The
"Prussians have a detached post at Smirzitz; which is much
"harassed by Hungarians lurking about, shooting our sentry
"and the like.
"Prussians have a detached post at Smirzitz; which is much
"harassed by Hungarians lurking about, shooting our sentry
"and the like.
Thomas Carlyle
?
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? CHAP. X. ] BATTLE OF HOHENFR1EDBERG. 163
4th June 1745.
battalions of them," in an altogether unexampled manner.
Takes "several thousand prisoners," and such a haul
of standards, kettledrums, and insignia of honour,
as was never got before at one charge. Sixty-seven
standards by the tale, for the regiment (by most All-
Gracious Permission) wears, ever after, "67" upon its
cartridge-box, and is allowed to beat the grenadier
march;* -- how many kettledrums memory does not
say.
Prince Karl beats retreat, about 8 in the morning;
is through Hohenfriedberg about 10 (cannon covering
there, and Nadasti as rearguard): back into the Moun-
tains; a thoroughly well-beaten man. Towards Bolken-
hayn, the Saxons and he; their heavy artillery and
baggage had been left safe there. Not much pursued,
and gradually rearranging himself; with thoughts, -- no
want of thoughts! Came pouring down, triumphantly
invasive, yesterday; returns, on these terms, in about
fifteen hours. Not marching with displayed banners
and field-music, this time; this is a far other march.
The mouse-trap had been left open, and we rashly
went in! -- Prince Karl's loss, including that of the
Saxons (which is almost equal, though their number
in the field was but half), is 9,000 dead and wounded,
7,000 prisoners, 66 cannon, 73 flags and standards;
the Prussian is about 5,000 dead and wounded. **
Friedrich, at sight of Valori, embraces his gros Valori;
says, with a pious emotion in voice and look, "My
friend, God has helped me wonderfully this day! "
Actually there was a kind of devout feeling visible in
* Orlich, n. 179 (173n. , 179 n. , slightly wrong); Militair-Lexikon, n. 9,
iv. 465, 468. See Preuss, x. 212; (Euvres do Frederic; &c. &c.
"In Orlich (n. 182) all the details.
11*
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? 164 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
4th June 1714.
him, thinks Valori: "A singular mixture, this Prince,
"of good qualities and of bad; I never know which
"preponderates. "* As is the way with fat Valoris,
when they come into such company.
Friedrich is blamed by some military men, and
perhaps himself thought it questionable, that he did
not pursue Prince Karl more sharply. He says his
troops could not; they were worn out with the night's
marching and the day's fighting. He himself may well
be worn out. I suppose, for the last four-and-twenty
hours he, of all the contemporary sons of Adam, has
probably been the busiest. Let us rest this day; rest
till tomorrow morning, and be thankful. "So decisive
"a defeat," writes he to his Mother (hastily, misdating
"6th" June for 4th), "has not been since Blenheim"**
(which is tolerably true); and "I have made the Princes
"sign their names," to give the good Mother assurance
of her children in these perils of war. Seldom has
such a deliverance come to a man.
* Valori, swpius.
** Letter in (Euvres de Frecttric, xxvr. 71.
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? CHAP. XI. ]
165
CAMP OF CHLUM.
8th Juno 1745.
CHAPTER XI.
CAMP OF CHLUM: FRIEDRICH CANNOT ACHIEVE PEACE.
Feiedeich marched, on the morrow, likewise to
Bolkenhayn; which the enemy have just left; our
hussars hanging on their rear, and bickering with
Nadasti. Then again on the morrow, Sunday, --
"twelve hours of continuous rain," writes Valori; but
there is no down-pour, or distress, or disturbance that
will shake these men from their ranks, writes Valori.
And so it goes on, march after march, the Austrians
ahead, Dumoulin and our hussars infesting their rear,
which skilfully defended itself: through Landshut down
into Bohemia; where are new successive marches, the
Prussian quarterstaff stuck into the back of defeated
Austria, "Home with you; farther home! " -- and
shogging it on, -- without pause, for about a fortnight
to come. And then only with temporary pause; that
is to say, with intricate manoeuverings of a month long,
which shove it to Konigsgratz, its ultimatum, beyond
which there is no getting it. The stages and succes-
sive campings, to be found punctually in the old
Books and new, can interest only military readers.
Here is a small theological thing at Landshut, from
first hand:
June 8th, 1745. "The Army followed Dumoulin's Corps,
"and marched upon Landshut. On arriving in that neigh-
"bourhood, the King was surrounded by a troop of 2,000
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? 166
SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
8th-18th June 1745.
"Peasants," -- of Protestant persuasion, very evidently!
(which is much the prevailing thereabouts)-- "who begged
"permission of him 'to massacre the Catholics of these parts,
"' and clear the country of them altogether. ' This animosity
"arose from the persecutions which the Protestants had
"suffered during the Austrian domination, when their
"churches used to be taken from them and given to the popish
"priests," -- churches and almost their children, such was the
anxiety to make them orthodox. The patience of these
peasants had run over; and now, in the hour of hope, they
proposed the above sweeping measure. "The King was very
"far from granting them so barbarous a permission. He told
"them, 'They ought rather to conform to the Scripture
"' precept, to bless those that cursed them, and pray for those
"'that despitefully used them; such was the way to gain the
"'Kingdom of Heaven. ' The peasants," rolling dubious eyes
for a moment, "answered, His Majesty was right; and desisted
"from their cruel pretension. " f ** --"On Hohenfriedberg
"Day," says another Witness, "as far as the sound of the
"cannon was heard, all round, the Protestants fell on their
'' knees, praying for victory to the Prussians;" * and at Bres-
lau that evening, when the "Thirteen trumpeting Postillions"
came tearing in with the news, what an enthusiasm without
limit!
Prince Karl has skill in choosing camps and posi-
tions: his Austrians are much cowed; that is the
grievous loss in his late fight. So, from June 8th,
when they quit Silesia, -- by two roads to go more
readily, -- all through that month and the next,
Friedrich spread to the due width, duly pricking into
the rear of them, drives the beaten hosts onward and
onward. They do not think of fighting; their one
thought is to get into positions where they can have
living conveyed to them, and cannot be attacked; for
the former of which objects, the farther homewards
t (Entires 'ie Frediric, n. 218. * In Ranke, m. 259.
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 167
ISth June -- 20th July 1745.
they go, it is the better. The main pursuit, as I
gather, goes leftward from Landshut, by Friedland --
the Silesian Friedland, once Wallenstein's. Through
rough wild country, the southern slope of the Giant
Mountains, goes that slow pursuit, or the main stream
of it, where Friedrich in person is; intricate savage
regions, cut by precipitous rocks and soaking quag-
mires, shaggy with woods: watershed between the
Upper Elbe and Middle Oder; Glatz on our left, --
with the rain of its mountains gathering to a Neisse
River, eastward, which we know; and on their west or
hither side, to a Metau, Adler, Aupa, and other many-
branched feeders of the Elbe. Most complex military
ground, the manceuverings on it endless, -- which must
be left to the reader's fancy here.
