But can English readers consent to
halt in this hot pinch of the Friedrich crisis; and read
the briefest thing which is foreign to it?
halt in this hot pinch of the Friedrich crisis; and read
the briefest thing which is foreign to it?
Thomas Carlyle
The intention, he begins to suspect,
is not for Berlin at all; but for junction with Soltikof,
-- at Crossen or wherever it may be. This is in fact
their real purpose; and this, beyond almost Berlin it-
self, it is in the highest degree important to prevent.
Important; and now as if become impossible! ,
Prince Henri had come to Bautzen with his Army,
specially to look after Loudon and Haddick; and he
has, all this while, had Finck with some 10,000
diligently patrolling to westward of them, guarding
Berlin; he himself watching from the southern side, --
where, as on the western, there was no danger from
them. Some time before Wedell's affair, Friedrich had
pushed out Eugen of Wurtemberg to watch these people
on the eastern side; -- suspicious that thitherward lay
their real errand. Eugen had but 6,000; and, except
in conjunction with Finck and Henri, could do nothing,
-- nor can, now when Friedrich's suspicion turns out
to be fatally true. Friedrich had always the angry
feeling that Finck and Prince Henri were the blame-
worthy parties in what now ensued; that they, who
were near, ought to have divined these people's secret,
and spoiled it in time; not have left it to him, who
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? 134 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XTX.
29th July -- 6th Aug. 1759.
was far off, and so busy otherwise. To the last, that
was his fixed private opinion; by no means useful to
utter, -- especially at present, while attempting the
now very doubtful enterprise himself, and needing all
about him to be swift and zealous. This is one of
Friedrich's famous labours, this of the Haddick-Loudon
junction with Soltikof; strenuous short spasm of effort,
of about a week's continuance; full of fiery insight,
velocity, energy; still admired by judges, though it
was unsuccessful, or only had half success. Difficult
to bring home, in any measure, to the mind of modern
readers, so remote from it.
Friedrich got the news of Zullichau next day, July
24th; -- and instantly made ready. The case is cri-
tical; especially this Haddick-Loudon part of it: add
30 or 36,000 Austrians to Soltikof, how is he then to
be dealt with? A case stringently pressing: -- and
the resources for it few and scattered. For several
days past, Haddick, and Loudon under him, whose
motions were long enigmatic, have been marching
steadily eastward through the Lausitz, -- with the
evident purpose of joining Soltikof; unless Wedell
could forbid. Wedell ahead was the grand opposition;
-- Finck, Henri, Wurtemberg, as good as useless; --
and Wedell being now struck down, these Austrians
will go, especially Loudon will, at a winged rate.
They are understood to be approaching Sagan Country;
happily, as yet, well to westward of it, and from Sagan
Town well north-westward; -- but all accounts of them
are vague, dim: they are an obscure entity to Fried-
rich, but a vitally important one. Sagan Town may
be about 70 miles northward of where Friedrich now
is: from Sagan, were they once in the meridian of
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? CHAP. III. ] HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 135
29to July -- 6lh Aug. 1759.
Sagan, their road is free eastward and northward; --
to Crossen is about 60 miles north-by-east from Sagan,
to Frankfurt near 100 north. Sagan is on the Bober;
Bober, in every event, is between the Austrians and
their aim.
Friedrich feels that, however dangerous to quit
Daun's neighbourhood, he must, he in person, go at
once. And who, in the interim, will watch Daun and
his enterprises? Friedrich's reflexions are: "Well, in
the crisis of the moment, Saxony, -- though there
already are marauding Bodies of Reichsfolk in it, --
must still be left to itself for a time; or cannot Finck
and his 10,000 look to it? Henri, with his Army,
now useless at Bautzen, shall instantly rendezvous at
Sagan; his Army to go with me, against the Russians
and their Haddick-Loudons; Henri to Schmottseifen,
instead of me, and attend to Daun; Henri, I have no
other left! Finck and his 10,000 must take charge of
Saxony, such charge as he can: -- how lucky those
Spring Forays, which destroyed the Reichs Magazines!
Whereby there is no Reichs Army yet got into Saxony
(nothing but preliminary pulses and splashings of it);
none yet, nor like to be quite at once. " That is
Friedrich's swift plan.
Henri rose on the instant, as did everybody con-
cerned: July 29th, Henri and Army were at Sagan;
Army waiting for the King; Henri so far on his road
to Schmottseifen. He had come to Sagan "by almost
the rapidest marches ever heard of," -- or ever till
some others of Henri's own, which he made in that
neighbourhood soon. Punctual, he, to his day; as are
Eugen of Wurtemberg's people, and all Detachments
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? 136 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [bOOKXIX.
29th July -- 6th Aug. 1759.
and Divisions: Friedrich himself arrives at Sagan that
same 29th, "about midnight," -- and finds plenty of
work waiting: no sleep these two nights past; and none
coming just yet! A most swift rendezvous. The
speed of everybody has been, and needs still to be,
intense.
This rendezvous at Sagan, -- intersection of Henri
and Friedrich, bound different roads (the Brothers, I
think, did not personally meet, Henri having driven
off for Schmottseifen by a shorter road), -- was, Sun-
day, July 29th. Following which, are six days of
such a hunt for those Austrian reynards as seldom or
never was! Most vehement, breathless, baffling hunt;
half of it spent in painfully beating cover, in mere
finding and losing. Not rightly successful, after all.
So that, on the eighth day hence, August 6th, at Mull-
rose, near Frankfurt, 80 miles from Sagan, there is a
second rendezvous, -- rendezvous of Wedell and Fried-
rich, who do not now "intersect," but meet after the
hunt is done; -- and in the interim, there has been a
wonderful performance, though an unsuccessful. Fried-
rich never could rightly get hold of his Austrians.
Once only, at Sommerfeld, a long march northwest of
Sagan, he came upon some outskirts of them. And in
general, in those latter eight days, especially in the
first of them, there is, in that Kotbus-Sagan Country,
such an intersecting, checking, pushing, and multifari-
ous simmering of marches, on the part of half a dozen
Strategic Entities, Friedrich the centre of them, as --
as, I think, nobody but an express soldier-student, well
furnished with admiration for this particular Soldier,
would consent to have explained to him. One of the
maziest, most unintelligible whirls of marching; inex-
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? CHAP. Hi. ] HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 137
30th July 1759.
tricable Sword-Dance, or Dance of the Furies, -- five
of them (that is the correct number: Haddick, Loudon,
Friedrich, Wiirtemberg, Wedell); -- and it is flung
down for us, all in a huddle, in these inhuman Books
(which have several errors of the press, too): let no
man rashly insist with himself on understanding it,
unless he have need! Humanly pulled straight, not
inhumanly flung down at random, here the essentials
of it are, -- in very brief state:
"Sagan, Monday, 30th July. Friedrich is at Sagan,
"since midnight last, busier and busier;" beating cover, as
we termed it, and getting his hounds (his new Henri-Army)
in leash; "endeavouring, especially, to get tidings of those
"Austrian people; who are very enigmatic, -- Loudon a
"dexterous man, -- and have hung up such a curtain of
"Pandours between Friedrich and them as is nearly im-
"penetrable. In the course of this Monday, Friedrich as-
certains that they are verily on the road; coming eastward,
"for Sommerfeld, -- 'thence for Crossen! ' he needs no ghost
"to tell him. Wherefore,
"Tuesday, Sagan to Naumburg. Tuesday before daybreak,
"Friedrich too is on the road: north-westward; in full march
"towards Naumburg on Bober, meaning to catch the Bridge
"from them there. March of the swiftest; he himself is
"ahead, as usual, with the Vanguard of Horse. He reaches
"Naumburg (northward, a march of 20 miles); finds, not
"Haddick or Loudon, but a Detachment of theirs: which he
"at once oversets with his Cavalry, and chases, -- marking
"withal that 'westward is the way they run. ' Westward;
"and that we are still ahead, thank Heaven!
