need not dissemble. I
"wish you better fortune than mine has been; and that all the
"miseries and bad adventures you have had may teach you to
"treat important things with more of care, more of sense, and
"more of resolution. The greater part of the misfortunes
"which I now see to be near comes only from you. You and
"your Children will be more overwhelmed by them than I.
"Be persuaded nevertheless that I have always loved you,
"and that with these sentiments I shall die. -- Friedbich. ' *
As the King went off, to the Heights of Weissen-
berg, Zittau way, to encamp there against the Austrians,
that same evening, the Prince did not answer this
Letter, -- except by asking verbally through Lieutenant-
Colonel Lentulus (a mute Swiss figure, much about the
King, who often turns up in these Histories), "for
leave to return to Dresden by the first escort. " -- "De-
pends on himself; -- an escort is going this night! "
answered Friedrich. And the Prince went accordingly;
and, by two stages, got into Dresden with his escort
on the morrow. And had, not yet conscious of it, * Main de UaUre, p. 22.
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? 142 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [bOOK Xvni.
30th July -- 25th Aug. 1757.
quitted the Field of War altogether; and was soon about
to quit the world, and die, poor Prince. Died within
a year, 12th June 1758, at Oranienburg, beside his
Family, where he had latterly been* -- Winterfeld was
already gone, six months before him; Goltz went, shortly
after him; the other Zittau Generals all survived this
War.
The poor Prince's fate, as natural, was much pitied;
and Friedrich, to this day, is growled at for "inhuman
treatment" and so on. Into which question we do not
enter, except to say that Friedrich too had his sorrows;
and that probably his concluding words, "with these
sentiments I shall die," were perfectly true. Main de
Mmtre went widely abroad over the world. The poor
Prince's words and procedures were eagerly caught up
by a scrutinising public, -- and some of the former
were not too guarded. At Dresden, he said, one morn-
ing, calling on a General Finck whom we shall hear
of again: "Four such disagreeing, thin-skinned, high
"pacing (uneinige,piquirte) Generals as Fouquet, Schmet-
"tau, Winterfeld and Goltz, about you, what was to be
"done! " said the Prince to Finck. **
His Wife, when at last he came to Oranienburg,
nursed him fondly; that is one comfortable fact. Prince
Henri, to the last, had privately a grudge of peculiar
intensity, on this score, against all the peccant parties,
King not excepted. As indeed he was apt to have, on
various scores, the jealous, too vehement little man.
Friedrich's humour at this time I can guess to have
been well-nigh desperate. He talks once of "a horse,
on too much provocation, getting the bit between its
* Preuss, n. 60 (ib. 78). ** lb. n. 79 n. : see ib. 60, 78.
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? CHAP. v. ] PRIEDRICH AT LEITMT3RTTZ. 143
30th July -- 25th Aug. 1757.
teeth; regardless thenceforth of chasms and precipices:"* -- though he himself never carries it to that length;
and always has a watchful eye, when at his swiftest!
From Weissenberg, that night, he drives-in thePandours
on Zittau and the Eckartsberg; but the Austrians don't
come out. And, for three weeks, in this fierce neces-
sity of being speedy, he cannot get one right stroke at
the Austrians; who sit inexpugnable upon their Eckart's
Hill, bristling with cannon; and can in no way be ma-
noeuvered down, or forced or enticed into Battle. A
baffling, bitterly impatient three weeks; -- two of them,
the worst two, he spends at Weissenberg itself, chasing
Pandours, and scuffling on the surface, till Keith and
the Magazine-train come up; -- even writing Verses
now and then, when the hours get unendurable other-
wise!
The instant Keith and the Magazines are come, he
starts for Bernstadt; 56,000 strong after this junction: -- and a Prussian Officer, dating "Bernstadtel" (Bern-
stadt on the now Maps), "21st August 1757," sends
us this account; which also is but of preliminary na-
ture:
"August 15th, Majesty left Weissenberg, and marched
"hither, much to the enemy's astonishment, who had lain
"perfectly quiet for a fortnight past, fancying they were a
"mastiff on the door-sill of Silesia: little thinking to be
"trampled on in this unceremonious way! General Beck, when
"our hussars of the vanguard made appearance, had to saddle
"and ride as for life, leaving every rag of baggage, and forty
"of his Pandours captive. Our hussars stuck to him, chasing
"him into Ostritz, where they surprised General Nadasti at
"dinner; and did a still better stroke of business: Nadasti
"himself could scarcely leap on horseback and get off; left all
* Letter to Wilhelmlna, "Linay, 22d July" (cited above).
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? 144 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVin.
30th July -- 25th Aug. 1757.
"his field-equipage,coaches,horses,kitchen-utensils, flunkies
"seventy-two in number, -- and, what was worst of all, a
"secret box, in which was found certain Dresden Cor-
"respondences of a highly treasonous character, which now
"the writers there may quake to think of;" --if Friedrich, or
we, could take much notice of them, in this press of hurries! *
Next day, August 16th, Friedrich detached five
battalions to Gorlitz; -- Prince Karl (he calls it Daun)
still camping on the Eckartsberg; -- and himself, about
4 p. m. , with the main Army, marched up to those
Austrians on their Hill, to see if they would fight. **
No, they wouldn't: they merely hustled themselves
round so as to face him; face him, and even flank him
with cannon batteries if he came too near. Steep
ground, "precipitous front of rocks," in some places.
