116
FRIEDRICH
LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED.
Thomas Carlyle
* Upon
which Friedrich returned to Landshut; and Fouquet
had peace again.
It was from this Landshut region, where his main
cantonments are, that Friedrich had witnessed all these
Inroads, or all except the very earliest of them; the
first Erfurt one, and the Wobersnow-Sulkowski. He
had quitted Breslau in the end of March, and gone
to his cantonments; quickened thither, probably, by a
stroke that had befallen him at Griefenberg, on his
Silesian side of the Cordon. At Griefenberg stood the
Battalion Diiringshofen, with its Colonel of the same
name, -- grenadier people of good quality, perhaps
near 1,000 in whole. Which Battalion, General Beck,
after long preliminary study of it, from his Bohemian
side, -- marching stealthily on it, one night (March
25th-26th), by two or more roads, with 8,000 men,
and much preliminary Croatwork, -- contrived to en-
velope wholly, and carry off with him, before help
could come up. This, I suppose, had quickened Fried-
rich's arrival. He has been in that region ever since,
-- in Landshut for the last week or two; and returns
thither after the Deville affair. ,
And at Landshut, -- which is the main Pass into
Bohemia or from it, and is the grand observatory point
at present, -- he will have to remain till the first days
of July; almost three months. Watching, and waiting
on the tedious Daun, who has the lifting of the curtain
this Year! Daun had come to Jaromirtz, to his canton-
ments, "March 24th" (almost simultaneously with Fried-
rich to his); expecting Friedrich's Invasion, as usual.
* Tempelhof, m. 56.
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? CHIP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 109
M<<y--June 1759.
Long days sat Daun, expecting the King in Bohemia:
-- "There goes he, at last! " thought Daun, on Prince
Henri's late flamy appearance there {Breakage Third
we labelled it); -- and Daun had hastily pushed a Divi-
sion thitherward, double-quick, to secure Prag; but
found it was only the Magazines. "Above four-mil-
lions worth" (600,000/. , counting the thalers into sterling),
"above four-millions worth of bread and forage gone
to ashes, and the very boats burnt? Well; the poor
Reichsfolk, or our poor Auxiliaries to them, will have
empty haversacks: -- but it is not Prag! " thinks
Daun.
At what exact point of time Daun came to see that
Friedrich was not intending Invasion, and would, on
the contrary, require to be invaded, I do not know.
But it must have been an interesting discovery to Daun,
if he foreshadowed to himself what results it would
have on him: "Taking the defensive, then? And
what is to become of one's Cunctatorship in that case! "
Yes, truly. Cunctatorship is not now the trade needed;
there is nothing to be made of playing Fabius Cunc-
tator: -- and Daun's fame henceforth is a diminishing
quantity. The Books say he "wasted above five weeks
in corresponding with the Russian Generals. " In fact,
he had now weeks enough on hand; being articulately
resolved (and even commanded by Kriegshofrath) to do
nothing till the Russians came up; -- and also (inar-
ticulately and by command of Nature) to do as little
as possible after! This Year, and indeed all years fol-
lowing, the Russians are to be Daun's best card.
Waiting for three months here till the curtain rose,
it was Friedrich that had to play Cunctator. A weari-
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? 110 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
May --June 1759.
some task to him, we need not doubt. But he did it
with anxious vigilance; ever thinking Daun would try
something, either on Prince Henri or on him, and that
the Play would begin. But the Play did not. There
was endless scuffing and bickering of Outposts; much
hitching and counter-hitching, along that Bohemian-
Silesian Frontier, -- Daun gradually hitching up, left-
wards, northwards, to be nearer his Russians; Friedrich
counter-hitching, and, in the end, detaching against the
Russians, as they approached in actuality. The de-
tails of all which would break the toughest patience.
Not till July came, had both parties got into the Lau-
sitz; Daun into an impregnable Camp near Mark-Lissa
(in Gorlitz Country); Friedrich, opposite and eastward
of him, into another at Schmottseifen: -- still after
which, as the Russians still were not come, the hitching
(if we could concern ourselves with it), the maze of
strategic shuffling and counter-dancing, as the Russians
get nearer, will become more intricate than ever.
Except that of General Beck on Battalion Diirings- hofen, -- if that was meant as retaliatory, and was not
rather an originality of Beck's, who is expert at such
strokes, -- Daun, in return for all these injurious As-
saults and Breakages, tried little or no retaliation; and
got absolutely none. Deville attempted once, as we
saw; Loudon once, as perhaps we shall see: but both
proved futile. For the present absolutely none. Next
Year indeed, Loudon, on Fouquet at Landshut -- But
let us not anticipate! Just before quitting Landshut
for Schmottseifen, Friedrich himself rode into Bohemia,
to look more narrowly; and held Trautenau, at the
bottom of the Pass, for a day or two -- But the reader
has had enough of Small-War! Of the present Loudon
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. Ill
May --June 1759.
attempt, Friedrich, writing to Brother Henri, who is
just home from his Franconian Invasion (Breakage Fifth),
has a casual word, which we will quote. "Reich-Hen-
nersdorf" is below Landshut, farther down the Pass;
"Liebau" still farther down, -- and its "Gallows,"
doubtless, is on some knoll in the environs!
Reich-Hennersdorf, 9th June. "My congratulations
"on the excellent success you have had" (out in Fran-
kenland yonder)! "Your prisoners, we hear, are 3,000;
"the desertion and confusion in the Reichs Army are
"affirmed to be enormous: -- I give those Reichs fel-
"fows two good months" (scarcely took so long) "to be
"in a condition to show face again. As for ourselves,
"I can send you nothing but contemptibilities. We
"have never yet had the beatific vision of Him with
"the Hat and Consecrated Sword" (Papal Daun, that
is); "they amuse us with the Sieur Loudon instead;
"-- who, three days ago" (7th July, two days) "did
"us the honour of a visit, at the Gallows of Liebau.
"He was conducted out again, with all the politeness
"imaginable, on to near Schatzlar," well over the Bo-
hemian Border; "where we . flung a score of cannon
"volleys into the" -- into the "derriere of him, and
"everybody returned home. "*
Perhaps the only points now noticeable in this tedi-
ous Landshut interim, are Two, hardly noticed then at
all by an expectant world. The first is: That in the
King's little inroad down to Trautenau, just mentioned,
four cannon drawn by horses were part of the King's
fighting gear, -- the first appearance of Horse Artillery
in the world. "A very great invention," says the mili-
tary mind: "guns and carriages are light, and made of
* In Schdning, a. 65: "9th June 1759. "
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? 112 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED, [book XIX.
May -- June 1759.
"the best material for strength; the gunners all mounted
"as postillions to them. Can scour along, over hill and
"dale, wherever horse can; and burst out, on the sudden,
"where nobody was expecting artillery. Devised
"in 1758; ready this Year, four light six-pounders;
"tried first in the King's raid down to Trautenau"
(June 29th-30th). "Only four pieces as yet. But
"these did so well, there were yearly more. Imitated
"by the Austrians, and gradually by all the world. "*
The second fact is: That Herr Guichard (Author
of that fine Book on the War-methods of the Greeks
and Romans) is still about Friedrich, as he has been
for above a year past, if readers remember; and, during
those tedious weeks, is admitted to a great deal of con-
versation with the King. Readers will consent to this
Note on Guichard; and this shall be our ultimatum on
the wearisome Three Months at Landshut.
Major Quintus Icilius. "Guichard is by birth a Magde-
"burger, age now thirty-four; a solid, staid, man, with a good
"deal of hard faculty in him, and of culture unusual for a
"soldier. A handy, sagacious, learned and intelligent man;
"whom Friedrich, in the course of a year's experience, has
"grown to see willingly about him. There is something of
"positive inGuichard, of stiff and, as it were, gritty, which
"might have offended a weaker taste; but Friedrich likes the
"rugged sense of the man; his real knowledge on certain
"interesting heads; and the precision with which the known
"and the not rightly known are divided from one another, in
"Guichard.