"Before his Infantry are all up, or are well rested in
"Naumburg, Friedrich ascertains, on more precise tidings,
"That the Austrians are in Sommerfeld, to westward (again
"a20 miles); and judges That, no doubt, they will bear off
"more to leftward, by Guben probably, and try to avoid him,
"-- unless he can still catch them in Sommerfeld. About
"nightfall, he marches for Sommerfeld, at his swiftest;
"arrives, Wednesday early; finds -- alas! --
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? 138 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
2d Aug. 1759.
"Sommerfeld, Wednesday morning, August 1st, Friedrich
"finds that Loudon was there last night, -- preterite tense,
"alas; the question now being, Where is he! " In fact,
Loudon had written yesterday to Daun (Letter still extant,
"Sommerfeld, July 31st"), That "being swift and light,"
consisting of horse for most part, "he may probably effect
"Junction this very night;" -- but has altered his mind very
much, on sight of these fugitives from Naumburg, since! And
has borne off more to leftward. Straight north now, and at a
very brisk pace; being now all of horse; -- and has an im-
portant conference with Haddick at Guben, when they arrive
there. "Not in Sommerfeld? " thinks Friedrich (earnestly
surveying, through this slit he has made in the Pandour veil):
"Gone to Guben, most likely, bearing off from us to left-
ward? " -- Which was the fact; though not the whole fact.
And indeed the chase is now again fallen uncertain, and
there has to be some beating of covers. For one thing, he
learns today (August 1st) that the Russians are gone to
Frankfurt: "Follow them, you Wedell," -- orders Fried-
rich: them we shall have to go into, -- however this hunt
end! --
"To Markersdorf, Thursday, August 2d. Friedrich takes
"the road for Guben; reaches Markersdorf (twenty miles
"march, still seven or eight from Guben); falls upon -- What
"phenomenon is this? The Austrian heavy Train; meal-
"wagons not a few, and a regiment of foot in charge of it; --
"but going the wrong way, not towards the Russians but from
"them! What on earth can this be? This is Haddick, -- if
"Friedrich could yet clearly know it, -- Haddick and Train,
"who for his own part has given up the junction enterprise.
"At Guben, some hours ago, he had conference with Loudon;
"and this was the conclusion arrived at: 'Impossible, with
"that King so near! You, Herr Loudon, push on, without
"heavy baggage, and with the Cavalry altogether; you can
"get in, almost 20,000 strong; I, with the Infantry, with the
"meal and heavy guns, will turn, and make for the Lausitz
"again! "'
"This mysterious Austrian Train, going the wrong way,
"Friedrich attacks, whatever it be (hoping, I suppose, it
"might be the Austrians altogether); chases it vigorously;
"snatches all the meal-wagons, and about 1,000 prisoners.
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? CHAP. III. 1 HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 139
3d Aug. 1759.
"Uncertain still what it is, -- if not the Austrians altogether?
"To his sorrow, he finds, on pushing farther into it, thatit is
"only Haddick and the Infantry; that Loudon, with the
"20,000 Horse, will have gone off for Frankfurt; -- irre-
trievably ahead, the swift Loudon -- ever careering north-
"ward all this while, since that afternoon at Sommerfeld,
"when the fugitives altered his opinion: a now unattainable
"Loudon. In the course of Thursday night, Friedrich has
"satisfied himself that the Loudon junction is a thing as good
"as done: -- in effect, Loudon did get to Frankfurt, morning
"of August 3d, and joined the Russians there; and about the
"same time, or only a few hours sooner, Friedrich, by symp-
"toms, has divined that his hunt has ended, in this rather
"unsuccessful way; and that chasing of Haddick is not the
"roadto go. "*
Not Haddick now; with or without their Austrians,
it shall be the Russians now! Two days ago (Wednes-
day, as was mentioned), before sight of those enigmatic
meal-wagons, Friedrich had learned that the Russians
were to be in Frankfurt again; and had ordered Wedell
to march thitherward, at any rate. Which Wedell is
doing, all this Thursday and the four following days.
As does likewise, from and after "Friday, August 3d,
1 A. m. " (hunt then over), Friedrich himself, -- re-
nouncing Haddick and the hunt. Straight towards
Frankfurt thenceforth; head-quarters Beeskow that
night; next night, Mullrose, whither Wedell is ap-
pointed, within twelve miles of Frankfurt. This is
the end of Friedrich's sore Chase and March; burnt
deeply into his own weary brain, if ours still refuse it
admittance! Here, of utterly fatigued tone, is a Note
of his, chiefly on business, to Minister Finckenstein.
Indeed there are, within the next ten days, Three suc-
cessive Notes to Finckenstein, which will be worth
* Tempelhof, m. 135-139.
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? 140 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
1st Aug. 1759.
reading in their due places. This is the First of
them:
The King to Graf von Finckenstein (at Berlin).
Beeskow, 3d August 1759.
"I am just arrived here, after cruel and frightful march-
"ings" (Checks himself, however). "There is nothing
"desperate in all that; and I believe the noise and dis-
"quietude this hurlyburly has caused will be the worst of it.
"Show this Letter to everybody, that it may be known the
"State is not undefended. I have made above 1,000 prisoners
"from Haddick. All his meal-wagons have been taken.
"Finck, I believe, will keep an eye on him," and secure Berlin
from attempts of his. "This is all I can say.
"Tomorrow I march to within two leagues of Frankfurt"
(to Miillrosej namely). "Katte" (the Minister who has charge
of such things) "must send me instantly Two Hundred
''Wispels" (say tons) "of Meal, and Bakers One Hundred, to
"Furstenwalde. I shall encamp at Wulkow. I am very
"tired. For six nights I have not closed an eye. Fare-
well. --F. "
During the above intricate War-Dance of Five, --
the day while Friedrich was at Sommerfeld, the day
before he came in sight of Haddick's meal-wagons
going the wrong road, -- there went on, at Minden
on the Weser, three hundred miles away, a beautiful
feat of War, in the highest degree salutary to Duke
Ferdinand and Britannic Majesty's Ministry; feat which
requires a word from us here. A really splendid
Victory, this of Minden, August 1st: French driven
headlong through the Passes there; their "Conquest of
Hanover and Weser Country" quite exploded and
flung over the horizon; and Duke Ferdinand relieved
from all his distresses, and lord of the ascendant again
in those parts. Highly interesting to Friedrich; --
especially to Prince Henri; whose apprehensions about
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? CHAP, ni. ] HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 141
1st Aug. 1759.
Ferdinand and the old Richelieu Hastenbeck-Halber-
stadt time returning on us, have been very great; and
who now, at Schmottseifen, fires feu-de-joie for it with
all his heart. This is a Battle still of some interest to
English readers.
But can English readers consent to
halt in this hot pinch of the Friedrich crisis; and read
the briefest thing which is foreign to it? Alas, I fear
they can; -- and will insert the Note here:
Battle of Minden: Wednesday August 1st, 1759. -- "EJver
'since Bergen, things have gone awry with Ferdinand, and in
"spite of skilful management, of hard struggles, and bright
"sparkles of success, he has had a bad Campaign of it. The
"French, it would seem, are really got into better fighting
"order; Belleisle's exertions as War-Minister have been
"almost wonderful, -- in some respects, too wonderful, as we
"shallhear! -- and Broglio and Contades, in comparison with
"Clermont and Soubise, have real soldier qualities. Contades,
"across Rhine again, in those Weser Countries, who is skilful
"in his way, and is pricked on by emulation of Broglio, has
"been spreading himself out steadily progressive there; while
'Broglio, pushing along from Frankfurt-on-Mayn, has con-
'quered Hessen; is into Hanover; on the edge of conquering
'Hanover, - -- which how is Ferdinand to hinder? Ferdinand
"has got two, if not three Armies to deal with, and in number
"is not much superior to one. If he run to save Hanover from
"Broglio, he loses Westphalia: Osnabriick (his magazine),
"Minister, Lippstadt, -- Contades, if left to himself will take
"these, after short siege; and will nestle himself there, and
"then advance, not like a transitory fever-fit, but like visible
"death, on Hanover. Ferdinand, rapid yet wary, manoeuVered
'his very best among those interests of his, on the left bank
"of Weser; but after the surprisal of Minden from him
"(brilliantly done by Broglio, and the aid of a treacherous
"peasant), especially after the capture of Osnabriick, his out-
'looks are gloomy to a degree: and at Versailles, and at
"Minden where Contades has established himself, 'theCon-
"quest of Hanover' (beautiful counterweight to all one's
"losses in America or elsewhere) is regarded as a certainty of
"this Year.