"A hollow before their front; Village of Wittgenau
"there, and three roads through it, one of them with width
"for wheels;" Daun sitting inaccessible, in short. Next
day, Winterfeld, with a detached Division, crossed the
Neisse, tried Nadasti: "Attack Nadasti, on his woody
knoll at Hirschfeld yonder; they will have to rise and
save him! " In vain, that too; they let Nadasti take his
own luck: for four days (16th-20th August) everything
was tried, in vain.
No Battle to be had from these Austrians. And it
would have been so infinitely convenient to us: Reichs
Army and Soubise's French are now in the actual pre-
cints of Erfurt (August 25th, Soubise took quarter
there); Royal Highness of Cumberland is staggering
back into the Sea; Richelieu's French (not D'EstreWs
any more, D'Estre'es being superseded in this strange
way) are aiming, it is thought, towards Magdeburg,
? Helden-Geschichte, rr. 596-599. ? * (Emret de Fridiric, iv. 137.
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? CHAP. v. ] FKIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 145
25th-31at Aug. 1757. ;
had they once done with Royal Highness; Swedes are
getting hold of Pommern; Russians, in huge force, of
Preussen: how comfortable to have had our Austrians
finished before going upon the others! For four days
more (August 20th-24th), Friedrich arranges his Army
for watching the Austrians, and guarding Silesia; --
Bevern and Winterfeld to take command in his absence:
-- and, August 25th, has to march, with a small Di-
vision, which, at Dresden, he will increase by Moritz's,
now needless in the Pirna Country; towards Thiiringen;
to look into Soubise and the Reichs Army, as a thing
that absolutely cannot wait. Arrives in Dresden, Mon-
day, August 29th; and -- Or let the old Newspaper
report it, with the features of life:
"Dresden, 29th August 1757, This day, about noon, his
"Majesty, with a part of his Army from the Upper Lausitz,
"arrived at the Neustadt here. Though the kitchen had been
"appointed to be set up at what they call The Barns (Die
"Scheunen), his Majesty was pleased to alight inKonigsbruck
"Street, at the new House of Briihl's Chamberlain, Haller;
"and there passed the night. Tuesday evening, 30th, his
"Majesty the King, with his Lifeguards of Horse and of Foot,
"also with the Gens d'Armes and other Battalions, marched
"through the City, about a mile out on the Freiberg road,
"and took quarter in Klein Hamberg. The 31st, all the Army
"followed," -- a poor 23,000, Moritz and he, that was all! * --
"theKing's field-equipage, which had been taken from the
"Briihl Palace and packed in twelve wagons, went with
"them. "**
* "22,860" (Tempelhof, I. 228).
** ROdonbeck, p. 816; Preuss, n. 84n. ; Mitchell's Interview (Memoirs
and Papers, i. 270).
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. X. 10
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? 146
SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XTCH.
7th Sept. 1757.
CHAPTER VI.
DEATH OP WIKTERPELD.
Before going upon this forlorn march of Fried-
rich's, one of the forlornest a son of Adam ever had,
we must speak of a thing which befel to rearward,
while the march was only half-done, and which greatly
influenced it and all that followed. It was the seventh
day of Friedrich's march, not above eighty miles of it
yet done, when Winterfeld perished in fight . No Win-
terfeld now to occupy the Austrians in his absence; to
stand between Silesia and them, or assist him farther
in his lonesome struggle against the world. Let us
spend a moment on the exit of that brave man: Bern-
stadt-Gorlitz Country, September 7th, 1757.
The Bevern Army, 36,000 strong, is still there in
its place in the Lausitz, near Gorlitz; Prince Karl lies
quiet in his near Zittau, ever since he burnt that Town,
and stood four days in arms unattackable by Friedrich
with prospect of advantage. The Court of Vienna can-
not comprehend this state of inactivity: "Two to one,
and a mere Bevern against you, the King far away in
Saxony upon his desperate Anti-French mission there:
why not go in upon this Bevern? The French, whom
we are by every courier passionately importuning to
sweep Saxony clear, what will they say of this strange
mode of sweeping Silesia clear? " Maria Theresa and
her Kriegs-Hofrath are much exercised with these
thoughts, and with French and other remonstrances
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? CHAP. vI. 1 DEATH OP WtNTEEPELD. 147
7th Sept. 1757.
that come. Maria Theresa and her Kriegs-Hofrath at
length despatch their supreme Kaunitz, Graf Kaunitz
in person, to stir up Prince Karl, and look into the
matter with his own wise eyes and great heart. Prince
Karl, by way of treat to this high gentleman, deter-
mines on doing something striking upon Bevern.