"Guichard's business about the King has been miscel-
"laneous, not worth mention hitherto; but to appearance was
"well done. Of talk they are beginning to have more and
"more; especially at Landshut here, in these days of
* Seyfarth, n. 543.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 113
26th May 1759.
"waiting; a great deal of talk on the Wars of the Ancients,
"Guichard's Book naturally leading to that subject. One
"night, dateable accidentally about the end of May, the topic
"happened to be Pharsalia, and the excellent conduct of a
"certain Centurion of the Tenth Legion, who, seeing
"Pompey's people about to take him in flank, suddenly flung
"himself into oblique order" (schrUgeStellung, as we did at
Leuthen), "thereby outflankingPompey's people, and ruining
"their manoeuvre and them. 'A dexterous man, that Quintus
"Icilius the Centurion! ' observedFriedrich. 'Ah, yes: but,
"excuse me, your Majesty, his name was Quintus Csecilius,'
"said Guichard. 'No, it was Icilius,'said the King, positive
"to his opinion on that small point; which Guichard had not
"the art to let drop; though, except assertion and counter-
"assertion, what could be made of it there? Or of what use
"was it anywhere?
"Next day, Guichard came with the Book" (what 'Book'
nobody would ever yet tell me), "and putting his finger on
"the passage, 'See, your Majesty: Quintus CeEcilius! " ex-
"tinguished his royal opponent. 'Hm,' answered Friedrich:
"'so? -- Well, you shall be Quintus Icilius, at any rate! '
"And straightway had him entered on the Army Books as
'"Major Quintus Icilius:' his Majorship is to be dated, '10th
"April 1758' (to give him seniority); and from and after this
'"26th May 1759,' he is to command the late Du Verger's
"Free-Battalion. All which was done; -- the War-Offices
"somewhat astonished at such advent of an antique Roman
"among them; but writing as bidden, the hand being plain,
"and the man an undeniable article. Onward from which time
"there is always a 'Battalion Quintus' on their Books, instead
"of Battalion Du Verger; by degrees two Battalions Quintus,
"and at length three, and Quintus become a Colonel: -- at
"which point the War ended; and the three Free-Battalions
"Quintus, like all others of the same type, were discharged. "
This is the authentic origin of the new name Quintus, which
Guichard got, to extinction of the old; substantially this, as
derived from Quintus himself, -- though in the precise details
of it there are obscurities, never yet solved by the learned.
Nicolai, for example, though he had the story from Quintus in
person, who was his familiar acquaintance, and often came to
see him at Berlin, does not, with his usual punctuality, say,
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. XI. 8
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? 114 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED, [book XIX.
May -- June 1759.
nor even confess that he has forgotten, what Book it was that
Quintus brought with him to confute the King on their Icilius-
CaBcilius controversy; Nicolai only says, that he, for his part,
in the fields of Roman Literature and History, knows only
three Quintus-Iciliuses, not one of whom is of the least likeli-
hood; and in fact, in the above summary, I have had to
invert my Nicolai on one point, to make the story stick to-
gether. *
"Quintus had been bred for the clerical profession; care-
"fully, at various Universities, Leyden last of all; and had
"even preached, as candidate for license, -- I hope with
"moderate orthodoxy; -- though he soon renounced that
"career. Exchanged it for learned and vigorous general
"study, with an eye to some College Professorship instead.
"He was still hardly twenty-three, when, in 1747, the new
"Stattholder," Prince of Orange, whom we used to know,
"who had his eye upon him as a youth of merit, graciously
"undertook to get him placed at Utrecht, in a vacancy which
"had just occurred there, -- whither the Prince was just
"bound, on some ceremonial visit of a high nature. The
"gladQuintus, at that time Guichard and little thinking of
"such an alias, hastened to set off in the Prince's train; Dut
"could get no conveyance, such was the press of people all
"for Utrecht. And did not arrive till next day, -- and found
"quarter, with difficulty, in the garret of some overflowing
"In the lower stories of his Inn, solitary Guichard, when
"night fell, heard a specific gaudeamus going on; and in-
"quired what it was. 'A company of Professors, handselling
"a newly-appointed Professor;' -- appointed, as the next
"question taught, to the very Chair poor Quintus had come
"for! Serene Highness could not help himself; the
"Utrechters were so bent on the thing. Quintus lay awake,
"all night, in his truckle-bed; and gloomily resolved to
"have done with Professorships, and become a soldier. 'If
"your Serene Highness do still favour me,' said Quintus next
"day, 'I solicit, as the one help for me, an ensign's commis-
"sion! ' -- And persisted rigorously, in spite of all coun-
"sellings, promises and outlooks on the professorial side of
"things. So that Serene Highness had to grant him his com-
* Nicolai, Anekdoten, vi. 129-145.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 115
May --June 175! l.
"mission; and Quintus was a soldier thenceforth. Fought,
"more or less, in the sad remainder of that Cumberland-Saxe
"War; and, after the Peace of 1748, continued in the Dutch
"service. Where, loth to be idle, he got his learned Books
"out again, and took to studying thoroughly the Ancient Art
"of War. After years of this, it had grown so hopeful that he
"proceeded to a Book upon it; and, by degrees, determined
"that he must get to certain Libraries in England, before
"finishing. In 1754, on furlough, graciously allowed and
"continued, he came to London accordingly; finished his
"manuscript there (printed at the Hague, 1757*): and new
"War having now begun, went over (probably with English
"introductions) as volunteer to Duke Ferdinand. By Duke
"Ferdinand he was recommended to Friedrich, the goal of
"all his efforts, as of every vagrant soldier's in those times:
"-- and here at last, as Quintus Icilius, he has found per-
"manent billet, a Battalion and gradually three Battalions,
"and will not need to roam any farther.
"They say, what is very credible, that Quintus proved an
"active, stout and effectual soldier, in his kind; and perhaps
"wc may hear of some of his small-war adventures by and
"by: that he was a studious, hard-headed, well-informed
"man, and had written an excellentBook on his subject, is
"still abundantly clear. Readers may look in the famous
"Gibbon's Autobiography, or still better in the Guichard Book
"itself, if they want evidence. The famous Gibbon was
"drilling and wheeling, very peaceably indeed, in the Hamp-
"shire Militia, in those wild years of European War. Hamp-
"shire Militia served as key, or glossary in a sort, to this new
"Book of Guichard's, which Gibbon eagerly bought and
"studied; and it was Guichard, alias Quintus Icilius, who
"taught Gibbon all he ever knew of Ancient War, at least all
"the teaching he ever had of it, for his renowned Decline and
''Fall. "**
* Memoires Militaires stir les &c. (a La Haye, 1757: 2 voll. 4to); -- was
in the 5th edition, when I last heard of it.
** See Gibbon's Works (4to, London, 1796: Memoirs of my Life and
Writings), i. 97; and (Fxtrails de mcs Lectures) n. 52-54, of dates, May
Uth-26th, 1762, -- during which days Gibbon is engaged in actual reading
of the Memoires Militaires; and already knows the Author by his alius of
Quintus Icilius, "a man of eminent sagacity and insight, who was in the
"Dutch, and is now, I believe, in the Prussian service. "
8*
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?
116 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
June --July 1769.
