Speedy Henri marched for home,
"April 20th; and was all across the Mountains, April 23d:
"a profitable swift nine days.
"April 20th; and was all across the Mountains, April 23d:
"a profitable swift nine days.
Thomas Carlyle
Opulent Frankfurt, on his right; how handy
"would that be, were not Reichs Law so express! Marburg,
"Giessen are outposts of his; on which side one of Ferdinand s
"people, Prince von Ysenburg, watches him with an 8 or
"10,000, capable of mischief in that quarter.
"On the Eve of Newyear's day, or on the auspicious Day
"itself, Soubise requests, of the Frankfurt Authorities, per-
"mission for a regiment of his to march through that Imperial
"City. To which, by law and theory, the Imperial City can
"say Yes or No; but practically cannot, without grave incon-
"venience, say other than Yes, though most Frankfurters
"wish it could. 'Yes,' answer the Frankfurt Magnates; Yes,
"surely, under the known conditions. Tuesday, January 2d,
"about 5 in the morning, while all is still dark in Frankfurt,
"regiment Nassau appears, accordingly, at the Sachsen-
"hausen Gate, Townguard people all ready to receive it and
"escort it through; and is admitted as usual. Quite as usual:
"but instead of being escorted through, it orders, in calm
"peremptory voice, the Townguard, To ground arms; with
"calm rapidity, proceeds to admit ten other regiments or
"battalions, six of them German; seizes the artillery on the
"Walls, seizes all the other Gates: -- and poor Frankfurt
"finds itself tied hand and foot, almost before it is out of bed!
"Done with great exactitude, with the minimum of confusion,
"and without a hurt skin to anybody. The Inhabitants stood
"silent, gazing; the Townguard laid down their arms, and
"went home. Totally against law; but cleverly done; perhaps
"Soubise's chief exploit in the world; certainly the one real
"success the French have yet had.
"Soubise made haste to summon the Magistrates:'Law of
'"Necessity alone, most honoured Sirs! Reichs Law is clear
"'against me. But all the more shall private liberties, re-
"'ligions, properties, in this Imperial Free-Town, be sacred
"'to us. Defence against any aggression; and the strictest of
"'discipline observed. Depend on me, I bid you! ' -- And
"kept his word to an honourable degree, they say; orinab-
"sence, made it be kept, during the Four Years that follow.
"Most Frankfurters are, at heart, Anti-French: but Soubise's
"affability was perfect; and he gave evening parties of a
"sublime character; the Magistrates all appearing there,
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. XI. 1
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? 98 FRIEDBICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
16th Feb. -- 2d March 1759.
"in their square perukes and long gowns, with a mournful
"joy. "*
Soubise soon went home, to assist in important businesses,
-- Invasion of England, no less; let England look to itself this
Summer! -- and Broglio succeeded him, as Army-Captain in
the Frankfurt parts; with laurels accruing, more or less.
Soubise, like Broglio, began withRossbach; Soubise ends with
Frankfurt, for the present; where Broglio also gains his chief
laurels, as will shortly be seen. Frankfurt is a great gain to
France, though an illicit one. It puts a bar on Duke Ferdinand
in that quarter; secures a starting-point for attacks onHessen,
Hanover; for cooperation withContades and the Lower Rhine.
It is the one success France has yet had in this War, or pretty
much that it ever had in it. Due to Prince de Soubise, in that
illegal fashion. -- A highly remarkable little Boy, now in his
tenth year, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, has his wondering eyes
on these things: and, short while hence, meets daily, on the
stairs and lobbies at home, a pleasant French Official Gentle-
man who is quartered there; between whom and Papa occur
rubs, -- as readers may remember, and shall hear in April
coming.
Grand Cordon disrupted: Erfurt Country, l&th February--
2d March. "About six weeks after this Frankfurt achievement,
"certain Reichsfolk and Austrian Auxiliaries are observed to
"be cutting down endless timber, '18,800 palisades, 6,000
"' trees of 60feet,' and other huge furnishings, from the poor
"Duke of Gotha's woods; evidently meaning to fortify thein-
"selves in Erfurt. Upon which Prince Henri detaches a Gen-
"eral Knobloch thitherward, Duke Ferdinand contributing
"4,000 to meet him there; which combined expedition, after
"some sharp knocking and shoving, entirely disrooted the
"Austrians and Reichsfolk, and sent them packing. Had them
"quite torn out by the end of the month; and had planned 'to
"' attack them on two sides at once' (March 2d), with a view
"of swallowing them whole, -- when they (these Reichs
"Volscians, in such a state of flutter) privately hastened off,
"one and all of them, the day before. "**
This was Breakage First of the Grand Cordon; an explosive
hurling of it back out of those Erfurt parts. Done by Prince
>> Tempelhof, m. 7-8; Stenzel, v. 198-200.
** Narrative, in Hetden-Geschichte, v. 1022 et seq.
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? CHAP, i. l PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 99
4th-31tt March 1759.
Henri's people, in concert with Duke Ferdinand's, -- who were
mutually interested in the thing.
Breakage Second: Erfurt-Fulda Country, 31st March -- 8th
April. "About the end of March, these intrusive Austrian
"Reichsfolk made some attempt to come back into those
"Countries; but again got nothing but hard knocks; and gave
"up the Erfurt project. For, close following on this First,
"there "was a Second still deeper and rougher Breakage, in
"those same regions; the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick
"dashing through, on a special Errand of Ferdinand's own"
(of which presently), "with an 8 or 10,000, in his usual fiery
"manner; home into the very bowels of the Reich (April 3d,
"and for a week onward); and returning with 'above 2,000
"' prisoners' in hand; especiallywith a Reich well frightened
"behind him;--still in time for "Duke Ferdinand's Adventure"
(in fact, for his Battle of Bergen, of which we are to hear).
"Had been well assisted by Prince Henri, who 'made danger-
"'ous demonstrations in the distance,' and was extremely
"diligent, -- though the interest was chiefly Ferdinand's, this
"time. "* -- Contemporary with that First Erfurt Business,
"there went on, 300 miles away from it, in the quite opposite
"direction, another of the same; -- too curious to be omitted.
Across the Polish Frontier: February 24th -- March 4th. "In
"the end of February, General Wobersnow, an active man,
"was detached from Grlogau, Over into Poland, Posen way,
"To overturn the Russian provision-operations thereabouts;
"in particular, to look into a certain high-flying Polack, a
"Prince Sulkowski of those parts; who with all diligence is
"gathering food, in expectation of the Russian advent; and
"indeed has formally 'declared War against the King of
"'Prussia;' having the right, he says, as a Polish Magnate,
"subject only to his own high thought in such affairs. The
"Russians and their wars are dear to Sulkowski. He fell
"prisoner in their cause, at Zorndorf, last Autumn; was stuck,
"like all the others, Soltikof himself among them, into the
"vaulted parts of Custrin Garrison: 'I am sorry I have no
"'Siberia for you,' said Friedrich, looking, not in a benign
"way, on the captive Dignitaries, that hot afternoon; 'goto
'"Ciistrin, and see what you have provided for yourselves! '
"Which they had to do; nothing, for certain days, but
* Tempelhof, in. 19-22.
7*
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? 100 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
4th March 1759.
"cellarage to lodge in; King inexorable, deaf to remonstrance.
"Which possibly may have contributed to kindle Sulkowski
"into these extremely high proceedings.
