Upon which
Harsch, next morning, has to beat the chamade, and
surrender Prisoner of War.
Harsch, next morning, has to beat the chamade, and
surrender Prisoner of War.
Thomas Carlyle
And abates nothing of heart or
"hope; -- praying withal, immensely, she and her People,
"according to the mode they have. Sending for Prince Karl,
"we need not say, double-quick, as the very first thing.
"Of Maria Theresa in Hungary, -- for she ran to Presburg
"again with her woes (August 16th, Diet just assembling
"there),--let us say only that Hungary was again chivalrous;
"that old Palfy and the general Hungarian Nation answered
"in the old tone, -- Vivat Maria; Ad Arma, adArma! with
"Tolpatches, Pandours, Warasdins; -- and, in short, that
"great and small, in infinite 'Insurrection,' have still a stroke
"of battle in them pro Rege Nostro. Scarcely above a District
"or two (as the Jaszers an&Kauers, in their over-cautious way)
"making the least difficulty. Much enthusiasm and unanimity
"in all the others; here and there a Hungarian gentleman
"complaining scornfully that their troops, known as among
"the best fighters in Nature, are called irregular troops, --
"irregular, forsooth! In one public consultation" (District
not important, not very spellable, though doubtless pro-
* IJeUen-Geschichte, n. 1024.
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? CBAP. n. ] FRIEDRICH CAPTURES PRAG. 23
lola Aug. --2d Sept. 1744.
nounceable by natives to it), "a gentleman suggests that,
'"Winter is near; should not there be some slight provision of
"'tents, of shelter in the frozen sleety Mountains, to our
"' gallant fellows bound thither? Upon which another starts
"up, 'When our Ancestors came out of Asia-Minor, over the
"' Palus Maeotis bound in winter ice; and, sabre in hand, cut
'"their way into this fine Country which is still ours, what
"'shelter had they? No talk of tents, of barracks or accom-
"'modation there; each, wrapt in his sheepskin, found it
"'shelter sufficient. Tents! '* and the thing was carried by
"acclamation.
"Wide wail in Bohemia that War is coming back. No-
"bility all making off, some to Vienna or the intermediate
"Towns lying thither-ward} some to their Country-seats; all
"out of Prag. Willing mind on the part of the Common
"People; which the Government strains every nerve to make
"the most of. Here are fasts, processions, Prayers of Forty
"Hours; here, as in Vienna and elsewhere. In Vienna was a
"Three Days'solemn Fast: the like in Prag, or better; with
"procession to the shrine of St. Vitus, -- little likely to help,
"I should fear. 'Rise, all fencible men,' exclaims the
"Government, -- 'at least we will ballot, and make you
"'rise:' -- Militia people enter Prag to the extent of 10,000;
"like to avail little, one would fear. General Harsch, with
"reinforcement of real soldiers, is despatched from Vienna;
"Harsch, one of our ablest soldiers since Khevenhiiller died,
"gets in still in time; and thus increases the Garrison of re-
gulars to 4,000, with a vigorous Captain to guide it. Old
"Count Ogilvy, the same whom Saxe surprised two years ago
"in the moonlight, snatching ladders from the gallows, --
"Ogilvy is again Commandant; but this time, nominal main-
"ly, and with better out-looks, Harsch being under him. In
"relays, 3,000 of the Militia men dig and shovel night and
"day; repairing, perfecting the ramparts of the place. Then,
"as to provisions, endless corn is introduced, -- farmers
"forced, the unwilling at the bayonet's point, to deliver-in
"their corn; much of it in sheaf, so that we have to thrash it
"in the market-place, in the streets that are wide: and thus
"in Prag is heard the sound of flails, among the Militia drums
"and so many other noises. With the great Church-organs
* Helden-Geschichte, n. 1030.
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? 24 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
15th Aug. --2d Sept. 1744.