It was in the last days of June that Daun, after
many hitchings, got into more decisive general move-
ment northward; and slowly but steadily planted him-
self at Mark-Lissa in the Lausitz: upon which, after
some survey of the phenomenon, Friedrich got to
Schmottseifen, opposite him, July 10th. Friedrich, on
noticing such stir, had ridden down to Trautenau (June
29th-30th), new Horse-Artillery attending, to look
closer into Daun's affairs; and, seeing what they were,
had thereupon followed. Above a month before this,
Friedrich had detached a considerable force against the
Russians, -- General Dohna, of whom in next Chapter:
and both Daun and he again sit waiting, till they see
farther. Rapid Friedrich is obliged to wait; watching
Daun and the Dohna-Russian adventure: slow Daun
will continue to wait and watch there, long weeks and
months, after that is settled, that and much else, fully
to his mind! Each is in his impregnable Camp; and
each, Daun especially, has his Divisions and Detach-
ments hovering round him, near or far, on different
strategic errands; each Main-Camp like a planet with
various moons -- Mark-Lissa especially, a kind of sun
with planets and comets and planetary moons: -- of
whose intricate motions and counter-motions, mostly
unimportant to us, we promised to take no notice, in
face of such a crisis just at hand.
By the 6th of July, slow Daun had got hitched into
his Camp of Mark-Lissa; and four days after, Friedrich
attending him, was in Schmottseifen: where again was
pause; and there passed nothing mentionable, even on
Friedrich's score; and till July was just ending, the
curtain did not fairly rise. Pause of above two weeks
on Friedrich's part, and of almost three months on
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 117
Juno --July 1753.
Daun's. Mark-Lissa, an impregnable Camp, is on the
Lausitz Border; with Saxony, Silesia, Bohemia all con-
verging hereabouts, and Brandenburg itself in the
vicinity, -- there is not a better place for waiting on
events. Here, accordingly, till well on in September,
Daun sat immovable; not even hitching now, -- only
shooting out Detachments, planetary, cometary, at a
great rate, chiefly on his various Russian errands.
Daun, as we said, had been uncomfortably sur-
prised to find, by degrees, that Invasion was not Fried-
rich's plan this Year; that the dramatic parts are redis-
tributed, and that the playing of Fabius-Cunctator will
not now serve one's turn. Daun, who may well be
loth to believe such a thing, clings to his old part, and
seems very lazy to rise and try another. In fact, he
does not rise, properly speaking, or take up his new
part at all. This Year, and all the following, he waits
carefully till the Russian Lion come; will then endeavour
to assist, -- or even do jackal, which will be safer still.
The Russians he intends shall act lion; he himself
modestly playing the subaltern but much safer part!
Diligent to flatter the lion; will provide him guidances,
and fractional sustenances, in view of the coming hunt;
will eat the lion's leavings, once the prey is slaugh-
tered. This really was, in some sort, Daun's yearly
game, so long as it would last! --
July ending, and the curtain fairly risen, we shall
have to look at Friedrich with our best eyesight. Pre-
paratory to which, there is, on Friedrich's part, ever
since the middle of June, this Anti-Russian Dohna ad-
venture going on: -- of which, at first, and till about
the time of getting to Schmottseifen, he had great
hopes; great, though of late rapidly sinking again: --
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? 118 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
Juna-- July 17o9.
into which we must first throw a glance, as properly
the opening scene.
Fouquet has been left at Landshut, should the Daun
remnants still in Bohemia think of invading. Fouquet
is about rooting himself rather firmly into that im-
portant Post; fortifying various select Hills round Lands-
hut, with redoubts, curtains, communications; so as to
keep ward there, inexpugnable to a much stronger
force. There for about a year, with occasional short
sallies, on errands that arise, Fouquet sat successfully
vigilant; resisting the Devilles, Becks, Harsches; pro-
tecting Glatz and the Passes of Silesia: in about a year
we shall hear of his fortunes worsening, and of a great
catastrophe to him in that Landshut Post.
Friedrich allowed the Reichsfolk "two good months,"
after all that flurrying and havoc done on them, "before
they could show face in Saxony. " They did take about
that time; and would have taken more, had not Prince
Henri been called away by other pressing occasions in
Friedrich's own neighbourhood; and Saxony, for a good
while (end of June to beginning of September), been
left almost bare of Prussian troops. Which encourages
the Reichs Army to hurry afield in very unprepared
condition, -- still rather within the two months. End
of July, Light people of them push across to Halber-
stadt or Halle Country; and are raising Contributions,
and plundering diligently, if nothing else. Of which
we can take no notice farther: if the reader can re-
collect it, well; if not, also well. The poor Reichs
Army nominally makes a figure this Year, but nominally
only; the effective part of it, now and henceforth, being
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 119
June --July 1759.
Austrian Auxiliaries, and theReichs part as flaccid and
insignificant as ever.
Prince Henri's call to quit Saxony was this. Daun,
among the numerous Detachments he was making, of
which we can take no notice, had shot out Two (rather
of cometary type, to use our old figure), -- which every
reader must try to keep in mind. Two Detachments,
very considerable: Haddick (who grew at last to 20,000),
and Loudon (16,000); who are hovering about myste-
riously over the Lausitz; -- intending what? Their in-
tention, Friedrich thinks, especially Haddick's intention,
may be towards Brandenburg, and even Berlin: where-
fore he has summoned Henri to look after it. Henri,
resting in cantonments about Tschopau and Dresden,
after the late fatigues, and idle for the moment, hastens
to obey; and is in Bautzen neighbourhood, from about
the end of June and onward. Sufficiently attentive to
Haddick and Loudon: who make no attempt on Bran-
denburg; having indeed, as Friedrich gradually sees,
and as all of us shall soon see, a very different object
in view! --
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? 120 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED, [book XIX.
lst-Mth June 1759.
CHAPTER II.
GENERAL DOHNA; DICTATOR WEDELL: BATTLE OF
ZttLLICHAU.
The Russian Lion, urged by Vienna and Versailles,
made his entry, this Year, earlier than usual, -- coming
now within wind of Mark-Lissa, as we see; -- and has
stirred Daun into motion, Daun and everybody. From
the beginning of April, the Russians, hybernating in
the interior parts of Poland, were awake, and getting
slowly under way. April 24th, the Vanguard of 10,000
quitted Thorn; June 1st, Vanguard is in Posen; followed
by a First Division and a Second, each of 30,000. They
called it "Soltikof crossing the Weichsel with 100,000
men;" but, exclusive of the Cossack swarms, there
were not above 75,000 regulars: nor was Soltikof their
Captain just at first; our old friend Fermor was, and
continued to be till Soltikof, in a private capacity,
reached Posen (June 29th), and produced his new com-
mission. At Fermor's own request, as Fermor pre-
tended, -- who was skilled in Petersburg politics, and
with a cheerful face served thenceforth as Soltikofs
second.
At Posen, as on the road thither, they find Sul-
kowski's and the other burnt provenders abundantly
replaced: it is evident they intend, in concert with
Daun, to enclose Friedrich between two fires, and do
something considerable. Whether on Brandenburg or
Silesia, is not yet known to Friedrich. Friedrich, since
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? CHAP, n. ] GENERAL DOHNA. 121
June --July 1759.
the time they crossed Weichsel, has given them his best
attention; and more than once has had schemes on their
Magazines and them, -- once a new and bigger Scheme
actually afoot, under Wobersnow again, our Anti-Sul-
kowski friend; but was obliged to turn the force else-
whither, on alarms that rose. He himself cannot quit
the centre of the work; his task being to watch Daun,
and especially, should Daun attempt nothing else, to
prevent junction of Soltikof and him.