Bevern lies with his main body about Gbrlitz, in
and to westward of Gorlitz, a pleasant Town on the
left bank of the Neisse (readers know there are Four
Neisses, and which of them this is), with fine hilly
country all round, bulky solitary Heights and Mountains
rising out of fruitful plains, -- two Hochkirchs {High- Kirks), for example, are in this region, one of which
will become extremely notable next year: -- Bevern
has a strong camp leaning on the due Heights here,
with Gorlitz in its lap; and beyond Gorlitz, on the
right bank of the Neisse, united to him by a Bridge,
he has placed Winterfeld with 10,000, who lies with
his back to Gorlitz, proper brooks and fencible places
flanking him, has a Dorf (Thorp) called Moys in his
lap; and, some short furlong beyond Moys, a 2,000 of
his grenadiers planted on the top of a Hill called the
Moysberg, called also the Holzberg (Woodhill) and
Jakelsberg, of which the reader is to take notice.
Fine outpost, with proper batteries atop, with hussar
squadrons and hussar pickets sprinkled about; which
commands a far outlook towards Silesia, and in marching
thither, or in continuing here, is useful to have in hand,
-- were it not a little too distant from the main body.
It is this Jakelsberg, capable of being snatched if one
is sudden enough, that Prince Karl decides on: it may
be good for much or for little to Prince Karl; and, if
even for nothing, it will be a brilliant affront upon
10*
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?
"fifteen miles is not much! ' The thing had its difficulties:
"the Prince himself, it appears, faintly thought it feasible:
"'25,000we; 20,000they; only fifteen miles,' saidhe. But
"the variety of Counsellors: 'Cross-roads, defiles, flank-
"march, dangerous,' said they. And so the third course,
"which was incomparably the worst, found favour in Council
"of War: That of leaving Gabel and Puttkammer to their
"fate; and of pushing off for Zittau leftwards through the
"safe Hills, by Kamnitz, Kreywitz, Rumburg; -- which, if
"the reader look, is by a circuitous, nay quite parabolic
"course, twice or thrice as far: -- 'In that manner, let us
"save Zittau and our Main Body! ' said the Council of War.
"Yes, my friends; a cannon-ball, endeavouring to get into
"Zittau from the town-ditch, would have to take a parabolic
"course; -- and the cannon-ball would be speedy upon it,
"and not have Hill roads to go by! This notable parabolic
"circuit of narrow steep roads may have its difficulties for an
"Army and its baggages! " Enough, the poor Prince adopted
that worst third course; and even made no despatch in getting
into it; and it proved ruinous to Zittau, and to much else,
his own life partly included.
15th July 1757.
To the poor Prince there
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? CHAP. v. l PRIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 133
16th-22d July 1757.
"July 16tli-22d. Thursday night, or Friday 3 a. m. , that
"third and incomparably worst course was adopted: Gabel,
"Puttkammer with his wagons, ensigns, kettledrums, all
"this has to surrender in a day: High Road toZittau, for
"the Austrians, is a smooth march, when they like to gather
"fully there, and start. And in the Hills, with their jolts
"and precipitous windings, infested too by Pandours, the
"poor Prussian Main Body, on its wide parabolic circuit, has
"atimeofit! Loses its pontoons, loses most of its baggage;
"obliged to set fire, not to the Pandours, but to your own
"wagons, and necessaries of army life; encamps on bleak
"heights; no food, not even water; road quite lost, road to
"be rediscovered or invented; Pandours sputtering on you
"out of every bush and hollow, your peasant wagoners
"cutting traces and galloping off: -- such are the phenomena
"of that march by circuit leftward, on the poor Prince's part.
"March began, soon after midnight, Saturday26'$,Schmettau
"asvanguard; and" --
And, in fine, by Friday 22d, after not quite a week
of it, the Prince, curving from northward (in parabolic
course, less speedy than the cannon-ball's would have
been) into sight of Zittau, -- behold, there are the
Austrians far and wide to left of us, encamped im-
pregnable behind the Neisse River there! They have
got the Eckart's Hill, which commands Zittau: -- and
how to get into Zittau and our magazines, and how to
subsist if we were in? The poor Prince takes post on
what Heights there are, on his own side of the Neisse;
looks wistfully down upon Zittau, asking How?
About stroke of noon the Austrians, from their
Eckartsberg, do a thing which was much talked of.
They open battery of red-hot balls upon Zittau; kindle
the roofs of it, shingle-roofs in dry July; set Zittau all
on blaze, the 10,000 innocent souls shrieking in vain
to Heaven and Earth; and before sunset Zittau is ashes
and red-hot walls, not Zittau but a cinder-heap, --
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? 134 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XTOI.
20th-22d July 1767.