About the end of June, Karl and his Austrians
find a place suitable to their objects: Konigsgratz, a
compact little Town, in the nook between the Elbe
and Adler; covered to west and to south by these
two streams; strong enough to east withal; and sure
and convenient to the southern roads and victual.
Against which Friedrich's manoeuvres avail nothing;
so that he at last (20th July) crosses Elbe River;
takes, he likewise, an inexpugnable Camp on the op-
posite shore, at a Village called Chlum; and lies there,
making a mutual dead-lock of it, for six weeks or more.
Of the prior Camps, with their abundance of strategic
shuffllings, wheelings, pushings, all issuing in this of
Chlum, we say nothing: none of them, -- except the
immediately preceding one, called of Nahorzan, called
also of Drewitz (for it was in parts a shifting entity,
and flung the limbs of it about, strategically clutching
at Konigsgratz), -- had any permanency: let us take
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? 168 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [bOOKXV.
June --Aug. 1745.
Chlum (the longest, and essentially the last in those
parts) as the general summary of them, and alone re-
memberable by us. *
Friedrich's purposes, at Chlum, or previously, are
not towards conquests in Bohemia, nor of fighting
farther, if he can help it. But, in the mean while, he
is eating out these Bohemian vicinages; no invasion of
Silesia possible from that quarter soon again. That is
one benefit: and he hopes always his enemies, under
screw of military pressure with the one hand, and offer
of the olive-branch with the other, will be induced to
grant him Peace. Britannic Majesty, after Fontenoy
and Hohenfriedberg, not to mention the first rumours
of a Jacobite Rebellion, with France to rear of it, is
getting eager to have Friedrich settled with, and with-
drawn from the game again; -- the rather, as Fried-
rich, knowing his man, has ceased latterly to urge him
on the subject Peace with George the Purseholder,
does not that mean Peace with all the others? Fried-
rich knows the high Queen's indignation; but he little
guesses, at this time, the humour of Briihl and the
Polish Majesty. He has never yet sent the Old
Dessauer in upon them; always only keeps him on
the slip, at Magdeburg; still hoping actualities may
not be needed. He hopes too, in spite of her indigna-
tion, the Hungarian Majesty, with an Election on
hand, with the Netherlands at such a pass, not to
* "Camp of Gross-Parzitz" (across the Metau, to dislodge Prince Karl
from his shelter behind that stream), "June 14th:" "Camp ofNahorzan,
June 18th" (and abstruse manosuverings, of a month, for Kimigsgratz):
"20th July," cross Elbe for Chlum; and lie, yourself also inexpugnable,
there. See (Euvres de Frederic (in. 120 et seq. ); especially see Orlich
(n. pp. 193, 194, 203, &c. &c. ), -- with an amplitude of inorganic details,
sufficient to astonish the robustest memory!
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 169
June--Aug. 1745.
speak of Italy and the Middle Rhine, will come to
moderate views again. On which latter points, his
reckoning was far from correct! Within three months,
Britannic Majesty and he did get to explicit Agree-
ment (Convention of Hanover, 26th August): but in
regard to the Polish Majesty and the Hungarian there
proved to be no such result attainable, and quite other
methods necessary first!
"Of military transactions in this Camp of Chlum, or in all
"these Bohemian-Silesian Camps, for near four months, there
"is nothing, or as good as nothing: Chlum has no events;
"Chlum vigilantly guards itself; and expects, as the really
"decisive to it, events that will happen far away. We are to
"conceive this military business as a deadlock; attended with
"hussar skirmishes; attacks, defences, of outposts, ofprovi-
"sion-wagons from Moravia or Silesia: -- Friedrich has his
"food from Silesia chiefly, by several routes, 'convoys come
"'once in the five days. ' His horse-provender he forages;
"with Tolpatches watching him, and continual scufflings of
"fight: 'for hay and glory,' writes one Prussian Officer, 'I
"'assure you we fight well! ' Endless enterprising, manceuver-
"ing, counter-manoeuvering there at first was; and still is, if
"either party stir: but here, in their mutually fixed camps,
"tacit mutual observances establish themselves; and amid the
"rigorous armed vigilances, there are traits of human neigh-
"bourship. As usual in such cases. The guard-parties do
"not fire on one another, within certain limits: a signal that
"there are dead to bury, or the like, is strictly respected. On
"one such occasion it was (June 30th, Camp-of-Nahorzan
"time) that Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, -- Prince Ferdi-
nand, with a young Brother Albert volunteering and learn-
"ing his business here, who are both Prussian, -- had a snatch
"of interview with a third much-loved Brother, Ludwig, who
"is in the Austrian service. A Prussian Officer, venturing
"beyond the limits, had been shot; Ferdinand's message,
"'Grant us burial of him! " found, by chance, Brother Lud-
"wig in command of that Austrian outpost; who answers:
"' Surely; -- and beg that I may embrace my Brothers! ' And
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? 170 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
June --Aug. 1745.
"they rode out, those three, to the space intermediate;
"talked there for half an hour, till the burial was done. *
"Fancy such an interview between the poor young fellows,
"the soul of honour each, and tied in that manner!
"Trenck of the Life-guard was not quite the soul of
"honour. It was in the Nahorzan time too that Trenck, who
"had, in spite of express order to the contrary, been writing
"to his Cousin the indigo Pandour, was put under arrest when
"found out. 'Wrote merely about horses: purchase of
"'horses, so help me God! ' protests the blusterous Life-
"guardsman, loud as lungs will, -- whether with truth in
"them, nobody can say. 'Arrest for breaking orders! '
"answers Friedrich, doubting or disbelieving the horses; and
"loud Trenck is packed over the Hills to Glatz; to Governor
"Fouque', or Substitute; -- where, by not submitting and
"repenting, by resisting and rebelling, and ever again doing
"it, he makes out for himself, with Fouque1 and his other
"Governors, what kind of life we know! 'Gardez etroitement ce
"' drole-la, il a voulu devenir Pandour aupres de son oncle (Keep
"'a tight hold of this fine fellow; he wanted to become
"'Pandour beside his Uncle)! ' writes Friedrich: -- 'Uncle'
"instead of 'Cousin,' all one to Friedrich. This he writes
"with his own hand, on the margin: 28th June 1745; the
"inexorable Records fix that date. f Which I should not
"mention, except for another inexorable date (30th Septem-
ber), that is coming; and the perceptible slight comfort
"there will be in fixing down a loud-blustering, extensively
"fabulous blockhead, still fit for the Nurseries, to one unde-
"niable premeditated lie, and tar-marking him therewith, for
"benefit of more serious readers. " As shall be done, were the
30th of September come!