Daun still lies torpid, or merely hitching about; but
now when the Russians are approaching Posen, and the
case becomes pressing, Friedrich, as is usual to him,
draws upon the Anti-Swedish resource, upon the Force
he has in Pommern. That is to say, orders General
Dohna, who has the Swedes well driven in at present,
to quit Stralsund Country, to leave the ineffectual
Swedes with some very small attendance; and to march,
-- with certain reinforcements that are arriving (Wobers-
now already, Hiilsen with 10,000 out of Saxony in few
days,) -- direct against the Russians; and at once go
in upon them. Try to burn their Magazines, again;
or, equally good, to fall vigorously on some of their
separate Divisions, and cut them off in the vagrant
state; -- above all, to be vigorous, be rapid, sharp,
and do something effectual in that quarter. These were
Dohna's Instructions. Dohna has 18,000; Hiilsen with
his 10,000 is industriously striding forward, from the
farther side of Saxony, Wobersnow with at least his own
fine head is already there. Friedrich, watching in the
Anti-Junction position, ready for the least chance that
may turn up.
Dohna marched accordingly; but was nothing like
rapid enough: an old man, often in ill health too; and
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? 122 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED, [book XIX.
June--July 1759.
no doubt plenty of impediments about him. He con-
sumed some time rallying at Stargard; twelve days
more at Landsberg, on the Warta, settling his provision-
matters; in fine, did not get to Posen neighbourhood till June 23d, three weeks after the Russian Vanguard
of 10,000 had fixed itself there, and other Russian
parties were daily dropping in. Dohna was 18,000, a
Wobersnow with him: had he gone at once on Posen,
as Wobersnow urged, it is thought he might perhaps
have ruined this Vanguard and the Russian Magazine;
which would have been of signal service for the remain-
ing Campaign. But he preferred waiting for Hiilsen and the 10,000, who did not arrive for seven or eight
days more; by which time Soltikof and most of the
Russian Divisions had got in; -- and the work was
become as good as hopeless, on those languid terms.
Dohna did try upon the Magazine, said to be ill
guarded in some Suburb of Posen; crossed the Warta
with that view, found no Magazine; recrossed the Warta;
and went manoeuvering about, unable to do the least
good on Soltikof or his Magazines or operations. Fried-
rich was still in Landshut region, just about quitting it,
-- just starting on that little Trautenau Expedition,
with his Four Pieces of Horse-Artillery (June 29th),
when the first ill-news of Dohna came in; which greatly
disappointed Friedrich, and were followed by worse,
instead of better.
The end was, Soltikof, being now all ready, winded
himself out of Posen one day, veiled by Cossacks; and,
to Dohna's horror, had got, or was in the act of getting,
between Dohna and Brandenburg; which necessitated
new difficult manoeuvres from Dohna. Soltikof too can
manoeuvre a little: Soltikof edges steadily forward;
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? CHAP. II. ] GENERAL DOHNA. 123
17th. -*)ih July 1759.
making for Crossen on Oder, where he expects to find
Austrians (Haddick and Loudon, if Friedrich could yet
guess it), with 30,000 odd, especially with provision,
which is wearing scarce with him. Twice or so there
was still a pretty opportunity for Dohna on him; but
Dohna never could resolve about it in time. Back and
ever back goes Dohna; facing Soltikof; but always
hitching back; latterly in Brandenburg ground, the
Russians and he; -- having no provision, he either.
In fine, July 17th (one week after Friedrich had got
to Schmottseifen), Dohna finds himself at the little
Town of Zullichau (barely in time to snatch it before
Soltikof could), within thirty miles of Crossen; and
nothing but futility behind and before. *
We can imagine Friedrich's daily survey of all this;
his gloomy calculations what it will soon amount to if
it last. He has now no Winterfeld, Schwerin, no Keith,
Retzow, Moritz: -- whom has he? His noblest Captains
are all gone; he must put up with the less noble. One
Wedell, Lieutenant-General, had lately recommended
himself to the royal mind by actions of a prompt daring.
The royal mind, disgusted with these Dohna hagglings,
and in absolute necessity of finding somebody that had
resolution, and at least ordinary Prussian skill, hoped
Wedell was the man. And determined, the crisis being
so urgent, to send Wedell in the character of Alter-Ego, or "with the powers of a Roman Dictator," as the
Order expressed it. ** Dictator Wedell is to supersede
Dohna; shall go, at his own swift pace, fettered by
nobody; -- and, at all hazards, shall attack Soltikof
straightway, and try to beat him. "You are grown
* Tempelhof, in. 78-88; Helden-Geschichte, v. 835-847.
** Given in Preuss, n. 207, 208; in Stenzel, v. 212, other particulars.
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? 124 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
22d July 1759.
too old for that intricate hard work; go home a little,
and recover your health," the King writes to Dohna.
And to the Dohna Army, "Obey this man, all and
sundry of you, as you would myself;" the man's private
Order being, "Go in upon Soltikof; attack him straight-
way; let us have done with this wriggling and haggling. "
Date of this Order is, "Camp at Schmottseifen, 20th
July 1759. " The purpose of such highflown Title, and
solemnity of nomination, was mainly, it appears, to
hush down any hesitation or surprise among the
Dohna Generals, which, as Wedell was "the youngest
Lieutenant-General of the Army," might otherwise have
been possible.
Wedell, furnished with some small escort and these
Documents, arrives in Camp, Sunday evening 22d July: -- poor Dohna has not the least word or look of criti-
cism; and every General, suppressing whatever thoughts
there may be, prepares to yield loyal obedience to
Dictator Wedell. "Wobersnow was the far better soldier
of the two! " murmured the Opposition party, then and
long afterwards,* -- all the more, as Wobersnow's be-
haviour under it was beautiful, and his end tragical, as
will be seen. Wobersnow I perceive to have been a
valiant sharp-striking man, with multifarious resources
in his head; who had faithfully helped in these opera-
tions, and I believe been urgent to quicken them. But
what I remember best of him is his hasty admirable
contrivance for field-bakery in pressing circumstances, -- the substance of which shall not be hidden from a
mechanical age:
"You construct six slight square iron frames, each hinged
"to the other; each, say, two feet square, or the breadth of
* Retzow, &c.
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? CHAP. n. ] &KNERA1 DOHNA. 125
22d July 1759.
"two common tiles, and shaped on the edges so as to take in
"tiles; -- tiles are to be found on every human cottage. This
"iron frame, when you hook it together, becomes the ghost of
"a cubic box, and by the help of twelve tiles becomes a coin-
"pact field-oven; and you can bake with it, if you have flour
"and water, and a few sticks. The succinctest oven ever
"heard of; for your operation done, and your tiles flung out
"again, it is capable of all folding flat like a book. " * Never
till now had Wobersnow's oven been at fault: but in these
Polish Villages, all of mere thatched hovels, there was not a
tile to be found; and the Bakery, with astonishment, saw it-
self unable to proceed.
Wedell arrived, Sunday evening 22d July; had
crossed Oder at Tsehischerzig, -- some say by Crossen
Bridge; no matter which. Dohna's Camp is some thirty
miles west of Crossen; in and near the small Town
called Ziillichau, where his headquarter is. In those
dull peaty Countries, on the right, which is thereabouts
the northern (not eastern), bank of Oder; between the
Oder and the Warta; some seventy miles south-by-east
ofLandsberg, and perhaps as far south-west] of Posen:
thither has Dohna now got with his futile manoeuverings.
Soltikof, drawn up amid scrubby woods and sluggish
intricate brooks, is about a mile to east of him.
Poor Dohna demits at once; and, I could conjecture,
vanishes that very night; glad to be out of such a
thing. Painfully has Dohna manoeuvered for weeks
past; falling back daily; only anxious latterly that
Soltikof, who daily tries it, do not get to westward of
him on the Frankfurt road, and so end this sad shuffle.
Soltikof as yet has not managed that ultimate fatality;
Dohna, by shuffling back, does at least contrive to
keep between Frankfurt and him; -- will not try at-
* Retzow, ii. 82 n.