"growling; and the bass and treble Miserere of the poor
"superstitious People rising, to St. Vitus and others. In fact,
"it is a general Dance of St. Vitus, -- except that of the flails,
"and Militia men working at the ramparts, -- mostly not
"leading anywhither. "*
Meanwhile Friedrich's march from west, from north,
from east, is flowing on; diligent, swift; punctual to its
times, its places; and meets no impediment to speak
of. At Tetschen on the Saxon-Bohemian Frontier, --
a pleasant Schloss perched on its crags, as Tourists
know, where the Elbe sweeps into Saxon-Switzerland
and its long stone-labyrinths, -- at Tetschen the Aus-
trians had taken post; had tried to block the River,
driving piles into it, and tumbling boulders into it,
with a view to stop the 480 Prussian Boats. These
people needed to be torn out, their piles and they:
which was done in two days, the soldier part of it;
and occupied the boat-men above a week, before all
was clear again. Prosperous, correct to program, all
the rest; not needing mention from us; -- here are the
few sparks from it that dwell in one's memory:
"August 15th, 1744, King left Potsdam; joined his First
"Column, that night, at Wittenberg. Through Torgau,
"Meissen, Freiberg; is atPeterswalde, eastern slope of the
"Metal Mountains, August 25th; all the Columns now on
"Bohemian ground.
"Friedrich had crossed Elbe by the Bridge of Meissen: on
"the southern shore, politely waiting to receive his Majesty,
"there stood Feldmarschall the Duke of Weissenfels; to
"whom the King gave his hand," no doubt in friendly style,
"and talked for above half an hour," -- with such success!
thinks Friedrich by and by. We have heard of Weissenfels
* "Letter from a Citizen of Prag," date, 21st September (in Helden-
Gescliichte, n. 11C8), which gives several curious letails.
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? CHAP. II. ] PR1EDRICH CAPTURES PRAG. 25
loth Aug. --2d Sept. 1744.
before; the same poor Weissenfels who was Wilhelmina's
Wooer in old time, now on the verge of sixty; an extremely
polite but weakish old gentleman; accidentally preserved in
History. One of those conspicuous 'Human Clothes-Horses'
(phantasmal all but the digestive part), which abound in that
Eighteenth Century and others like it; and distress your
Historical studies. Poor old soul; now Feldmarschall and
Commander-in-Chief here. Has been in Turk and other
Wars; with little profit to himself or others. Used to like his
glass, they say; is still very poor, though now Duke in reality
as well as title (succeeded two egregious Brothers, some years
since, who had been spendthrift): he has still one other beat-
ing to get in this world, -- from Friedrich next year. Died
altogether, two years hence; and Wilhelmina heard no more
of him.
"At Meissen Bridge, say some, was this Half-hour's In-
"terview; at Pirna, the Bridge of Pima, others say;*--quite
"indifferent to us which. At Pirna, and hither and thither in
"Saxon Switzerland, Friedrich certainly was. 'Who ever
"'saw such positions, your Majesty? ' For Friedrich is
"always looking out, were it even from the window of his
"carriage, and putting military problems to himself in all
"manner of scenery, 'What would a man do, in that kind of
"'ground, if attacking, if attacked? with that hill, that brook,
"' that bit of bog? ' and advises every Officer to be continually
"doing the like. ** That is the value of picturesque or other
"scenery to Friedrich, and their effect on good Prussian Offi-
"cers and him.
* * "At Tetschen, Colonel Kahlbutz," diligent Prus-
sian Colonel, "plucks out those 100 Austrians from their rock
"nest there; makes them prisoners of war; -- which detained
"the Leitmeritz branch of us two days. August28th, junction
"at Leitmeritz thereupon. Magazine established there.
"Boats coming on presently. Friedrich himself camped at
"Lobositz in this part," -- Lobositz, or Lowositz, which he
will remember one day.
* See Orlich, n. 25; and Helden-Geschichle, n. 1166.
** Military Instructions? Rules for a good Commander of &c. ? -- I have,
for certain, read this Passage; but the reference is gone again, like a spar-
row from the housetop!
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? 26 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [bOOKXV.
15th Aug. --2d Sept. 1744.
"August 2. 9th, March to Budin; that is, southward, across
"the Eger; arrive within forty miles of Prag. Austrian
"Bathyani, summoned hastily out of his Bavarian posts, to
"succour in this pressing emergency, has arrived in these
"neighbourhoods, -- some 12,000 regulars under him, preced-
ed by clouds of hussars, whom Ziethen smites a little, by
"way of handsel; -- no other Austrian force to speak of here-
"abouts; and we are now between Bathyani and Prag.