Here is still something, -- if it be not rather nothing, by a
great hand! Date uncertain; Camp-of-Chlum time, pretty
tar on: * * "There are continual foragings, on both sides;
"with parties mutually dashing out to hinder the same.
The
"Prussians have a detached post at Smirzitz; which is much
"harassed by Hungarians lurking about, shooting our sentry
"and the like. An inventive head contrives this expedient.
"Stuff a Prussian uniform with straw; fix it up, by aid of
* Mauvillon, Geschichte Ferdinands von Braunschweig-Luneburg, i. 118.
t ROdenbeck, m. 381. Copy of the Warrant, once penes me.
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? CS1KB. 1 CAMP OP CHLTO. 171
19th July 1745.
"ropes and check-strings, to stand with musket shouldered,
"and even to glide about to right and left, on judicious pull-
"ing. So it is done: straw man is made; set upon his ropes,
"when the Tolpatches approach; and pensively saunters to
"and fro, -- his living comrades crouching in the bushes near
"by. Tolpatches fire on the walking straw sentry; straw
"sentry falls flat; Tolpatches rush in, esurient, triumphant;
"are exploded in a sharp blast of musketry from the bushes
"all round, every wounded man made prisoner; -- and come
"no more back to that post. " Friedrich himself records this
little fact: "slight pleasantry to relieve the reader's mind,"
says he, in narrating it. * -- Enough of those small matters,
while so many large are waiting.
June 26th, a month before Chlum, General Nassau
had been detached, with some 8 or 10,000, across
Glatz Country, into Upper Silesia, to sweep that clear
again. Hautcharmoi, quitting the Frontier Towns, has
joined, raising him to 15,000; and Nassau is giving
excellent account of the multitudinous Pandour doggeries
there; and will retake Kosel, and have Upper Silesia
swept before very long. ** On the other hand, the
Election matter (Kaiserwahl, a most important point)
is obviously in threatening, or even in desperate state!
That famed Middle-Rhine Army has gone to the --
what shall we say?
July 5th-19th, Middle-Rhine Country. "The first Election-
"news that reaches Friedrich is from the Middle-Rhine
"Country, and of very bad complexion. Readers remember
"Traun, and his Bathyanis, and his intentions upon Conti
"there. In the end of May, old Traun, things being all com-
"pleted in Bavaria, had got on march with his Bavarian
* (Enures, in. 123.
** Kosel, "September 5th:" Excellent, lucid and even entertaining Ac-
count of Nassau's Expedition, in the form of Diary (a model, of its kind),
in Feldziige, iv. 257-371-532.
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? 172 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
19th July 1745.
"Army, say 40,000, to look into Prince Conti down in those
"parts; a fact very interesting to the Prince. Traun held
''leftward, westward, as if for the Neckar Valley,--' Perhaps
"intending to be through upon Elsass, in those southern
"undefended portions of the Rhine? ' Conti, and his Se'gur,
"and Middle-Rhine Army stood diligently on their guard;
"got their forces, defences, apparatuses, hurried southward,
"from Frankfurt quarter where they lay on watch, into those
"Neckar regions. Which seen to be done, Traun whirled
"rapidly to rightward, to northward; crossed the Mayn at
"Wertheim, wholly leaving the Neckar and its Conti; having
"weighty business quite in the other direction, -- on the
"north side of the Mayn, namely; on the Kinzig River, where
"Bathyani (who has taken D'Ahremberg's command below
"Frankfurt, and means to bestir himself in another than the
"D'Ahremberg fashion) is to meet him on a set day. Traun
"having thus, by strategic suction, pulled the Middle-Rhine
"Army out of his and Bathyani's way, hopes they two will
"manage a junction on the Kinzig; after junction they will be
"a little stronger than Conti, though decidedly weaker taken
"one by one. Traun, in the long June days, had such a
"march, through the Spessart Forest (Mayn River to his left,
"with our old friends Dettingen, Aschaffenburg, far down in
"the plain), as was hardly ever known before: pathless
"wildernesses, rocky steeps and chasms; the sweltering June
"sun sending down the upper snows upon him in the form of
"muddy slush; so that 'the infantry had to wade haunch-
"' deep in many of the hollow parts, and nearly all thecavalry
"'lost its horse-shoes. ' A strenuous march; and a well-
"schemed. For at the Kinzig River (Conti still far off in the
"Neckar country), Bathyani punctually appeared, on the
"opposite shore; and Traun and he took camp together;
"July 5th, at Langen-Selbord (few miles north of Hanau,
"which we know); -- and rest there; calculating that Conti is
"now a manageable quantity; --and comfortably wait till
"the Grand-Duke arrives. * For this is, theoretically, his
"Army; Grand-Duke Franz being the Commander's Cloak,
"this season; as Karl was, last, -- a right lucky Cloak he,
"while Traun lurked under him, not so lucky since! July
"13th, Franz arrived; and Traun, under Franz, instantly
* Adelung, iv. 421; v. 3G.
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? Chap. XI. ] CAMP OF CHLliM. 173
19th July--2Gth Aug. 1745.
"went into Conti (now again in those Frankfurt parts);
"clutched at Conti, Briareus-like, in a multiform alarming
"manner: so that Conti lost head; took to mere retreating,
"rushing about, burning bridges; -- and, in fine, July 19th,
"had flung himself bodily across the Rhine (clouds of Tol-
"patches sticking to him), and left old Traun and his Grand-
"Duke supreme lord in those parts. Who did not invade
"Elsass, as was now expected; but lay at Heidelberg, intend-
ing to play pacifically a surer card. All French are out of
"Teutschland again; and the game given up. In what a
"premature and shameful manner! thinks Friedrich.
"Nominally it was the Grand-Duke that flung Conti over
"the Rhine; and delivered Teutschland from its plagues.
"After which fine feat, salvatory to the Cause of Liberty, and
"destructive to French influence, what is to prevent his elec-
"tion to the Kaisership? Friedrich complains aloud: "Conti
"has given it up; you drafted '15,000 from him (forimaginary
'"uses in the Netherlands) -- you have given it up, then!
"'Was that our bargain? ' 'We have given it up,' answers
"D'Argenson the War-minister, writing to Valori; 'but' --
"And supplies, instead of performance according to the laws
"of fact, eloquent logic; very superfluous to Friedrich and
"the said laws! -- Valori, and the French Minister at Dres-
den, had again been trying to stir up the Polish Majesty to
"stand for Kaiser; but of course that enterprise, eager as the
"Polish Majesty might be for such a dignity, had now to
"collapse, and become totally hopeless. A new offer of Fried-
"rich's to cooperate had been refused by Briihl, with a
"brevity, a decisiveness-- 'Thinks me finished (aux abois),'
"says Friedrich; 'and not worth giving terms to, on sur-
"'rendering! ' The foolish little creature; insolent in the
"wrong quarter! " *
The German Burden, then, -- which surely was
mutual, at lowest, and lately was French altogether,--
the French have thrown it off; the French have
dropped their end of the bearing-poles (so to speak),
and left Friedrich by himself, to stand or stagger,
* (Euvres de Frederic, m, 128.