"At any rate, Wobersnow punctually looks in upon him:
"seizes his considerable stock of Russian proviants; his belli-
"gerent force, his high person itself; and in one luckless hour,
"snuffs him out from the list of potentates. His belligerent
"force, about 1,000 Polacks, were all compelled, 'by the
"'cudgel,' say my authorities, to take Prussian service" (in
garrison-regiments, and well scattered about, I suppose); "his
"own high person found itself sitting locked in Grlogau, left
"to its reflexions. Sat thus 'till the War ended,' say some;
"certainly till the Sulkowski War had been sufficiently ex-
ploded by the laughter of mankind. " Here are, succinctly,
the dates of this small memorability:
"End of February, Wobersnow gathers, at Glogau, a
"force of about 8,000 horse and foot. Marched, 24th February,
"over Oder Bridge, straight into Poland; that same night,
"to the neighbourhood of Lissa and Reisen (Sulkowski's
"dominion), about thirty miles north-east of Glogau. Sul-
"kowski done next day; -- part of the capture is 'fifteen
"'small guns. ' Wobersnow goes, next, forPosen; arrives,
"28th February; destroys Russian Magazine, ransoms Jews.
"Shoots out other detachments on the Magazine Enterprise;
"-- detaches Platen along the Wartha, where are picked up
"various items, among others 'eighty tuns of brandy,' -- but
"himself proceeds no farther than Posen. March 4th, sets
"out again from Posen, homewards. "* We shall hear again
of Wobersnow, in a much more important way, before long.
To the Polish Republic so-called, Friedrich explained
politely, not apologetically: "Since you allow the Russians to
march through you in attack of me, it is evident to your just
minds that the attacked party must have similar privilege. "
"Truly! " answered they, in their just minds, generally; and
made no complaint about Sulkowski (though Polish Majesty
and Primate endeavoured to be loud about 'Invasion' and the
like): -- and indeed Polish Republic was lying, for a long
* Nachrichl lion der Vniernehmnng des General-Majors von Wobersnow
in Polen, im Feb. und Man 1759: In Seyfarth, Beylagen, n. 526-529. Hel-
den-Geschichle, v. 829.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 101
13th April 1759.
while past, as if broken-backed; on the public highway; a
Nation anarchic every fibre of it, and under the feet and
hoofs of travelling Neighbours, especially of Russian Neigh-
bours; and is not now capable of saying much for itself in
such cases, or of doing any thing at all.
Frankfurt Country, April 13th: Duke Ferdinands Battle of
Bergen. "Duke Ferdinand, fully aware what a stroke that
"seizure of Frankfurt was to him, resolved to risk a long
"march at this bad season, and attempt to drive the French
"out. Contades was absent in Paris, -- no fear of an attack
"from Contades's Army; Broglio's in Frankfurt, grown now
"to about 35,000, can perhaps be beaten if vigorously at-
tacked. Ferdinand appoints a rendezvous at Fulda, of
"various Corps, Prince Ysenburg's and others, that lie
"nearest, Hessians many of them, Hanoverians others; pro-
ceeds, himself, to Fulda, with a few attendants " (a drive of
about 200 miles); -- "having left Lord George Sackville"
(mark the sad name of him! ) -- Sackville, head of the
"English, and General Sporken a Hanoverian, -- to take
"charge in Miinster Country, during his absence. It was
"from Fulda that he shot out the Hereditary Prince on that
"important Errand we lately spoke of, under the head of
'"Breakage Second,'-- namely, to clear his right flank, and
"scare theReich well off him, while he should be marching
"on Frankfurt. All which, Henri assisting from the distance,
"the Hereditary Prince performed to perfection, --and was
"back (April 8th), in excellent time for the Battle.
"Ferdinand stayed hardly a day in Fulda, ranking him-
"self and getting on the road. Did his long march of above
"100 miles, without accident or loss of time; -- of course,
"scaring home the Broglio Outposts in haste enough', and
"awakening Broglio's attention in a high degree; -- and
"arrives, Thursday, April 12th, atWindecken, a Village
"about fifteen miles north-east of Frankfurt; where he passes
"the night under arms; intending Battle on the morrow.
"Brogliois all assembled, 35,000 strong; his Assailant, with
"the Hereditary Prince come in, counts rather under 30,000.
"Broglio is posted in, and on both sides of, Bergen, ahigh-
"lying Village, directly on Ferdinand's road to Frankfurt.
"Windecken is about fifteen miles from Frankfurt; Bergen
"about six: -- idle Tourists of our Time, on their return from
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? 102 PRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
13th April 1759.
"Homburg to that City, leave Bergen a little on their left.
"The ground is mere hills, woody dales, marshy brooks;
"Broglio's position, with its Village, and Hill, and ravines,
"and advantages, is the choicest of the region; and Broglio's
"methods, procedures and arrangements in it, are applauded
"by all judges.
"Friday, 13th April 1759, Ferdinand is astir bv "comes on, along one of those woody valleys, pickeering, re-
"connoitering ;^--- in the end, directly up the Hill of Bergen;
"straight upon the key-point. It is about 10 A. m. , when the
"batteries and musketries awaken there; very loud indeed,
"for perhaps two hours or more. Prince von Ysenburg is
"leader of Ferdinand's attacking party. Their attack is hot
"and fierce, and they stick to it steadily; though garden-
"hedges, orchards and impediments are many, and Broglio,
"with much cannon helping, makes vigorous defence. These
"Ysenburgers fought till their cartridges were nearly spent,
"and Ysenburg himself lay killed; but could not take
"Bergen. Nor could the Hereditary Prince; who, in aid of
"them, tried it in flank, with his own usual impetuosity re-
"kindling theirs, and at first with some success; but was him-
"self taken in flank by Broglio's Reserve, and obliged to
"desist. No getting ofBergen by that method.
"Military critics say coolly, 'You should have smashed it
"'well with cannon, first' (which Ferdinand had not in
"stock here); 'and especially have flung grenadoes into it,
"'till it was well in flame: impossible otherwise! '* The
"Ysenburgers and Hereditary Prince withdraw. No pursuit
"of them; or almost less than none; for the one or two
"French regiments that tried it (against order), nearly got
"cut up. Broglio, like a very Daun at Kolin, had strictly
"forbidden all such attempts: 'On no temptation quit your
"'ground! ' s
"TheBattle, after this, lay quiet all afternoon; Ferdinand
"still insight; motioning much, to tempt French valour into
"chasing of him. But all in vain: Broglio, though his sub-
alterns kept urging, remonstrating, was peremptory not to
"stir. Whereupon, towards evening, across certain woody
"Heights, perhaps still with some hope of drawing him out,
"Ferdinand made some languid attempt on Broglio's wing,
* Mauvillon, n. 19.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 103
lith-20th April 1759.
"or wings; -- and this also failing, had to give up the affair.
"He continued cannonading till deep in the night; withdrew
"to Windecken: and about two next morning, marched for
"home, --still with little or no pursuit: but without hope of
"Frankfurt henceforth. And in fact, has a painful Summer
"ahead.
"Ferdinand had lost 5 cannon, and of killed and wounded
"2,500; the French counted their loss at about 1,900. * The
"joy of France over this immense victory was extraordinary.