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? 142 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book SlXi
1st Aug. 1759.
"For the last ten days of July, about Minden, the
"manoeuvering, especially on Ferdinand's part, had been
"intense; a great idea in the head of Ferdinand, more or less
"unintelligible to Contades. Contades, with some 30,000,
"which is the better half of his force, has taken one of the un-
"assailablest positions. He lies looking northward, his right
"wing on the Weser with posts to Minden (Minden perhaps a
"mile north-westward there), on his left impassable peatbogs
"and quagmires; in front a quaggy River or impassable black
"Brook, called the Bastau, coming from the westward, which
"disembogues at Minden:* -- there lies Contades, as if in a
"rabbit-hole, say military men; for defence, if thatwere the
"sole object, no post can be stronger. Contades has in person
"say 30,000; and round him, on both sides of the Weser, are
"Broglio with 20,000; besides other Divisions, I know not
"how many, besieging Miinster, capturing Osnabriick (our
"hay magazine), attempting Lippstadt by surprise (to no pur-
"pose), and diligently working forward, day by day, to Ferdi-
nand's ruin in those Minden regions. Three or four Divi-
"sions busy in that manner; -- and above all, we say, he has
"Broglio with a 20,000 on the right or east bank of the Weser,
"--who, if Ferdinand quit him even for a day, seems to have
"Hanover at discretion, and can march any day upon
"Hanover City, where his light troops have already been
"more than once. Why doesn't Ferdinand cross Weser, re-
"cross Weser; coerce Broglio back; and save Hanover? cry
"the Gazetteers and a Public of weak judgment. Pitts
"Public is inclined to murmur about Ferdinand; Pitt himself
"never. Ferdinand persists in sticking by Minden neigh-
"bourhood; and, in a scarcely accountable way, manosuver-
"ing there, shooting out therefrom what mischief he can
"upon the various Contades people in their sieges and the
"like.
"On Contades himself he can pretend to do nothing, --
"except hoodwink him, entice him out, and try to get a chance
"on him. But for his own subsistence and otherwise, he is
"very lively; -- snatches, by a sudden stroke, Bremen City:
"' Yes truly, Bremen is a Reichstadt; nor shall you snatch it,
"as you did Frankfurt; but I will, instead: and my English
"proviant-ships shall have a sure haven henceforth! '
* Sketch of Plan, p. . U7.
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? CHAP. III. ] HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 143
1st Aug. 1759.
"Snatches Bremen by one sudden stroke; re-snatches Osna-
"briick by another ('our magazine considerably increased
"since you have had it, many thanks! ') does lose Minister, to
"his sorrow; but nevertheless sticks by his ground here; --
"nay detaches his swift-cutting Nephew, the Hereditary
"Prince, who is growing famous for such things, to cut out
"Contades's strong post to southward (Gohfeld, ten miles up
"theWeser), which guards his meal-wagons, after their long
"journey from the south. That is Contades's one weak point,
"in this posture of things: his meal is at Cassel, seventy
"miles off. Broglio and he see clearly, 'Till we can get a
"new magazine much nearer Hanover, or at lowest, can clear
"out these people from infesting us here, there is no moving
"northward! ' To both Contades and Broglio that is an
"evident thing: the corollary to which is, They must fight
"Ferdinand; must watch lynx-like till a chance turn up of
"beating him in fight. That is their outlook, and Ferdinand
"knows it is, -- and manoeuvres accordingly. Military men
"admire much, not his movements only, but his clear insight
"into Contades's and Broglio's temper of mind, and by what
"methods they were to be handled, they and his own affairs
"together, and brought whither he wanted them. *
"This attempt on Gohfeld was a serious mischief to Con-
"tades, if it succeeded. But the detaching of the Prince of
"Brunswick on it, and weakening one's too weak Army,
"'What a rashness, what an oversight! ' thinks Contades (as
"Ferdinand wished him to do): 'Is our skilful enemy, in this
"extreme embarrassment, losing head, then? Look at his left
"wing yonder' -- (General Wangenheim, sitting behind
"batteries, in his Village of Todtenhausen, looking into
"Mindenfrom the north): -- 'Wangenheim's left leans on the
"Weser, yes; but Wangenheim's right, observe, has no sup-
port within three miles of it: tear Wangenheim out, Ferdi-
"nand's flank is bare! ' These things seemed to Contades the
"very chance he had been waiting for; and brought him
"triumphantly out of his rabbit-hole, into the Heath of Min-
"den, as Ferdinand hoped they would do.
"And so, Tuesday Evening, July 31st, things being now all
"ripe upwards of 50,000 French are industriously in motion.
"Contades has nineteen bridges ready on the Bastau Brook,
* In Mauvillon (n. 4144) minute account of all that.
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? 144 FRIEDR1CH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
1st Aug. 1759.
"in front of him; tattoo this night, in Contades's Camp, is to
"mean general-march,'March, all ofyou, across these nineteen
"Bridges, to your stations on the Plain or Heath of Minden
"yonder, -- and be punctual, like the clock! ' Broglio crosses
"Weser by the Town Bridge, ranks himself opposite Todten-
"hausen; and through the livelong night there is, on the part
"of the 50,000 French, a very great marching and deploying.
"Contades and Broglio together are 51,400 foot and horse.
"Ferdinand's entire force will be near 46,000; but on the day
"of Battle he is only 36,000, -- having detached the Here-
"ditary Prince on Grohfeld, in what view we know. -- The
"Battle of Minden, called also of Tonhausen (meaning Todten-
"hausen), which hereupon fell out, has still its fame in the
"world; and, I perceive, is well worth study by the soldier
"mind: though nothing but the rough outline of it is possible
"here.
"Ferdinand's posts extend from the Weser river and
"Todtenhausen round by Stemmern, Holzhausen, to Hartum
"and theBog ofBastau(the chief part of him towardsBastau),
"-- in various Villages, and woody patches and favourable
"spots; all looking in upon Minden, from a distance of five or
"seven miles; forming a kind of arc, with Minden for centre.
"He will march up in eight Columns; of course, with wide
"intervals between them, -- wide, but continually narrowing
"as he advances; which will indeed be ruinous gaps, if
"Ferdinand wait to be attacked; but which will coalesce
"close enough, if he be speedy upon Contades. For
"Contades's line is also of arc-like or almost semicircu-
"lar form, behind it Minden as centre; Minden, which is
"at the intersection of Weser and the Brook; his right
"flank is on Weser, Broglio versus Wangenheim the ex-
"treme-right; his left, with infantry and artillery, rests on
"that black Brook of Bastau with its nineteen Bridges. As
"the ground on both wings is rough, not so fit for Cavalry,
"Contades puts his Cavalry wholly in the centre: they are the
"flower of the French Army, about 10,000 horse in all; firm
"open ground ahead of them there, with strong batteries,
"masses of infantry to support on each flank; batteries to ply
"with cross-fire any assailant that may come on. Broglio, we
"said, is right wing; strong in artillery and infantry. Broglio
"is to root out Wangenheim: after which, -- or even before
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? CHAP. III. ] HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 145
it Aug. 1759.
'which, if Wangenheim is kept busy and we are nimble, --
'what becomes of Ferdinand's left flank, with a gap of three
'miles between Wangenheim and him, and 10,000 chosen
horse to take advantage of it! Had the French been of
'Prussian dexterity and nimbleness in marching, it is very
'possible something might have come of this latter circum-
'stance: but Ferdinand knows they are not; and intends to
'take good care of his flank.
