Lacy, as
chief, with abundant force, and Beck and Brentano
under him: these are to march, "Recover me that Fischerberg; it is the preface to Koltschen, and all
else!
chief, with abundant force, and Beck and Brentano
under him: these are to march, "Recover me that Fischerberg; it is the preface to Koltschen, and all
else!
Thomas Carlyle
In
general the O'Kelly supports sat gazing dubiously, and
? Tempelhof, vi. 105-111.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 304 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVEIT<rHELMED. [book XX.
21st July 1762.
did nothing for O'Kelly but roll back along with him
when the time came. But let us first attend to Wied,
and the Ludwigsdorf-Leuthmannsdorf part.
Wied, divided into Three, is diligently pushing up
on Ludwigsdorf by the slacker eastern ascents; meets
firm enough battalions, potent, dangerous, and resolute
in their strong posts; but endeavours firmly to be more
dangerous than they. Dislodges everything, on his
right, on his left; comes in sight of the batteries and
ranked masses atop, which seem to him difficult indeed;
flatly impossible, if tried on front; but always some
Colonel Lottum, or quick-eyed man, finds some little
valley, little hollow; gets at the Enemy side-wise and
rear-wise; rushes on with fixed bayonets, double-quick,
to cooperate with the front: and, on the whole, there
are the best news from Wied, and we perceive he sees
his way through the affair.
Upon which, Mollendorf gets in motion, upon his
specific errand. Mollendorf has been surveying his
ground a little, during the leisure hour; especially ex-
amining what mode of passage there may be, and look-
ing for some road up those slacker western parts: has
found no road, but a kind of sheep-track, which he
thinks will do. Mollendorf, with all energy, surmount-
ing many difficulties, pushes up accordingly; gets into
his sheep-track; finds, in the steeper part of this track,
that horses cannot draw his cannon; sets his men to do
it; pulls and pushes, he and they, with a right will; --
sees over his left shoulder, at a certain point, the
ranked Austrians waiting for him behind their cannon
(which must have been an interesting glimpse of scenery
for some moments); tugs along, till he is at a point for
planting his cannon; and then, under help of these,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XI. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN OPENS. 305
21st July 1762.
rushes forward, -- in two parts, perhaps in three, but
with one impetus in all, -- to seize the Austrian fruit
set before him. Surely, if a precious, a very prickly
pomegranate, to clutch hold of on different sides, after
such a climb! The Austrians make stiff fight; have
abatis, multiplex defences; and Mollendorf has a furious
wrestle with this last remnant, holding out wonderfully,
-- till at length the abatis itself catches fire, in the
musketry, and they have to surrender. This must be
about noon, as I collect: and Feldmarschall Daun him-
self now orders everybody to fall back. And the tug
of fight is over; -- though Friedrich's scenic effects
did not cease; and in particular, his big battery raged
till 5 in the afternoon, the more to confirm Daun's
rearward resolutions and quicken his motions. On fall
of night, Daun, everybody having had his orders, and
been making his preparations for six hours past,
ebbed totally away; in perfect order, bag and bag-
gage. Well away to southward; and left Friedrich quit
of him. *
Quit of Daun forevermore, as it turned out. Plainly
free, at any rate, to begin upon Schweidnitz, whenever
he sees good. Of the behaviour of Wied, Mollendorf,
and their people, indeed of the Prussians one and all,
what can be said, but that it was worthy of their
Captain and of the Plannings he had made? Which
is saying a great deal. "We got above 14 big guns,"
report they; "above 1,000 prisoners, and perhaps
"twice as many that deserted to us in the days fol-
* Tempelhof, vi. 100-115: compare Bericht von der bey Leutmannsdorf
den Hslen Julius 176% vorgefallenen Action (Seyfarth, Beylagen, in. 302-308);
Anderweiler Bericht von der &c. (ibid. 308-314); Arohenholtz, &c. &o.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. XII. 20
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 306 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
2ist July 1762.
"lowing. " Czernichef was full of admiration at the
day's work: he marched early next morning, -- I
trust with lasting gratitude on the part of an obliged
Friedrich.
Some three weeks before this of Burkersdorf, Duke
Ferdinand, near a place called Wilhelmsthal, in the
neighbourhood of Cassel, in woody broken country of
Hill and Dale, favourable for strategic contrivances,
had organised a beautiful movement from many sides,
hoping to overwhelm the too careless or too ignorant
French, and gain a signal victory over them: Battle,
so-called, of Wilhelmsthal, June 24i/i, 1762, being the
result. Mauvillon never can forgive a certain stupid
Hanoverian, who mistook his orders; and on getting
to his Hill-top, which was the centre of all the rest, --
formed himself with his back to the point of attack; and
began shooting cannon at next to nothing, as if to
warn the French, that they had better instantly make
off! Which they instantly set about, with a will; and
mainly succeeded in; nothing all day but mazes of in-
tricate marching, on both sides, with spurts of fight
here and there, -- ending in a truly stiff bout between
Granby and a Comte de Stainville, who covered the
retreat, and who could not be beaten without a great
deal of trouble. The result a kind of victory to Fer-
dinand; but nothing like what he expected. *
Soubise leads the French this final Year; but he
has a D'Estre'es with him (our old D'Estre'es of Hasten-
beck), who much helps the account current; and though
generally on the declining hand (obliged to give up
* Mauvillon, n. 227-236; Tempelhof, vi. &c. &e.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XI. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN OPENS. 307
21st July 1762.
Gottingen, to edge away farther and farther out of
Hessen itself, to give up the Weser, and see no shift
but the farther side of Fulda, with Frankfurt to rear),
--- is not often caught napping as here at Wilhelms-
thal. There ensued about the banks of the Fulda, and
the question, Shall we be driven across it sooner or
not so soon? a great deal of fighting and pushing
(Battle called of Lutternberg, Battle of Johannisberg,
and others): but all readers will look forward rather to
the Cannonade of Amoneburg, more precisely Cannonade
of the Brucken-Muhle (September 21st), which finishes
these wearisome death-wrestlings. Peace is coming; all
the world can now count on that!
Bute is ravenous for Peace; has been privately
taking the most unheard-of steps: -- wrote to Kaunitz,
"Peace at once, and we will vote for your having Sile-
sia;" to which Kaunitz, suspecting trickery in artless
Bute, answered, haughtily sneering, "No help needed
from your Lordship, in that matter! " After which re-
pulse, or before it, Bute had applied to the Czar's
Minister in London: "Czarish Majesty to have East
Preussen guaranteed to him, if he will insist that the
King of Prussia dispense with Silesia;" which the in-
dignant Czar rejected with scorn, and at once made his
Royal Friend aware of; -- with what emotion on the
Royal Friend's part we have transiently seen. "Horrors
and perfidies! " ejaculated he, in our hearing lately; and
regarded Bute, from that time, as a knave and an im-
becile both in one; nor ever quite forgave Bute's Na-
tion either, which was far from being Bute's accomplice
in this unheard-of procedure. "No more Alliances with
England! " counted he: "What Alliance can there be
with that ever-fluctuating People; today they have a
20*
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 308 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
21st July 1762.
thrice-noble Pitt; tomorrow a thrice-paltry Bute, and
all goes heels-over-head on the sudden! "* --
Bute, at this rate of going, will manage to get
hold of Peace before long. To Friedrich himself, a
Siege of Schweidnitz is now free; Schweidnitz his, the
Austrians will have to quitSilesia. "Their cash is out:
except prayer to the Virgin, what but Peace can they
attempt farther? In Saxony things will have gone ill,
if there be not enough left us to offer them in return
for Glatz. And Peace and As-you-were must ensue! "--?