"Broglio was made Prince of the Reich, Marechal de France;
"would have been raised to the stars, had one been able, --
"for the time being. 'And your immense victory,' so sneered
"the bystanders, 'consists in not being beaten, under those
'"excellent conditions; -- perhaps victory is a rarity just
"'now'"
This is the Battle which our Boy-Friend Johann Wolf-
gang watched with such interest, from his garret-window,
Hour after hour; all Frankfurt simmering round him, in such
a whirlpool of self-contradictory emotions; till towards even-
ing, when, in long rows of carts, poor wounded Hessians and
Hanoverians came jolting in, and melted every heart into
pityt into wailing sorrow, and eagerness to help. A little
later, Papa Goethe, stepping down stairs, came across the
Official French Gentleman; who said radiantly: "Doubtless
"you congratulate yourself and us on this victory to his
"Majesty's arms. " "Not a whit (Keineswegs)" answered Papa
Goethe, a stiff kind of man, nowise in the mood of con-
gratulating: "on the contrary, I wish they had chased you to
"the Devil, though I had had to go too! " Which was a great
relief to his feelings, though a dangerous one in the cir-
cumstances. **
Breakage Third: Over the Metal Mountains into Bohmen'
{April 14th-20th). "Ferdinand's Battle was hardly ending,
"when Prince Henri poured across the Mountains, -- in two
"columns, Htilsen leading the inferior or rightmost one, --
"into Leitmeritz-Eger Country; and made a most successful
"business of the Austrian Magazines he found there. Maga-
zines all filled; Enemy all galloping for Prag: -- Daun
* Mauvillon, n. 10-19; Tempelhof, m. 26-31.
** Goethe's Werke (Stuttgart und Tubingen, 1829), xxiv. (Dichtung und
Wahrheit, i. ) 153-157.
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? 104 FRIEDRICII LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
16th April--5th May 1759.
"himself, who is sitting vigilant, far in the interior, at
"Jaromirtz this month past, was thrown into huge flurry, for
"some days! Speedy Henri (almost on the one condition of
"being speedy) had his own will of the Magazines: burnt,
"Hiilsen and he, 'about 600,000^. worth' ot Austrian pro-
"vender in those parts, 'what would have kept 50,000 men
"' five months in bread' (not to mention hay at all); gave the
"Enemy sore slaps (caught about 3,000 of him, not yet got on
"gallop for Prag); burnt his 200 boats on the Elbe: -- forced
"him to begin anew at the beginning; and did, in effect,
"considerably lame and retard certain of his operations
"through the Summer.
Speedy Henri marched for home,
"April 20th; and was all across the Mountains, April 23d:
"a profitable swift nine days. "* -- And on the sixth day
hence, he will have something similar, and still more im-
portant, on foot. A swift man, when he must!
Breakage Fourth: Into Mahren (April 16th-21st). "This is
"Fouquet's attempt, alluded to above; of which, -- as every
"reader must be satisfied with Small-War, -- we will give
"only the dates. Fouquet, ranking at Leobschiitz, in Neisse
"Country, did break through into Mahren, pushing the
"Austrians before him; but found the Magazines either
"emptied, or too inaccessible for any worth they had; --
"could do nothing on the Magazines; and returned without
"result; home at Leobschiitz again on the fifth day. "** This,
however, had a sequel for Fouquet; which, as it brought the
King himself into those neighbourhoods, we shall have to
mention, farther on.
Breakage Fifth: Into Franken (May 50i--June 1st). "This
"was Prince Henri's Invasion of the Bamberg-Nurnberg
"Countries; a much sharper thing than in any former Year.
"Much the most famous, and," luckily for us, "the last of
"the Small-War affairs for the present. Started, -- from
"Tschopau region, Bamberg way, -- April29th--May 5th.
"In Three Columns: Finck leftmost, and foremost (Fink had
"marched, April 29th, pretending to mean for Bohemia);
"after whom Knobloch; and (May 5th) the Prince himself.
"Who has an eye to the Keichs Magazines and Preparations,
"as usual; -- nay, an eye to their Camp of Rendezvous, and
* Tempelhof, m. 47-53; Helden-Geschichte, v. 968-966.
** HMen-Geschichle, V. 958-963; Tempelhof, in. 44-47.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 105
5th May -- 1st June 1759.
"to a fight with their miscellaneous Selves and Auxiliaries, if
"they will stand fight. 'You will have to leave Saxony, and
'"help us with the Russians, soon: beat those Reichs people
"' first! ' urged the King; 'well-beaten, they will not trouble
"'Saxony for a while. ' If they will stand fight? But they
"would not at all. They struck their tents everywhere;
"burnt their own Magazines, in some cases; and only went
"mazing hither and thither, -- gravitating all upon Niirn-
"berg, and an impregnable Camp which they have in that
"neighbourhood. Supreme Zweibriick was himself with
"them; many Croats, Austrians, led by Maguire and others;
"all marching, whirling at a mighty rate; with a countenance
"sometimes of vigour, but always with Niirnberg Camp in
"rear. There was swift marching, really beautiful manoeuver-
"ing here and there; sharp bits of fighting, too, almost in the
"battle-form:-- Maguire tried, or was tor trying, a stroke
"with Finck; but made off hastily, glad to get away. *
"May 11th, at Himmelskron in Baireuth, one Riedesel of
"theirs had fairly to ground arms, self and 2,500, and become
"prisoners of war. " Much of this manoeuvering and scuffling
was in Baireuth Territory. Twice, or even thrice, Prince
Henri was in Baireuth Town: 'marched through Baireuth,'
say the careless Old Books. Through Baireuth: -- No Wil-
helmina now there, with her tremulous melodies of welcome!
Wilhelmina's loves, and terrors for her loved, are now all
still. Perhaps her poor Daughter of Wiirtemberg, wandering
unjustly disgraced, is there; Papa, the widower Margraf, is
for marrying again: ** -- march on, Prince Henri!
"In Bamberg," says a Note from Archenholz, "the Reichs "troops burnt their Magazine; and made for Niirnberg, as
"usual; but left some thousand or two of Croats, who would
"not yet. Knobloch and his Prussians appeared shortly
"after; summoned Bamberg, which agreed to receive them;
"and were for taking possession; but found the Croats deter-
"mined otherwise. Fight ensued; fight in the streets; which,
"in hideousness of noises, if in nothing else, was beyond
"parallel. The inhabitants sat all quaking in their cellars;
"not an inhabitant was to be seen: a City dead, -- and given
* Tempelhof, in. 64. ** Married, 20th September 1759 (aBrunBwick Princess, Sister's-daughter
of his late Wife); died within four years.
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? 106 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
5th May --1st June 1759.
"up to the demons, in this manner. Not for some hours were
"the Croats got entirely trampled out. Bamberg, as usual,
"became a Prussian place-of-arms; was charged to pay
"ransom of 40,000/. ; -- 'cannot possibly! ' -- did pay some
"14,000/. , and gave bills for the remainder. "* Whichbills,
let us mark withal, the Kaiser in Reichs Diet decreed to
be invalid: 'Don't pay them! ' A thing not forgotten by
Friedrich; -- though it is . understood the Bambergers, lest
worse might happen, privately paid their bills. "The Ex-
"pedition lasted, in whole, not quite four weeks: June 1st,
"Prince Henri was at the Saxon frontier again; the German
"world all ringing loud, -- in jubilation, counter-jubilation,
"and a great variety of tones, -- with the noise of what he
"had done. A sharp swift man; and, sure enough, has
"fluttered the Keichs Volscians in their Corioli to an unex-
pected degree. "**
A Colonel Wunsch (Lieutenant-Colonel of the Free-Corps
Wunsch) distinguished himself in this Expedition; the be-
ginning of notably great things to him in the few following
months. Wunsch is a Wurtemberger by birth; has been in
many services, always in subaltern posts, and, this year, will
testify strangely how worthy he was of the higher. What a
Year, this of 1759, to stout old Wunsch! In the Spring, here
has he just seen his poor son, Lieutenant Wunsch, perish
in one of these scuffles; in Autumn, he will see himself a
General, shining suddenly bright, to his King and to all the
world; before Winter, he will be Prisoner to Austria, and
eclipsed for the rest of this War! -- Kleist, of the Green
Hussars, also made a figure hero; and onwards rapidly ever
higher; to the top of renown in his business: -- fallen heir to
Mayer's place, as it were. A Note says: "Poor Mayer of the
"Free Corps does not ride with the Prince on this occasion.