"Contades and his people were of willing mind; but had
'no skill 'in marching up:' and, once got across the Bastau
'by their nineteen Bridges, they wasted many hours: -- ' Too
'far, ami? not far enough? Too close; not close enough? '
'--and broiled about, in much hurry and confusion, all night.
'Fight was to have begun at 5 in the morning. Broglio was
'in his place, silently looking into Wangenheim, by 5 o'clock;
'but unfortunately did nothing upon Wangenheim ('Not
'ready you, I see! '), except cannonade a little; -- and
'indeed, all through, did nothing ('Still not ready you
othe'rs! '); which surely was questionable conduct, though
not reckoned so at Versailles, when the case came to be
argued there. As to the Contades people, across those nine-
teen Bridges, they had a baffling confused night j and were
'by no means correctly on their ground at sunrise, not at
7 o'clock, not at 8; and were still mending themselves when
'the shock came, and time was done.
"The morning is very misty; but Ferdinand has himself
'been out examining since the earliest daybreak: his orders
'last night were, 'Cavalry be saddled at 1 in the morning,' --
'having a guess that there would be work, as he now finds
'there will. From 5 A. m. Ferdinand is issuing from his Camp,
'flowing down eastward, beautifully concentric, closing on
Contades; horse not in centre, but English Infantry in
centre (Six Battalions, or Six Regiments by English reckon-
ing); right opposite those 10,000 Horse of Contades's, the
sight of whom seems to be very animating to them. The
'English Cavalry stand on the right wing, at the Village of
'Hartum: Lord George Sackville nad rlotbeen very punctual
in saddling at 1 o'clock; but he is there, ranked on the fround, at 8, -- in what humour nobody knows; sulky and
abby, I should rather guess. English Tourists, idle other- Carlyle, Frederick the Great. XI. 10
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? 146 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book xix.
1st Aug. 1759.
"wise, may take a look atHartum on the south side, as the
"spot where a very ugly thing occurred that day.
"Soon after 8, the Fight begins: attack, by certain
"Hessians, on Hahlen and its batteries; attempt to drive the
"French out of Hahlen, as the first thing, -- which does not
"succeed at once (indeed took three attacks in all); and per-
"haps looks rather tedious to those Six English Battalions.
"Ferdinand's order to them was, 'You shall march up to
"attack, you Six, on sound of drum;' but, it seems, they read
"it, 'by sound of drum:' 'Beating our own drums; yes, of
"course! ' -- and, being weary of this Hahlen work, or fancy-
"ing they had no concern with it, strode on, double-quick,
"without waiting for Hahlen at all! To the horror of their
"Hanoverian comrades, who nevertheless determined to
"follow as second line. The Contades cross-fire of artillery,
"battery of 30 guns on one flank, of 36 on the other, doesits
"best upon this forward-minded Infantry, but they seem to
"heed it little; walk right forward; and, to the astonishment
"of those French Horse and of all the world, entirely break
"and ruin the charge made on them, and tramp forward in
"chase of the same. The 10,000 Horse feel astonished, in-
"suited; and rush out again, furiously charging; theEng-
"lish halt and serry themselves: 'No fire till they are within
"forty paces;' and then such pouring torrents of it as no
"horse or man can endure. Rally after rally there is, on the
"part of those 10,000; mass after mass of them indignantly
"plunges on, -- again, ever again, about six charges in all; --
"but do not break the English lines: one of them (regiment
"Mestre-de-Camp, raised to a paroxysm) does once get
"through, across the first line, but is blown back in dreadful
"circumstances by the second. After which they give it up,
"as a thing that cannot be done. And rush rearward, hither,
"thither, the whole seventy-five squadrons of them; and'be-
"tween their two wings of infantry, are seen boiling in com-
"plete disorder. '
"This has lasted about an hour; this is essentially the
"soul of the Fight, -- though there wanted not other activities,
"to right of it and to left, on both sides; artilleries going at a
"mighty rate on both wings; and counter-artilleries (super-
"lative practice 'by Captain Phillips' on our right wing);
"Broglio cannonading Wangenheim very loudly, but with
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? CHAP. m. ]' HE ATTEMPTS THE BUSSIAN PROBLEM. , 147
1st Aug. 1759.
"little harm done or suffered, on their right wing. Wangen-
"heim is watchful of that gap between Ferdinand and him,
"till it close itself sufficiently. Their rightwing Infantry did
"once make some attempt there; but the Prussian Horse --
"(always a small body of Prussians serve in this Allied Army)
"-- shot out,
"and in a bril-
"liant manner
"swept them
"home again.
"Artillery, and
"that pretty
"charge ofPrus-
"sian Horse,
"are all one re-
"members, ex-
"ceptthisof the
"English and
"Hanover Foot
"in the centre:
"'anunsurpass- "able thing,'
"says Tempel-
"hof (though it
"so easily might oa_ Contades's Camp. bb. Broglio's Camp,
'nave been ace. Ferdinand's position, night of July 31st.
"fatal! )--which <* ^ Wangenheim's position, night of July 31st.
"lion '. ot Pnn ""? Ferdinand's Line of Battle.
nas set i_,on- ff. Frenclt Wne of Battle.
tadess Centre g. French Cavalry. h. English Infantry,
"boiling and '? English and Hanoverian Cavalry, under Sackville.
"reduced Contades altogether to water, as it were. Contades
"said bitterly: 'I have seen what I never thought to be pos-
"'sible, -- a single line of infantry break through three lines
"'of cavalry, ranked in order of battle, and tumble them to
"'ruin! '*
"This was the feat, this hour's work in the centre, the
"essential soul of the Fight: -- and had Lord George Sack-
"ville, General of the Horse, come on when galloped for and
"bidden, here had been such a ruin, say all judges, as seldom
"came upon an Army. Lord George, -- everlasting disgrace
Stenzel, v. 204.
10*
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? 148 FRIEDRlCH LIKE TO BE O VeRWHELMEO. [book XIX.
1st Aug. 1759.
"and sorrow on the name of him, -- could not see his way to
"coming on; delayed, haggled; would not even let Granby,
"his lieutenant, come; not for a second Adjutant, not for a
"third; never came on at all; but rode to the Prince, asking,
'"How am I to come on? ' Who, with a politeness I can
"never enough admire, did not instantly kill kim, but an-
"swered, in mild tone, 'Milord, the opportunity is now past! '
"Whereby Contades escaped ruin, and was only beaten. By
"about 10 in the morning, all was over. When a man's centre
"is gone to water, no part of him is far from the fluid state.
"Contades retreated into his rabbit-hole by those nineteen
"bridges, -- well tormented, they say, by Captain Phillips's
"artillery, till he got beyond the knolls again. Broglio, who
"had never been in musket-fire at all, but had merely barked
"on Wangenheim all morning, instead of biting, covered the
"retreat, and withdrew into Minden. And we are a beaten
"Army, -- thanks to Lord George, not an annihilated one.
"Our loss being only 7,086 (with heavy guns, colours, cavalry
"flags and the like); theirs being2,822, --full half of it falling
"on those rash Six Battalions. *
"And what is this one hears from Gohfeld in the evening?
"The Hereditary Prince, busy there on us during the very
"hours of Minden, has blown our rearguard division to the
"winds there; -- and we must move southward, one and all of
"us, without a moment's delay! Out of this rabbit-hole the
"retreat by rearward is through a difficult country, the West-
"phalian Gates so-called; fatal to Varus's Legions long ago.
"Contades got under way that very night; lost most of his
"baggage, all his conquests, that shadow-conquest of
"Hanover, and more than all his glories (Versailles shrieking
"on him, 'Resign you; let Broglio be chief'); -- and, on the
"whole, jumbled homeward hither and thither, gravitating
"towards the Rhine, nothing but Wesel to depend on in those
"parts, as heretofore. Broglio retreated Frankfurt-way, also
"as usual, though not quite so far; and at Versailles had
* Mauvillon, n. 44-60; Tempelhof, m.
is not for Berlin at all; but for junction with Soltikof,
-- at Crossen or wherever it may be. This is in fact
their real purpose; and this, beyond almost Berlin it-
self, it is in the highest degree important to prevent.