?
which Friedrich returned to Landshut; and Fouquet
had peace again.
It was from this Landshut region, where his main
cantonments are, that Friedrich had witnessed all these
Inroads, or all except the very earliest of them; the
first Erfurt one, and the Wobersnow-Sulkowski. He
had quitted Breslau in the end of March, and gone
to his cantonments; quickened thither, probably, by a
stroke that had befallen him at Griefenberg, on his
Silesian side of the Cordon. At Griefenberg stood the
Battalion Diiringshofen, with its Colonel of the same
name, -- grenadier people of good quality, perhaps
near 1,000 in whole. Which Battalion, General Beck,
after long preliminary study of it, from his Bohemian
side, -- marching stealthily on it, one night (March
25th-26th), by two or more roads, with 8,000 men,
and much preliminary Croatwork, -- contrived to en-
velope wholly, and carry off with him, before help
could come up. This, I suppose, had quickened Fried-
rich's arrival. He has been in that region ever since,
-- in Landshut for the last week or two; and returns
thither after the Deville affair. ,
And at Landshut, -- which is the main Pass into
Bohemia or from it, and is the grand observatory point
at present, -- he will have to remain till the first days
of July; almost three months. Watching, and waiting
on the tedious Daun, who has the lifting of the curtain
this Year! Daun had come to Jaromirtz, to his canton-
ments, "March 24th" (almost simultaneously with Fried-
rich to his); expecting Friedrich's Invasion, as usual.
* Tempelhof, m. 56.
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? CHIP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 109
M<<y--June 1759.
Long days sat Daun, expecting the King in Bohemia:
-- "There goes he, at last! " thought Daun, on Prince
Henri's late flamy appearance there {Breakage Third
we labelled it); -- and Daun had hastily pushed a Divi-
sion thitherward, double-quick, to secure Prag; but
found it was only the Magazines. "Above four-mil-
lions worth" (600,000/. , counting the thalers into sterling),
"above four-millions worth of bread and forage gone
to ashes, and the very boats burnt? Well; the poor
Reichsfolk, or our poor Auxiliaries to them, will have
empty haversacks: -- but it is not Prag! " thinks
Daun.
At what exact point of time Daun came to see that
Friedrich was not intending Invasion, and would, on
the contrary, require to be invaded, I do not know.
But it must have been an interesting discovery to Daun,
if he foreshadowed to himself what results it would
have on him: "Taking the defensive, then? And
what is to become of one's Cunctatorship in that case! "
Yes, truly. Cunctatorship is not now the trade needed;
there is nothing to be made of playing Fabius Cunc-
tator: -- and Daun's fame henceforth is a diminishing
quantity. The Books say he "wasted above five weeks
in corresponding with the Russian Generals. " In fact,
he had now weeks enough on hand; being articulately
resolved (and even commanded by Kriegshofrath) to do
nothing till the Russians came up; -- and also (inar-
ticulately and by command of Nature) to do as little
as possible after! This Year, and indeed all years fol-
lowing, the Russians are to be Daun's best card.
Waiting for three months here till the curtain rose,
it was Friedrich that had to play Cunctator. A weari-
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? 110 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
May --June 1759.
some task to him, we need not doubt. But he did it
with anxious vigilance; ever thinking Daun would try
something, either on Prince Henri or on him, and that
the Play would begin. But the Play did not. There
was endless scuffing and bickering of Outposts; much
hitching and counter-hitching, along that Bohemian-
Silesian Frontier, -- Daun gradually hitching up, left-
wards, northwards, to be nearer his Russians; Friedrich
counter-hitching, and, in the end, detaching against the
Russians, as they approached in actuality. The de-
tails of all which would break the toughest patience.
Not till July came, had both parties got into the Lau-
sitz; Daun into an impregnable Camp near Mark-Lissa
(in Gorlitz Country); Friedrich, opposite and eastward
of him, into another at Schmottseifen: -- still after
which, as the Russians still were not come, the hitching
(if we could concern ourselves with it), the maze of
strategic shuffling and counter-dancing, as the Russians
get nearer, will become more intricate than ever.
Except that of General Beck on Battalion Diirings- hofen, -- if that was meant as retaliatory, and was not
rather an originality of Beck's, who is expert at such
strokes, -- Daun, in return for all these injurious As-
saults and Breakages, tried little or no retaliation; and
got absolutely none. Deville attempted once, as we
saw; Loudon once, as perhaps we shall see: but both
proved futile. For the present absolutely none. Next
Year indeed, Loudon, on Fouquet at Landshut -- But
let us not anticipate! Just before quitting Landshut
for Schmottseifen, Friedrich himself rode into Bohemia,
to look more narrowly; and held Trautenau, at the
bottom of the Pass, for a day or two -- But the reader
has had enough of Small-War! Of the present Loudon
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. Ill
May --June 1759.
attempt, Friedrich, writing to Brother Henri, who is
just home from his Franconian Invasion (Breakage Fifth),
has a casual word, which we will quote. "Reich-Hen-
nersdorf" is below Landshut, farther down the Pass;
"Liebau" still farther down, -- and its "Gallows,"
doubtless, is on some knoll in the environs!
Reich-Hennersdorf, 9th June. "My congratulations
"on the excellent success you have had" (out in Fran-
kenland yonder)! "Your prisoners, we hear, are 3,000;
"the desertion and confusion in the Reichs Army are
"affirmed to be enormous: -- I give those Reichs fel-
"fows two good months" (scarcely took so long) "to be
"in a condition to show face again. As for ourselves,
"I can send you nothing but contemptibilities. We
"have never yet had the beatific vision of Him with
"the Hat and Consecrated Sword" (Papal Daun, that
is); "they amuse us with the Sieur Loudon instead;
"-- who, three days ago" (7th July, two days) "did
"us the honour of a visit, at the Gallows of Liebau.
"He was conducted out again, with all the politeness
"imaginable, on to near Schatzlar," well over the Bo-
hemian Border; "where we . flung a score of cannon
"volleys into the" -- into the "derriere of him, and
"everybody returned home. "*
Perhaps the only points now noticeable in this tedi-
ous Landshut interim, are Two, hardly noticed then at
all by an expectant world. The first is: That in the
King's little inroad down to Trautenau, just mentioned,
four cannon drawn by horses were part of the King's
fighting gear, -- the first appearance of Horse Artillery
in the world. "A very great invention," says the mili-
tary mind: "guns and carriages are light, and made of
* In Schdning, a. 65: "9th June 1759. "
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? 112 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED, [book XIX.
May -- June 1759.
"the best material for strength; the gunners all mounted
"as postillions to them. Can scour along, over hill and
"dale, wherever horse can; and burst out, on the sudden,
"where nobody was expecting artillery. Devised
"in 1758; ready this Year, four light six-pounders;
"tried first in the King's raid down to Trautenau"
(June 29th-30th). "Only four pieces as yet. But
"these did so well, there were yearly more. Imitated
"by the Austrians, and gradually by all the world. "*
The second fact is: That Herr Guichard (Author
of that fine Book on the War-methods of the Greeks
and Romans) is still about Friedrich, as he has been
for above a year past, if readers remember; and, during
those tedious weeks, is admitted to a great deal of con-
versation with the King. Readers will consent to this
Note on Guichard; and this shall be our ultimatum on
the wearisome Three Months at Landshut.
Major Quintus Icilius. "Guichard is by birth a Magde-
"burger, age now thirty-four; a solid, staid, man, with a good
"deal of hard faculty in him, and of culture unusual for a
"soldier. A handy, sagacious, learned and intelligent man;
"whom Friedrich, in the course of a year's experience, has
"grown to see willingly about him. There is something of
"positive inGuichard, of stiff and, as it were, gritty, which
"might have offended a weaker taste; but Friedrich likes the
"rugged sense of the man; his real knowledge on certain
"interesting heads; and the precision with which the known
"and the not rightly known are divided from one another, in
"Guichard.