Let us go upon Schweidnitz, therefore; pausing on
none of these subsidiary things; and be brief upon
Schweidnitz too.
? Preuss, H. 308; Mitchell, n. 286.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS.
7th-16tli Aug. 1762.
0 CHAPTER XII.
SIEGE OF SCHWEIDNITZ: SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS.
Daun being now cleared away, Friedrich instantly
proceeds upon Schweidnitz. Orders the necessary Siege
Materials to get under way from Neisse; posts his Army
in the proper places, between Daun and the Fortress,--
King's headquarter Dittmannsdorf, Army spread in fine
large crescent-shape, to south-west of Schweidnitz some
ten miles, and as far between Daun and it; -- orders
home to him his Upper-Silesia Detachments, "Home,
all of you, by Neisse Country, to make up for Czerni-
chef's departure; from Neisse onwards you can guard
the Siege-Ammunition wagons! " Naturally he has
blockaded Schweidnitz, from the first; he names Tauen-
tzien Siege-Captain, with a 10 or 12,000 to do the
Siege: "Ahead, all of you! " -- and in short, August
7th, with the due adroitness and precautions, opens his
first parallel; suffering little or nothing hitherto by a
resistance which is rather vehement. * He expects to
have the place in a couple of weeks -- "one week
(hw't jours)" he sometimes counts it; but was far out
in his reckoning as to time.
The Siege of Schweidnitz occupied two most la-
borious, tedious months; -- and would be wearisome
to every reader now, as it was to Friedrich then, did
we venture on more than the briefest outline. The
resistance is vehement, very skilful: -- Commandant
* Tempelhof, vi. 126.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 310 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
7th-16th Aug. 1762.
is Guasco (the same who was so truculent to Schmettau
in the Dresden time); his Garrison is near 12,000,
picked from all regiments of the Austrian Army, his
provisions, ammunitions, are of the amplest; and he
has under him as chief Engineer a M. Gribeauval, who
understands "counter-mining" like no other. After about
a fortnight of trial, and one Event in the neighbour-
hood which shall be mentioned, this of Mining and
Countermining, -- though the External Sap went rest-
lessly forward too, and the cannonading was incessant
on both sides, -- came to be regarded more and more
as the real method, and for six or seven weeks longer
was persisted in, with wonderful tenacity of attempt
and resistance. Friedrich's chief Mining Engineer is
also a Frenchman, one Lefebvre; who is personally the
rival of Gribeauval (his old class-fellow at College, I
almost think); but is not his equal in subterranean
work, -- or perhaps rather has the harder task of it,
that of Mining, instead of Countermining, or spoiling
Mines. Tempelhof's account of these two people, and
their underground wrestle here, is really curious read-
ing; -- clear as daylight to those that will study, but
of endless expansion (as usual in Tempelhof), and fit
only to be indicated here. *
The external Event I promised to mention is an at-
tempt on Daun's part (August 16th) to break in upon
Friedrich's position, and interrupt the Siege, or render
it still impossible. Event called the Battle of Reichen-
bach, though there was not much of battle in it; -- in
* Tempelhof, vi. 122-219; Bericht und Tagebuch von tier Belagerung
von Schvfeidnitz vom 7ten August bis 9 October 4763 (Seyfarth, Beylagen,
in. 376-179); Archenholtz, Retzow, &c.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS. 311
16th Aug. 1762.
which our old friend the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern
(whom we have seen in abeyance, and merely a Garri-
son Commandant, for years back, till the Russians left
Stettin to itself) again played a shining part.
Daun, -- at Tannhausen, 10 miles to south-west
of Friedrich, and spread out among the Hills, with
Loudons, Lacys, Becks, as lieutenants, and in plenty
of force, could he resolve on using it, -- has at last,
after a month's meditation, hit upon a plan. Plan of
flowing round by the southern skirt of Friedrich, and
seizing certain Heights to the south-eastern or open
side of Schweidnitz, -- Koltschen Height the key
one; from which he may spread up at will, Height
after Height, to the very Zobtenberg on that eastern
side, and render Schweidnitz an impossibility. The
plan, people say, was good; but required rapidity of
execution, -- a thing Daun is not strong in.
Bevern's behaviour, too, upon whom the edge of
the matter fell, was very good. Bevern, coming on
from Neisse and Upper-Silesia, had been much manoeu-
vered upon for various days by Beck; Beck, a danger-
ous, alert man, doing his utmost to seize post after
post, and bar Bevern's way, --? meaning especially, as
ultimate thing, to get hold of a Height called Fischer-
berg, which lies near Reichenbach (in the southern
Schweidnitz vicinities), and is preface to Koltschen
Height and to the whole Enterprise of Daun. In most
of which attempts, especially in this last, Bevern, with
great merit, not of dexterity alone (for the King's Orders
had often to be rf/. <<obeyed in the letter, and only the
spirit of them held in view), contrived to outmanoeuvre
Beck; and be found (August 13th) already firm on the
Fischerberg, when Beck, in full confidence, came
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 312 FHIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
16th Aug. 1762.
marching towards it. "The Fischerberg lost to us! "
Beck had to report, in disappointment. "Must be re-
covered, and my grand Enterprise no longer put off! "
thinks Daun to himself, in still more disappointment
("Laggard that I am! "). -- And, on the third day
following, the Battle of Reichenbach ensued.
Lacy, as
chief, with abundant force, and Beck and Brentano
under him: these are to march, "Recover me that Fischerberg; it is the preface to Koltschen, and all
else! "*
Monday, August IQth, pretty early in the day, Lacy,
with his Becks and Brentanos, appeared in great force
on the western side of Fischerberg; planted themselves
there, about the three Villages of Peilau (Upper, Nether,
and Middle Peilau, a little way to south of Reichen-
bach), within cannonshot of Bevern; their purpose
abundantly clear. Behind them, in the gorges of the
Mountains, what is not so clear, lay Daun and most of
his Army; intending to push through at once upon
Koltschen and seize the key, were this of Fischerberg
had. Lacy, after reconnoitering a little, spreads his
tents (which it is observable Beck does not); and all
Austrians proceed to cooking their dinner. "Nothing
coming of them till tomorrow! " and Friedrich, who
was here; and went his way home, on this symptom of
the Austrian procedures; -- hardly consenting to regard
them farther, even when he heard their cannonade
begin.