"September 1st, To Mickowitz, near Welwarn, twenty
"miles from Prag. September 2d, Camp on the Weissenberg
"there. "*
And so they are all assembled about Prag, be-
girdling the poor City, -- third Siege it has stood
within these three years (since that moonlight November-
night in 1741); -- and are only waiting for their heavy
artillery to begin battering. The poor inhabitants, in
spite of three sieges; the 10,000 raw militia men,
mostly of Hungarian breed; the 4,000 regulars, and
Harsch and old Ogilvy, are all disposed to do their
best. Friedrich is naturally in haste to get hold of
Prag. But he finds, on taking survey, that the sword-
in-hand method is not now, as in 1741, feasible at all;
that the place is in good posture of strength; and will
need a hot battering to tear it open. Owing to that
accident at Tetschen, the siege-cannon are not yet
come up: 'Build your batteries, your Moldau-bridges,
your communications, till the cannon come; and be-
ware of Bathyani meddling with your cannon by the
road! "
"Bathyani is within twenty miles of us, at Beraun, a com-
''pact little Town to south-west; gathering aMagazine there;
"and ready for enterprises, -- in more force than Friedrich
"guesses. 'Drive him out, seize that Magazine of his! ' orders
* Helden-Gesohichle, 1. 1080.
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? CHAP. U. ] FRIEDRICH CAPTURES PRAG. ' 27
6th Sept. 1744.
"Friedrich (September 5th); and despatches General Hacke
"on it, a right man," -- at whose wedding we assisted (wed-
ding to an heiress, long since, in Friedrich Wilhelm's time),
if anybody now remembered. "And on the morrow there
"falls out a pretty little 'Action of Beraun,' about which great
"noise was made in the Gazettes pro and contra; which did
"not dislodge Bathyani by any means; but which might
"easily have ruined the impetuous Hacke and his 6,000, get-
"ting into masked batteries, Pandour whirlwinds, charges of
"horse 'from front, from rear, and from both flanks,' -- had
"not he, with masterly promptitude, whirled himself out of it,
"snatched instantly what best post there was, and defended
"himself inexpugnably there, for six hours, till relief came. "*
Brilliant little action, well performed on both sides, but lead-
ing to nothing; and which shall not concern us farther. Ex-
cept to say that Bathyani did now, more at his leisure, retire
out of harm's way; and begin collecting Magazines at Pilsen
far rearward, which may prove useful to Prince Karl, in the
route Prince Karl is upon.
Siege-cannon having at last come (September 8th),
the batteries are all mounted: -- on Wednesday 9th,
late at night, the Artillery, "in enormous quantity,"
opens its dread throat; poor Prag is started from its
bed, by torrents of shot, solid and shell, from three
different quarters; and makes haste to stand to its guns.
From three different quarters; from Bubenetsch north-
ward; from the Upland of St. Lawrence (famed
Weissenberg, or White-Hill) westward; and from the
Ziscaberg eastward (Hill of Zisca, where iron Zisca
posted himself on a grand occasion once), -- which
latter is a broad long Hill, west end of it falling sheer
over Prag; and on another point of it, highest point
of all, the Praguers have a strong battery and works.
The Prag guns otherwise are not too effectual; planted
* Die bey Beraun vorgefallene Action (in Seyfarth, Deylage, 1. 136,137).
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? 28 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [BOOK XV.
9th--16th Sept. 1744.
mostly on low ground. By much the best Prag battery
is this of the Ziscaberg. And this, after two days' ex-
perience had of it, the Prussians determine to take on
the morrow.
September 12th, Schwerin, who commands on that
side, assaults accordingly; with the due steadfastness
and stormfulness; throwing shells and balls by way of
prelude. Friedrich, with some group of staff-officers
and dignitaries, steps out on the Bubenetsch post, to
see how this affair of the Ziscaberg will prosper: the
Praguers thereabouts, seeing so many dignitaries, turn
cannon on them. 'Disperse, Ihr Herren; have a care! "
cried Friedrich; not himself much minding, so intent
upon the Ziscaberg. And could have skipt indifferently
over your cannon-balls ploughing the ground, -- had
not one fateful ball shattered out the life of poor Prince
Wilhelm; a good young Cousin of his, shot down here
at his hand. Doubtless a sharp moment for the King.