"Guichard's business about the King has been miscel-
"laneous, not worth mention hitherto; but to appearance was
"well done. Of talk they are beginning to have more and
"more; especially at Landshut here, in these days of
* Seyfarth, n. 543.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 113
26th May 1759.
"waiting; a great deal of talk on the Wars of the Ancients,
"Guichard's Book naturally leading to that subject. One
"night, dateable accidentally about the end of May, the topic
"happened to be Pharsalia, and the excellent conduct of a
"certain Centurion of the Tenth Legion, who, seeing
"Pompey's people about to take him in flank, suddenly flung
"himself into oblique order" (schrUgeStellung, as we did at
Leuthen), "thereby outflankingPompey's people, and ruining
"their manoeuvre and them. 'A dexterous man, that Quintus
"Icilius the Centurion! ' observedFriedrich. 'Ah, yes: but,
"excuse me, your Majesty, his name was Quintus Csecilius,'
"said Guichard. 'No, it was Icilius,'said the King, positive
"to his opinion on that small point; which Guichard had not
"the art to let drop; though, except assertion and counter-
"assertion, what could be made of it there? Or of what use
"was it anywhere?
"Next day, Guichard came with the Book" (what 'Book'
nobody would ever yet tell me), "and putting his finger on
"the passage, 'See, your Majesty: Quintus CeEcilius! " ex-
"tinguished his royal opponent. 'Hm,' answered Friedrich:
"'so? -- Well, you shall be Quintus Icilius, at any rate! '
"And straightway had him entered on the Army Books as
'"Major Quintus Icilius:' his Majorship is to be dated, '10th
"April 1758' (to give him seniority); and from and after this
'"26th May 1759,' he is to command the late Du Verger's
"Free-Battalion. All which was done; -- the War-Offices
"somewhat astonished at such advent of an antique Roman
"among them; but writing as bidden, the hand being plain,
"and the man an undeniable article. Onward from which time
"there is always a 'Battalion Quintus' on their Books, instead
"of Battalion Du Verger; by degrees two Battalions Quintus,
"and at length three, and Quintus become a Colonel: -- at
"which point the War ended; and the three Free-Battalions
"Quintus, like all others of the same type, were discharged. "
This is the authentic origin of the new name Quintus, which
Guichard got, to extinction of the old; substantially this, as
derived from Quintus himself, -- though in the precise details
of it there are obscurities, never yet solved by the learned.
Nicolai, for example, though he had the story from Quintus in
person, who was his familiar acquaintance, and often came to
see him at Berlin, does not, with his usual punctuality, say,
Carlyle, Frederick the Great. XI. 8
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? 114 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED, [book XIX.
May -- June 1759.
nor even confess that he has forgotten, what Book it was that
Quintus brought with him to confute the King on their Icilius-
CaBcilius controversy; Nicolai only says, that he, for his part,
in the fields of Roman Literature and History, knows only
three Quintus-Iciliuses, not one of whom is of the least likeli-
hood; and in fact, in the above summary, I have had to
invert my Nicolai on one point, to make the story stick to-
gether. *
"Quintus had been bred for the clerical profession; care-
"fully, at various Universities, Leyden last of all; and had
"even preached, as candidate for license, -- I hope with
"moderate orthodoxy; -- though he soon renounced that
"career. Exchanged it for learned and vigorous general
"study, with an eye to some College Professorship instead.
"He was still hardly twenty-three, when, in 1747, the new
"Stattholder," Prince of Orange, whom we used to know,
"who had his eye upon him as a youth of merit, graciously
"undertook to get him placed at Utrecht, in a vacancy which
"had just occurred there, -- whither the Prince was just
"bound, on some ceremonial visit of a high nature. The
"gladQuintus, at that time Guichard and little thinking of
"such an alias, hastened to set off in the Prince's train; Dut
"could get no conveyance, such was the press of people all
"for Utrecht. And did not arrive till next day, -- and found
"quarter, with difficulty, in the garret of some overflowing
"In the lower stories of his Inn, solitary Guichard, when
"night fell, heard a specific gaudeamus going on; and in-
"quired what it was. 'A company of Professors, handselling
"a newly-appointed Professor;' -- appointed, as the next
"question taught, to the very Chair poor Quintus had come
"for! Serene Highness could not help himself; the
"Utrechters were so bent on the thing. Quintus lay awake,
"all night, in his truckle-bed; and gloomily resolved to
"have done with Professorships, and become a soldier. 'If
"your Serene Highness do still favour me,' said Quintus next
"day, 'I solicit, as the one help for me, an ensign's commis-
"sion! ' -- And persisted rigorously, in spite of all coun-
"sellings, promises and outlooks on the professorial side of
"things. So that Serene Highness had to grant him his com-
* Nicolai, Anekdoten, vi. 129-145.
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 115
May --June 175! l.
"mission; and Quintus was a soldier thenceforth. Fought,
"more or less, in the sad remainder of that Cumberland-Saxe
"War; and, after the Peace of 1748, continued in the Dutch
"service. Where, loth to be idle, he got his learned Books
"out again, and took to studying thoroughly the Ancient Art
"of War. After years of this, it had grown so hopeful that he
"proceeded to a Book upon it; and, by degrees, determined
"that he must get to certain Libraries in England, before
"finishing. In 1754, on furlough, graciously allowed and
"continued, he came to London accordingly; finished his
"manuscript there (printed at the Hague, 1757*): and new
"War having now begun, went over (probably with English
"introductions) as volunteer to Duke Ferdinand. By Duke
"Ferdinand he was recommended to Friedrich, the goal of
"all his efforts, as of every vagrant soldier's in those times:
"-- and here at last, as Quintus Icilius, he has found per-
"manent billet, a Battalion and gradually three Battalions,
"and will not need to roam any farther.
"They say, what is very credible, that Quintus proved an
"active, stout and effectual soldier, in his kind; and perhaps
"wc may hear of some of his small-war adventures by and
"by: that he was a studious, hard-headed, well-informed
"man, and had written an excellentBook on his subject, is
"still abundantly clear. Readers may look in the famous
"Gibbon's Autobiography, or still better in the Guichard Book
"itself, if they want evidence. The famous Gibbon was
"drilling and wheeling, very peaceably indeed, in the Hamp-
"shire Militia, in those wild years of European War. Hamp-
"shire Militia served as key, or glossary in a sort, to this new
"Book of Guichard's, which Gibbon eagerly bought and
"studied; and it was Guichard, alias Quintus Icilius, who
"taught Gibbon all he ever knew of Ancient War, at least all
"the teaching he ever had of it, for his renowned Decline and
''Fall. "**
* Memoires Militaires stir les &c. (a La Haye, 1757: 2 voll. 4to); -- was
in the 5th edition, when I last heard of it.
** See Gibbon's Works (4to, London, 1796: Memoirs of my Life and
Writings), i. 97; and (Fxtrails de mcs Lectures) n. 52-54, of dates, May
Uth-26th, 1762, -- during which days Gibbon is engaged in actual reading
of the Memoires Militaires; and already knows the Author by his alius of
Quintus Icilius, "a man of eminent sagacity and insight, who was in the
"Dutch, and is now, I believe, in the Prussian service. "
8*
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?
116 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
June --July 1769.