Prussian. Garrison not hurt, nor Magazine as yet; Gar-
rison busy with buckets, I should guess, but beginning
to find the air grow very hot. On the morrow morning,
Zittau is a smouldering cinder-heap, hotter and hotter
to the Prussian Garrison; and does not exist as a City. One of the most inhuman actions ever heard of in
War, shrieks universal Germany; asks itself what could
have set a chivalrous Karl upon this devil-like proce-
dure? "Protestants these poor Zittauers were; shone in
commerce; no such weaving, industrying, in allTeutsch-
land elsewhere: Hah! An eye-sorrow, they, with their
commerce, their weavings, and industryings, to Austrian
Papists, who cannot weave or trade? " that was finally
the guess of some persons; -- wide of the mark, we
may well judge. Prince Xavier of Saxony, present in
the Camp too, made no remonstrance, said others. Alas,
my friends, what could Xavier probably avail, the
foolish fellow, with only three regiments? Prince Karl,
it was afterwards evident, could have got Zittau un-
burnt; and could even have kept the Prussians out of
Zittau altogether. Zittau surely would have been very
useful to Prince Karl. But overnight (let us try to
fancy it so), not knowing the Prussian possibilities,
Prince Karl, screwed to the devilish point, had got his
furnaces lighted, his red-hot balls ready; and so, hurried
on by his Pride and by his other Devils, had -- There
are devilish things sometimes done in War. And whole
cities are made ashes by them. For certain, here is
a strange way of commencing your 'Deliverance of
Saxony! ' And Prince Karl carries, truly, a brand-
mark from this conflagration, and will till all memory
of him cease. As to Zittau, it rebuilt itself. Zittau is
alive again; a strong stone city, in our day. On its
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? CHAP. v. ] FEIEDRICH AT LEITMEEITZ. 135
20th-22d July 1757.
new-built Townhouse stands again "Benefacere et male
audire regium est, To do well, and be ill spoken of, is
the part of kings" (amazingly true of them, -- when
they are not shams). What times for Herrnhuth; pre-
paring for its Christian Sabbath, under these omens
near by!
The Prince of Prussia tells us, he "early next
morning (Saturday, 23d July) had his tents pitched;"
which was but an unavailing procedure, with poor
Zittau gone such a road. "Bring us bread out of that
ruined Zittau," ordered the Prince: his Detachment re-
turns ineffectual, "So hot, we cannot march in. " And
the Garrison Colonel (one Dierecke and five battalions
are garrison) sends out word: "So hot, we cannot, stand
it. " "Stand it yet a very little; and--! " answers the
Prince: but Dierecke and battalions cannot, or at least
cannot long enough; and set to marching out. In firm
order, I have no doubt, and with some modicum of
bread: but the tumbling of certain burnt walls parted
Colonel and men, in a sad way. Colonel himself, with
the colours, with the honours (none of his people, it
seems, though they were scattered loose), was picked
up by an Austrian party, and made prisoner. A
miserable business, this of Zittau!
Next evening, Sunday, after dark, Prince of Prussia
strikes his tents again; rolls off in a very unsuccinct
condition; happily unchased, for he admits that chase
would have been ruinous. Off towards Lobau (what
nights for Zinzendorf and Herrnhuth, as such things
tumble past them! ); thence towards Bautzen; and
arrives in the most lugubrious torn condition any Prus-
sian General ever stood in. Reaches Bautzen on those
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? 136 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVIU.
22d-26th July 1757.
terms; -- and is warned that his Brother will be there
in a day or two.
One may fancy Friedrich's indignation, astonish-
ment and grief, when he heard of that march towards
Zittau through the Hills by a parabolic course; the
issue of which is too guessable by Friedrich. He him-
self instantly rises from Leitmeritz; starts, in fit divi-
sions, by the Pascopol, by the Elbe passes, for Pirna;
and, leaving Moritz of Dessau with a 10,000 to secure
the Passes about Pirna, and Keith to come on with the
Magazines, hastens across for Bautzen, to look into
these advancing triumphant Austrians, these strange
Prussian proceedings. On first hearing of that side-
march, his auguries had been bad enough;* but the
event has far surpassed them. Zittau gone; the Army
hurrying home, as if in flight, in that wrecked con-
dition; the door of Saxony, door of Silesia left wide
open, -- Daun has only to choose! Day by day, as
Friedrich advanced to repair that mischief, the news of
it have grown worse on him. Days rife otherwise in
mere bad news. The Russians in Memel, Preussen at
their feet; Soubise's French and the Reichs Army
pushing on for Erfurt, to "deliver Saxony," on that
western side: and from the French-English scene of
operations -- In those same bad days, Royal Highness
of Cumberland has been doing a feat worth notice in
the above connexion! Read this, from an authentic source:
"Hastenbeck, 22d-26thJulyVlUl. Royal Highness, hitching
"back and back, had got to Hameln, a strong place of his on
"the safe side of the Weser; and did at last, Hanover itself
* Letter to Wilhelmina, "Linay, 22d July" (second day of the march
from Leitmeritz): (Enures, xxvn. i. 298.
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? CHAP. v. ] FRIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 137
i6th July 1757.