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? 174 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [bogkxt.
19th July --26th Aug. 1745.
under the beweltered broken harness-gear and in-
tolerable weight! That is one's payment for cutting
the rope from their neck last year! -- Long since,
while the present Campaign was being prepared for
under such financial pressures, Friedrich had bethought
him, "The French might at least give me money, if
they can nothing else? " -- and he had one day penned
a Letter with that object; but had thrown it into ;his
desk again, "No; not till the very last extremity,
that! " Friedrich did at last despatch the unpleasant
missive: "Service done you in Elsass, let us say little
of it; but the repayment has been zero hitherto: your
Bavarian expenses (poor Kaiser gone, and Peace of
Fiissen come! ) are now ended: -- A round sum, say
of 600,0001, is becoming indispensable here, if we are
to keep on our feet at all! " HerrRanke, who has seen
the Most Christian King's response (though in a capri-
cious way), finds "three or four successive redactions"
of the difficult passage; all painfully meaning, "Impos-
sible, alas! " -- painfully adding, "We will try, how-
ever! " And, after due cunctations, Friedrich waiting
silent the while, -- Louis, Most Christian King, who
had failed in so many things towards Friedrich, does
empower Valori To offer him a subsidy of 500,000 livres
a-month, till we see farther. Twenty thousand pounds
a-month; he hopes this will suffice, being himself run
terribly low. Friedrich's feeling is to be guessed:
"Such a dole might answer to a Landgraf of Hessen-
"Darmstadt; but to me is not in the least suitable;" --
and flatly refuses it; fierement, says Valori. *
Mon gros Valori, who could not himself help all
* Ranke, in. 235, 299n. (not the least of date allowed us in either case);
Valori, i. 240.
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? CHAP. XI. ] . CAMP OF CHLUM. 175
19th July -- 26th Aug. 1745.
this, poor soul, "falls now into complete disgrace;"
waits daily upon Friedrich at the giving out of the
parole, "but frequently his Majesty does not speak to
me at all. " Hardly looks at me, or only looks as if I
had suddenly become Zero Incarnate. It is now in
these days, I suppose, that Friedrich writes about the
"Scamander Battle" (of Fontenoy), and "Capture of
Pekin," by way of helping one to fight the Austrians
according to Treaty. And has a touch of bitter sar-
casm in uttering his complaints against such treatment,
-- the heart of him, I suppose, bitter enough. Most
Christian King has felt this of the Scamander, Fried-
rich perceives; Louis's next letter testifies pique; --
and of course we are farther from help, on that side,
than ever. "From the Stdnde of the Kur-Mark"
(Brandenburg) "Friedrich was offered a considerable
"subsidy instead; and joyfully accepted the same, 'as
"'a loan:'"--paid it punctually back, too; and never,
all his days, forgot it of those Stande. *
Camp of Dieskau: Britannic Majesty makes Peace, for
himself, with Friedrich; but cannot for Austria or
Saxony.
About the middle of August, there are certain
Saxon phenomena which awaken dread expectation in
the world. Friedrich, watching, Argus-like, near and
far, in his Chlum observatory, has noticed that Prince
Karl is getting reinforced in Konigsgratz; 10,000 lately,
7,000 more coming; -- and contrariwise that the
Saxons seem to be straggling off from him; ebbing
away, corps after corps, -- towards Saxony, can it be?
* Stenzel, it. 255; Rlake, &c.
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? 176 SECOND SILESlAli WAR. [book XV.
19th July -- 26th Aug. 1745.
There are whispers of "Bavarian auxiliaries" being
hired for them, too. And little Briihl's late insolence;
Briihl's evident belief that "we are finished (aux abois)? "
Putting all this together, Friedrich judges, -- with an
indignation very natural, -- that there is again some
insidious Saxon mischief, most likely an attack on
Brandenburg, in the wind. Friedrich orders the Old
Dessauer: "March into them, delay no longer! " and
publishes a clangorously indignant Manifesto (evidently
his own writing, and coming from the heart):* "How
they have, not bound by their Austrian Treaty, wan-
tonly invaded our Silesia; have, since and before, in
spite of our forbearance, done so many things: -- and,
in fact, have finally exhausted our patience; and are
forcing us to seek redress and safety by the natural
methods," which they will see how they like! --
Old Leopold advances straightway, as bidden,
direct for the Saxon frontier. To whom Friedrich
shoots off detachments, -- Prince Dietrich, with so
many thousands, to reinforce Papa; then General Gess-
ler with so many, -- till Papa is 30,000 odd; and
could eat Saxony at a mouthful; nothing whatever
being yet ready there on Briihl's part, though he has
such immense things in the wind! -- Nevertheless
Friedrich again paused; did not yet strike. The Saxon
question has Russian bugbears, no end of complica-
tions. His Britannic Majesty, now at Hanover, and
his prudent Harrington with him, are in the act of
labouring, with all earnestness, for a general Agree-
ment with Friedrich. Without further bitterness, em-
broilment and bloodshed: how much preferable for
* In Adelung, v, 64-71 (no date; "middle of August," say tho BookaJ.
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 177
19th July--26th Aug. 1745.
Friedrich! Old Dessauer, therefore, pauses: "Camp of
Dieskau," which we have often heard of, close on the
Saxon Border; stands there, looking over, as with
sword drawn, 30,000 good swords, -- but no stroke,
not for almost three months more. In three months,
wretched Briihl had not repented; but, on the con-
trary, had completed his preparations, and gone to
work; -- and the stroke did fall, as will be seen.
That is Bruhl's posture in the matter. *
To Britannic George, for a good while past, it has
been manifest that the Pragmatic Sanction, in its ori-
ginal form, is an extinct object; that reconquest of
Silesia, and such-like, is melancholy moonshine; and
that, in fact, towards fighting the French with effect,
it is highly necessary to make peace with Friedrich of
Prussia again. This once more is George's and his
Harrington's fixed view. Friedrich's own wishes are
known, or used to be, ever since the late Kaiser's
death, -- though latterly he has fallen silent, and even
avoids the topic when offered (knowing his man)! Har-
rington has to apply formally to Friedrich's Minister
at Hanover. "Very well, if they are in earnest this
time," so Friedrich instructs his Minister: "My terms are
known to you; no change admissible in the terms; --
do not speak with me on it farther: and, observe,
within four weeks, the thing finished, or else broken
off! "** And in this sense they are labouring inces-
santly, with Austria, with Saxony, -- without the least
success; -- and Excellency Robinson has again a
panting uncomfortable time. Here is a scene Robin-
son transacts at Vienna, which gives us a curious face-
* Ranke, m. 231, 814.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. VIII.
** Eanke, m. 277-281.
12
-
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? 178
[book xv. 2d Aug. 1745.