It was in the last days of June that Daun, after
many hitchings, got into more decisive general move-
ment northward; and slowly but steadily planted him-
self at Mark-Lissa in the Lausitz: upon which, after
some survey of the phenomenon, Friedrich got to
Schmottseifen, opposite him, July 10th. Friedrich, on
noticing such stir, had ridden down to Trautenau (June
29th-30th), new Horse-Artillery attending, to look
closer into Daun's affairs; and, seeing what they were,
had thereupon followed. Above a month before this,
Friedrich had detached a considerable force against the
Russians, -- General Dohna, of whom in next Chapter:
and both Daun and he again sit waiting, till they see
farther. Rapid Friedrich is obliged to wait; watching
Daun and the Dohna-Russian adventure: slow Daun
will continue to wait and watch there, long weeks and
months, after that is settled, that and much else, fully
to his mind! Each is in his impregnable Camp; and
each, Daun especially, has his Divisions and Detach-
ments hovering round him, near or far, on different
strategic errands; each Main-Camp like a planet with
various moons -- Mark-Lissa especially, a kind of sun
with planets and comets and planetary moons: -- of
whose intricate motions and counter-motions, mostly
unimportant to us, we promised to take no notice, in
face of such a crisis just at hand.
By the 6th of July, slow Daun had got hitched into
his Camp of Mark-Lissa; and four days after, Friedrich
attending him, was in Schmottseifen: where again was
pause; and there passed nothing mentionable, even on
Friedrich's score; and till July was just ending, the
curtain did not fairly rise. Pause of above two weeks
on Friedrich's part, and of almost three months on
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 117
Juno --July 1753.
Daun's. Mark-Lissa, an impregnable Camp, is on the
Lausitz Border; with Saxony, Silesia, Bohemia all con-
verging hereabouts, and Brandenburg itself in the
vicinity, -- there is not a better place for waiting on
events. Here, accordingly, till well on in September,
Daun sat immovable; not even hitching now, -- only
shooting out Detachments, planetary, cometary, at a
great rate, chiefly on his various Russian errands.
Daun, as we said, had been uncomfortably sur-
prised to find, by degrees, that Invasion was not Fried-
rich's plan this Year; that the dramatic parts are redis-
tributed, and that the playing of Fabius-Cunctator will
not now serve one's turn. Daun, who may well be
loth to believe such a thing, clings to his old part, and
seems very lazy to rise and try another. In fact, he
does not rise, properly speaking, or take up his new
part at all. This Year, and all the following, he waits
carefully till the Russian Lion come; will then endeavour
to assist, -- or even do jackal, which will be safer still.
The Russians he intends shall act lion; he himself
modestly playing the subaltern but much safer part!
Diligent to flatter the lion; will provide him guidances,
and fractional sustenances, in view of the coming hunt;
will eat the lion's leavings, once the prey is slaugh-
tered. This really was, in some sort, Daun's yearly
game, so long as it would last! --
July ending, and the curtain fairly risen, we shall
have to look at Friedrich with our best eyesight. Pre-
paratory to which, there is, on Friedrich's part, ever
since the middle of June, this Anti-Russian Dohna ad-
venture going on: -- of which, at first, and till about
the time of getting to Schmottseifen, he had great
hopes; great, though of late rapidly sinking again: --
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? 118 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
Juna-- July 17o9.
into which we must first throw a glance, as properly
the opening scene.
Fouquet has been left at Landshut, should the Daun
remnants still in Bohemia think of invading. Fouquet
is about rooting himself rather firmly into that im-
portant Post; fortifying various select Hills round Lands-
hut, with redoubts, curtains, communications; so as to
keep ward there, inexpugnable to a much stronger
force. There for about a year, with occasional short
sallies, on errands that arise, Fouquet sat successfully
vigilant; resisting the Devilles, Becks, Harsches; pro-
tecting Glatz and the Passes of Silesia: in about a year
we shall hear of his fortunes worsening, and of a great
catastrophe to him in that Landshut Post.
Friedrich allowed the Reichsfolk "two good months,"
after all that flurrying and havoc done on them, "before
they could show face in Saxony. " They did take about
that time; and would have taken more, had not Prince
Henri been called away by other pressing occasions in
Friedrich's own neighbourhood; and Saxony, for a good
while (end of June to beginning of September), been
left almost bare of Prussian troops. Which encourages
the Reichs Army to hurry afield in very unprepared
condition, -- still rather within the two months. End
of July, Light people of them push across to Halber-
stadt or Halle Country; and are raising Contributions,
and plundering diligently, if nothing else. Of which
we can take no notice farther: if the reader can re-
collect it, well; if not, also well. The poor Reichs
Army nominally makes a figure this Year, but nominally
only; the effective part of it, now and henceforth, being
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? CHAP. I. ] PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. 119
June --July 1759.
Austrian Auxiliaries, and theReichs part as flaccid and
insignificant as ever.
Prince Henri's call to quit Saxony was this. Daun,
among the numerous Detachments he was making, of
which we can take no notice, had shot out Two (rather
of cometary type, to use our old figure), -- which every
reader must try to keep in mind. Two Detachments,
very considerable: Haddick (who grew at last to 20,000),
and Loudon (16,000); who are hovering about myste-
riously over the Lausitz; -- intending what? Their in-
tention, Friedrich thinks, especially Haddick's intention,
may be towards Brandenburg, and even Berlin: where-
fore he has summoned Henri to look after it. Henri,
resting in cantonments about Tschopau and Dresden,
after the late fatigues, and idle for the moment, hastens
to obey; and is in Bautzen neighbourhood, from about
the end of June and onward. Sufficiently attentive to
Haddick and Loudon: who make no attempt on Bran-
denburg; having indeed, as Friedrich gradually sees,
and as all of us shall soon see, a very different object
in view! --
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? 120 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED, [book XIX.
lst-Mth June 1759.
CHAPTER II.
GENERAL DOHNA; DICTATOR WEDELL: BATTLE OF
ZttLLICHAU.
The Russian Lion, urged by Vienna and Versailles,
made his entry, this Year, earlier than usual, -- coming
now within wind of Mark-Lissa, as we see; -- and has
stirred Daun into motion, Daun and everybody. From
the beginning of April, the Russians, hybernating in
the interior parts of Poland, were awake, and getting
slowly under way. April 24th, the Vanguard of 10,000
quitted Thorn; June 1st, Vanguard is in Posen; followed
by a First Division and a Second, each of 30,000. They
called it "Soltikof crossing the Weichsel with 100,000
men;" but, exclusive of the Cossack swarms, there
were not above 75,000 regulars: nor was Soltikof their
Captain just at first; our old friend Fermor was, and
continued to be till Soltikof, in a private capacity,
reached Posen (June 29th), and produced his new com-
mission. At Fermor's own request, as Fermor pre-
tended, -- who was skilled in Petersburg politics, and
with a cheerful face served thenceforth as Soltikofs
second.
At Posen, as on the road thither, they find Sul-
kowski's and the other burnt provenders abundantly
replaced: it is evident they intend, in concert with
Daun, to enclose Friedrich between two fires, and do
something considerable. Whether on Brandenburg or
Silesia, is not yet known to Friedrich. Friedrich, since
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? CHAP, n. ] GENERAL DOHNA. 121
June --July 1759.
the time they crossed Weichsel, has given them his best
attention; and more than once has had schemes on their
Magazines and them, -- once a new and bigger Scheme
actually afoot, under Wobersnow again, our Anti-Sul-
kowski friend; but was obliged to turn the force else-
whither, on alarms that rose. He himself cannot quit
the centre of the work; his task being to watch Daun,
and especially, should Daun attempt nothing else, to
prevent junction of Soltikof and him.