"being now nigh, call halt; and resolve to make a stand. July
"22d" (very day while the Prince of Prussia came in sight of
Zittau, with the Austrians hanging over it), "Royal Highness
"took post in that favourable vicinity of Hameln; atperfect
"leisure to select his ground: and there sat waiting D'Estre'es,
"-- swamps for our right wing, and the Weser not far off;
"small Hamlet of Hastenbeck in front, and a woody knoll for
"our left; -- totally inactive for four days long; attempting
"nothing upon D'Estre'es and his intricate shufflings, but
"looking idlynoonward to the courses of the sun, till DTistre'es
"should come up. Royal Highness is much swollen into
"obesity, into flabby torpor; a changed man since Pontenoy
''times; shockingly inactive, they say, in this post at Hasten-
"beck. D'Estre'es, too, is ridiculously cautious, 'has manceuv-
"ered fifteen days in advancing about as many British
"miles. ' D'Estrees did at last come up (July 25th), nearly two
"to one of Royal Highness, -- 72,000 some count him, but
"considerably anarchic in parts, overwhelmed with Court
"Generals and Princes of the Blood, for one item; -- and
"decides on attacking, next morning. D'Estrdes duly went to
"reconnoitre, but unluckily 'had mist suddenly falling. ' --
"'Well; we must attack, all the same! '
"And so, 26th July, Tuesday, there ensued a Battle of
"Hastenbeck: the absurdest Battle in the world; and which
"ought, in fairness, to have been lost by both, though Royal
"Highness alone had the ill luck. Both Captains behaved "very poorly; and each of them had a subaltern who behaved
"well. D'Estre'es, with his 70,000 versus 40,000 posted there,
"knows nothing ofRoyalHighness's position; sees only Royal
"Highness's left wing on that woody Height; and, after hours
"of preliminary cannonading, sends out General Chevert
"upon that. Chevert, his subaltern" (a bit of right soldier-
stuff, the Chevert whom we knew at Prag, in old Belleisle
times), "goes upon it like fury; whom the Brunswick Grena-
"diers resist in like humour, hotter and hotter. Some hard
"fighting there, on Royal Highness's left; Chevert very fiery,
''Grenadiers very obstinate; till, on the centre, westward, in
"Royal Highness's chief battery there, some spark went the
"wrong way, and a powder-wagon shot itself aloft with
"hideous blaze and roar; and in the confusion, the French
"rushed in, and the battery was lost. Which discouraged the
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? 138 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XvIII
26th July 1757.
"Grenadiers; so thatChevert made some progress upon them,
"on their woody Height, and began to have confident hope.
"Had Chevert known, or had D'Estrdes known, there was,
"close behind said Height, a Hollow, through which these
"Grenadiers might have been taken in rear. Dangerous
"Hollow, much neglected by Royal Highness, who has only
"GeneralBreitenbach with a weak party there. This Breiten-
"bach, happening to have a head of his own, and finding
"nothing to do in that Hollow or to rightward, bursts out, of
"his own accord, onChevert's left flank; cannonading, volley-
"ing, horse-charging; -- the sound of which (* Hah, French
"there too! ') struck a damp through Royal Highness, who
"instantly ordered retreat, and took the road. What singular
"ill luck that sound of Breitenbach to Royal Highness! For
"observe, the effect of Breitenbach, -- which was, to recover
"the lost battery (gallant young Prince of Brunswick, 'Here-
"ditary Prince,' or Duke that is to be, striking in upon it with
"bayonet-charge at the right moment), -- made D'Estrees
"too order retreat! ' Battle lost,' thinks D'Estre'es;-- and with
"good cause, had Breitenbach been supported at all. But no
"subaltern durst; and Royal Highness himself was notover-
"takeable, so far on the road. Royal Highness wept on hear-
"ing; the Brunswick Grenadiers too are said to have wept
"(for rage); and probably Breitenbach and the Hereditary
"Prince. "*
This is the last of Royal Highness's exploits in War. The
retreat had been ordered "To Hannover;" but the bagagge
by mistake took the road for Minden; and Royal Highness
followed thither, --much the same what road he or it takes.
Friedrich might still hope he would retreat on Magdeburg;
40,000 good soldiers might find a Captain there, and be
valuable against a D'Estre'es and Soubise in those parts. But
no; it was through Bremen Country, to Stade, into the Sea,
that Royal Highness, by ill luck, retreated! He has still one
great vexation to give Friedrich, -- to us almost a comfort,
knowing what followed out of it; -- and will have to be men-
tioned one other time in this History, and then go over our
horizon altogether.
* Mauvillon, i. 228; Anonymous of Hamburg, i. 206 (who gives a Plan and all manner of details, if needed by anybody); Kausler; &c. &c.
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? CHAP, v. ] FRIEDRICH AT LB1TMERITZ. 139
28th July 1757.
Whether Friedrich had hoard of Hastenbeck the
day his Brother and he met (July 29th, at Bautzen),
I do not know: but it is likely enough he may have
got the news that very morning; which was not calcu-
lated to increase one's good humour! His meeting with
the Prince is royal, not fraternal, as all men have
heard. Let us give, with brevity, from Schmettau
Junior, the exact features of it; and leave the candid
reader, who has formed to himself some notion of king-
ship and its sorrows and stern conditions (having per-
haps himself something of kingly, in a small potential
way), to interpret the matter, and make what he can
of it:
"Bautzen, 29th July 1757. The King with reinforcement is
"coming hither, from the Dresden side; to take up the reins
"of this dishevelled Zittau Army; to speed with it against the
"Austrians, and, if humanly possible, lock the doors of Silesia
"and Saxony again, and chase the intruders away. Prince of
"Prussia and the otherGeneralshave notice, the night before:
"'At 4 a. m. to-morrow (29th), wait his Majesty. ' Prince and
"Generals wait accordingly, all there but Goltz and Winter- "feld; they not, which is noted.