SECOND SILESIAN WAR.
to-face glimpse of her Hungarian Majesty, while Fried-
rich is in his Camp at Chlum.
? CHAP. X. ] BATTLE OF HOHENFR1EDBERG. 163
4th June 1745.
battalions of them," in an altogether unexampled manner.
Takes "several thousand prisoners," and such a haul
of standards, kettledrums, and insignia of honour,
as was never got before at one charge. Sixty-seven
standards by the tale, for the regiment (by most All-
Gracious Permission) wears, ever after, "67" upon its
cartridge-box, and is allowed to beat the grenadier
march;* -- how many kettledrums memory does not
say.
Prince Karl beats retreat, about 8 in the morning;
is through Hohenfriedberg about 10 (cannon covering
there, and Nadasti as rearguard): back into the Moun-
tains; a thoroughly well-beaten man. Towards Bolken-
hayn, the Saxons and he; their heavy artillery and
baggage had been left safe there. Not much pursued,
and gradually rearranging himself; with thoughts, -- no
want of thoughts! Came pouring down, triumphantly
invasive, yesterday; returns, on these terms, in about
fifteen hours. Not marching with displayed banners
and field-music, this time; this is a far other march.
The mouse-trap had been left open, and we rashly
went in! -- Prince Karl's loss, including that of the
Saxons (which is almost equal, though their number
in the field was but half), is 9,000 dead and wounded,
7,000 prisoners, 66 cannon, 73 flags and standards;
the Prussian is about 5,000 dead and wounded. **
Friedrich, at sight of Valori, embraces his gros Valori;
says, with a pious emotion in voice and look, "My
friend, God has helped me wonderfully this day! "
Actually there was a kind of devout feeling visible in
* Orlich, n. 179 (173n. , 179 n. , slightly wrong); Militair-Lexikon, n. 9,
iv. 465, 468. See Preuss, x. 212; (Euvres do Frederic; &c. &c.
"In Orlich (n. 182) all the details.
11*
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? 164 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
4th June 1714.
him, thinks Valori: "A singular mixture, this Prince,
"of good qualities and of bad; I never know which
"preponderates. "* As is the way with fat Valoris,
when they come into such company.
Friedrich is blamed by some military men, and
perhaps himself thought it questionable, that he did
not pursue Prince Karl more sharply. He says his
troops could not; they were worn out with the night's
marching and the day's fighting. He himself may well
be worn out. I suppose, for the last four-and-twenty
hours he, of all the contemporary sons of Adam, has
probably been the busiest. Let us rest this day; rest
till tomorrow morning, and be thankful. "So decisive
"a defeat," writes he to his Mother (hastily, misdating
"6th" June for 4th), "has not been since Blenheim"**
(which is tolerably true); and "I have made the Princes
"sign their names," to give the good Mother assurance
of her children in these perils of war. Seldom has
such a deliverance come to a man.
* Valori, swpius.
** Letter in (Euvres de Frecttric, xxvr. 71.
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? CHAP. XI. ]
165
CAMP OF CHLUM.
8th Juno 1745.
CHAPTER XI.
CAMP OF CHLUM: FRIEDRICH CANNOT ACHIEVE PEACE.
Feiedeich marched, on the morrow, likewise to
Bolkenhayn; which the enemy have just left; our
hussars hanging on their rear, and bickering with
Nadasti. Then again on the morrow, Sunday, --
"twelve hours of continuous rain," writes Valori; but
there is no down-pour, or distress, or disturbance that
will shake these men from their ranks, writes Valori.
And so it goes on, march after march, the Austrians
ahead, Dumoulin and our hussars infesting their rear,
which skilfully defended itself: through Landshut down
into Bohemia; where are new successive marches, the
Prussian quarterstaff stuck into the back of defeated
Austria, "Home with you; farther home! " -- and
shogging it on, -- without pause, for about a fortnight
to come. And then only with temporary pause; that
is to say, with intricate manoeuverings of a month long,
which shove it to Konigsgratz, its ultimatum, beyond
which there is no getting it. The stages and succes-
sive campings, to be found punctually in the old
Books and new, can interest only military readers.
Here is a small theological thing at Landshut, from
first hand:
June 8th, 1745. "The Army followed Dumoulin's Corps,
"and marched upon Landshut. On arriving in that neigh-
"bourhood, the King was surrounded by a troop of 2,000
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? 166
SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
8th-18th June 1745.
"Peasants," -- of Protestant persuasion, very evidently!
(which is much the prevailing thereabouts)-- "who begged
"permission of him 'to massacre the Catholics of these parts,
"' and clear the country of them altogether. ' This animosity
"arose from the persecutions which the Protestants had
"suffered during the Austrian domination, when their
"churches used to be taken from them and given to the popish
"priests," -- churches and almost their children, such was the
anxiety to make them orthodox. The patience of these
peasants had run over; and now, in the hour of hope, they
proposed the above sweeping measure. "The King was very
"far from granting them so barbarous a permission. He told
"them, 'They ought rather to conform to the Scripture
"' precept, to bless those that cursed them, and pray for those
"'that despitefully used them; such was the way to gain the
"'Kingdom of Heaven. ' The peasants," rolling dubious eyes
for a moment, "answered, His Majesty was right; and desisted
"from their cruel pretension. " f ** --"On Hohenfriedberg
"Day," says another Witness, "as far as the sound of the
"cannon was heard, all round, the Protestants fell on their
'' knees, praying for victory to the Prussians;" * and at Bres-
lau that evening, when the "Thirteen trumpeting Postillions"
came tearing in with the news, what an enthusiasm without
limit!
Prince Karl has skill in choosing camps and posi-
tions: his Austrians are much cowed; that is the
grievous loss in his late fight. So, from June 8th,
when they quit Silesia, -- by two roads to go more
readily, -- all through that month and the next,
Friedrich spread to the due width, duly pricking into
the rear of them, drives the beaten hosts onward and
onward. They do not think of fighting; their one
thought is to get into positions where they can have
living conveyed to them, and cannot be attacked; for
the former of which objects, the farther homewards
t (Entires 'ie Frediric, n. 218. * In Ranke, m. 259.
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 167
ISth June -- 20th July 1745.
they go, it is the better. The main pursuit, as I
gather, goes leftward from Landshut, by Friedland --
the Silesian Friedland, once Wallenstein's. Through
rough wild country, the southern slope of the Giant
Mountains, goes that slow pursuit, or the main stream
of it, where Friedrich in person is; intricate savage
regions, cut by precipitous rocks and soaking quag-
mires, shaggy with woods: watershed between the
Upper Elbe and Middle Oder; Glatz on our left, --
with the rain of its mountains gathering to a Neisse
River, eastward, which we know; and on their west or
hither side, to a Metau, Adler, Aupa, and other many-
branched feeders of the Elbe. Most complex military
ground, the manceuverings on it endless, -- which must
be left to the reader's fancy here.