Lacy, the general composure being thus established,
and dinner well done, suddenly drew out about five in
the evening, in long sirong line, before these Hamlets
of Peilau, on the western side of the Fischerberg; Beck
* Tempelhof, vx. 144.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS. 313
16th Aug. 1762.
privately pushing round by woods to take it on the
eastern side: and there ensued abundant cannonading
on the part of Lacy and Brentano, and some idle
flourishing about of horse, responded to by Bevern;
and, on the part of Lacy and Brentano, nothing else
whatever. More like a theatre fight than a real one,
says Tempelhof. Beck, however, is in earnest; has
a most difficult march through the tangled pathless
woods; does arrive at length, and begin real fighting,
very sharp for some time; which might have been pro-
ductive, had Lacy given the least help to it, as he did
not. * Beck did his firiest; but got repulsed every-
where. Beck tries in various places; finds swamps,
impediments, fierce resistance from the Bevern people;
-- finds, at length, that the King is awake, and that
reinforcements, horse, foot, riding-artillery, are coming
in at the gallop; and that he, Beck, cannot too soon
get away.
None of the King's Foot people could get in for a
stroke, though they came mostly running (distance five
miles); but the Horse-charges were beautifully impres-
sive on Lacy's theatrical performers, as was the Horse-
Artillery, to a still more surprising degree; and pro-
duced an immediate Exeunt Omnes on the Lacy part.
All off; about 7 p. m. , -- Sun just going down in the
autumn sky; -- and the Battle of Reichenbach a thing
finished. Seeing which, Daun also immediately with-
drew, through the gorges of the Mountains again. And
for seven weeks thenceforth sat contemplative, without
the least farther attempt at relief of Schweidnitz. It
was during those seven weeks, some time after this,
that poor Madam Daun, going to a Levee at Schon- * Tempelhof, vi. 146-151.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 314 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
16th Aug. --9th Oct. 1762.
brunn one day, had her carriage half filled with
symbolical nightcaps, successively flung in upon her by
the Vienna people; -- symbolical; in lieu of Slashing
Articles, and Newspapers the best Instructors, which
they as yet have not.
Next day the Joy-fire of the Prussians taught
Guasco what disaster had happened; and on the fifth
day afterwards (August 22d), hearing nothing farther of
Daun, Guasco offered to surrender, on the principle of
Free Withdrawal. "No, never," answered Tauentzien,
by the King's order: "As Prisoners of War it must be! "
Upon which Guasco stood to his defences again; and
maintained himself, -- Gribeauval and he did, -- with
an admirable obstinacy: the details of which would be
very wearisome to readers. Gribeauval and he, I said;
for from this time, Engineer Lefebvre, though he tried
(with bad skill, thinks Tempelhof) some bits of assault
above ground, took mainly to mining, and a grand
underground invention called Globes de Compression;
which he reckoned to be the real sovereign method, --
unlucky that he was! I may at least explain what
Globe de Compression is; for it becomes famous on this
occasion, and no name could be less descriptive of the
thing. Not a globe at all, for that matter, nor intended
to "compress," but to express, and shatter to pieces in
a transcendent degree: it is, in fact, a huge cubical
mine-chamber, filled by a wooden box (till Friedrich,
in his hurry, taught Lefebvre that a sack would do
as well), loaded with, say, five thousand-weight of
powder. Sufficient to blow any horn-work, bastion,
bulwark, into the air, ->>-- provided you plant it in the
right place; which poor Lefebvre never can. He tried,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS. 315
16th Aug. --9th Oct. 1762.
with immense labour, successively some four or almost
five of these "Press Balls" so-called (or Volcanoes in
Little); mining on, many yards, 15 or 20 feet under-
ground (tormented by Gribeauval all the way); then
at last, exploding his five thousand-weight, -- would
produce a "Funnel," or crater, of perhaps "30 yards
in diameter," but, alas, "150 yards off any bastion. "
Funnel of no use to him; -- mere sign to him that he
must go down into it, and begin there again; with better
aim, if possible. And then Gribeauval's tormentings;
never were the like! Gribeauval has, all round under
the Glacis, mine-galleries, or main-roads for Counter-
mining, ready to his hand (mine-galleries built by
Friedrich, while lately proprietor); there Gribeauval is
hearkening the beat of Lefebvre's picks: "Ten yards
from us, think you? Six yards? Get a 30 hundred-
weight of chamber ready for him! " And will, at the
right moment, blow Lefebvre's gallery about his ears;
-- sometimes burst in upon him bodily with pistol and
cutlass, or still worse, with explosive sulphur-balls,
choke-pots, and infinitudes of malodour instantaneously
developed on Lefebvre, -- which mean withal, "You
will have to begin again, Monsieur! " Enough to drive
a Lefebvre out of his wits. Twice, or oftener, Lefebvre,
a zealous creature, but a thin-skinned, flew out into
open paroxysm; wept, invoked the gods, threatened
suicide: so that Friedrich had to console him,
"Courage, you will manage it; make chicanes on
Gribeauval, as he does on you," -- and suggested that
powder-sack instead of deal-box, which we just
mentioned.
Friedrich's patience seems to have been great; but
in the end he began to think the time long. He was
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 316 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
16th Aug. --9th Oct. 1762.
in three successive headquarters, Dittmannsdorf, Peters-
waldau, Bogendorf, nearer and nearer; at length quite
near (Bogendorf within a couple of miles); and wonder-
ing Gazetteers reported him on horseback, examining
minutely the parallels and siege-works, -- with a singular
indifference to the cannon-balls flying about (" Not easy
to hit a small object with cannon! "), and intent only
on giving Tauentzien suggestions, admonitions, and new
orders. Here, prior to Bogendorf, are three snatches of
writing, which successively have indications for us.
King to Prince Henri:
Peterswaldau (King has just shifted hither, August 10th,
on the ftevem-Reichenbach score; continues here till Sep-
tember 23d), August 13th, 1762. * * "You are right to
"say, 'We ourselves are our best Allies. ' I am of the same
"opinion; nevertheless, it is a clear duty and call of prudence,
"to try and alleviate the burden as much as possible: and I
"own to you, that if, after all I have written, the thing fails
"this time" (as it does), "I shall be obliged to grant that
"there is nothing to be made of those Turks. " "We are
"now in the press of our crisis as to Schweidnitz. The Siege
"advances beautifully: but Beck is come hereabouts, Lacy
"masked behind him; and I cannot yet tell you" (not till
Reichenbach and the 16th) "whether the Enemy intends some
"big adventure for disengaging Schweidnitz, or will content
"himself with disturbing and annoying us. "
Peterswaldau, 9th September. "Springs, water-threads
"coming into our mines delay us a little: 'by the 12th' (in 3
days time, little thinking it would be 30 days! ) 'I still hope
"to despatch you a courier with the news, All is over! Your
"Nephew" (Prince of Prussia) "is out today assisting in a
"forage; he begins to kindle into fine action. We are nothing
"but pygmies in comparison to him" (in point of physical
stature); "imagine to yourself Prince Franz" (of Brunswick;
"killed, poor fellow, at Hochkirch), "only taller still; this
"is the figure of him at present. "
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS.