"For above an hour, no King; Prince and Generals ride
"forward: -- there is the King coming; Prince Henri, Duke
"Ferdinand of Brunswick, and others in his train. King
"noticing them, at about 300 paces distance, drew bridle;
"Prince of Prussia did the like, train and he saluting with
"their hats, as did the King's train. in return. King did not
"salute; -- on the contrary, he turned his horse round, and
"dismounted, as did everybody else on such signal. King lay
"down on the ground, as if waitingthe arrival of hisVanguard;
"and bade Winterfeld and Goltz sit by him. " Poor Prince of
Prussia, and battered heavy-laden Generals! "After a minute
"or two, Goltz came over and whispered to the Prince.
"'Hither, meine Herren, allofyou; a message from his Ma-
"iesty! ' cried the Prince. Whereupon, to Generals and
''Prince, Goltz delivered, in equable official tone, these
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? 140 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book. XVIII.
30th July 1757.
"affecting words: 'His Majesty commands me to inform your
"Koyal Highness, That he has cause to be greatly discon-
"tented with you; that you deserve to have a Court-martial
"held over you, which would sentence you and all your
"Generals to death; but that his Majesty will not carry the
"matter so far, being unable to forget that in the Chief
"General he has a Brother! '"*
The Prince answered, He wanted only a Court-
martial; and the like, in stiff tone. Here is the Letter
he writes next day to his Brother, with the Answer:
Prince of Prussia to the King.
"Bautzen, 30th July 1757.
"My dear Brother, -- The Letters you have written me,
"and the reception I yesterday met with, are sufficient proof
"that, in your opinion, I have ruined my honour and reputa-
tion. This grieves, but it does not crush me, as in my own
"mind I am not conscious of the least reproach. I am perfectly
"convinced that I did not act by caprice: I did not follow the
"counsels of people incapable of giving good ones; I have
"done what I thought to be suitablest for the Army. All your
"Generals will do me that justice.
"I reckon it useless to beg of you to have my conduct in-
"vestigated: this would be a favour you would do me; so I
"cannot expect it. My health has been weakened by these
"fatigues, still more by these chagrins. I have gone to lodge
"in the Town, to recruit myself.
"I have requested theDuke of Bevern to present theArmy
"Reports; he can give you explanation of everything. Be
"assured, my dear Brother, that in spite of the misfortunes
"which overwhelm me, and which I have not deserved, I shall
"never cease to be attached to the State; and as a faithful
"member of the same, my joy will be perfect when I learn the
"happy issue of your Enterprises. Ihave the honour to be,"--
August Wilhelm. **
* Schmettau, pp. 384-5.
** Main de Maitre, p. 21.
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? CHAP, v. ] FRIEDRICII AT LEITMERITZ.
30th July 1757.
King's Answer, the same day.
"Camp near Bautzen, 30th July 1757.
"My dear Brother, -- Your bad guidance has greatly
"deranged my affairs. It is not the Enemy, it is your ill-
"judged measures that have done me all this mischief. My
"Generals are inexcusable; either for advising you so ill, or
"in permitting you to follow resolutions so unwise. Your ears
"are accustomed to listen to the talk of flatterers only. Daun
"has not flattered you; -- behold the consequences. In this
"sad situation, nothing is left for me but trying the lastex-
"tremity. I must go and give battle; and if we cannot conquer,
"we must all of us have ourselves killed.
"I do not complain of your heart; but I do of your incapa-
city, of your want of judgment in not choosing better
"methods. A man who"" (like me; mark the phrase, from such
a quarter! ) "has but a few days to live need not dissemble. I
"wish you better fortune than mine has been; and that all the
"miseries and bad adventures you have had may teach you to
"treat important things with more of care, more of sense, and
"more of resolution. The greater part of the misfortunes
"which I now see to be near comes only from you. You and
"your Children will be more overwhelmed by them than I.
"Be persuaded nevertheless that I have always loved you,
"and that with these sentiments I shall die. -- Friedbich. ' *
As the King went off, to the Heights of Weissen-
berg, Zittau way, to encamp there against the Austrians,
that same evening, the Prince did not answer this
Letter, -- except by asking verbally through Lieutenant-
Colonel Lentulus (a mute Swiss figure, much about the
King, who often turns up in these Histories), "for
leave to return to Dresden by the first escort. " -- "De-
pends on himself; -- an escort is going this night! "
answered Friedrich. And the Prince went accordingly;
and, by two stages, got into Dresden with his escort
on the morrow. And had, not yet conscious of it, * Main de UaUre, p. 22.
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? 142 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [bOOK Xvni.
30th July -- 25th Aug. 1757.
quitted the Field of War altogether; and was soon about
to quit the world, and die, poor Prince. Died within
a year, 12th June 1758, at Oranienburg, beside his
Family, where he had latterly been* -- Winterfeld was
already gone, six months before him; Goltz went, shortly
after him; the other Zittau Generals all survived this
War.