Important; and now as if become impossible! ,
Prince Henri had come to Bautzen with his Army,
specially to look after Loudon and Haddick; and he
has, all this while, had Finck with some 10,000
diligently patrolling to westward of them, guarding
Berlin; he himself watching from the southern side, --
where, as on the western, there was no danger from
them. Some time before Wedell's affair, Friedrich had
pushed out Eugen of Wurtemberg to watch these people
on the eastern side; -- suspicious that thitherward lay
their real errand. Eugen had but 6,000; and, except
in conjunction with Finck and Henri, could do nothing,
-- nor can, now when Friedrich's suspicion turns out
to be fatally true. Friedrich had always the angry
feeling that Finck and Prince Henri were the blame-
worthy parties in what now ensued; that they, who
were near, ought to have divined these people's secret,
and spoiled it in time; not have left it to him, who
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? 134 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XTX.
29th July -- 6th Aug. 1759.
was far off, and so busy otherwise. To the last, that
was his fixed private opinion; by no means useful to
utter, -- especially at present, while attempting the
now very doubtful enterprise himself, and needing all
about him to be swift and zealous. This is one of
Friedrich's famous labours, this of the Haddick-Loudon
junction with Soltikof; strenuous short spasm of effort,
of about a week's continuance; full of fiery insight,
velocity, energy; still admired by judges, though it
was unsuccessful, or only had half success. Difficult
to bring home, in any measure, to the mind of modern
readers, so remote from it.
Friedrich got the news of Zullichau next day, July
24th; -- and instantly made ready. The case is cri-
tical; especially this Haddick-Loudon part of it: add
30 or 36,000 Austrians to Soltikof, how is he then to
be dealt with? A case stringently pressing: -- and
the resources for it few and scattered. For several
days past, Haddick, and Loudon under him, whose
motions were long enigmatic, have been marching
steadily eastward through the Lausitz, -- with the
evident purpose of joining Soltikof; unless Wedell
could forbid. Wedell ahead was the grand opposition;
-- Finck, Henri, Wurtemberg, as good as useless; --
and Wedell being now struck down, these Austrians
will go, especially Loudon will, at a winged rate.
They are understood to be approaching Sagan Country;
happily, as yet, well to westward of it, and from Sagan
Town well north-westward; -- but all accounts of them
are vague, dim: they are an obscure entity to Fried-
rich, but a vitally important one. Sagan Town may
be about 70 miles northward of where Friedrich now
is: from Sagan, were they once in the meridian of
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? CHAP. III. ] HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 135
29to July -- 6lh Aug. 1759.
Sagan, their road is free eastward and northward; --
to Crossen is about 60 miles north-by-east from Sagan,
to Frankfurt near 100 north. Sagan is on the Bober;
Bober, in every event, is between the Austrians and
their aim.
Friedrich feels that, however dangerous to quit
Daun's neighbourhood, he must, he in person, go at
once. And who, in the interim, will watch Daun and
his enterprises? Friedrich's reflexions are: "Well, in
the crisis of the moment, Saxony, -- though there
already are marauding Bodies of Reichsfolk in it, --
must still be left to itself for a time; or cannot Finck
and his 10,000 look to it? Henri, with his Army,
now useless at Bautzen, shall instantly rendezvous at
Sagan; his Army to go with me, against the Russians
and their Haddick-Loudons; Henri to Schmottseifen,
instead of me, and attend to Daun; Henri, I have no
other left! Finck and his 10,000 must take charge of
Saxony, such charge as he can: -- how lucky those
Spring Forays, which destroyed the Reichs Magazines!
Whereby there is no Reichs Army yet got into Saxony
(nothing but preliminary pulses and splashings of it);
none yet, nor like to be quite at once. " That is
Friedrich's swift plan.
Henri rose on the instant, as did everybody con-
cerned: July 29th, Henri and Army were at Sagan;
Army waiting for the King; Henri so far on his road
to Schmottseifen. He had come to Sagan "by almost
the rapidest marches ever heard of," -- or ever till
some others of Henri's own, which he made in that
neighbourhood soon. Punctual, he, to his day; as are
Eugen of Wurtemberg's people, and all Detachments
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? 136 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [bOOKXIX.
29th July -- 6th Aug. 1759.
and Divisions: Friedrich himself arrives at Sagan that
same 29th, "about midnight," -- and finds plenty of
work waiting: no sleep these two nights past; and none
coming just yet! A most swift rendezvous. The
speed of everybody has been, and needs still to be,
intense.
This rendezvous at Sagan, -- intersection of Henri
and Friedrich, bound different roads (the Brothers, I
think, did not personally meet, Henri having driven
off for Schmottseifen by a shorter road), -- was, Sun-
day, July 29th. Following which, are six days of
such a hunt for those Austrian reynards as seldom or
never was! Most vehement, breathless, baffling hunt;
half of it spent in painfully beating cover, in mere
finding and losing. Not rightly successful, after all.
So that, on the eighth day hence, August 6th, at Mull-
rose, near Frankfurt, 80 miles from Sagan, there is a
second rendezvous, -- rendezvous of Wedell and Fried-
rich, who do not now "intersect," but meet after the
hunt is done; -- and in the interim, there has been a
wonderful performance, though an unsuccessful. Fried-
rich never could rightly get hold of his Austrians.
Once only, at Sommerfeld, a long march northwest of
Sagan, he came upon some outskirts of them. And in
general, in those latter eight days, especially in the
first of them, there is, in that Kotbus-Sagan Country,
such an intersecting, checking, pushing, and multifari-
ous simmering of marches, on the part of half a dozen
Strategic Entities, Friedrich the centre of them, as --
as, I think, nobody but an express soldier-student, well
furnished with admiration for this particular Soldier,
would consent to have explained to him. One of the
maziest, most unintelligible whirls of marching; inex-
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? CHAP. Hi. ] HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 137
30th July 1759.
tricable Sword-Dance, or Dance of the Furies, -- five
of them (that is the correct number: Haddick, Loudon,
Friedrich, Wiirtemberg, Wedell); -- and it is flung
down for us, all in a huddle, in these inhuman Books
(which have several errors of the press, too): let no
man rashly insist with himself on understanding it,
unless he have need! Humanly pulled straight, not
inhumanly flung down at random, here the essentials
of it are, -- in very brief state:
"Sagan, Monday, 30th July. Friedrich is at Sagan,
"since midnight last, busier and busier;" beating cover, as
we termed it, and getting his hounds (his new Henri-Army)
in leash; "endeavouring, especially, to get tidings of those
"Austrian people; who are very enigmatic, -- Loudon a
"dexterous man, -- and have hung up such a curtain of
"Pandours between Friedrich and them as is nearly im-
"penetrable. In the course of this Monday, Friedrich as-
certains that they are verily on the road; coming eastward,
"for Sommerfeld, -- 'thence for Crossen! ' he needs no ghost
"to tell him. Wherefore,
"Tuesday, Sagan to Naumburg. Tuesday before daybreak,
"Friedrich too is on the road: north-westward; in full march
"towards Naumburg on Bober, meaning to catch the Bridge
"from them there. March of the swiftest; he himself is
"ahead, as usual, with the Vanguard of Horse. He reaches
"Naumburg (northward, a march of 20 miles); finds, not
"Haddick or Loudon, but a Detachment of theirs: which he
"at once oversets with his Cavalry, and chases, -- marking
"withal that 'westward is the way they run. ' Westward;
"and that we are still ahead, thank Heaven!