24th Sept. 1762.
Peterswaldau, September 1. 9th. * * "Our Siege wearies
"all the world; people persecute me to know the end of it; I
"never get a Berlin Letter without something on that head;
"-- and I have no resource myself but patience. We do all
"we can; but I cannot hinder the enemy from defending him-
"self, and Gribeauval from being a clever fellow: -- soon,
"however, surely soon, soon, we shall see the end. Our
"weather here is like December; the Seasons are as mad as
"the Politics of Europe. Finally, my dear Brother, one
"must shove Time on; day follows day, and at last we shall
"catch the one that ends our labours. Adieu; je vous em~
"brasse. "* -- Here farther, from the Siege-ground itself, are
some traceries, scratchings by a sure hand, which yield us
something of image. Date is still only "Before Schweidnitz,"
far on in the eighth week:
September 23d. "This morning, before 9, the King"
(direct from Peterswaldau, where he nas beenlodging hitherto,
-- must have breakfasted rather early) "came into the Lines
"here: -- his quarter is now to be at Bogendorf near hand, in
"a Farmhouse there. The Prince of Prussia was riding with
"him, and Lieutenant-Colonel von Anhalt" (the Adjutant
whom we have heard of): "he looked at the Battery" lately
ordered by him; "looked at many things; rode along, agood
"jlOO yards, inside of the vedettes; so that the Enemy noticed
"him, and fired violently," -- King decidedly ignoring. "To
"Captain Beauvrye" (Captain of the Miners) "he paid a gra-
"cious compliment; Major Lefebvre he rallied a little for
"losingheart, for bungling his business; but was not angry
"with him, consoled him rather; bantered him on the shabbi-
"ness of his equipments, and made him a gift of400 thalers
'' (601. ), to improve them. Lefebvre, Tauentzien, and" an-
other General" dined with him at Bogendorf today. "**
September 24th, early. "The King on horseback viewed
"the trenches, rode close behind the first parallel, along the
"midmost communication-line: the Enemy cannonaded at us
"horribly (erschrecklich); a ball struck down the Page von
"Pirch's horse" (Pirch lay writhing, making moan, -- plainly
* Schoning, m. 403, 430, 446.
** "CaptainGtftz's Notebook" (a conspicuous Captain here, Notebook
still in manuscript, I think): cited in Schining, m. 453 et seq.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 318 FRIEDEICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
16th Aug. --9th Oct. 1762.
over-much, thought the King): "on Pirch's accident, too,
"the Prince of Prussia's horse made a wild plunge, and
"pitched its rider aloft out of the saddle; people thought the
"Prince was shot, and everybody was in horror: great was
"the commotion; only the King was heard calling with a clear
"voice 'Pirch, vergiss Er seinen Sattel nicht, --Pirch, briiig
"your saddle with you! ' " --
This of Pirch and the saddle is an Anecdote in wide circu-
lation; taken sometimes as a proof of Royal thrift; but is
mainly the Royal mode of rebuking Pirch for his weak be-
haviour in the accident that had befallen. Pirch, an ingenious
handy kind of fellow, famed for his pranks and trickeries in
those Page-days, had many adventures in the world; -- was,
for one while, something of a notability among the French;
will "teach you the Prussian mode of drill," and actually got
leave to try it "on the German Regiments in our service: *--
died, finally, as Colonel of one of these, at the Siege of
Gibraltar, in 1783.
September 25th. "Morning and noon, each time two hours,
"the King was in his new batteries; and, with great satisfac-
"tion, watched the working of them. This day there dined
''with him the Prince ofBernburg" (General of Brigade here),
"Tauentzien,Lefebvre, and Dieskau" (head of the Artillery).
The King is always riding about; has now, virtually,
taken charge of the Siege himself. "In Bogendorf, the first
"night, he dismissed the Guard sent for him; would have
"nothing there but six chasers (jager):" an alarming case!
"After a night or two, there came always, without his
"knowledge, a dragoon party of 30 horse; took post behind
"Bogendorf Church, patrolled towards Kunzendorf, Giesdorf,
"and had three pickets. "
September 28th. "Gribeauval has sprung a mine last
night;" totally blown up Lefebvre again! "Engineer-Lieu-
"tenants Gerhard and Von Kleist were wounded by our own
"people; Captain Guyon was shot:" things all going wrong,
"--weather, I suspect also, bad. "The King was in dread-
ful humour (sehr ungnadig); rated and rebuked to right and
* Voltaire's wondering Report of him ("Ferney, 7th December 1774"),
and Friedrich's quiet Answer ("Berlin, 28th December 1774"): in (Euvres
de Frederic, mil. 297, 301. Rfldenbeck (n. 198-200) has a slight 'Biography'
of Pirch.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS. 319
7th-9th Oct. 1762.
"left: 'If it should last tillJanuary, the Attack must go on.
"' Nobody seems to be able for his business; Lefebvre a block-
"'head (dummer Teafel), who knows nothing of mining: the
'"Generals, too, where are they? Every General henceforth
"'is to take his place in the third parallel, at the head of his
"' Covering-Party'" (most exposed place of all),"'and stay his
"' whole twenty-four hours there"'(Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg
is Covering-Party today; I hope, in his post during this
thunder! ): " 'Taken the Place can and must be! We have the
"' misfortune, That a stupid Engineer who knows nothing of
'"his art has the direction; and a General without sense in
"' Sieging has the command. Everybody is at a nonplus, it
"'appears! Not all our Artillery can silence that Front-fire;
"' not in a single place can Thirty stupid Miners get into the
"'Fort. ' Today and yesterday the King spoke neither to
"General Tauentzien nor to Major Lefebvre; Lieutenant-
"Colonel von Anhalt had to give all the Orders. " An electric
kind of day!
The weather is becoming wet. In fact, there ensue
whole weeks of rain, -- the trenches swimming, service
very hard. Guasco's guns are many of them dismounted;
no Daun to be heard of. Guasco again and again pro-
poses modified capitulations; answer always, "Prisoners
of War on the common terms. " Guasco is wearing low:
October 7th (Lefebvre sweating and puffing at his last
Globe of Expression, hoping to hit the mark this last
time), an accidental grenade from Tauentzien, above
ground, rolled into one of Guasco's powder-vaults; blew
it, and a good space of Wall along with it, into wreck;
two days after which, Guasco had finished his Capitu-
lating; -- and we get done with this wearisome affair. *
Guasco was invited to dine with the King; praised for
his excellent defence. Prisoners of War his Garrison
* Tempelhof, vI. 122-220; Tagebuch von ier Belagerung von Schweidniti
vom lien Anguet bis 9len October 1762 (Seyfarth, Beylagen, m. 376-479);
Tielke, &c. &c.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl.
general the O'Kelly supports sat gazing dubiously, and
? Tempelhof, vi. 105-111.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 304 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVEIT<rHELMED. [book XX.