Prince Margraf Wilhelm and a poor young page, there
they lie dead; indifferent to the Ziscaberg and all
coming wars of mankind. Lamentation, naturally, for
this young man, -- Brother to the one that fell at
Mollwitz, youngest Brother of the Markgraf Karl, who
commands in this Bubenetsch redoubt: -- But we must
lift our eyeglass again; see how Schwerin is prosper-
ing. Schwerin, with due steadfastness and stormful-
ness, after his prelude of bombshells, rushes on double-
quick; cannot be withstood; hurls out the Praguers,
and seizes their battery; a ruinous loss to them.
Their grand Zisca redoubt is gone, then; and two
subsidiary small redoubts behind it withal, which the
French had built, and named "the magpie-nests (nids
a pie);" these also are ours. And we overhang, from
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? CMAP. n. ] PRIEDRICH CAPTTJRES PRAG. 29
9th-16th Sept. 1744.
our Zisca Hill, the very roofs, as it were; and there is
nothing but a long bare curtain now in this quarter,
ready to be battered in breach, and soon holed, if
needful. It is not needful, -- not quite. In the course
of three days more, our Bubenetsch battery, of enormous
power, has been so diligent, it has set fire to the Water-
mill; burns irretrievably the Water-mill, and still worse,
the wooden Sluice of the Moldau; so that the river
falls to the everywhere wadeable pitch. And Governor
Harsch perceives that all this quarter of the Town is
open to any comer; -- and in fact, that he will have
to get away, the best he can.
White flag accordingly (Tuesday 15th): "Free with-
drawal, to the Wischerad; won't you? " "By no man-
ner of means! " answers Friedrich. Bids Schwerin from
his Ziscaberg make a hole or two in that "curtain"
opposite him; and gets ready for storm.
Upon which
Harsch, next morning, has to beat the chamade, and
surrender Prisoner of War. And thus, Wednesday 16th,
it is done: a siege of one week, no more, -- after all
that thrashing of grain, drilling of militia, and other
spirited preparation. Harsch could not help it; the
Prussian cannonading was so furious. *
Prag has to swear fealty to the Kaiser; and "pay
a ransom of 200,000/. " Drilled militia, regulars,
Hungarians, about 16,000, -- only that many of the
Tolpatches contrived to whisk loose, -- are marched
prisoners to Glatz and other strong places. Prag City,
with plenty of provision in it, is ours. A brilliant be-
ginning of a Campaign; the eyes of all Europe turned
* Orlich, n. 36-39; Heldcn-Geschichte, 1. 1082, and u. 1168; (Euvres de
Frederic, in. 56; &c. &c.
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? 30 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
9th--16th Sept. 1744.
again, in very various humour, on this young King. If
only the French do their duty, and hang well on the
skirts of Marshal Traun (or of Prince Karl, the
Cloak of Traun), who is hastening hitherward all he
can.
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? CHAP. m. ] FRIEDRICH COMES UPON PRINCE KARL. 31
Uth Sept. 1744.
CHAPTER III.
FRIEDRICH, DILIGENT IN HIS BOHEMIAN CONQUESTS, UN-
EXPECTEDLY COMES UPON PRINCE KARL, WITH NO
FRENCH ATTENDING HIM.
This electrically sudden operation on Prag was
considered by astonished mankind, whatever else they
might think about it, a decidedly brilliant feat of War:
falling like a bolt out of the blue, -- like three bolts,
suddenly coalescing over Prag, and striking it down.
Friedrich himself, though there is nothing of boast
audible here or anywhere, was evidently very well
satisfied; and thought the aspects good. There is Prince
Karl whirling instantly back from his Strasburg Pro-
spects; the general St. Vitus' Dance of Austrian things,
rising higher and higher in these home parts: --
reasonable hope that "in the course of one Campaign,"
proud obstinate Austria might feel itself so wrung and
screwed as to be glad of Peace with neighbours not
wishing War. That was the young King's calculation
at this time. And, had France done at all as it pro-
mised, -- or had the young King himself been con-
siderably wiser than he was, -- he had not been dis-
appointed in the way we shall see!