About the end of June, Karl and his Austrians
find a place suitable to their objects: Konigsgratz, a
compact little Town, in the nook between the Elbe
and Adler; covered to west and to south by these
two streams; strong enough to east withal; and sure
and convenient to the southern roads and victual.
Against which Friedrich's manoeuvres avail nothing;
so that he at last (20th July) crosses Elbe River;
takes, he likewise, an inexpugnable Camp on the op-
posite shore, at a Village called Chlum; and lies there,
making a mutual dead-lock of it, for six weeks or more.
Of the prior Camps, with their abundance of strategic
shuffllings, wheelings, pushings, all issuing in this of
Chlum, we say nothing: none of them, -- except the
immediately preceding one, called of Nahorzan, called
also of Drewitz (for it was in parts a shifting entity,
and flung the limbs of it about, strategically clutching
at Konigsgratz), -- had any permanency: let us take
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? 168 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [bOOKXV.
June --Aug. 1745.
Chlum (the longest, and essentially the last in those
parts) as the general summary of them, and alone re-
memberable by us. *
Friedrich's purposes, at Chlum, or previously, are
not towards conquests in Bohemia, nor of fighting
farther, if he can help it. But, in the mean while, he
is eating out these Bohemian vicinages; no invasion of
Silesia possible from that quarter soon again. That is
one benefit: and he hopes always his enemies, under
screw of military pressure with the one hand, and offer
of the olive-branch with the other, will be induced to
grant him Peace. Britannic Majesty, after Fontenoy
and Hohenfriedberg, not to mention the first rumours
of a Jacobite Rebellion, with France to rear of it, is
getting eager to have Friedrich settled with, and with-
drawn from the game again; -- the rather, as Fried-
rich, knowing his man, has ceased latterly to urge him
on the subject Peace with George the Purseholder,
does not that mean Peace with all the others? Fried-
rich knows the high Queen's indignation; but he little
guesses, at this time, the humour of Briihl and the
Polish Majesty. He has never yet sent the Old
Dessauer in upon them; always only keeps him on
the slip, at Magdeburg; still hoping actualities may
not be needed. He hopes too, in spite of her indigna-
tion, the Hungarian Majesty, with an Election on
hand, with the Netherlands at such a pass, not to
* "Camp of Gross-Parzitz" (across the Metau, to dislodge Prince Karl
from his shelter behind that stream), "June 14th:" "Camp ofNahorzan,
June 18th" (and abstruse manosuverings, of a month, for Kimigsgratz):
"20th July," cross Elbe for Chlum; and lie, yourself also inexpugnable,
there. See (Euvres de Frederic (in. 120 et seq. ); especially see Orlich
(n. pp. 193, 194, 203, &c. &c. ), -- with an amplitude of inorganic details,
sufficient to astonish the robustest memory!
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 169
June--Aug. 1745.
speak of Italy and the Middle Rhine, will come to
moderate views again. On which latter points, his
reckoning was far from correct! Within three months,
Britannic Majesty and he did get to explicit Agree-
ment (Convention of Hanover, 26th August): but in
regard to the Polish Majesty and the Hungarian there
proved to be no such result attainable, and quite other
methods necessary first!
"Of military transactions in this Camp of Chlum, or in all
"these Bohemian-Silesian Camps, for near four months, there
"is nothing, or as good as nothing: Chlum has no events;
"Chlum vigilantly guards itself; and expects, as the really
"decisive to it, events that will happen far away. We are to
"conceive this military business as a deadlock; attended with
"hussar skirmishes; attacks, defences, of outposts, ofprovi-
"sion-wagons from Moravia or Silesia: -- Friedrich has his
"food from Silesia chiefly, by several routes, 'convoys come
"'once in the five days. ' His horse-provender he forages;
"with Tolpatches watching him, and continual scufflings of
"fight: 'for hay and glory,' writes one Prussian Officer, 'I
"'assure you we fight well! ' Endless enterprising, manceuver-
"ing, counter-manoeuvering there at first was; and still is, if
"either party stir: but here, in their mutually fixed camps,
"tacit mutual observances establish themselves; and amid the
"rigorous armed vigilances, there are traits of human neigh-
"bourship. As usual in such cases. The guard-parties do
"not fire on one another, within certain limits: a signal that
"there are dead to bury, or the like, is strictly respected. On
"one such occasion it was (June 30th, Camp-of-Nahorzan
"time) that Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, -- Prince Ferdi-
nand, with a young Brother Albert volunteering and learn-
"ing his business here, who are both Prussian, -- had a snatch
"of interview with a third much-loved Brother, Ludwig, who
"is in the Austrian service. A Prussian Officer, venturing
"beyond the limits, had been shot; Ferdinand's message,
"'Grant us burial of him! " found, by chance, Brother Lud-
"wig in command of that Austrian outpost; who answers:
"' Surely; -- and beg that I may embrace my Brothers! ' And
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? 170 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
June --Aug. 1745.
"they rode out, those three, to the space intermediate;
"talked there for half an hour, till the burial was done. *
"Fancy such an interview between the poor young fellows,
"the soul of honour each, and tied in that manner!
"Trenck of the Life-guard was not quite the soul of
"honour. It was in the Nahorzan time too that Trenck, who
"had, in spite of express order to the contrary, been writing
"to his Cousin the indigo Pandour, was put under arrest when
"found out. 'Wrote merely about horses: purchase of
"'horses, so help me God! ' protests the blusterous Life-
"guardsman, loud as lungs will, -- whether with truth in
"them, nobody can say. 'Arrest for breaking orders! '
"answers Friedrich, doubting or disbelieving the horses; and
"loud Trenck is packed over the Hills to Glatz; to Governor
"Fouque', or Substitute; -- where, by not submitting and
"repenting, by resisting and rebelling, and ever again doing
"it, he makes out for himself, with Fouque1 and his other
"Governors, what kind of life we know! 'Gardez etroitement ce
"' drole-la, il a voulu devenir Pandour aupres de son oncle (Keep
"'a tight hold of this fine fellow; he wanted to become
"'Pandour beside his Uncle)! ' writes Friedrich: -- 'Uncle'
"instead of 'Cousin,' all one to Friedrich. This he writes
"with his own hand, on the margin: 28th June 1745; the
"inexorable Records fix that date. f Which I should not
"mention, except for another inexorable date (30th Septem-
ber), that is coming; and the perceptible slight comfort
"there will be in fixing down a loud-blustering, extensively
"fabulous blockhead, still fit for the Nurseries, to one unde-
"niable premeditated lie, and tar-marking him therewith, for
"benefit of more serious readers. " As shall be done, were the
30th of September come!
Here is still something, -- if it be not rather nothing, by a
great hand! Date uncertain; Camp-of-Chlum time, pretty
tar on: * * "There are continual foragings, on both sides;
"with parties mutually dashing out to hinder the same.