21st July 1762.
did nothing for O'Kelly but roll back along with him
when the time came. But let us first attend to Wied,
and the Ludwigsdorf-Leuthmannsdorf part.
Wied, divided into Three, is diligently pushing up
on Ludwigsdorf by the slacker eastern ascents; meets
firm enough battalions, potent, dangerous, and resolute
in their strong posts; but endeavours firmly to be more
dangerous than they. Dislodges everything, on his
right, on his left; comes in sight of the batteries and
ranked masses atop, which seem to him difficult indeed;
flatly impossible, if tried on front; but always some
Colonel Lottum, or quick-eyed man, finds some little
valley, little hollow; gets at the Enemy side-wise and
rear-wise; rushes on with fixed bayonets, double-quick,
to cooperate with the front: and, on the whole, there
are the best news from Wied, and we perceive he sees
his way through the affair.
Upon which, Mollendorf gets in motion, upon his
specific errand. Mollendorf has been surveying his
ground a little, during the leisure hour; especially ex-
amining what mode of passage there may be, and look-
ing for some road up those slacker western parts: has
found no road, but a kind of sheep-track, which he
thinks will do. Mollendorf, with all energy, surmount-
ing many difficulties, pushes up accordingly; gets into
his sheep-track; finds, in the steeper part of this track,
that horses cannot draw his cannon; sets his men to do
it; pulls and pushes, he and they, with a right will; --
sees over his left shoulder, at a certain point, the
ranked Austrians waiting for him behind their cannon
(which must have been an interesting glimpse of scenery
for some moments); tugs along, till he is at a point for
planting his cannon; and then, under help of these,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XI. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN OPENS. 305
21st July 1762.
rushes forward, -- in two parts, perhaps in three, but
with one impetus in all, -- to seize the Austrian fruit
set before him. Surely, if a precious, a very prickly
pomegranate, to clutch hold of on different sides, after
such a climb! The Austrians make stiff fight; have
abatis, multiplex defences; and Mollendorf has a furious
wrestle with this last remnant, holding out wonderfully,
-- till at length the abatis itself catches fire, in the
musketry, and they have to surrender. This must be
about noon, as I collect: and Feldmarschall Daun him-
self now orders everybody to fall back. And the tug
of fight is over; -- though Friedrich's scenic effects
did not cease; and in particular, his big battery raged
till 5 in the afternoon, the more to confirm Daun's
rearward resolutions and quicken his motions. On fall
of night, Daun, everybody having had his orders, and
been making his preparations for six hours past,
ebbed totally away; in perfect order, bag and bag-
gage. Well away to southward; and left Friedrich quit
of him. *
Quit of Daun forevermore, as it turned out. Plainly
free, at any rate, to begin upon Schweidnitz, whenever
he sees good. Of the behaviour of Wied, Mollendorf,
and their people, indeed of the Prussians one and all,
what can be said, but that it was worthy of their
Captain and of the Plannings he had made? Which
is saying a great deal. "We got above 14 big guns,"
report they; "above 1,000 prisoners, and perhaps
"twice as many that deserted to us in the days fol-
* Tempelhof, vi. 100-115: compare Bericht von der bey Leutmannsdorf
den Hslen Julius 176% vorgefallenen Action (Seyfarth, Beylagen, in. 302-308);
Anderweiler Bericht von der &c. (ibid. 308-314); Arohenholtz, &c. &o.
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. XII. 20
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 306 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
2ist July 1762.
"lowing. " Czernichef was full of admiration at the
day's work: he marched early next morning, -- I
trust with lasting gratitude on the part of an obliged
Friedrich.
Some three weeks before this of Burkersdorf, Duke
Ferdinand, near a place called Wilhelmsthal, in the
neighbourhood of Cassel, in woody broken country of
Hill and Dale, favourable for strategic contrivances,
had organised a beautiful movement from many sides,
hoping to overwhelm the too careless or too ignorant
French, and gain a signal victory over them: Battle,
so-called, of Wilhelmsthal, June 24i/i, 1762, being the
result. Mauvillon never can forgive a certain stupid
Hanoverian, who mistook his orders; and on getting
to his Hill-top, which was the centre of all the rest, --
formed himself with his back to the point of attack; and
began shooting cannon at next to nothing, as if to
warn the French, that they had better instantly make
off! Which they instantly set about, with a will; and
mainly succeeded in; nothing all day but mazes of in-
tricate marching, on both sides, with spurts of fight
here and there, -- ending in a truly stiff bout between
Granby and a Comte de Stainville, who covered the
retreat, and who could not be beaten without a great
deal of trouble. The result a kind of victory to Fer-
dinand; but nothing like what he expected. *
Soubise leads the French this final Year; but he
has a D'Estre'es with him (our old D'Estre'es of Hasten-
beck), who much helps the account current; and though
generally on the declining hand (obliged to give up
* Mauvillon, n. 227-236; Tempelhof, vi. &c. &e.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XI. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN OPENS. 307
21st July 1762.
Gottingen, to edge away farther and farther out of
Hessen itself, to give up the Weser, and see no shift
but the farther side of Fulda, with Frankfurt to rear),
--- is not often caught napping as here at Wilhelms-
thal. There ensued about the banks of the Fulda, and
the question, Shall we be driven across it sooner or
not so soon? a great deal of fighting and pushing
(Battle called of Lutternberg, Battle of Johannisberg,
and others): but all readers will look forward rather to
the Cannonade of Amoneburg, more precisely Cannonade
of the Brucken-Muhle (September 21st), which finishes
these wearisome death-wrestlings. Peace is coming; all
the world can now count on that!
Bute is ravenous for Peace; has been privately
taking the most unheard-of steps: -- wrote to Kaunitz,
"Peace at once, and we will vote for your having Sile-
sia;" to which Kaunitz, suspecting trickery in artless
Bute, answered, haughtily sneering, "No help needed
from your Lordship, in that matter! " After which re-
pulse, or before it, Bute had applied to the Czar's
Minister in London: "Czarish Majesty to have East
Preussen guaranteed to him, if he will insist that the
King of Prussia dispense with Silesia;" which the in-
dignant Czar rejected with scorn, and at once made his
Royal Friend aware of; -- with what emotion on the
Royal Friend's part we have transiently seen. "Horrors
and perfidies! " ejaculated he, in our hearing lately; and
regarded Bute, from that time, as a knave and an im-
becile both in one; nor ever quite forgave Bute's Na-
tion either, which was far from being Bute's accomplice
in this unheard-of procedure. "No more Alliances with
England! " counted he: "What Alliance can there be
with that ever-fluctuating People; today they have a
20*
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 308 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
21st July 1762.
thrice-noble Pitt; tomorrow a thrice-paltry Bute, and
all goes heels-over-head on the sudden! "* --
Bute, at this rate of going, will manage to get
hold of Peace before long. To Friedrich himself, a
Siege of Schweidnitz is now free; Schweidnitz his, the
Austrians will have to quitSilesia. "Their cash is out:
except prayer to the Virgin, what but Peace can they
attempt farther? In Saxony things will have gone ill,
if there be not enough left us to offer them in return
for Glatz. And Peace and As-you-were must ensue! "--?