"Mayer, dangerously worn down with the hard services of
"last Year, and himself a man of too sleepless temper, caught
"a fever in the New-year time; and died within few days:
"burnt away before his time; much regretted by his Brethren
"of the Army, and some few others. Gone in this way; with
* Archenholtz, i. 371-3.
** Seyfarth, Beylagen, n. 537-563; Bericht >>o>> der Unlernehmung des
Prinzen Heinrich in Franken, im Jahr 1759; Helden-Geschichte, v. 1033-1039;
Tempelhof, iu. 58 et seq.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 107
May-Juno 1759.
"a high career just opening on him at the long last! Mayer
"was of Austrian, of half Spanish birth; a musical, really
"melodious, affectionate, but indignant, wildly stormful
"mortal; and had had adventures without end. Something
"of pathos, of tragedy, in the wild Life of him. * A man of
"considerable genius, military and other: -- genius in the
"sleepless kind, which is not the best kind; sometimes a very
"bad kind. The fame of Friedrich invites such people from
"all sides of the world; and this was no doubt a sensible help
"to him. " -- But enough of all this.
Here, surely, is abundance of preliminary Small-
War, on the part of a Friedrich reduced to the defen-
sive! -- Fouquet's Sequel, hinted at above, was to this
effect. On Fouquet's failing to get hold of the Mora-
vian Magazines, and returning to his Post at Leob-
schiitz, a certain rash General Deville, who is Austrian
chief in those parts, hastily rushed through the Jagern-
dorf Hills, and invaded Fouquet. Only for a few days;
and had very bad success, in that bit of retaliation.
The King, who is in Landshut, in the middle of his
main cantonments, hastened over to Leobschiitz with
reinforcement to Fouquet; in the thought that a finish-
ing stroke might be done on this Deville; -- and would
have done it, had not the rash man plunged off again
(May 1st, or the night before); homewards, at full
speed. So that Friedrich, likewise at full speed, could
catch nothing of him; but merely cannonade him in the
Passes of Zuckmantel, and cut off his rearguard of
Croats. Poor forlorn of Croats, whom he had left in
some bushy Chasm; to gain him a little time, and then
* Still worth reading: in Pauli (our old watery Brandenburg-History
Mend), leben grosser Helden (Halle, 1759-1764, 9 voll. ), m. 142-188;--
much the best Piece in that still rather watery (or windy) Collection,
which, however, is authentic, and has some tolerable Portraits.
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? 108 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book m.
May--June 1759.
to perish if they must! as Tempelhof remarks. * Upon
which Friedrich returned to Landshut; and Fouquet
had peace again.
It was from this Landshut region, where his main
cantonments are, that Friedrich had witnessed all these
Inroads, or all except the very earliest of them; the
first Erfurt one, and the Wobersnow-Sulkowski. He
had quitted Breslau in the end of March, and gone
to his cantonments; quickened thither, probably, by a
stroke that had befallen him at Griefenberg, on his
Silesian side of the Cordon. At Griefenberg stood the
Battalion Diiringshofen, with its Colonel of the same
name, -- grenadier people of good quality, perhaps
near 1,000 in whole. Which Battalion, General Beck,
after long preliminary study of it, from his Bohemian
side, -- marching stealthily on it, one night (March
25th-26th), by two or more roads, with 8,000 men,
and much preliminary Croatwork, -- contrived to en-
velope wholly, and carry off with him, before help
could come up. This, I suppose, had quickened Fried-
rich's arrival. He has been in that region ever since,
-- in Landshut for the last week or two; and returns
thither after the Deville affair. ,
And at Landshut, -- which is the main Pass into
Bohemia or from it, and is the grand observatory point
at present, -- he will have to remain till the first days
of July; almost three months. Watching, and waiting
on the tedious Daun, who has the lifting of the curtain
this Year! Daun had come to Jaromirtz, to his canton-
ments, "March 24th" (almost simultaneously with Fried-
rich to his); expecting Friedrich's Invasion, as usual.
* Tempelhof, m. 56.
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? CHIP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 109
M<<y--June 1759.
Long days sat Daun, expecting the King in Bohemia:
-- "There goes he, at last! " thought Daun, on Prince
Henri's late flamy appearance there {Breakage Third
we labelled it); -- and Daun had hastily pushed a Divi-
sion thitherward, double-quick, to secure Prag; but
found it was only the Magazines. "Above four-mil-
lions worth" (600,000/. , counting the thalers into sterling),
"above four-millions worth of bread and forage gone
to ashes, and the very boats burnt? Well; the poor
Reichsfolk, or our poor Auxiliaries to them, will have
empty haversacks: -- but it is not Prag! " thinks
Daun.
At what exact point of time Daun came to see that
Friedrich was not intending Invasion, and would, on
the contrary, require to be invaded, I do not know.
But it must have been an interesting discovery to Daun,
if he foreshadowed to himself what results it would
have on him: "Taking the defensive, then? And
what is to become of one's Cunctatorship in that case! "
Yes, truly. Cunctatorship is not now the trade needed;
there is nothing to be made of playing Fabius Cunc-
tator: -- and Daun's fame henceforth is a diminishing
quantity. The Books say he "wasted above five weeks
in corresponding with the Russian Generals. " In fact,
he had now weeks enough on hand; being articulately
resolved (and even commanded by Kriegshofrath) to do
nothing till the Russians came up; -- and also (inar-
ticulately and by command of Nature) to do as little
as possible after! This Year, and indeed all years fol-
lowing, the Russians are to be Daun's best card.
Waiting for three months here till the curtain rose,
it was Friedrich that had to play Cunctator. A weari-
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? 110 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
May --June 1759.
some task to him, we need not doubt. But he did it
with anxious vigilance; ever thinking Daun would try
something, either on Prince Henri or on him, and that
the Play would begin. But the Play did not. There
was endless scuffing and bickering of Outposts; much
hitching and counter-hitching, along that Bohemian-
Silesian Frontier, -- Daun gradually hitching up, left-
wards, northwards, to be nearer his Russians; Friedrich
counter-hitching, and, in the end, detaching against the
Russians, as they approached in actuality. The de-
tails of all which would break the toughest patience.
Not till July came, had both parties got into the Lau-
sitz; Daun into an impregnable Camp near Mark-Lissa
(in Gorlitz Country); Friedrich, opposite and eastward
of him, into another at Schmottseifen: -- still after
which, as the Russians still were not come, the hitching
(if we could concern ourselves with it), the maze of
strategic shuffling and counter-dancing, as the Russians
get nearer, will become more intricate than ever.
Except that of General Beck on Battalion Diirings- hofen, -- if that was meant as retaliatory, and was not
rather an originality of Beck's, who is expert at such
strokes, -- Daun, in return for all these injurious As-
saults and Breakages, tried little or no retaliation; and
got absolutely none. Deville attempted once, as we
saw; Loudon once, as perhaps we shall see: but both
proved futile. For the present absolutely none. Next
Year indeed, Loudon, on Fouquet at Landshut -- But
let us not anticipate! Just before quitting Landshut
for Schmottseifen, Friedrich himself rode into Bohemia,
to look more narrowly; and held Trautenau, at the
bottom of the Pass, for a day or two -- But the reader
has had enough of Small-War! Of the present Loudon
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. Ill
May --June 1759.
attempt, Friedrich, writing to Brother Henri, who is
just home from his Franconian Invasion (Breakage Fifth),
has a casual word, which we will quote. "Reich-Hen-
nersdorf" is below Landshut, farther down the Pass;
"Liebau" still farther down, -- and its "Gallows,"
doubtless, is on some knoll in the environs!