"Before his Infantry are all up, or are well rested in
"Naumburg, Friedrich ascertains, on more precise tidings,
"That the Austrians are in Sommerfeld, to westward (again
"a20 miles); and judges That, no doubt, they will bear off
"more to leftward, by Guben probably, and try to avoid him,
"-- unless he can still catch them in Sommerfeld. About
"nightfall, he marches for Sommerfeld, at his swiftest;
"arrives, Wednesday early; finds -- alas! --
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? 138 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
2d Aug. 1759.
"Sommerfeld, Wednesday morning, August 1st, Friedrich
"finds that Loudon was there last night, -- preterite tense,
"alas; the question now being, Where is he! " In fact,
Loudon had written yesterday to Daun (Letter still extant,
"Sommerfeld, July 31st"), That "being swift and light,"
consisting of horse for most part, "he may probably effect
"Junction this very night;" -- but has altered his mind very
much, on sight of these fugitives from Naumburg, since! And
has borne off more to leftward. Straight north now, and at a
very brisk pace; being now all of horse; -- and has an im-
portant conference with Haddick at Guben, when they arrive
there. "Not in Sommerfeld? " thinks Friedrich (earnestly
surveying, through this slit he has made in the Pandour veil):
"Gone to Guben, most likely, bearing off from us to left-
ward? " -- Which was the fact; though not the whole fact.
And indeed the chase is now again fallen uncertain, and
there has to be some beating of covers. For one thing, he
learns today (August 1st) that the Russians are gone to
Frankfurt: "Follow them, you Wedell," -- orders Fried-
rich: them we shall have to go into, -- however this hunt
end! --
"To Markersdorf, Thursday, August 2d. Friedrich takes
"the road for Guben; reaches Markersdorf (twenty miles
"march, still seven or eight from Guben); falls upon -- What
"phenomenon is this? The Austrian heavy Train; meal-
"wagons not a few, and a regiment of foot in charge of it; --
"but going the wrong way, not towards the Russians but from
"them! What on earth can this be? This is Haddick, -- if
"Friedrich could yet clearly know it, -- Haddick and Train,
"who for his own part has given up the junction enterprise.
"At Guben, some hours ago, he had conference with Loudon;
"and this was the conclusion arrived at: 'Impossible, with
"that King so near! You, Herr Loudon, push on, without
"heavy baggage, and with the Cavalry altogether; you can
"get in, almost 20,000 strong; I, with the Infantry, with the
"meal and heavy guns, will turn, and make for the Lausitz
"again! "'
"This mysterious Austrian Train, going the wrong way,
"Friedrich attacks, whatever it be (hoping, I suppose, it
"might be the Austrians altogether); chases it vigorously;
"snatches all the meal-wagons, and about 1,000 prisoners.
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? CHAP. III. 1 HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 139
3d Aug. 1759.
"Uncertain still what it is, -- if not the Austrians altogether?
"To his sorrow, he finds, on pushing farther into it, thatit is
"only Haddick and the Infantry; that Loudon, with the
"20,000 Horse, will have gone off for Frankfurt; -- irre-
trievably ahead, the swift Loudon -- ever careering north-
"ward all this while, since that afternoon at Sommerfeld,
"when the fugitives altered his opinion: a now unattainable
"Loudon. In the course of Thursday night, Friedrich has
"satisfied himself that the Loudon junction is a thing as good
"as done: -- in effect, Loudon did get to Frankfurt, morning
"of August 3d, and joined the Russians there; and about the
"same time, or only a few hours sooner, Friedrich, by symp-
"toms, has divined that his hunt has ended, in this rather
"unsuccessful way; and that chasing of Haddick is not the
"roadto go. "*
Not Haddick now; with or without their Austrians,
it shall be the Russians now! Two days ago (Wednes-
day, as was mentioned), before sight of those enigmatic
meal-wagons, Friedrich had learned that the Russians
were to be in Frankfurt again; and had ordered Wedell
to march thitherward, at any rate. Which Wedell is
doing, all this Thursday and the four following days.
As does likewise, from and after "Friday, August 3d,
1 A. m. " (hunt then over), Friedrich himself, -- re-
nouncing Haddick and the hunt. Straight towards
Frankfurt thenceforth; head-quarters Beeskow that
night; next night, Mullrose, whither Wedell is ap-
pointed, within twelve miles of Frankfurt. This is
the end of Friedrich's sore Chase and March; burnt
deeply into his own weary brain, if ours still refuse it
admittance! Here, of utterly fatigued tone, is a Note
of his, chiefly on business, to Minister Finckenstein.
Indeed there are, within the next ten days, Three suc-
cessive Notes to Finckenstein, which will be worth
* Tempelhof, m. 135-139.
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? 140 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
1st Aug. 1759.
reading in their due places. This is the First of
them:
The King to Graf von Finckenstein (at Berlin).
Beeskow, 3d August 1759.
"I am just arrived here, after cruel and frightful march-
"ings" (Checks himself, however). "There is nothing
"desperate in all that; and I believe the noise and dis-
"quietude this hurlyburly has caused will be the worst of it.
"Show this Letter to everybody, that it may be known the
"State is not undefended. I have made above 1,000 prisoners
"from Haddick. All his meal-wagons have been taken.
"Finck, I believe, will keep an eye on him," and secure Berlin
from attempts of his. "This is all I can say.
"Tomorrow I march to within two leagues of Frankfurt"
(to Miillrosej namely). "Katte" (the Minister who has charge
of such things) "must send me instantly Two Hundred
''Wispels" (say tons) "of Meal, and Bakers One Hundred, to
"Furstenwalde. I shall encamp at Wulkow. I am very
"tired. For six nights I have not closed an eye. Fare-
well. --F. "
During the above intricate War-Dance of Five, --
the day while Friedrich was at Sommerfeld, the day
before he came in sight of Haddick's meal-wagons
going the wrong road, -- there went on, at Minden
on the Weser, three hundred miles away, a beautiful
feat of War, in the highest degree salutary to Duke
Ferdinand and Britannic Majesty's Ministry; feat which
requires a word from us here. A really splendid
Victory, this of Minden, August 1st: French driven
headlong through the Passes there; their "Conquest of
Hanover and Weser Country" quite exploded and
flung over the horizon; and Duke Ferdinand relieved
from all his distresses, and lord of the ascendant again
in those parts. Highly interesting to Friedrich; --
especially to Prince Henri; whose apprehensions about
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? CHAP, ni. ] HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 141
1st Aug. 1759.
Ferdinand and the old Richelieu Hastenbeck-Halber-
stadt time returning on us, have been very great; and
who now, at Schmottseifen, fires feu-de-joie for it with
all his heart. This is a Battle still of some interest to
English readers.
But can English readers consent to
halt in this hot pinch of the Friedrich crisis; and read
the briefest thing which is foreign to it? Alas, I fear
they can; -- and will insert the Note here:
Battle of Minden: Wednesday August 1st, 1759. -- "EJver
'since Bergen, things have gone awry with Ferdinand, and in
"spite of skilful management, of hard struggles, and bright
"sparkles of success, he has had a bad Campaign of it. The
"French, it would seem, are really got into better fighting
"order; Belleisle's exertions as War-Minister have been
"almost wonderful, -- in some respects, too wonderful, as we
"shallhear! -- and Broglio and Contades, in comparison with
"Clermont and Soubise, have real soldier qualities. Contades,
"across Rhine again, in those Weser Countries, who is skilful
"in his way, and is pricked on by emulation of Broglio, has
"been spreading himself out steadily progressive there; while
'Broglio, pushing along from Frankfurt-on-Mayn, has con-
'quered Hessen; is into Hanover; on the edge of conquering
'Hanover, - -- which how is Ferdinand to hinder? Ferdinand
"has got two, if not three Armies to deal with, and in number
"is not much superior to one. If he run to save Hanover from
"Broglio, he loses Westphalia: Osnabriick (his magazine),
"Minister, Lippstadt, -- Contades, if left to himself will take
"these, after short siege; and will nestle himself there, and
"then advance, not like a transitory fever-fit, but like visible
"death, on Hanover. Ferdinand, rapid yet wary, manoeuVered
'his very best among those interests of his, on the left bank
"of Weser; but after the surprisal of Minden from him
"(brilliantly done by Broglio, and the aid of a treacherous
"peasant), especially after the capture of Osnabriick, his out-
'looks are gloomy to a degree: and at Versailles, and at
"Minden where Contades has established himself, 'theCon-
"quest of Hanover' (beautiful counterweight to all one's
"losses in America or elsewhere) is regarded as a certainty of
"this Year.