The poor Prince's fate, as natural, was much pitied;
and Friedrich, to this day, is growled at for "inhuman
treatment" and so on. Into which question we do not
enter, except to say that Friedrich too had his sorrows;
and that probably his concluding words, "with these
sentiments I shall die," were perfectly true. Main de
Mmtre went widely abroad over the world. The poor
Prince's words and procedures were eagerly caught up
by a scrutinising public, -- and some of the former
were not too guarded. At Dresden, he said, one morn-
ing, calling on a General Finck whom we shall hear
of again: "Four such disagreeing, thin-skinned, high
"pacing (uneinige,piquirte) Generals as Fouquet, Schmet-
"tau, Winterfeld and Goltz, about you, what was to be
"done! " said the Prince to Finck. **
His Wife, when at last he came to Oranienburg,
nursed him fondly; that is one comfortable fact. Prince
Henri, to the last, had privately a grudge of peculiar
intensity, on this score, against all the peccant parties,
King not excepted. As indeed he was apt to have, on
various scores, the jealous, too vehement little man.
Friedrich's humour at this time I can guess to have
been well-nigh desperate. He talks once of "a horse,
on too much provocation, getting the bit between its
* Preuss, n. 60 (ib. 78). ** lb. n. 79 n. : see ib. 60, 78.
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? CHAP. v. ] PRIEDRICH AT LEITMT3RTTZ. 143
30th July -- 25th Aug. 1757.
teeth; regardless thenceforth of chasms and precipices:"* -- though he himself never carries it to that length;
and always has a watchful eye, when at his swiftest!
From Weissenberg, that night, he drives-in thePandours
on Zittau and the Eckartsberg; but the Austrians don't
come out. And, for three weeks, in this fierce neces-
sity of being speedy, he cannot get one right stroke at
the Austrians; who sit inexpugnable upon their Eckart's
Hill, bristling with cannon; and can in no way be ma-
noeuvered down, or forced or enticed into Battle. A
baffling, bitterly impatient three weeks; -- two of them,
the worst two, he spends at Weissenberg itself, chasing
Pandours, and scuffling on the surface, till Keith and
the Magazine-train come up; -- even writing Verses
now and then, when the hours get unendurable other-
wise!
The instant Keith and the Magazines are come, he
starts for Bernstadt; 56,000 strong after this junction: -- and a Prussian Officer, dating "Bernstadtel" (Bern-
stadt on the now Maps), "21st August 1757," sends
us this account; which also is but of preliminary na-
ture:
"August 15th, Majesty left Weissenberg, and marched
"hither, much to the enemy's astonishment, who had lain
"perfectly quiet for a fortnight past, fancying they were a
"mastiff on the door-sill of Silesia: little thinking to be
"trampled on in this unceremonious way! General Beck, when
"our hussars of the vanguard made appearance, had to saddle
"and ride as for life, leaving every rag of baggage, and forty
"of his Pandours captive. Our hussars stuck to him, chasing
"him into Ostritz, where they surprised General Nadasti at
"dinner; and did a still better stroke of business: Nadasti
"himself could scarcely leap on horseback and get off; left all
* Letter to Wilhelmlna, "Linay, 22d July" (cited above).
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? 144 SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XVin.
30th July -- 25th Aug. 1757.
"his field-equipage,coaches,horses,kitchen-utensils, flunkies
"seventy-two in number, -- and, what was worst of all, a
"secret box, in which was found certain Dresden Cor-
"respondences of a highly treasonous character, which now
"the writers there may quake to think of;" --if Friedrich, or
we, could take much notice of them, in this press of hurries! *
Next day, August 16th, Friedrich detached five
battalions to Gorlitz; -- Prince Karl (he calls it Daun)
still camping on the Eckartsberg; -- and himself, about
4 p. m. , with the main Army, marched up to those
Austrians on their Hill, to see if they would fight. **
No, they wouldn't: they merely hustled themselves
round so as to face him; face him, and even flank him
with cannon batteries if he came too near. Steep
ground, "precipitous front of rocks," in some places.
"A hollow before their front; Village of Wittgenau
"there, and three roads through it, one of them with width
"for wheels;" Daun sitting inaccessible, in short. Next
day, Winterfeld, with a detached Division, crossed the
Neisse, tried Nadasti: "Attack Nadasti, on his woody
knoll at Hirschfeld yonder; they will have to rise and
save him! " In vain, that too; they let Nadasti take his
own luck: for four days (16th-20th August) everything
was tried, in vain.
No Battle to be had from these Austrians. And it
would have been so infinitely convenient to us: Reichs
Army and Soubise's French are now in the actual pre-
cints of Erfurt (August 25th, Soubise took quarter
there); Royal Highness of Cumberland is staggering
back into the Sea; Richelieu's French (not D'EstreWs
any more, D'Estre'es being superseded in this strange
way) are aiming, it is thought, towards Magdeburg,
? Helden-Geschichte, rr. 596-599. ? * (Emret de Fridiric, iv. 137.