Reich-Hennersdorf, 9th June.
"would that be, were not Reichs Law so express! Marburg,
"Giessen are outposts of his; on which side one of Ferdinand s
"people, Prince von Ysenburg, watches him with an 8 or
"10,000, capable of mischief in that quarter.
"On the Eve of Newyear's day, or on the auspicious Day
"itself, Soubise requests, of the Frankfurt Authorities, per-
"mission for a regiment of his to march through that Imperial
"City. To which, by law and theory, the Imperial City can
"say Yes or No; but practically cannot, without grave incon-
"venience, say other than Yes, though most Frankfurters
"wish it could. 'Yes,' answer the Frankfurt Magnates; Yes,
"surely, under the known conditions. Tuesday, January 2d,
"about 5 in the morning, while all is still dark in Frankfurt,
"regiment Nassau appears, accordingly, at the Sachsen-
"hausen Gate, Townguard people all ready to receive it and
"escort it through; and is admitted as usual. Quite as usual:
"but instead of being escorted through, it orders, in calm
"peremptory voice, the Townguard, To ground arms; with
"calm rapidity, proceeds to admit ten other regiments or
"battalions, six of them German; seizes the artillery on the
"Walls, seizes all the other Gates: -- and poor Frankfurt
"finds itself tied hand and foot, almost before it is out of bed!
"Done with great exactitude, with the minimum of confusion,
"and without a hurt skin to anybody. The Inhabitants stood
"silent, gazing; the Townguard laid down their arms, and
"went home. Totally against law; but cleverly done; perhaps
"Soubise's chief exploit in the world; certainly the one real
"success the French have yet had.
"Soubise made haste to summon the Magistrates:'Law of
'"Necessity alone, most honoured Sirs! Reichs Law is clear
"'against me. But all the more shall private liberties, re-
"'ligions, properties, in this Imperial Free-Town, be sacred
"'to us. Defence against any aggression; and the strictest of
"'discipline observed. Depend on me, I bid you! ' -- And
"kept his word to an honourable degree, they say; orinab-
"sence, made it be kept, during the Four Years that follow.
"Most Frankfurters are, at heart, Anti-French: but Soubise's
"affability was perfect; and he gave evening parties of a
"sublime character; the Magistrates all appearing there,
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. XI. 1
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? 98 FRIEDBICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
16th Feb. -- 2d March 1759.
"in their square perukes and long gowns, with a mournful
"joy. "*
Soubise soon went home, to assist in important businesses,
-- Invasion of England, no less; let England look to itself this
Summer! -- and Broglio succeeded him, as Army-Captain in
the Frankfurt parts; with laurels accruing, more or less.
Soubise, like Broglio, began withRossbach; Soubise ends with
Frankfurt, for the present; where Broglio also gains his chief
laurels, as will shortly be seen. Frankfurt is a great gain to
France, though an illicit one. It puts a bar on Duke Ferdinand
in that quarter; secures a starting-point for attacks onHessen,
Hanover; for cooperation withContades and the Lower Rhine.
It is the one success France has yet had in this War, or pretty
much that it ever had in it. Due to Prince de Soubise, in that
illegal fashion. -- A highly remarkable little Boy, now in his
tenth year, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, has his wondering eyes
on these things: and, short while hence, meets daily, on the
stairs and lobbies at home, a pleasant French Official Gentle-
man who is quartered there; between whom and Papa occur
rubs, -- as readers may remember, and shall hear in April
coming.
Grand Cordon disrupted: Erfurt Country, l&th February--
2d March. "About six weeks after this Frankfurt achievement,
"certain Reichsfolk and Austrian Auxiliaries are observed to
"be cutting down endless timber, '18,800 palisades, 6,000
"' trees of 60feet,' and other huge furnishings, from the poor
"Duke of Gotha's woods; evidently meaning to fortify thein-
"selves in Erfurt. Upon which Prince Henri detaches a Gen-
"eral Knobloch thitherward, Duke Ferdinand contributing
"4,000 to meet him there; which combined expedition, after
"some sharp knocking and shoving, entirely disrooted the
"Austrians and Reichsfolk, and sent them packing. Had them
"quite torn out by the end of the month; and had planned 'to
"' attack them on two sides at once' (March 2d), with a view
"of swallowing them whole, -- when they (these Reichs
"Volscians, in such a state of flutter) privately hastened off,
"one and all of them, the day before. "**
This was Breakage First of the Grand Cordon; an explosive
hurling of it back out of those Erfurt parts. Done by Prince
>> Tempelhof, m. 7-8; Stenzel, v. 198-200.
** Narrative, in Hetden-Geschichte, v. 1022 et seq.
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? CHAP, i. l PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 99
4th-31tt March 1759.
Henri's people, in concert with Duke Ferdinand's, -- who were
mutually interested in the thing.
Breakage Second: Erfurt-Fulda Country, 31st March -- 8th
April. "About the end of March, these intrusive Austrian
"Reichsfolk made some attempt to come back into those
"Countries; but again got nothing but hard knocks; and gave
"up the Erfurt project. For, close following on this First,
"there "was a Second still deeper and rougher Breakage, in
"those same regions; the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick
"dashing through, on a special Errand of Ferdinand's own"
(of which presently), "with an 8 or 10,000, in his usual fiery
"manner; home into the very bowels of the Reich (April 3d,
"and for a week onward); and returning with 'above 2,000
"' prisoners' in hand; especiallywith a Reich well frightened
"behind him;--still in time for "Duke Ferdinand's Adventure"
(in fact, for his Battle of Bergen, of which we are to hear).
"Had been well assisted by Prince Henri, who 'made danger-
"'ous demonstrations in the distance,' and was extremely
"diligent, -- though the interest was chiefly Ferdinand's, this
"time. "* -- Contemporary with that First Erfurt Business,
"there went on, 300 miles away from it, in the quite opposite
"direction, another of the same; -- too curious to be omitted.
Across the Polish Frontier: February 24th -- March 4th. "In
"the end of February, General Wobersnow, an active man,
"was detached from Grlogau, Over into Poland, Posen way,
"To overturn the Russian provision-operations thereabouts;
"in particular, to look into a certain high-flying Polack, a
"Prince Sulkowski of those parts; who with all diligence is
"gathering food, in expectation of the Russian advent; and
"indeed has formally 'declared War against the King of
"'Prussia;' having the right, he says, as a Polish Magnate,
"subject only to his own high thought in such affairs. The
"Russians and their wars are dear to Sulkowski. He fell
"prisoner in their cause, at Zorndorf, last Autumn; was stuck,
"like all the others, Soltikof himself among them, into the
"vaulted parts of Custrin Garrison: 'I am sorry I have no
"'Siberia for you,' said Friedrich, looking, not in a benign
"way, on the captive Dignitaries, that hot afternoon; 'goto
'"Ciistrin, and see what you have provided for yourselves! '
"Which they had to do; nothing, for certain days, but
* Tempelhof, in. 19-22.
7*
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? 100 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
4th March 1759.
"cellarage to lodge in; King inexorable, deaf to remonstrance.
"Which possibly may have contributed to kindle Sulkowski
"into these extremely high proceedings.