Friedrich admits he did not understand War, at
this period. His own scheme now was: To move to-
wards the south-west, there to abolish Bathyani and
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? 32 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [BOOK XV.
17th Sept. 1744.
his Tolpatches, who are busy gathering Magazines for
Prince Karl's advent; to seize the said Magazines,
which will be very useful to us; then advance straight
towards the Passes of the Bohemian Mountains. Towns
of Furth, Waldmiinchen, unfortunate Town of Cham
(burnt by Trenck, where masons are now busy); these
stand successive in the grand Pass, through which the
highway runs; some hundred miles or so from where
we are: march, at one's swiftest, thitherward, Bathyani's
Magazines to help; and there await Prince Karl? It
was Friedrich's own notion; not a bad one, though not
the best. The best, he admits, would have been: To
stay pretty much where he was, abolish Bathyani's
Tolpatch people, seizing their Magazines, and collect-
ing others; in general, well rooting and fencing him-
self in Prag, and in the Circles that lie thereabouts
upon the Elbe, -- bounded to southward by the Sazawa
(branch of the Moldau), which runs parallel to the
Elbe; -- but well refusing to stir much farther at such
an advanced season of the year.
That second plan would have been the wisest: --
then why not follow it? Too tame a plan for the
youthful mind. Besides, we perceive, as indeed is in-
timated by himself, he dreaded the force of public
opinion in France. "Aha, look at your King of Prussia
again. Gone to conquer Bohemia: and, except the
Three Circles he himself is to have of it, lets Bohemia
go to the winds! " This sort of thing, Friedrich ad-
mits, he dreaded too much, at that young period; so
loud had the criticisms been on him, in the time of the
Breslau Treaty: "Out upon your King of Prussia; call
you that an honourable Ally! " Undoubtedly, a weak-
ness in the young King; inasmuch, says he, as "every
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? CHAP. III. ] FRIEDRICH COMES UPON PRINCE KARL. 33
17th Sept. 1744.
"General" (and every man, add we) "should look to
"the fact, not to the rumour of the fact. " Well; but,
at least, he will adopt his own other notion; that of
making for the Passes of the Bohemian Mountains; to
abolish Bathyani at the least, and lock the door upon
Prince Karl's advent? That was his own plan; and,
though second-best, that also would have done well,
had there been no third.
But there was, as we hinted, a third plan, ardently
favoured by Belleisle, whose war-talent Friedrich much
respected at this time: plan built on Belleisle's reminis-
cences of the old Tabor-Budweis businesses, and totally
inapplicable now. Belleisle said, "Go south-east, not
south-west; right towards the Austrian Frontier itself;
that will frighten Austria into a fine tremor. Shut up
the roads from Austria: Budweis, Neuhaus; seize those
two Highroad Towns, and keep them, if you would
hold Bohemia; the want of them was our ruin there. "
Your ruin, yes: but your enemy was not coming from
Alsace and the south-west then. He was coming from
Austria; and your own home lay on the south-west: it
is all different now! Friedrich might well think him-
self bewitched not to have gone for Cham and Furth,
and the Passes of the Bohmer-Wald, according to his
own notion. But so it was; he yielded to the big re-
putation of Belleisle, and to fear of what the world
would say of him in France; a weakness which he will
perhaps be taught not to repeat. In fact, he is now
about to be taught several things; -- and will have to
pay his school-wages as he goes.
Coriyie, Frederick the Great, VIII.
3
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? 34
SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
17th--27th Sept. 1744.
Friedrich, leaving small Garrison in Prag, rushes swiftly
up the Moldau Valley, upon the Tabor-Budweis Coun-
try; to please his French Friends.
Friedrich made no delay in Prag; in haste at this
late time of year. September 17th, on the very mor-
row of the Siege, the Prussians get in motion south-
ward; on the 19th, Friedrich, from his post to north of
the City, defiles through Prag, on march to Kunraditz,
-- first stage on that questionable Expedition up the
Moldau Valley, right bank; towards Tabor, Budweis,
Neuhaus; to threaten Austria, and please Belleisle and
the French.