Let us go upon Schweidnitz, therefore; pausing on
none of these subsidiary things; and be brief upon
Schweidnitz too.
? Preuss, H. 308; Mitchell, n. 286.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS.
7th-16tli Aug. 1762.
0 CHAPTER XII.
SIEGE OF SCHWEIDNITZ: SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS.
Daun being now cleared away, Friedrich instantly
proceeds upon Schweidnitz. Orders the necessary Siege
Materials to get under way from Neisse; posts his Army
in the proper places, between Daun and the Fortress,--
King's headquarter Dittmannsdorf, Army spread in fine
large crescent-shape, to south-west of Schweidnitz some
ten miles, and as far between Daun and it; -- orders
home to him his Upper-Silesia Detachments, "Home,
all of you, by Neisse Country, to make up for Czerni-
chef's departure; from Neisse onwards you can guard
the Siege-Ammunition wagons! " Naturally he has
blockaded Schweidnitz, from the first; he names Tauen-
tzien Siege-Captain, with a 10 or 12,000 to do the
Siege: "Ahead, all of you! " -- and in short, August
7th, with the due adroitness and precautions, opens his
first parallel; suffering little or nothing hitherto by a
resistance which is rather vehement. * He expects to
have the place in a couple of weeks -- "one week
(hw't jours)" he sometimes counts it; but was far out
in his reckoning as to time.
The Siege of Schweidnitz occupied two most la-
borious, tedious months; -- and would be wearisome
to every reader now, as it was to Friedrich then, did
we venture on more than the briefest outline. The
resistance is vehement, very skilful: -- Commandant
* Tempelhof, vi. 126.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 310 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
7th-16th Aug. 1762.
is Guasco (the same who was so truculent to Schmettau
in the Dresden time); his Garrison is near 12,000,
picked from all regiments of the Austrian Army, his
provisions, ammunitions, are of the amplest; and he
has under him as chief Engineer a M. Gribeauval, who
understands "counter-mining" like no other. After about
a fortnight of trial, and one Event in the neighbour-
hood which shall be mentioned, this of Mining and
Countermining, -- though the External Sap went rest-
lessly forward too, and the cannonading was incessant
on both sides, -- came to be regarded more and more
as the real method, and for six or seven weeks longer
was persisted in, with wonderful tenacity of attempt
and resistance. Friedrich's chief Mining Engineer is
also a Frenchman, one Lefebvre; who is personally the
rival of Gribeauval (his old class-fellow at College, I
almost think); but is not his equal in subterranean
work, -- or perhaps rather has the harder task of it,
that of Mining, instead of Countermining, or spoiling
Mines. Tempelhof's account of these two people, and
their underground wrestle here, is really curious read-
ing; -- clear as daylight to those that will study, but
of endless expansion (as usual in Tempelhof), and fit
only to be indicated here. *
The external Event I promised to mention is an at-
tempt on Daun's part (August 16th) to break in upon
Friedrich's position, and interrupt the Siege, or render
it still impossible. Event called the Battle of Reichen-
bach, though there was not much of battle in it; -- in
* Tempelhof, vi. 122-219; Bericht und Tagebuch von tier Belagerung
von Schvfeidnitz vom 7ten August bis 9 October 4763 (Seyfarth, Beylagen,
in. 376-179); Archenholtz, Retzow, &c.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS. 311
16th Aug. 1762.
which our old friend the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern
(whom we have seen in abeyance, and merely a Garri-
son Commandant, for years back, till the Russians left
Stettin to itself) again played a shining part.
Daun, -- at Tannhausen, 10 miles to south-west
of Friedrich, and spread out among the Hills, with
Loudons, Lacys, Becks, as lieutenants, and in plenty
of force, could he resolve on using it, -- has at last,
after a month's meditation, hit upon a plan. Plan of
flowing round by the southern skirt of Friedrich, and
seizing certain Heights to the south-eastern or open
side of Schweidnitz, -- Koltschen Height the key
one; from which he may spread up at will, Height
after Height, to the very Zobtenberg on that eastern
side, and render Schweidnitz an impossibility. The
plan, people say, was good; but required rapidity of
execution, -- a thing Daun is not strong in.
Bevern's behaviour, too, upon whom the edge of
the matter fell, was very good. Bevern, coming on
from Neisse and Upper-Silesia, had been much manoeu-
vered upon for various days by Beck; Beck, a danger-
ous, alert man, doing his utmost to seize post after
post, and bar Bevern's way, --? meaning especially, as
ultimate thing, to get hold of a Height called Fischer-
berg, which lies near Reichenbach (in the southern
Schweidnitz vicinities), and is preface to Koltschen
Height and to the whole Enterprise of Daun. In most
of which attempts, especially in this last, Bevern, with
great merit, not of dexterity alone (for the King's Orders
had often to be rf/. <<obeyed in the letter, and only the
spirit of them held in view), contrived to outmanoeuvre
Beck; and be found (August 13th) already firm on the
Fischerberg, when Beck, in full confidence, came
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 312 FHIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
16th Aug. 1762.
marching towards it. "The Fischerberg lost to us! "
Beck had to report, in disappointment. "Must be re-
covered, and my grand Enterprise no longer put off! "
thinks Daun to himself, in still more disappointment
("Laggard that I am! "). -- And, on the third day
following, the Battle of Reichenbach ensued.
Lacy, as
chief, with abundant force, and Beck and Brentano
under him: these are to march, "Recover me that Fischerberg; it is the preface to Koltschen, and all
else! "*
Monday, August IQth, pretty early in the day, Lacy,
with his Becks and Brentanos, appeared in great force
on the western side of Fischerberg; planted themselves
there, about the three Villages of Peilau (Upper, Nether,
and Middle Peilau, a little way to south of Reichen-
bach), within cannonshot of Bevern; their purpose
abundantly clear. Behind them, in the gorges of the
Mountains, what is not so clear, lay Daun and most of
his Army; intending to push through at once upon
Koltschen and seize the key, were this of Fischerberg
had. Lacy, after reconnoitering a little, spreads his
tents (which it is observable Beck does not); and all
Austrians proceed to cooking their dinner. "Nothing
coming of them till tomorrow! " and Friedrich, who
was here; and went his way home, on this symptom of
the Austrian procedures; -- hardly consenting to regard
them farther, even when he heard their cannonade
begin.