"At any rate, Wobersnow punctually looks in upon him:
"seizes his considerable stock of Russian proviants; his belli-
"gerent force, his high person itself; and in one luckless hour,
"snuffs him out from the list of potentates. His belligerent
"force, about 1,000 Polacks, were all compelled, 'by the
"'cudgel,' say my authorities, to take Prussian service" (in
garrison-regiments, and well scattered about, I suppose); "his
"own high person found itself sitting locked in Grlogau, left
"to its reflexions. Sat thus 'till the War ended,' say some;
"certainly till the Sulkowski War had been sufficiently ex-
ploded by the laughter of mankind. " Here are, succinctly,
the dates of this small memorability:
"End of February, Wobersnow gathers, at Glogau, a
"force of about 8,000 horse and foot. Marched, 24th February,
"over Oder Bridge, straight into Poland; that same night,
"to the neighbourhood of Lissa and Reisen (Sulkowski's
"dominion), about thirty miles north-east of Glogau. Sul-
"kowski done next day; -- part of the capture is 'fifteen
"'small guns. ' Wobersnow goes, next, forPosen; arrives,
"28th February; destroys Russian Magazine, ransoms Jews.
"Shoots out other detachments on the Magazine Enterprise;
"-- detaches Platen along the Wartha, where are picked up
"various items, among others 'eighty tuns of brandy,' -- but
"himself proceeds no farther than Posen. March 4th, sets
"out again from Posen, homewards. "* We shall hear again
of Wobersnow, in a much more important way, before long.
To the Polish Republic so-called, Friedrich explained
politely, not apologetically: "Since you allow the Russians to
march through you in attack of me, it is evident to your just
minds that the attacked party must have similar privilege. "
"Truly! " answered they, in their just minds, generally; and
made no complaint about Sulkowski (though Polish Majesty
and Primate endeavoured to be loud about 'Invasion' and the
like): -- and indeed Polish Republic was lying, for a long
* Nachrichl lion der Vniernehmnng des General-Majors von Wobersnow
in Polen, im Feb. und Man 1759: In Seyfarth, Beylagen, n. 526-529. Hel-
den-Geschichle, v. 829.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 101
13th April 1759.
while past, as if broken-backed; on the public highway; a
Nation anarchic every fibre of it, and under the feet and
hoofs of travelling Neighbours, especially of Russian Neigh-
bours; and is not now capable of saying much for itself in
such cases, or of doing any thing at all.
Frankfurt Country, April 13th: Duke Ferdinands Battle of
Bergen. "Duke Ferdinand, fully aware what a stroke that
"seizure of Frankfurt was to him, resolved to risk a long
"march at this bad season, and attempt to drive the French
"out. Contades was absent in Paris, -- no fear of an attack
"from Contades's Army; Broglio's in Frankfurt, grown now
"to about 35,000, can perhaps be beaten if vigorously at-
tacked. Ferdinand appoints a rendezvous at Fulda, of
"various Corps, Prince Ysenburg's and others, that lie
"nearest, Hessians many of them, Hanoverians others; pro-
ceeds, himself, to Fulda, with a few attendants " (a drive of
about 200 miles); -- "having left Lord George Sackville"
(mark the sad name of him! ) -- Sackville, head of the
"English, and General Sporken a Hanoverian, -- to take
"charge in Miinster Country, during his absence. It was
"from Fulda that he shot out the Hereditary Prince on that
"important Errand we lately spoke of, under the head of
'"Breakage Second,'-- namely, to clear his right flank, and
"scare theReich well off him, while he should be marching
"on Frankfurt. All which, Henri assisting from the distance,
"the Hereditary Prince performed to perfection, --and was
"back (April 8th), in excellent time for the Battle.
"Ferdinand stayed hardly a day in Fulda, ranking him-
"self and getting on the road. Did his long march of above
"100 miles, without accident or loss of time; -- of course,
"scaring home the Broglio Outposts in haste enough', and
"awakening Broglio's attention in a high degree; -- and
"arrives, Thursday, April 12th, atWindecken, a Village
"about fifteen miles north-east of Frankfurt; where he passes
"the night under arms; intending Battle on the morrow.
"Brogliois all assembled, 35,000 strong; his Assailant, with
"the Hereditary Prince come in, counts rather under 30,000.
"Broglio is posted in, and on both sides of, Bergen, ahigh-
"lying Village, directly on Ferdinand's road to Frankfurt.
"Windecken is about fifteen miles from Frankfurt; Bergen
"about six: -- idle Tourists of our Time, on their return from
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? 102 PRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
13th April 1759.
"Homburg to that City, leave Bergen a little on their left.
"The ground is mere hills, woody dales, marshy brooks;
"Broglio's position, with its Village, and Hill, and ravines,
"and advantages, is the choicest of the region; and Broglio's
"methods, procedures and arrangements in it, are applauded
"by all judges.
"Friday, 13th April 1759, Ferdinand is astir bv "comes on, along one of those woody valleys, pickeering, re-
"connoitering ;^--- in the end, directly up the Hill of Bergen;
"straight upon the key-point. It is about 10 A. m. , when the
"batteries and musketries awaken there; very loud indeed,
"for perhaps two hours or more. Prince von Ysenburg is
"leader of Ferdinand's attacking party. Their attack is hot
"and fierce, and they stick to it steadily; though garden-
"hedges, orchards and impediments are many, and Broglio,
"with much cannon helping, makes vigorous defence. These
"Ysenburgers fought till their cartridges were nearly spent,
"and Ysenburg himself lay killed; but could not take
"Bergen. Nor could the Hereditary Prince; who, in aid of
"them, tried it in flank, with his own usual impetuosity re-
"kindling theirs, and at first with some success; but was him-
"self taken in flank by Broglio's Reserve, and obliged to
"desist. No getting ofBergen by that method.
"Military critics say coolly, 'You should have smashed it
"'well with cannon, first' (which Ferdinand had not in
"stock here); 'and especially have flung grenadoes into it,
"'till it was well in flame: impossible otherwise! '* The
"Ysenburgers and Hereditary Prince withdraw. No pursuit
"of them; or almost less than none; for the one or two
"French regiments that tried it (against order), nearly got
"cut up. Broglio, like a very Daun at Kolin, had strictly
"forbidden all such attempts: 'On no temptation quit your
"'ground! ' s
"TheBattle, after this, lay quiet all afternoon; Ferdinand
"still insight; motioning much, to tempt French valour into
"chasing of him. But all in vain: Broglio, though his sub-
alterns kept urging, remonstrating, was peremptory not to
"stir. Whereupon, towards evening, across certain woody
"Heights, perhaps still with some hope of drawing him out,
"Ferdinand made some languid attempt on Broglio's wing,
* Mauvillon, n. 19.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 103
lith-20th April 1759.
"or wings; -- and this also failing, had to give up the affair.
"He continued cannonading till deep in the night; withdrew
"to Windecken: and about two next morning, marched for
"home, --still with little or no pursuit: but without hope of
"Frankfurt henceforth. And in fact, has a painful Summer
"ahead.
"Ferdinand had lost 5 cannon, and of killed and wounded
"2,500; the French counted their loss at about 1,900. * The
"joy of France over this immense victory was extraordinary.
"Broglio was made Prince of the Reich, Marechal de France;
"would have been raised to the stars, had one been able, --
"for the time being. 'And your immense victory,' so sneered
"the bystanders, 'consists in not being beaten, under those
'"excellent conditions; -- perhaps victory is a rarity just
"'now'"
This is the Battle which our Boy-Friend Johann Wolf-
gang watched with such interest, from his garret-window,
Hour after hour; all Frankfurt simmering round him, in such
a whirlpool of self-contradictory emotions; till towards even-
ing, when, in long rows of carts, poor wounded Hessians and
Hanoverians came jolting in, and melted every heart into
pityt into wailing sorrow, and eagerness to help. A little
later, Papa Goethe, stepping down stairs, came across the
Official French Gentleman; who said radiantly: "Doubtless
"you congratulate yourself and us on this victory to his
"Majesty's arms. " "Not a whit (Keineswegs)" answered Papa
Goethe, a stiff kind of man, nowise in the mood of con-
gratulating: "on the contrary, I wish they had chased you to
"the Devil, though I had had to go too! " Which was a great
relief to his feelings, though a dangerous one in the cir-
cumstances. **
Breakage Third: Over the Metal Mountains into Bohmen'
{April 14th-20th). "Ferdinand's Battle was hardly ending,
"when Prince Henri poured across the Mountains, -- in two
"columns, Htilsen leading the inferior or rightmost one, --
"into Leitmeritz-Eger Country; and made a most successful
"business of the Austrian Magazines he found there. Maga-
zines all filled; Enemy all galloping for Prag: -- Daun
* Mauvillon, n. 10-19; Tempelhof, m. 26-31.