Prag is left under General Einsiedel with a small
garrison of 5,000; -- Einsiedel, a steady elderly gen-
tleman, favourite of Friedrich Wilhelm's, has brief
order, or outline of order to be filled up by his own
good sense. Posadowsky follows the march, with as
many meal-wagons as possible, -- draught-cattle in very
ineffectual condition. Our main Magazine is at Leit-
meritz (should have been brought on to Prag, thinks
Friedrich); Commissariat very ill-managed in compari-
son to what it ought to be, -- to what it shall be, if
we ever live to make another Campaign. Heavy ar-
tillery is left in Prag (another fault); and from each
regiment, one of its baggage-wagons. * "We rest a
"day here at Kunraditz: 21st September, get to the
"Sazawa River; -- 22d, to Bistritz (rest a day); --
"26th, to Miltschin; and 27th, to Tabor:" -- But the
Diary would be tedious.
* Helden-GeschiMe, 1. 1083; Orlich, u. 41 et sqq. ; Frederic, ui. 59; &c.
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? CBXT. m. ] PRIEDRICH COMES UPON PRINCE KARL. 35
19th --27th Sept. 1744. :
Friedrich goes in two Columns; one along the great road
towards Tabor, under Schwerin this, and Friedrich mainly
with him; the other to the right, along the River's bank, under
Leopold, Young Dessauer, which has to goby wild country
roads, or now and then roads of its own making; and much
needs the pioneer (a difficult march in the shortening days).
Posadowsky follows with the proviant, drawn by cattle of
the horse and ox species, daily falling down starved: great
swearing there too, I doubt not! GeneralNassau is vanguard,
and stretches forward successfully at a much lighter pace.
There are two Rivers, considerable branches of the Mol-
dau, coming from eastward; which, and first of them the
Sazawa, concern us here. After mounting the southern Up-
lands from Prag for a day or two, you then begin to drop
again, into the hollow of a River called Sazawa, important in
Bohemian Wars. It is of winding course, the first consider-
able branch of the Moldau, rising in Teutschbrod Country,
seventy or eighty miles to east of us: in regard to Sazawa,
there is, at present, no difficulty about crossing, the Country
being all ours. After the Sazawa, mount again, long miles,
day after day, through intricate stony desolation, rocks, bogs,
untrimmed woods, you will get to Tabor, which is the crown
of that rough moor country: from Prag to Tabor is some sixty
miles. After Tabor the course of those brown mountain-
brooks is all towards the Luschnitz, the next considerable
branch of the Moldau; branch still longer and more winding
than the Sazawa; Budweis stands on this branch; and there
you are out of the stony moors and in a rich champaign, com-
fortable to man and horse, were you but once there, after
plodding through the desolations. But from that Sazawa to
the Luschnitz, mounting and falling in such fashion, there
must be six-score miles or thereby. Plod along; and keep a
sharp eye upon the whirling clouds of Pandours, for those too
have got across upon us, -- added to the other tempests of
Autumn.
On the ninth day of their march, the Prussians begin to
descry on the horizon ahead the steeples and chimney-tops of
Tabor, on its high scarped rock, or "Hill of Zisca," -- for it
was Zisca and his Hussites that built themselves this Bit of
Inexpugnability, and named it Tabor from their Bibles, -- in
those waste mountain regions. On the tenth day (27th Sept. ),
3*
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? 36 SECOND SILESIAN WAR, [book XV.
19th Sept. --2d Oct. 1744.
the Prussians without difficulty took Tabor; walls being
ruined, garrison small. We lie at Tabor till the 30th, last
day of September. Thence, 2d October, part of us to Moldau
Tein leftwards; where cross the Moldau by a Bridge, --
'Bridge' one has heard of, in oldBroglio times; -- cross there,
with intent (easily successful) to snatch that 'Castle ofFrauen-
berg,' darling of Broglio, for which he fought his Pharsalia of
a Sahay to no purpose!
Both Columns got united at Tabor; and paused for a day
or two, to rest, and gather up their draggled skirts there. The
Expedition does not improve in promise, as we advance in it;
the march one of the most untowardly; and Posadowsky
comes up with only half of his provision-carts, -- half of his
cattle having fallen down of bad weather, hill-roads, and
starvation; what could he do? That is an ominous circum-
stance, not the less.