Lacy, the general composure being thus established,
and dinner well done, suddenly drew out about five in
the evening, in long sirong line, before these Hamlets
of Peilau, on the western side of the Fischerberg; Beck
* Tempelhof, vx. 144.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS. 313
16th Aug. 1762.
privately pushing round by woods to take it on the
eastern side: and there ensued abundant cannonading
on the part of Lacy and Brentano, and some idle
flourishing about of horse, responded to by Bevern;
and, on the part of Lacy and Brentano, nothing else
whatever. More like a theatre fight than a real one,
says Tempelhof. Beck, however, is in earnest; has
a most difficult march through the tangled pathless
woods; does arrive at length, and begin real fighting,
very sharp for some time; which might have been pro-
ductive, had Lacy given the least help to it, as he did
not. * Beck did his firiest; but got repulsed every-
where. Beck tries in various places; finds swamps,
impediments, fierce resistance from the Bevern people;
-- finds, at length, that the King is awake, and that
reinforcements, horse, foot, riding-artillery, are coming
in at the gallop; and that he, Beck, cannot too soon
get away.
None of the King's Foot people could get in for a
stroke, though they came mostly running (distance five
miles); but the Horse-charges were beautifully impres-
sive on Lacy's theatrical performers, as was the Horse-
Artillery, to a still more surprising degree; and pro-
duced an immediate Exeunt Omnes on the Lacy part.
All off; about 7 p. m. , -- Sun just going down in the
autumn sky; -- and the Battle of Reichenbach a thing
finished. Seeing which, Daun also immediately with-
drew, through the gorges of the Mountains again. And
for seven weeks thenceforth sat contemplative, without
the least farther attempt at relief of Schweidnitz. It
was during those seven weeks, some time after this,
that poor Madam Daun, going to a Levee at Schon- * Tempelhof, vi. 146-151.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 314 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
16th Aug. --9th Oct. 1762.
brunn one day, had her carriage half filled with
symbolical nightcaps, successively flung in upon her by
the Vienna people; -- symbolical; in lieu of Slashing
Articles, and Newspapers the best Instructors, which
they as yet have not.
Next day the Joy-fire of the Prussians taught
Guasco what disaster had happened; and on the fifth
day afterwards (August 22d), hearing nothing farther of
Daun, Guasco offered to surrender, on the principle of
Free Withdrawal. "No, never," answered Tauentzien,
by the King's order: "As Prisoners of War it must be! "
Upon which Guasco stood to his defences again; and
maintained himself, -- Gribeauval and he did, -- with
an admirable obstinacy: the details of which would be
very wearisome to readers. Gribeauval and he, I said;
for from this time, Engineer Lefebvre, though he tried
(with bad skill, thinks Tempelhof) some bits of assault
above ground, took mainly to mining, and a grand
underground invention called Globes de Compression;
which he reckoned to be the real sovereign method, --
unlucky that he was! I may at least explain what
Globe de Compression is; for it becomes famous on this
occasion, and no name could be less descriptive of the
thing. Not a globe at all, for that matter, nor intended
to "compress," but to express, and shatter to pieces in
a transcendent degree: it is, in fact, a huge cubical
mine-chamber, filled by a wooden box (till Friedrich,
in his hurry, taught Lefebvre that a sack would do
as well), loaded with, say, five thousand-weight of
powder. Sufficient to blow any horn-work, bastion,
bulwark, into the air, ->>-- provided you plant it in the
right place; which poor Lefebvre never can. He tried,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS. 315
16th Aug. --9th Oct. 1762.
with immense labour, successively some four or almost
five of these "Press Balls" so-called (or Volcanoes in
Little); mining on, many yards, 15 or 20 feet under-
ground (tormented by Gribeauval all the way); then
at last, exploding his five thousand-weight, -- would
produce a "Funnel," or crater, of perhaps "30 yards
in diameter," but, alas, "150 yards off any bastion. "
Funnel of no use to him; -- mere sign to him that he
must go down into it, and begin there again; with better
aim, if possible. And then Gribeauval's tormentings;
never were the like! Gribeauval has, all round under
the Glacis, mine-galleries, or main-roads for Counter-
mining, ready to his hand (mine-galleries built by
Friedrich, while lately proprietor); there Gribeauval is
hearkening the beat of Lefebvre's picks: "Ten yards
from us, think you? Six yards? Get a 30 hundred-
weight of chamber ready for him! " And will, at the
right moment, blow Lefebvre's gallery about his ears;
-- sometimes burst in upon him bodily with pistol and
cutlass, or still worse, with explosive sulphur-balls,
choke-pots, and infinitudes of malodour instantaneously
developed on Lefebvre, -- which mean withal, "You
will have to begin again, Monsieur! " Enough to drive
a Lefebvre out of his wits. Twice, or oftener, Lefebvre,
a zealous creature, but a thin-skinned, flew out into
open paroxysm; wept, invoked the gods, threatened
suicide: so that Friedrich had to console him,
"Courage, you will manage it; make chicanes on
Gribeauval, as he does on you," -- and suggested that
powder-sack instead of deal-box, which we just
mentioned.
Friedrich's patience seems to have been great; but
in the end he began to think the time long. He was
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 316 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
16th Aug. --9th Oct. 1762.
in three successive headquarters, Dittmannsdorf, Peters-
waldau, Bogendorf, nearer and nearer; at length quite
near (Bogendorf within a couple of miles); and wonder-
ing Gazetteers reported him on horseback, examining
minutely the parallels and siege-works, -- with a singular
indifference to the cannon-balls flying about (" Not easy
to hit a small object with cannon! "), and intent only
on giving Tauentzien suggestions, admonitions, and new
orders. Here, prior to Bogendorf, are three snatches of
writing, which successively have indications for us.
King to Prince Henri:
Peterswaldau (King has just shifted hither, August 10th,
on the ftevem-Reichenbach score; continues here till Sep-
tember 23d), August 13th, 1762. * * "You are right to
"say, 'We ourselves are our best Allies. ' I am of the same
"opinion; nevertheless, it is a clear duty and call of prudence,
"to try and alleviate the burden as much as possible: and I
"own to you, that if, after all I have written, the thing fails
"this time" (as it does), "I shall be obliged to grant that
"there is nothing to be made of those Turks. " "We are
"now in the press of our crisis as to Schweidnitz. The Siege
"advances beautifully: but Beck is come hereabouts, Lacy
"masked behind him; and I cannot yet tell you" (not till
Reichenbach and the 16th) "whether the Enemy intends some
"big adventure for disengaging Schweidnitz, or will content
"himself with disturbing and annoying us. "
Peterswaldau, 9th September. "Springs, water-threads
"coming into our mines delay us a little: 'by the 12th' (in 3
days time, little thinking it would be 30 days! ) 'I still hope
"to despatch you a courier with the news, All is over! Your
"Nephew" (Prince of Prussia) "is out today assisting in a
"forage; he begins to kindle into fine action. We are nothing
"but pygmies in comparison to him" (in point of physical
stature); "imagine to yourself Prince Franz" (of Brunswick;
"killed, poor fellow, at Hochkirch), "only taller still; this
"is the figure of him at present. "
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS.