** Goethe's Werke (Stuttgart und Tubingen, 1829), xxiv. (Dichtung und
Wahrheit, i. ) 153-157.
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? 104 FRIEDRICII LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
16th April--5th May 1759.
"himself, who is sitting vigilant, far in the interior, at
"Jaromirtz this month past, was thrown into huge flurry, for
"some days! Speedy Henri (almost on the one condition of
"being speedy) had his own will of the Magazines: burnt,
"Hiilsen and he, 'about 600,000^. worth' ot Austrian pro-
"vender in those parts, 'what would have kept 50,000 men
"' five months in bread' (not to mention hay at all); gave the
"Enemy sore slaps (caught about 3,000 of him, not yet got on
"gallop for Prag); burnt his 200 boats on the Elbe: -- forced
"him to begin anew at the beginning; and did, in effect,
"considerably lame and retard certain of his operations
"through the Summer.
Speedy Henri marched for home,
"April 20th; and was all across the Mountains, April 23d:
"a profitable swift nine days. "* -- And on the sixth day
hence, he will have something similar, and still more im-
portant, on foot. A swift man, when he must!
Breakage Fourth: Into Mahren (April 16th-21st). "This is
"Fouquet's attempt, alluded to above; of which, -- as every
"reader must be satisfied with Small-War, -- we will give
"only the dates. Fouquet, ranking at Leobschiitz, in Neisse
"Country, did break through into Mahren, pushing the
"Austrians before him; but found the Magazines either
"emptied, or too inaccessible for any worth they had; --
"could do nothing on the Magazines; and returned without
"result; home at Leobschiitz again on the fifth day. "** This,
however, had a sequel for Fouquet; which, as it brought the
King himself into those neighbourhoods, we shall have to
mention, farther on.
Breakage Fifth: Into Franken (May 50i--June 1st). "This
"was Prince Henri's Invasion of the Bamberg-Nurnberg
"Countries; a much sharper thing than in any former Year.
"Much the most famous, and," luckily for us, "the last of
"the Small-War affairs for the present. Started, -- from
"Tschopau region, Bamberg way, -- April29th--May 5th.
"In Three Columns: Finck leftmost, and foremost (Fink had
"marched, April 29th, pretending to mean for Bohemia);
"after whom Knobloch; and (May 5th) the Prince himself.
"Who has an eye to the Keichs Magazines and Preparations,
"as usual; -- nay, an eye to their Camp of Rendezvous, and
* Tempelhof, m. 47-53; Helden-Geschichte, v. 968-966.
** HMen-Geschichle, V. 958-963; Tempelhof, in. 44-47.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 105
5th May -- 1st June 1759.
"to a fight with their miscellaneous Selves and Auxiliaries, if
"they will stand fight. 'You will have to leave Saxony, and
'"help us with the Russians, soon: beat those Reichs people
"' first! ' urged the King; 'well-beaten, they will not trouble
"'Saxony for a while. ' If they will stand fight? But they
"would not at all. They struck their tents everywhere;
"burnt their own Magazines, in some cases; and only went
"mazing hither and thither, -- gravitating all upon Niirn-
"berg, and an impregnable Camp which they have in that
"neighbourhood. Supreme Zweibriick was himself with
"them; many Croats, Austrians, led by Maguire and others;
"all marching, whirling at a mighty rate; with a countenance
"sometimes of vigour, but always with Niirnberg Camp in
"rear. There was swift marching, really beautiful manoeuver-
"ing here and there; sharp bits of fighting, too, almost in the
"battle-form:-- Maguire tried, or was tor trying, a stroke
"with Finck; but made off hastily, glad to get away. *
"May 11th, at Himmelskron in Baireuth, one Riedesel of
"theirs had fairly to ground arms, self and 2,500, and become
"prisoners of war. " Much of this manoeuvering and scuffling
was in Baireuth Territory. Twice, or even thrice, Prince
Henri was in Baireuth Town: 'marched through Baireuth,'
say the careless Old Books. Through Baireuth: -- No Wil-
helmina now there, with her tremulous melodies of welcome!
Wilhelmina's loves, and terrors for her loved, are now all
still. Perhaps her poor Daughter of Wiirtemberg, wandering
unjustly disgraced, is there; Papa, the widower Margraf, is
for marrying again: ** -- march on, Prince Henri!
"In Bamberg," says a Note from Archenholz, "the Reichs "troops burnt their Magazine; and made for Niirnberg, as
"usual; but left some thousand or two of Croats, who would
"not yet. Knobloch and his Prussians appeared shortly
"after; summoned Bamberg, which agreed to receive them;
"and were for taking possession; but found the Croats deter-
"mined otherwise. Fight ensued; fight in the streets; which,
"in hideousness of noises, if in nothing else, was beyond
"parallel. The inhabitants sat all quaking in their cellars;
"not an inhabitant was to be seen: a City dead, -- and given
* Tempelhof, in. 64. ** Married, 20th September 1759 (aBrunBwick Princess, Sister's-daughter
of his late Wife); died within four years.
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? 106 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
5th May --1st June 1759.
"up to the demons, in this manner. Not for some hours were
"the Croats got entirely trampled out. Bamberg, as usual,
"became a Prussian place-of-arms; was charged to pay
"ransom of 40,000/. ; -- 'cannot possibly! ' -- did pay some
"14,000/. , and gave bills for the remainder. "* Whichbills,
let us mark withal, the Kaiser in Reichs Diet decreed to
be invalid: 'Don't pay them! ' A thing not forgotten by
Friedrich; -- though it is . understood the Bambergers, lest
worse might happen, privately paid their bills. "The Ex-
"pedition lasted, in whole, not quite four weeks: June 1st,
"Prince Henri was at the Saxon frontier again; the German
"world all ringing loud, -- in jubilation, counter-jubilation,
"and a great variety of tones, -- with the noise of what he
"had done. A sharp swift man; and, sure enough, has
"fluttered the Keichs Volscians in their Corioli to an unex-
pected degree. "**
A Colonel Wunsch (Lieutenant-Colonel of the Free-Corps
Wunsch) distinguished himself in this Expedition; the be-
ginning of notably great things to him in the few following
months. Wunsch is a Wurtemberger by birth; has been in
many services, always in subaltern posts, and, this year, will
testify strangely how worthy he was of the higher. What a
Year, this of 1759, to stout old Wunsch! In the Spring, here
has he just seen his poor son, Lieutenant Wunsch, perish
in one of these scuffles; in Autumn, he will see himself a
General, shining suddenly bright, to his King and to all the
world; before Winter, he will be Prisoner to Austria, and
eclipsed for the rest of this War! -- Kleist, of the Green
Hussars, also made a figure hero; and onwards rapidly ever
higher; to the top of renown in his business: -- fallen heir to
Mayer's place, as it were. A Note says: "Poor Mayer of the
"Free Corps does not ride with the Prince on this occasion.