The
"Prussians have a detached post at Smirzitz; which is much
"harassed by Hungarians lurking about, shooting our sentry
"and the like. An inventive head contrives this expedient.
"Stuff a Prussian uniform with straw; fix it up, by aid of
* Mauvillon, Geschichte Ferdinands von Braunschweig-Luneburg, i. 118.
t ROdenbeck, m. 381. Copy of the Warrant, once penes me.
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? CS1KB. 1 CAMP OP CHLTO. 171
19th July 1745.
"ropes and check-strings, to stand with musket shouldered,
"and even to glide about to right and left, on judicious pull-
"ing. So it is done: straw man is made; set upon his ropes,
"when the Tolpatches approach; and pensively saunters to
"and fro, -- his living comrades crouching in the bushes near
"by. Tolpatches fire on the walking straw sentry; straw
"sentry falls flat; Tolpatches rush in, esurient, triumphant;
"are exploded in a sharp blast of musketry from the bushes
"all round, every wounded man made prisoner; -- and come
"no more back to that post. " Friedrich himself records this
little fact: "slight pleasantry to relieve the reader's mind,"
says he, in narrating it. * -- Enough of those small matters,
while so many large are waiting.
June 26th, a month before Chlum, General Nassau
had been detached, with some 8 or 10,000, across
Glatz Country, into Upper Silesia, to sweep that clear
again. Hautcharmoi, quitting the Frontier Towns, has
joined, raising him to 15,000; and Nassau is giving
excellent account of the multitudinous Pandour doggeries
there; and will retake Kosel, and have Upper Silesia
swept before very long. ** On the other hand, the
Election matter (Kaiserwahl, a most important point)
is obviously in threatening, or even in desperate state!
That famed Middle-Rhine Army has gone to the --
what shall we say?
July 5th-19th, Middle-Rhine Country. "The first Election-
"news that reaches Friedrich is from the Middle-Rhine
"Country, and of very bad complexion. Readers remember
"Traun, and his Bathyanis, and his intentions upon Conti
"there. In the end of May, old Traun, things being all com-
"pleted in Bavaria, had got on march with his Bavarian
* (Enures, in. 123.
** Kosel, "September 5th:" Excellent, lucid and even entertaining Ac-
count of Nassau's Expedition, in the form of Diary (a model, of its kind),
in Feldziige, iv. 257-371-532.
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? 172 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
19th July 1745.
"Army, say 40,000, to look into Prince Conti down in those
"parts; a fact very interesting to the Prince. Traun held
''leftward, westward, as if for the Neckar Valley,--' Perhaps
"intending to be through upon Elsass, in those southern
"undefended portions of the Rhine? ' Conti, and his Se'gur,
"and Middle-Rhine Army stood diligently on their guard;
"got their forces, defences, apparatuses, hurried southward,
"from Frankfurt quarter where they lay on watch, into those
"Neckar regions. Which seen to be done, Traun whirled
"rapidly to rightward, to northward; crossed the Mayn at
"Wertheim, wholly leaving the Neckar and its Conti; having
"weighty business quite in the other direction, -- on the
"north side of the Mayn, namely; on the Kinzig River, where
"Bathyani (who has taken D'Ahremberg's command below
"Frankfurt, and means to bestir himself in another than the
"D'Ahremberg fashion) is to meet him on a set day. Traun
"having thus, by strategic suction, pulled the Middle-Rhine
"Army out of his and Bathyani's way, hopes they two will
"manage a junction on the Kinzig; after junction they will be
"a little stronger than Conti, though decidedly weaker taken
"one by one. Traun, in the long June days, had such a
"march, through the Spessart Forest (Mayn River to his left,
"with our old friends Dettingen, Aschaffenburg, far down in
"the plain), as was hardly ever known before: pathless
"wildernesses, rocky steeps and chasms; the sweltering June
"sun sending down the upper snows upon him in the form of
"muddy slush; so that 'the infantry had to wade haunch-
"' deep in many of the hollow parts, and nearly all thecavalry
"'lost its horse-shoes. ' A strenuous march; and a well-
"schemed. For at the Kinzig River (Conti still far off in the
"Neckar country), Bathyani punctually appeared, on the
"opposite shore; and Traun and he took camp together;
"July 5th, at Langen-Selbord (few miles north of Hanau,
"which we know); -- and rest there; calculating that Conti is
"now a manageable quantity; --and comfortably wait till
"the Grand-Duke arrives. * For this is, theoretically, his
"Army; Grand-Duke Franz being the Commander's Cloak,
"this season; as Karl was, last, -- a right lucky Cloak he,
"while Traun lurked under him, not so lucky since! July
"13th, Franz arrived; and Traun, under Franz, instantly
* Adelung, iv. 421; v. 3G.
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? Chap. XI. ] CAMP OF CHLliM. 173
19th July--2Gth Aug. 1745.
"went into Conti (now again in those Frankfurt parts);
"clutched at Conti, Briareus-like, in a multiform alarming
"manner: so that Conti lost head; took to mere retreating,
"rushing about, burning bridges; -- and, in fine, July 19th,
"had flung himself bodily across the Rhine (clouds of Tol-
"patches sticking to him), and left old Traun and his Grand-
"Duke supreme lord in those parts. Who did not invade
"Elsass, as was now expected; but lay at Heidelberg, intend-
ing to play pacifically a surer card. All French are out of
"Teutschland again; and the game given up. In what a
"premature and shameful manner! thinks Friedrich.
"Nominally it was the Grand-Duke that flung Conti over
"the Rhine; and delivered Teutschland from its plagues.
"After which fine feat, salvatory to the Cause of Liberty, and
"destructive to French influence, what is to prevent his elec-
"tion to the Kaisership? Friedrich complains aloud: "Conti
"has given it up; you drafted '15,000 from him (forimaginary
'"uses in the Netherlands) -- you have given it up, then!
"'Was that our bargain? ' 'We have given it up,' answers
"D'Argenson the War-minister, writing to Valori; 'but' --
"And supplies, instead of performance according to the laws
"of fact, eloquent logic; very superfluous to Friedrich and
"the said laws! -- Valori, and the French Minister at Dres-
den, had again been trying to stir up the Polish Majesty to
"stand for Kaiser; but of course that enterprise, eager as the
"Polish Majesty might be for such a dignity, had now to
"collapse, and become totally hopeless. A new offer of Fried-
"rich's to cooperate had been refused by Briihl, with a
"brevity, a decisiveness-- 'Thinks me finished (aux abois),'
"says Friedrich; 'and not worth giving terms to, on sur-
"'rendering! ' The foolish little creature; insolent in the
"wrong quarter! " *
The German Burden, then, -- which surely was
mutual, at lowest, and lately was French altogether,--
the French have thrown it off; the French have
dropped their end of the bearing-poles (so to speak),
and left Friedrich by himself, to stand or stagger,
* (Euvres de Frederic, m, 128.
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? 174 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [bogkxt.