24th Sept. 1762.
Peterswaldau, September 1. 9th. * * "Our Siege wearies
"all the world; people persecute me to know the end of it; I
"never get a Berlin Letter without something on that head;
"-- and I have no resource myself but patience. We do all
"we can; but I cannot hinder the enemy from defending him-
"self, and Gribeauval from being a clever fellow: -- soon,
"however, surely soon, soon, we shall see the end. Our
"weather here is like December; the Seasons are as mad as
"the Politics of Europe. Finally, my dear Brother, one
"must shove Time on; day follows day, and at last we shall
"catch the one that ends our labours. Adieu; je vous em~
"brasse. "* -- Here farther, from the Siege-ground itself, are
some traceries, scratchings by a sure hand, which yield us
something of image. Date is still only "Before Schweidnitz,"
far on in the eighth week:
September 23d. "This morning, before 9, the King"
(direct from Peterswaldau, where he nas beenlodging hitherto,
-- must have breakfasted rather early) "came into the Lines
"here: -- his quarter is now to be at Bogendorf near hand, in
"a Farmhouse there. The Prince of Prussia was riding with
"him, and Lieutenant-Colonel von Anhalt" (the Adjutant
whom we have heard of): "he looked at the Battery" lately
ordered by him; "looked at many things; rode along, agood
"jlOO yards, inside of the vedettes; so that the Enemy noticed
"him, and fired violently," -- King decidedly ignoring. "To
"Captain Beauvrye" (Captain of the Miners) "he paid a gra-
"cious compliment; Major Lefebvre he rallied a little for
"losingheart, for bungling his business; but was not angry
"with him, consoled him rather; bantered him on the shabbi-
"ness of his equipments, and made him a gift of400 thalers
'' (601. ), to improve them. Lefebvre, Tauentzien, and" an-
other General" dined with him at Bogendorf today. "**
September 24th, early. "The King on horseback viewed
"the trenches, rode close behind the first parallel, along the
"midmost communication-line: the Enemy cannonaded at us
"horribly (erschrecklich); a ball struck down the Page von
"Pirch's horse" (Pirch lay writhing, making moan, -- plainly
* Schoning, m. 403, 430, 446.
** "CaptainGtftz's Notebook" (a conspicuous Captain here, Notebook
still in manuscript, I think): cited in Schining, m. 453 et seq.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 318 FRIEDEICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
16th Aug. --9th Oct. 1762.
over-much, thought the King): "on Pirch's accident, too,
"the Prince of Prussia's horse made a wild plunge, and
"pitched its rider aloft out of the saddle; people thought the
"Prince was shot, and everybody was in horror: great was
"the commotion; only the King was heard calling with a clear
"voice 'Pirch, vergiss Er seinen Sattel nicht, --Pirch, briiig
"your saddle with you! ' " --
This of Pirch and the saddle is an Anecdote in wide circu-
lation; taken sometimes as a proof of Royal thrift; but is
mainly the Royal mode of rebuking Pirch for his weak be-
haviour in the accident that had befallen. Pirch, an ingenious
handy kind of fellow, famed for his pranks and trickeries in
those Page-days, had many adventures in the world; -- was,
for one while, something of a notability among the French;
will "teach you the Prussian mode of drill," and actually got
leave to try it "on the German Regiments in our service: *--
died, finally, as Colonel of one of these, at the Siege of
Gibraltar, in 1783.
September 25th. "Morning and noon, each time two hours,
"the King was in his new batteries; and, with great satisfac-
"tion, watched the working of them. This day there dined
''with him the Prince ofBernburg" (General of Brigade here),
"Tauentzien,Lefebvre, and Dieskau" (head of the Artillery).
The King is always riding about; has now, virtually,
taken charge of the Siege himself. "In Bogendorf, the first
"night, he dismissed the Guard sent for him; would have
"nothing there but six chasers (jager):" an alarming case!
"After a night or two, there came always, without his
"knowledge, a dragoon party of 30 horse; took post behind
"Bogendorf Church, patrolled towards Kunzendorf, Giesdorf,
"and had three pickets. "
September 28th. "Gribeauval has sprung a mine last
night;" totally blown up Lefebvre again! "Engineer-Lieu-
"tenants Gerhard and Von Kleist were wounded by our own
"people; Captain Guyon was shot:" things all going wrong,
"--weather, I suspect also, bad. "The King was in dread-
ful humour (sehr ungnadig); rated and rebuked to right and
* Voltaire's wondering Report of him ("Ferney, 7th December 1774"),
and Friedrich's quiet Answer ("Berlin, 28th December 1774"): in (Euvres
de Frederic, mil. 297, 301. Rfldenbeck (n. 198-200) has a slight 'Biography'
of Pirch.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. XII. ] SEVENTH CAMPAIGN ENDS. 319
7th-9th Oct. 1762.
"left: 'If it should last tillJanuary, the Attack must go on.
"' Nobody seems to be able for his business; Lefebvre a block-
"'head (dummer Teafel), who knows nothing of mining: the
'"Generals, too, where are they? Every General henceforth
"'is to take his place in the third parallel, at the head of his
"' Covering-Party'" (most exposed place of all),"'and stay his
"' whole twenty-four hours there"'(Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg
is Covering-Party today; I hope, in his post during this
thunder! ): " 'Taken the Place can and must be! We have the
"' misfortune, That a stupid Engineer who knows nothing of
'"his art has the direction; and a General without sense in
"' Sieging has the command. Everybody is at a nonplus, it
"'appears! Not all our Artillery can silence that Front-fire;
"' not in a single place can Thirty stupid Miners get into the
"'Fort. ' Today and yesterday the King spoke neither to
"General Tauentzien nor to Major Lefebvre; Lieutenant-
"Colonel von Anhalt had to give all the Orders. " An electric
kind of day!
The weather is becoming wet. In fact, there ensue
whole weeks of rain, -- the trenches swimming, service
very hard. Guasco's guns are many of them dismounted;
no Daun to be heard of. Guasco again and again pro-
poses modified capitulations; answer always, "Prisoners
of War on the common terms. " Guasco is wearing low:
October 7th (Lefebvre sweating and puffing at his last
Globe of Expression, hoping to hit the mark this last
time), an accidental grenade from Tauentzien, above
ground, rolled into one of Guasco's powder-vaults; blew
it, and a good space of Wall along with it, into wreck;
two days after which, Guasco had finished his Capitu-
lating; -- and we get done with this wearisome affair. *
Guasco was invited to dine with the King; praised for
his excellent defence. Prisoners of War his Garrison
* Tempelhof, vI. 122-220; Tagebuch von ier Belagerung von Schweidniti
vom lien Anguet bis 9len October 1762 (Seyfarth, Beylagen, m. 376-479);
Tielke, &c. &c.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:30 GMT / http://hdl.