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? 142 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book SlXi
1st Aug. 1759.
"For the last ten days of July, about Minden, the
"manoeuvering, especially on Ferdinand's part, had been
"intense; a great idea in the head of Ferdinand, more or less
"unintelligible to Contades. Contades, with some 30,000,
"which is the better half of his force, has taken one of the un-
"assailablest positions. He lies looking northward, his right
"wing on the Weser with posts to Minden (Minden perhaps a
"mile north-westward there), on his left impassable peatbogs
"and quagmires; in front a quaggy River or impassable black
"Brook, called the Bastau, coming from the westward, which
"disembogues at Minden:* -- there lies Contades, as if in a
"rabbit-hole, say military men; for defence, if thatwere the
"sole object, no post can be stronger. Contades has in person
"say 30,000; and round him, on both sides of the Weser, are
"Broglio with 20,000; besides other Divisions, I know not
"how many, besieging Miinster, capturing Osnabriick (our
"hay magazine), attempting Lippstadt by surprise (to no pur-
"pose), and diligently working forward, day by day, to Ferdi-
nand's ruin in those Minden regions. Three or four Divi-
"sions busy in that manner; -- and above all, we say, he has
"Broglio with a 20,000 on the right or east bank of the Weser,
"--who, if Ferdinand quit him even for a day, seems to have
"Hanover at discretion, and can march any day upon
"Hanover City, where his light troops have already been
"more than once. Why doesn't Ferdinand cross Weser, re-
"cross Weser; coerce Broglio back; and save Hanover? cry
"the Gazetteers and a Public of weak judgment. Pitts
"Public is inclined to murmur about Ferdinand; Pitt himself
"never. Ferdinand persists in sticking by Minden neigh-
"bourhood; and, in a scarcely accountable way, manosuver-
"ing there, shooting out therefrom what mischief he can
"upon the various Contades people in their sieges and the
"like.
"On Contades himself he can pretend to do nothing, --
"except hoodwink him, entice him out, and try to get a chance
"on him. But for his own subsistence and otherwise, he is
"very lively; -- snatches, by a sudden stroke, Bremen City:
"' Yes truly, Bremen is a Reichstadt; nor shall you snatch it,
"as you did Frankfurt; but I will, instead: and my English
"proviant-ships shall have a sure haven henceforth! '
* Sketch of Plan, p. . U7.
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? CHAP. III. ] HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 143
1st Aug. 1759.
"Snatches Bremen by one sudden stroke; re-snatches Osna-
"briick by another ('our magazine considerably increased
"since you have had it, many thanks! ') does lose Minister, to
"his sorrow; but nevertheless sticks by his ground here; --
"nay detaches his swift-cutting Nephew, the Hereditary
"Prince, who is growing famous for such things, to cut out
"Contades's strong post to southward (Gohfeld, ten miles up
"theWeser), which guards his meal-wagons, after their long
"journey from the south. That is Contades's one weak point,
"in this posture of things: his meal is at Cassel, seventy
"miles off. Broglio and he see clearly, 'Till we can get a
"new magazine much nearer Hanover, or at lowest, can clear
"out these people from infesting us here, there is no moving
"northward! ' To both Contades and Broglio that is an
"evident thing: the corollary to which is, They must fight
"Ferdinand; must watch lynx-like till a chance turn up of
"beating him in fight. That is their outlook, and Ferdinand
"knows it is, -- and manoeuvres accordingly. Military men
"admire much, not his movements only, but his clear insight
"into Contades's and Broglio's temper of mind, and by what
"methods they were to be handled, they and his own affairs
"together, and brought whither he wanted them. *
"This attempt on Gohfeld was a serious mischief to Con-
"tades, if it succeeded. But the detaching of the Prince of
"Brunswick on it, and weakening one's too weak Army,
"'What a rashness, what an oversight! ' thinks Contades (as
"Ferdinand wished him to do): 'Is our skilful enemy, in this
"extreme embarrassment, losing head, then? Look at his left
"wing yonder' -- (General Wangenheim, sitting behind
"batteries, in his Village of Todtenhausen, looking into
"Mindenfrom the north): -- 'Wangenheim's left leans on the
"Weser, yes; but Wangenheim's right, observe, has no sup-
port within three miles of it: tear Wangenheim out, Ferdi-
"nand's flank is bare! ' These things seemed to Contades the
"very chance he had been waiting for; and brought him
"triumphantly out of his rabbit-hole, into the Heath of Min-
"den, as Ferdinand hoped they would do.
"And so, Tuesday Evening, July 31st, things being now all
"ripe upwards of 50,000 French are industriously in motion.
"Contades has nineteen bridges ready on the Bastau Brook,
* In Mauvillon (n. 4144) minute account of all that.
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? 144 FRIEDR1CH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XIX.
1st Aug. 1759.
"in front of him; tattoo this night, in Contades's Camp, is to
"mean general-march,'March, all ofyou, across these nineteen
"Bridges, to your stations on the Plain or Heath of Minden
"yonder, -- and be punctual, like the clock! ' Broglio crosses
"Weser by the Town Bridge, ranks himself opposite Todten-
"hausen; and through the livelong night there is, on the part
"of the 50,000 French, a very great marching and deploying.
"Contades and Broglio together are 51,400 foot and horse.
"Ferdinand's entire force will be near 46,000; but on the day
"of Battle he is only 36,000, -- having detached the Here-
"ditary Prince on Grohfeld, in what view we know. -- The
"Battle of Minden, called also of Tonhausen (meaning Todten-
"hausen), which hereupon fell out, has still its fame in the
"world; and, I perceive, is well worth study by the soldier
"mind: though nothing but the rough outline of it is possible
"here.
"Ferdinand's posts extend from the Weser river and
"Todtenhausen round by Stemmern, Holzhausen, to Hartum
"and theBog ofBastau(the chief part of him towardsBastau),
"-- in various Villages, and woody patches and favourable
"spots; all looking in upon Minden, from a distance of five or
"seven miles; forming a kind of arc, with Minden for centre.
"He will march up in eight Columns; of course, with wide
"intervals between them, -- wide, but continually narrowing
"as he advances; which will indeed be ruinous gaps, if
"Ferdinand wait to be attacked; but which will coalesce
"close enough, if he be speedy upon Contades. For
"Contades's line is also of arc-like or almost semicircu-
"lar form, behind it Minden as centre; Minden, which is
"at the intersection of Weser and the Brook; his right
"flank is on Weser, Broglio versus Wangenheim the ex-
"treme-right; his left, with infantry and artillery, rests on
"that black Brook of Bastau with its nineteen Bridges. As
"the ground on both wings is rough, not so fit for Cavalry,
"Contades puts his Cavalry wholly in the centre: they are the
"flower of the French Army, about 10,000 horse in all; firm
"open ground ahead of them there, with strong batteries,
"masses of infantry to support on each flank; batteries to ply
"with cross-fire any assailant that may come on. Broglio, we
"said, is right wing; strong in artillery and infantry. Broglio
"is to root out Wangenheim: after which, -- or even before
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? CHAP. III. ] HE ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM. 145
it Aug. 1759.
'which, if Wangenheim is kept busy and we are nimble, --
'what becomes of Ferdinand's left flank, with a gap of three
'miles between Wangenheim and him, and 10,000 chosen
horse to take advantage of it! Had the French been of
'Prussian dexterity and nimbleness in marching, it is very
'possible something might have come of this latter circum-
'stance: but Ferdinand knows they are not; and intends to
'take good care of his flank.