Three things are against the Prussians on this
March; two of them accidental things. First, there is,
at this late season too, the intrinsic nature of the
Country; which Friedrich with emphasis describes as
boggy, stony, precipitous; a waste, hungry, and al-
together barren Country, -- too emphatically so de-
scribed. But then secondly, what might have been
otherwise, the Population, worked upon by Austrian
officials, all fly from the sight of us; nothing but fireless
deserted hamlets; and the corn, if they ever had any,
all thrashed and hidden. No amount of money can
purchace any service from them. Poor dark creatures;
not loving Austria much, but loving some others even
less, it would appear. Of bigoted Papist Creed, for
one thing; that is a great point. We do not meddle
with their worship more or less; but we are Heretics,
and they hate us as the Night. Which is a dreadful
difficulty you always have in Bohemia: nowhere but
in the Circle of Konigsgratz, where there are Hussites
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? cmr. m,] FRIEDKICH COMES UPON PRINCE KARL. 37
Sept. -Oct. 1744.
(far to the rear of us at this time), will you find it
otherwise. This is difficulty second.
Then, thirdly, what much aggravates it, -- we ne-
glected to abolish Bathyani! And here are Bathyani's
Pandours come across the Moldau on us. Plenty of
Pandours; -- to whom '10,000 fresh Hungarians,' of
a new Insurrection which has been got up there, are
daily speeding forward to add themselves: -- such a
swarm of hornets, as darkens the very daylight for
you. Vain to scourge them down, to burn them off by
blaze of gunpowder: they fly fast; but are straightway
back again. They lurk in these bushy wildernesses,
scraggy woods: no foraging possible, unless whole re-
giments are sent out to do it; you cannot get a letter
safely carried for them. They are an unspeakable
contemptible grief to the earnest leader of men. -- Let
us proceed, however; it will serve nothing to complain.
Let us hope the French sit well on the skirts of Prince
Karl: these sorrowful labours may all turn to good, in
that case.
Friedrich pushes on from Tabor; shoots partly (as
we have seen) across the Moldau, to the left bank as
well; captures romantic Frauenberg on its high rock,
where Broglio got into such a fluster once. We could
push to Pisek, too, and make a 'Bivouac of Pisek,' if
we lost our wits! Nassau is in Budweis, in Neuhaus;
and proper garrisons are gone thither: nothing wanting
on our side of the business. But these Pandours, these
10,000 Insurrection Hungarians, with their Trencks
spurring them! A continual unblessed swarm of hornets,
these; which shut out the very light of day from us.
Too literally, the light of day: we can get no free
messaging from part to part of our own Army even.
? ?
"hope; -- praying withal, immensely, she and her People,
"according to the mode they have. Sending for Prince Karl,
"we need not say, double-quick, as the very first thing.
"Of Maria Theresa in Hungary, -- for she ran to Presburg
"again with her woes (August 16th, Diet just assembling
"there),--let us say only that Hungary was again chivalrous;
"that old Palfy and the general Hungarian Nation answered
"in the old tone, -- Vivat Maria; Ad Arma, adArma! with
"Tolpatches, Pandours, Warasdins; -- and, in short, that
"great and small, in infinite 'Insurrection,' have still a stroke
"of battle in them pro Rege Nostro. Scarcely above a District
"or two (as the Jaszers an&Kauers, in their over-cautious way)
"making the least difficulty. Much enthusiasm and unanimity
"in all the others; here and there a Hungarian gentleman
"complaining scornfully that their troops, known as among
"the best fighters in Nature, are called irregular troops, --
"irregular, forsooth! In one public consultation" (District
not important, not very spellable, though doubtless pro-
* IJeUen-Geschichte, n. 1024.
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? CBAP. n. ] FRIEDRICH CAPTURES PRAG. 23
lola Aug. --2d Sept. 1744.
nounceable by natives to it), "a gentleman suggests that,
'"Winter is near; should not there be some slight provision of
"'tents, of shelter in the frozen sleety Mountains, to our
"' gallant fellows bound thither? Upon which another starts
"up, 'When our Ancestors came out of Asia-Minor, over the
"' Palus Maeotis bound in winter ice; and, sabre in hand, cut
'"their way into this fine Country which is still ours, what
"'shelter had they? No talk of tents, of barracks or accom-
"'modation there; each, wrapt in his sheepskin, found it
"'shelter sufficient. Tents! '* and the thing was carried by
"acclamation.