Daun still lies torpid, or merely hitching about; but
now when the Russians are approaching Posen, and the
case becomes pressing, Friedrich, as is usual to him,
draws upon the Anti-Swedish resource, upon the Force
he has in Pommern. That is to say, orders General
Dohna, who has the Swedes well driven in at present,
to quit Stralsund Country, to leave the ineffectual
Swedes with some very small attendance; and to march,
-- with certain reinforcements that are arriving (Wobers-
now already, Hiilsen with 10,000 out of Saxony in few
days,) -- direct against the Russians; and at once go
in upon them. Try to burn their Magazines, again;
or, equally good, to fall vigorously on some of their
separate Divisions, and cut them off in the vagrant
state; -- above all, to be vigorous, be rapid, sharp,
and do something effectual in that quarter. These were
Dohna's Instructions. Dohna has 18,000; Hiilsen with
his 10,000 is industriously striding forward, from the
farther side of Saxony, Wobersnow with at least his own
fine head is already there. Friedrich, watching in the
Anti-Junction position, ready for the least chance that
may turn up.
Dohna marched accordingly; but was nothing like
rapid enough: an old man, often in ill health too; and
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? 122 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED, [book XIX.
June--July 1759.
no doubt plenty of impediments about him. He con-
sumed some time rallying at Stargard; twelve days
more at Landsberg, on the Warta, settling his provision-
matters; in fine, did not get to Posen neighbourhood till June 23d, three weeks after the Russian Vanguard
of 10,000 had fixed itself there, and other Russian
parties were daily dropping in. Dohna was 18,000, a
Wobersnow with him: had he gone at once on Posen,
as Wobersnow urged, it is thought he might perhaps
have ruined this Vanguard and the Russian Magazine;
which would have been of signal service for the remain-
ing Campaign. But he preferred waiting for Hiilsen and the 10,000, who did not arrive for seven or eight
days more; by which time Soltikof and most of the
Russian Divisions had got in; -- and the work was
become as good as hopeless, on those languid terms.
Dohna did try upon the Magazine, said to be ill
guarded in some Suburb of Posen; crossed the Warta
with that view, found no Magazine; recrossed the Warta;
and went manoeuvering about, unable to do the least
good on Soltikof or his Magazines or operations. Fried-
rich was still in Landshut region, just about quitting it,
-- just starting on that little Trautenau Expedition,
with his Four Pieces of Horse-Artillery (June 29th),
when the first ill-news of Dohna came in; which greatly
disappointed Friedrich, and were followed by worse,
instead of better.
The end was, Soltikof, being now all ready, winded
himself out of Posen one day, veiled by Cossacks; and,
to Dohna's horror, had got, or was in the act of getting,
between Dohna and Brandenburg; which necessitated
new difficult manoeuvres from Dohna. Soltikof too can
manoeuvre a little: Soltikof edges steadily forward;
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? CHAP. II. ] GENERAL DOHNA. 123
17th. -*)ih July 1759.
making for Crossen on Oder, where he expects to find
Austrians (Haddick and Loudon, if Friedrich could yet
guess it), with 30,000 odd, especially with provision,
which is wearing scarce with him. Twice or so there
was still a pretty opportunity for Dohna on him; but
Dohna never could resolve about it in time. Back and
ever back goes Dohna; facing Soltikof; but always
hitching back; latterly in Brandenburg ground, the
Russians and he; -- having no provision, he either.
In fine, July 17th (one week after Friedrich had got
to Schmottseifen), Dohna finds himself at the little
Town of Zullichau (barely in time to snatch it before
Soltikof could), within thirty miles of Crossen; and
nothing but futility behind and before. *
We can imagine Friedrich's daily survey of all this;
his gloomy calculations what it will soon amount to if
it last. He has now no Winterfeld, Schwerin, no Keith,
Retzow, Moritz: -- whom has he? His noblest Captains
are all gone; he must put up with the less noble. One
Wedell, Lieutenant-General, had lately recommended
himself to the royal mind by actions of a prompt daring.
The royal mind, disgusted with these Dohna hagglings,
and in absolute necessity of finding somebody that had
resolution, and at least ordinary Prussian skill, hoped
Wedell was the man. And determined, the crisis being
so urgent, to send Wedell in the character of Alter-Ego, or "with the powers of a Roman Dictator," as the
Order expressed it. ** Dictator Wedell is to supersede
Dohna; shall go, at his own swift pace, fettered by
nobody; -- and, at all hazards, shall attack Soltikof
straightway, and try to beat him. "You are grown
* Tempelhof, in. 78-88; Helden-Geschichte, v. 835-847.
** Given in Preuss, n. 207, 208; in Stenzel, v. 212, other particulars.
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? 124 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
22d July 1759.
too old for that intricate hard work; go home a little,
and recover your health," the King writes to Dohna.
And to the Dohna Army, "Obey this man, all and
sundry of you, as you would myself;" the man's private
Order being, "Go in upon Soltikof; attack him straight-
way; let us have done with this wriggling and haggling. "
Date of this Order is, "Camp at Schmottseifen, 20th
July 1759. " The purpose of such highflown Title, and
solemnity of nomination, was mainly, it appears, to
hush down any hesitation or surprise among the
Dohna Generals, which, as Wedell was "the youngest
Lieutenant-General of the Army," might otherwise have
been possible.
Wedell, furnished with some small escort and these
Documents, arrives in Camp, Sunday evening 22d July: -- poor Dohna has not the least word or look of criti-
cism; and every General, suppressing whatever thoughts
there may be, prepares to yield loyal obedience to
Dictator Wedell. "Wobersnow was the far better soldier
of the two! " murmured the Opposition party, then and
long afterwards,* -- all the more, as Wobersnow's be-
haviour under it was beautiful, and his end tragical, as
will be seen. Wobersnow I perceive to have been a
valiant sharp-striking man, with multifarious resources
in his head; who had faithfully helped in these opera-
tions, and I believe been urgent to quicken them. But
what I remember best of him is his hasty admirable
contrivance for field-bakery in pressing circumstances, -- the substance of which shall not be hidden from a
mechanical age:
"You construct six slight square iron frames, each hinged
"to the other; each, say, two feet square, or the breadth of
* Retzow, &c.
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? CHAP. n. ] &KNERA1 DOHNA. 125
22d July 1759.
"two common tiles, and shaped on the edges so as to take in
"tiles; -- tiles are to be found on every human cottage. This
"iron frame, when you hook it together, becomes the ghost of
"a cubic box, and by the help of twelve tiles becomes a coin-
"pact field-oven; and you can bake with it, if you have flour
"and water, and a few sticks. The succinctest oven ever
"heard of; for your operation done, and your tiles flung out
"again, it is capable of all folding flat like a book. " * Never
till now had Wobersnow's oven been at fault: but in these
Polish Villages, all of mere thatched hovels, there was not a
tile to be found; and the Bakery, with astonishment, saw it-
self unable to proceed.
Wedell arrived, Sunday evening 22d July; had
crossed Oder at Tsehischerzig, -- some say by Crossen
Bridge; no matter which. Dohna's Camp is some thirty
miles west of Crossen; in and near the small Town
called Ziillichau, where his headquarter is. In those
dull peaty Countries, on the right, which is thereabouts
the northern (not eastern), bank of Oder; between the
Oder and the Warta; some seventy miles south-by-east
ofLandsberg, and perhaps as far south-west] of Posen:
thither has Dohna now got with his futile manoeuverings.
Soltikof, drawn up amid scrubby woods and sluggish
intricate brooks, is about a mile to east of him.
Poor Dohna demits at once; and, I could conjecture,
vanishes that very night; glad to be out of such a
thing. Painfully has Dohna manoeuvered for weeks
past; falling back daily; only anxious latterly that
Soltikof, who daily tries it, do not get to westward of
him on the Frankfurt road, and so end this sad shuffle.
Soltikof as yet has not managed that ultimate fatality;
Dohna, by shuffling back, does at least contrive to
keep between Frankfurt and him; -- will not try at-
* Retzow, ii. 82 n.
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