"Contades and his people were of willing mind; but had
'no skill 'in marching up:' and, once got across the Bastau
'by their nineteen Bridges, they wasted many hours: -- ' Too
'far, ami? not far enough? Too close; not close enough? '
'--and broiled about, in much hurry and confusion, all night.
'Fight was to have begun at 5 in the morning. Broglio was
'in his place, silently looking into Wangenheim, by 5 o'clock;
'but unfortunately did nothing upon Wangenheim ('Not
'ready you, I see! '), except cannonade a little; -- and
'indeed, all through, did nothing ('Still not ready you
othe'rs! '); which surely was questionable conduct, though
not reckoned so at Versailles, when the case came to be
argued there. As to the Contades people, across those nine-
teen Bridges, they had a baffling confused night j and were
'by no means correctly on their ground at sunrise, not at
7 o'clock, not at 8; and were still mending themselves when
'the shock came, and time was done.
"The morning is very misty; but Ferdinand has himself
'been out examining since the earliest daybreak: his orders
'last night were, 'Cavalry be saddled at 1 in the morning,' --
'having a guess that there would be work, as he now finds
'there will. From 5 A. m. Ferdinand is issuing from his Camp,
'flowing down eastward, beautifully concentric, closing on
Contades; horse not in centre, but English Infantry in
centre (Six Battalions, or Six Regiments by English reckon-
ing); right opposite those 10,000 Horse of Contades's, the
sight of whom seems to be very animating to them. The
'English Cavalry stand on the right wing, at the Village of
'Hartum: Lord George Sackville nad rlotbeen very punctual
in saddling at 1 o'clock; but he is there, ranked on the fround, at 8, -- in what humour nobody knows; sulky and
abby, I should rather guess. English Tourists, idle other- Carlyle, Frederick the Great. XI. 10
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? 146 FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book xix.
1st Aug. 1759.
"wise, may take a look atHartum on the south side, as the
"spot where a very ugly thing occurred that day.
"Soon after 8, the Fight begins: attack, by certain
"Hessians, on Hahlen and its batteries; attempt to drive the
"French out of Hahlen, as the first thing, -- which does not
"succeed at once (indeed took three attacks in all); and per-
"haps looks rather tedious to those Six English Battalions.
"Ferdinand's order to them was, 'You shall march up to
"attack, you Six, on sound of drum;' but, it seems, they read
"it, 'by sound of drum:' 'Beating our own drums; yes, of
"course! ' -- and, being weary of this Hahlen work, or fancy-
"ing they had no concern with it, strode on, double-quick,
"without waiting for Hahlen at all! To the horror of their
"Hanoverian comrades, who nevertheless determined to
"follow as second line. The Contades cross-fire of artillery,
"battery of 30 guns on one flank, of 36 on the other, doesits
"best upon this forward-minded Infantry, but they seem to
"heed it little; walk right forward; and, to the astonishment
"of those French Horse and of all the world, entirely break
"and ruin the charge made on them, and tramp forward in
"chase of the same. The 10,000 Horse feel astonished, in-
"suited; and rush out again, furiously charging; theEng-
"lish halt and serry themselves: 'No fire till they are within
"forty paces;' and then such pouring torrents of it as no
"horse or man can endure. Rally after rally there is, on the
"part of those 10,000; mass after mass of them indignantly
"plunges on, -- again, ever again, about six charges in all; --
"but do not break the English lines: one of them (regiment
"Mestre-de-Camp, raised to a paroxysm) does once get
"through, across the first line, but is blown back in dreadful
"circumstances by the second. After which they give it up,
"as a thing that cannot be done. And rush rearward, hither,
"thither, the whole seventy-five squadrons of them; and'be-
"tween their two wings of infantry, are seen boiling in com-
"plete disorder. '
"This has lasted about an hour; this is essentially the
"soul of the Fight, -- though there wanted not other activities,
"to right of it and to left, on both sides; artilleries going at a
"mighty rate on both wings; and counter-artilleries (super-
"lative practice 'by Captain Phillips' on our right wing);
"Broglio cannonading Wangenheim very loudly, but with
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? CHAP. m. ]' HE ATTEMPTS THE BUSSIAN PROBLEM. , 147
1st Aug. 1759.
"little harm done or suffered, on their right wing. Wangen-
"heim is watchful of that gap between Ferdinand and him,
"till it close itself sufficiently. Their rightwing Infantry did
"once make some attempt there; but the Prussian Horse --
"(always a small body of Prussians serve in this Allied Army)
"-- shot out,
"and in a bril-
"liant manner
"swept them
"home again.
"Artillery, and
"that pretty
"charge ofPrus-
"sian Horse,
"are all one re-
"members, ex-
"ceptthisof the
"English and
"Hanover Foot
"in the centre:
"'anunsurpass- "able thing,'
"says Tempel-
"hof (though it
"so easily might oa_ Contades's Camp. bb. Broglio's Camp,
'nave been ace. Ferdinand's position, night of July 31st.
"fatal! )--which <* ^ Wangenheim's position, night of July 31st.
"lion '. ot Pnn ""? Ferdinand's Line of Battle.
nas set i_,on- ff. Frenclt Wne of Battle.
tadess Centre g. French Cavalry. h. English Infantry,
"boiling and '? English and Hanoverian Cavalry, under Sackville.
"reduced Contades altogether to water, as it were. Contades
"said bitterly: 'I have seen what I never thought to be pos-
"'sible, -- a single line of infantry break through three lines
"'of cavalry, ranked in order of battle, and tumble them to
"'ruin! '*
"This was the feat, this hour's work in the centre, the
"essential soul of the Fight: -- and had Lord George Sack-
"ville, General of the Horse, come on when galloped for and
"bidden, here had been such a ruin, say all judges, as seldom
"came upon an Army. Lord George, -- everlasting disgrace
Stenzel, v. 204.
10*
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? 148 FRIEDRlCH LIKE TO BE O VeRWHELMEO. [book XIX.
1st Aug. 1759.
"and sorrow on the name of him, -- could not see his way to
"coming on; delayed, haggled; would not even let Granby,
"his lieutenant, come; not for a second Adjutant, not for a
"third; never came on at all; but rode to the Prince, asking,
'"How am I to come on? ' Who, with a politeness I can
"never enough admire, did not instantly kill kim, but an-
"swered, in mild tone, 'Milord, the opportunity is now past! '
"Whereby Contades escaped ruin, and was only beaten. By
"about 10 in the morning, all was over. When a man's centre
"is gone to water, no part of him is far from the fluid state.
"Contades retreated into his rabbit-hole by those nineteen
"bridges, -- well tormented, they say, by Captain Phillips's
"artillery, till he got beyond the knolls again. Broglio, who
"had never been in musket-fire at all, but had merely barked
"on Wangenheim all morning, instead of biting, covered the
"retreat, and withdrew into Minden. And we are a beaten
"Army, -- thanks to Lord George, not an annihilated one.
"Our loss being only 7,086 (with heavy guns, colours, cavalry
"flags and the like); theirs being2,822, --full half of it falling
"on those rash Six Battalions. *
"And what is this one hears from Gohfeld in the evening?
"The Hereditary Prince, busy there on us during the very
"hours of Minden, has blown our rearguard division to the
"winds there; -- and we must move southward, one and all of
"us, without a moment's delay! Out of this rabbit-hole the
"retreat by rearward is through a difficult country, the West-
"phalian Gates so-called; fatal to Varus's Legions long ago.
"Contades got under way that very night; lost most of his
"baggage, all his conquests, that shadow-conquest of
"Hanover, and more than all his glories (Versailles shrieking
"on him, 'Resign you; let Broglio be chief'); -- and, on the
"whole, jumbled homeward hither and thither, gravitating
"towards the Rhine, nothing but Wesel to depend on in those
"parts, as heretofore. Broglio retreated Frankfurt-way, also
"as usual, though not quite so far; and at Versailles had
* Mauvillon, n. 44-60; Tempelhof, m.