"Mayer, dangerously worn down with the hard services of
"last Year, and himself a man of too sleepless temper, caught
"a fever in the New-year time; and died within few days:
"burnt away before his time; much regretted by his Brethren
"of the Army, and some few others. Gone in this way; with
* Archenholtz, i. 371-3.
** Seyfarth, Beylagen, n. 537-563; Bericht >>o>> der Unlernehmung des
Prinzen Heinrich in Franken, im Jahr 1759; Helden-Geschichte, v. 1033-1039;
Tempelhof, iu. 58 et seq.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 107
May-Juno 1759.
"a high career just opening on him at the long last! Mayer
"was of Austrian, of half Spanish birth; a musical, really
"melodious, affectionate, but indignant, wildly stormful
"mortal; and had had adventures without end. Something
"of pathos, of tragedy, in the wild Life of him. * A man of
"considerable genius, military and other: -- genius in the
"sleepless kind, which is not the best kind; sometimes a very
"bad kind. The fame of Friedrich invites such people from
"all sides of the world; and this was no doubt a sensible help
"to him. " -- But enough of all this.
Here, surely, is abundance of preliminary Small-
War, on the part of a Friedrich reduced to the defen-
sive! -- Fouquet's Sequel, hinted at above, was to this
effect. On Fouquet's failing to get hold of the Mora-
vian Magazines, and returning to his Post at Leob-
schiitz, a certain rash General Deville, who is Austrian
chief in those parts, hastily rushed through the Jagern-
dorf Hills, and invaded Fouquet. Only for a few days;
and had very bad success, in that bit of retaliation.
The King, who is in Landshut, in the middle of his
main cantonments, hastened over to Leobschiitz with
reinforcement to Fouquet; in the thought that a finish-
ing stroke might be done on this Deville; -- and would
have done it, had not the rash man plunged off again
(May 1st, or the night before); homewards, at full
speed. So that Friedrich, likewise at full speed, could
catch nothing of him; but merely cannonade him in the
Passes of Zuckmantel, and cut off his rearguard of
Croats. Poor forlorn of Croats, whom he had left in
some bushy Chasm; to gain him a little time, and then
* Still worth reading: in Pauli (our old watery Brandenburg-History
Mend), leben grosser Helden (Halle, 1759-1764, 9 voll. ), m. 142-188;--
much the best Piece in that still rather watery (or windy) Collection,
which, however, is authentic, and has some tolerable Portraits.
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? 108 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book m.
May--June 1759.
to perish if they must! as Tempelhof remarks. * Upon
which Friedrich returned to Landshut; and Fouquet
had peace again.
It was from this Landshut region, where his main
cantonments are, that Friedrich had witnessed all these
Inroads, or all except the very earliest of them; the
first Erfurt one, and the Wobersnow-Sulkowski. He
had quitted Breslau in the end of March, and gone
to his cantonments; quickened thither, probably, by a
stroke that had befallen him at Griefenberg, on his
Silesian side of the Cordon. At Griefenberg stood the
Battalion Diiringshofen, with its Colonel of the same
name, -- grenadier people of good quality, perhaps
near 1,000 in whole. Which Battalion, General Beck,
after long preliminary study of it, from his Bohemian
side, -- marching stealthily on it, one night (March
25th-26th), by two or more roads, with 8,000 men,
and much preliminary Croatwork, -- contrived to en-
velope wholly, and carry off with him, before help
could come up. This, I suppose, had quickened Fried-
rich's arrival. He has been in that region ever since,
-- in Landshut for the last week or two; and returns
thither after the Deville affair. ,
And at Landshut, -- which is the main Pass into
Bohemia or from it, and is the grand observatory point
at present, -- he will have to remain till the first days
of July; almost three months. Watching, and waiting
on the tedious Daun, who has the lifting of the curtain
this Year! Daun had come to Jaromirtz, to his canton-
ments, "March 24th" (almost simultaneously with Fried-
rich to his); expecting Friedrich's Invasion, as usual.
* Tempelhof, m. 56.
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? CHIP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 109
M<<y--June 1759.
Long days sat Daun, expecting the King in Bohemia:
-- "There goes he, at last! " thought Daun, on Prince
Henri's late flamy appearance there {Breakage Third
we labelled it); -- and Daun had hastily pushed a Divi-
sion thitherward, double-quick, to secure Prag; but
found it was only the Magazines. "Above four-mil-
lions worth" (600,000/. , counting the thalers into sterling),
"above four-millions worth of bread and forage gone
to ashes, and the very boats burnt? Well; the poor
Reichsfolk, or our poor Auxiliaries to them, will have
empty haversacks: -- but it is not Prag! " thinks
Daun.
At what exact point of time Daun came to see that
Friedrich was not intending Invasion, and would, on
the contrary, require to be invaded, I do not know.
But it must have been an interesting discovery to Daun,
if he foreshadowed to himself what results it would
have on him: "Taking the defensive, then? And
what is to become of one's Cunctatorship in that case! "
Yes, truly. Cunctatorship is not now the trade needed;
there is nothing to be made of playing Fabius Cunc-
tator: -- and Daun's fame henceforth is a diminishing
quantity. The Books say he "wasted above five weeks
in corresponding with the Russian Generals. " In fact,
he had now weeks enough on hand; being articulately
resolved (and even commanded by Kriegshofrath) to do
nothing till the Russians came up; -- and also (inar-
ticulately and by command of Nature) to do as little
as possible after! This Year, and indeed all years fol-
lowing, the Russians are to be Daun's best card.
Waiting for three months here till the curtain rose,
it was Friedrich that had to play Cunctator. A weari-
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? 110 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
May --June 1759.
some task to him, we need not doubt. But he did it
with anxious vigilance; ever thinking Daun would try
something, either on Prince Henri or on him, and that
the Play would begin. But the Play did not. There
was endless scuffing and bickering of Outposts; much
hitching and counter-hitching, along that Bohemian-
Silesian Frontier, -- Daun gradually hitching up, left-
wards, northwards, to be nearer his Russians; Friedrich
counter-hitching, and, in the end, detaching against the
Russians, as they approached in actuality. The de-
tails of all which would break the toughest patience.
Not till July came, had both parties got into the Lau-
sitz; Daun into an impregnable Camp near Mark-Lissa
(in Gorlitz Country); Friedrich, opposite and eastward
of him, into another at Schmottseifen: -- still after
which, as the Russians still were not come, the hitching
(if we could concern ourselves with it), the maze of
strategic shuffling and counter-dancing, as the Russians
get nearer, will become more intricate than ever.
Except that of General Beck on Battalion Diirings- hofen, -- if that was meant as retaliatory, and was not
rather an originality of Beck's, who is expert at such
strokes, -- Daun, in return for all these injurious As-
saults and Breakages, tried little or no retaliation; and
got absolutely none. Deville attempted once, as we
saw; Loudon once, as perhaps we shall see: but both
proved futile. For the present absolutely none. Next
Year indeed, Loudon, on Fouquet at Landshut -- But
let us not anticipate! Just before quitting Landshut
for Schmottseifen, Friedrich himself rode into Bohemia,
to look more narrowly; and held Trautenau, at the
bottom of the Pass, for a day or two -- But the reader
has had enough of Small-War! Of the present Loudon
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. Ill
May --June 1759.
attempt, Friedrich, writing to Brother Henri, who is
just home from his Franconian Invasion (Breakage Fifth),
has a casual word, which we will quote. "Reich-Hen-
nersdorf" is below Landshut, farther down the Pass;
"Liebau" still farther down, -- and its "Gallows,"
doubtless, is on some knoll in the environs!
Reich-Hennersdorf, 9th June.