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? CHAP. v. ] FKIEDRICH AT LEITMERITZ. 145
25th-31at Aug. 1757. ;
had they once done with Royal Highness; Swedes are
getting hold of Pommern; Russians, in huge force, of
Preussen: how comfortable to have had our Austrians
finished before going upon the others! For four days
more (August 20th-24th), Friedrich arranges his Army
for watching the Austrians, and guarding Silesia; --
Bevern and Winterfeld to take command in his absence:
-- and, August 25th, has to march, with a small Di-
vision, which, at Dresden, he will increase by Moritz's,
now needless in the Pirna Country; towards Thiiringen;
to look into Soubise and the Reichs Army, as a thing
that absolutely cannot wait. Arrives in Dresden, Mon-
day, August 29th; and -- Or let the old Newspaper
report it, with the features of life:
"Dresden, 29th August 1757, This day, about noon, his
"Majesty, with a part of his Army from the Upper Lausitz,
"arrived at the Neustadt here. Though the kitchen had been
"appointed to be set up at what they call The Barns (Die
"Scheunen), his Majesty was pleased to alight inKonigsbruck
"Street, at the new House of Briihl's Chamberlain, Haller;
"and there passed the night. Tuesday evening, 30th, his
"Majesty the King, with his Lifeguards of Horse and of Foot,
"also with the Gens d'Armes and other Battalions, marched
"through the City, about a mile out on the Freiberg road,
"and took quarter in Klein Hamberg. The 31st, all the Army
"followed," -- a poor 23,000, Moritz and he, that was all! * --
"theKing's field-equipage, which had been taken from the
"Briihl Palace and packed in twelve wagons, went with
"them. "**
* "22,860" (Tempelhof, I. 228).
** ROdonbeck, p. 816; Preuss, n. 84n. ; Mitchell's Interview (Memoirs
and Papers, i. 270).
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. X. 10
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? 146
SEVEN-YEARS WAR RISES TO A HEIGHT, [book XTCH.
7th Sept. 1757.
CHAPTER VI.
DEATH OP WIKTERPELD.
Before going upon this forlorn march of Fried-
rich's, one of the forlornest a son of Adam ever had,
we must speak of a thing which befel to rearward,
while the march was only half-done, and which greatly
influenced it and all that followed. It was the seventh
day of Friedrich's march, not above eighty miles of it
yet done, when Winterfeld perished in fight . No Win-
terfeld now to occupy the Austrians in his absence; to
stand between Silesia and them, or assist him farther
in his lonesome struggle against the world. Let us
spend a moment on the exit of that brave man: Bern-
stadt-Gorlitz Country, September 7th, 1757.
The Bevern Army, 36,000 strong, is still there in
its place in the Lausitz, near Gorlitz; Prince Karl lies
quiet in his near Zittau, ever since he burnt that Town,
and stood four days in arms unattackable by Friedrich
with prospect of advantage. The Court of Vienna can-
not comprehend this state of inactivity: "Two to one,
and a mere Bevern against you, the King far away in
Saxony upon his desperate Anti-French mission there:
why not go in upon this Bevern? The French, whom
we are by every courier passionately importuning to
sweep Saxony clear, what will they say of this strange
mode of sweeping Silesia clear? " Maria Theresa and
her Kriegs-Hofrath are much exercised with these
thoughts, and with French and other remonstrances
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? CHAP. vI. 1 DEATH OP WtNTEEPELD. 147
7th Sept. 1757.
that come. Maria Theresa and her Kriegs-Hofrath at
length despatch their supreme Kaunitz, Graf Kaunitz
in person, to stir up Prince Karl, and look into the
matter with his own wise eyes and great heart. Prince
Karl, by way of treat to this high gentleman, deter-
mines on doing something striking upon Bevern.
Bevern lies with his main body about Gbrlitz, in
and to westward of Gorlitz, a pleasant Town on the
left bank of the Neisse (readers know there are Four
Neisses, and which of them this is), with fine hilly
country all round, bulky solitary Heights and Mountains
rising out of fruitful plains, -- two Hochkirchs {High- Kirks), for example, are in this region, one of which
will become extremely notable next year: -- Bevern
has a strong camp leaning on the due Heights here,
with Gorlitz in its lap; and beyond Gorlitz, on the
right bank of the Neisse, united to him by a Bridge,
he has placed Winterfeld with 10,000, who lies with
his back to Gorlitz, proper brooks and fencible places
flanking him, has a Dorf (Thorp) called Moys in his
lap; and, some short furlong beyond Moys, a 2,000 of
his grenadiers planted on the top of a Hill called the
Moysberg, called also the Holzberg (Woodhill) and
Jakelsberg, of which the reader is to take notice.
Fine outpost, with proper batteries atop, with hussar
squadrons and hussar pickets sprinkled about; which
commands a far outlook towards Silesia, and in marching
thither, or in continuing here, is useful to have in hand,
-- were it not a little too distant from the main body.
It is this Jakelsberg, capable of being snatched if one
is sudden enough, that Prince Karl decides on: it may
be good for much or for little to Prince Karl; and, if
even for nothing, it will be a brilliant affront upon
10*
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