19th July --26th Aug. 1745.
under the beweltered broken harness-gear and in-
tolerable weight! That is one's payment for cutting
the rope from their neck last year! -- Long since,
while the present Campaign was being prepared for
under such financial pressures, Friedrich had bethought
him, "The French might at least give me money, if
they can nothing else? " -- and he had one day penned
a Letter with that object; but had thrown it into ;his
desk again, "No; not till the very last extremity,
that! " Friedrich did at last despatch the unpleasant
missive: "Service done you in Elsass, let us say little
of it; but the repayment has been zero hitherto: your
Bavarian expenses (poor Kaiser gone, and Peace of
Fiissen come! ) are now ended: -- A round sum, say
of 600,0001, is becoming indispensable here, if we are
to keep on our feet at all! " HerrRanke, who has seen
the Most Christian King's response (though in a capri-
cious way), finds "three or four successive redactions"
of the difficult passage; all painfully meaning, "Impos-
sible, alas! " -- painfully adding, "We will try, how-
ever! " And, after due cunctations, Friedrich waiting
silent the while, -- Louis, Most Christian King, who
had failed in so many things towards Friedrich, does
empower Valori To offer him a subsidy of 500,000 livres
a-month, till we see farther. Twenty thousand pounds
a-month; he hopes this will suffice, being himself run
terribly low. Friedrich's feeling is to be guessed:
"Such a dole might answer to a Landgraf of Hessen-
"Darmstadt; but to me is not in the least suitable;" --
and flatly refuses it; fierement, says Valori. *
Mon gros Valori, who could not himself help all
* Ranke, in. 235, 299n. (not the least of date allowed us in either case);
Valori, i. 240.
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? CHAP. XI. ] . CAMP OF CHLUM. 175
19th July -- 26th Aug. 1745.
this, poor soul, "falls now into complete disgrace;"
waits daily upon Friedrich at the giving out of the
parole, "but frequently his Majesty does not speak to
me at all. " Hardly looks at me, or only looks as if I
had suddenly become Zero Incarnate. It is now in
these days, I suppose, that Friedrich writes about the
"Scamander Battle" (of Fontenoy), and "Capture of
Pekin," by way of helping one to fight the Austrians
according to Treaty. And has a touch of bitter sar-
casm in uttering his complaints against such treatment,
-- the heart of him, I suppose, bitter enough. Most
Christian King has felt this of the Scamander, Fried-
rich perceives; Louis's next letter testifies pique; --
and of course we are farther from help, on that side,
than ever. "From the Stdnde of the Kur-Mark"
(Brandenburg) "Friedrich was offered a considerable
"subsidy instead; and joyfully accepted the same, 'as
"'a loan:'"--paid it punctually back, too; and never,
all his days, forgot it of those Stande. *
Camp of Dieskau: Britannic Majesty makes Peace, for
himself, with Friedrich; but cannot for Austria or
Saxony.
About the middle of August, there are certain
Saxon phenomena which awaken dread expectation in
the world. Friedrich, watching, Argus-like, near and
far, in his Chlum observatory, has noticed that Prince
Karl is getting reinforced in Konigsgratz; 10,000 lately,
7,000 more coming; -- and contrariwise that the
Saxons seem to be straggling off from him; ebbing
away, corps after corps, -- towards Saxony, can it be?
* Stenzel, it. 255; Rlake, &c.
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? 176 SECOND SILESlAli WAR. [book XV.
19th July -- 26th Aug. 1745.
There are whispers of "Bavarian auxiliaries" being
hired for them, too. And little Briihl's late insolence;
Briihl's evident belief that "we are finished (aux abois)? "
Putting all this together, Friedrich judges, -- with an
indignation very natural, -- that there is again some
insidious Saxon mischief, most likely an attack on
Brandenburg, in the wind. Friedrich orders the Old
Dessauer: "March into them, delay no longer! " and
publishes a clangorously indignant Manifesto (evidently
his own writing, and coming from the heart):* "How
they have, not bound by their Austrian Treaty, wan-
tonly invaded our Silesia; have, since and before, in
spite of our forbearance, done so many things: -- and,
in fact, have finally exhausted our patience; and are
forcing us to seek redress and safety by the natural
methods," which they will see how they like! --
Old Leopold advances straightway, as bidden,
direct for the Saxon frontier. To whom Friedrich
shoots off detachments, -- Prince Dietrich, with so
many thousands, to reinforce Papa; then General Gess-
ler with so many, -- till Papa is 30,000 odd; and
could eat Saxony at a mouthful; nothing whatever
being yet ready there on Briihl's part, though he has
such immense things in the wind! -- Nevertheless
Friedrich again paused; did not yet strike. The Saxon
question has Russian bugbears, no end of complica-
tions. His Britannic Majesty, now at Hanover, and
his prudent Harrington with him, are in the act of
labouring, with all earnestness, for a general Agree-
ment with Friedrich. Without further bitterness, em-
broilment and bloodshed: how much preferable for
* In Adelung, v, 64-71 (no date; "middle of August," say tho BookaJ.
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? CHAP. XI. ] CAMP OP CHLUM. 177
19th July--26th Aug. 1745.
Friedrich! Old Dessauer, therefore, pauses: "Camp of
Dieskau," which we have often heard of, close on the
Saxon Border; stands there, looking over, as with
sword drawn, 30,000 good swords, -- but no stroke,
not for almost three months more. In three months,
wretched Briihl had not repented; but, on the con-
trary, had completed his preparations, and gone to
work; -- and the stroke did fall, as will be seen.
That is Bruhl's posture in the matter. *
To Britannic George, for a good while past, it has
been manifest that the Pragmatic Sanction, in its ori-
ginal form, is an extinct object; that reconquest of
Silesia, and such-like, is melancholy moonshine; and
that, in fact, towards fighting the French with effect,
it is highly necessary to make peace with Friedrich of
Prussia again. This once more is George's and his
Harrington's fixed view. Friedrich's own wishes are
known, or used to be, ever since the late Kaiser's
death, -- though latterly he has fallen silent, and even
avoids the topic when offered (knowing his man)! Har-
rington has to apply formally to Friedrich's Minister
at Hanover. "Very well, if they are in earnest this
time," so Friedrich instructs his Minister: "My terms are
known to you; no change admissible in the terms; --
do not speak with me on it farther: and, observe,
within four weeks, the thing finished, or else broken
off! "** And in this sense they are labouring inces-
santly, with Austria, with Saxony, -- without the least
success; -- and Excellency Robinson has again a
panting uncomfortable time. Here is a scene Robin-
son transacts at Vienna, which gives us a curious face-
* Ranke, m. 231, 814.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. VIII.
** Eanke, m. 277-281.
12
-
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? 178
[book xv. 2d Aug. 1745.
SECOND SILESIAN WAR.
to-face glimpse of her Hungarian Majesty, while Fried-
rich is in his Camp at Chlum.