"Wide wail in Bohemia that War is coming back. No-
"bility all making off, some to Vienna or the intermediate
"Towns lying thither-ward} some to their Country-seats; all
"out of Prag. Willing mind on the part of the Common
"People; which the Government strains every nerve to make
"the most of. Here are fasts, processions, Prayers of Forty
"Hours; here, as in Vienna and elsewhere. In Vienna was a
"Three Days'solemn Fast: the like in Prag, or better; with
"procession to the shrine of St. Vitus, -- little likely to help,
"I should fear. 'Rise, all fencible men,' exclaims the
"Government, -- 'at least we will ballot, and make you
"'rise:' -- Militia people enter Prag to the extent of 10,000;
"like to avail little, one would fear. General Harsch, with
"reinforcement of real soldiers, is despatched from Vienna;
"Harsch, one of our ablest soldiers since Khevenhiiller died,
"gets in still in time; and thus increases the Garrison of re-
gulars to 4,000, with a vigorous Captain to guide it. Old
"Count Ogilvy, the same whom Saxe surprised two years ago
"in the moonlight, snatching ladders from the gallows, --
"Ogilvy is again Commandant; but this time, nominal main-
"ly, and with better out-looks, Harsch being under him. In
"relays, 3,000 of the Militia men dig and shovel night and
"day; repairing, perfecting the ramparts of the place. Then,
"as to provisions, endless corn is introduced, -- farmers
"forced, the unwilling at the bayonet's point, to deliver-in
"their corn; much of it in sheaf, so that we have to thrash it
"in the market-place, in the streets that are wide: and thus
"in Prag is heard the sound of flails, among the Militia drums
"and so many other noises. With the great Church-organs
* Helden-Geschichte, n. 1030.
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? 24 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
15th Aug. --2d Sept. 1744.
"growling; and the bass and treble Miserere of the poor
"superstitious People rising, to St. Vitus and others. In fact,
"it is a general Dance of St. Vitus, -- except that of the flails,
"and Militia men working at the ramparts, -- mostly not
"leading anywhither. "*
Meanwhile Friedrich's march from west, from north,
from east, is flowing on; diligent, swift; punctual to its
times, its places; and meets no impediment to speak
of. At Tetschen on the Saxon-Bohemian Frontier, --
a pleasant Schloss perched on its crags, as Tourists
know, where the Elbe sweeps into Saxon-Switzerland
and its long stone-labyrinths, -- at Tetschen the Aus-
trians had taken post; had tried to block the River,
driving piles into it, and tumbling boulders into it,
with a view to stop the 480 Prussian Boats. These
people needed to be torn out, their piles and they:
which was done in two days, the soldier part of it;
and occupied the boat-men above a week, before all
was clear again. Prosperous, correct to program, all
the rest; not needing mention from us; -- here are the
few sparks from it that dwell in one's memory:
"August 15th, 1744, King left Potsdam; joined his First
"Column, that night, at Wittenberg. Through Torgau,
"Meissen, Freiberg; is atPeterswalde, eastern slope of the
"Metal Mountains, August 25th; all the Columns now on
"Bohemian ground.
"Friedrich had crossed Elbe by the Bridge of Meissen: on
"the southern shore, politely waiting to receive his Majesty,
"there stood Feldmarschall the Duke of Weissenfels; to
"whom the King gave his hand," no doubt in friendly style,
"and talked for above half an hour," -- with such success!
thinks Friedrich by and by. We have heard of Weissenfels
* "Letter from a Citizen of Prag," date, 21st September (in Helden-
Gescliichte, n. 11C8), which gives several curious letails.
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? CHAP. II. ] PR1EDRICH CAPTURES PRAG. 25
loth Aug. --2d Sept. 1744.
before; the same poor Weissenfels who was Wilhelmina's
Wooer in old time, now on the verge of sixty; an extremely
polite but weakish old gentleman; accidentally preserved in
History. One of those conspicuous 'Human Clothes-Horses'
(phantasmal all but the digestive part), which abound in that
Eighteenth Century and others like it; and distress your
Historical studies. Poor old soul; now Feldmarschall and
Commander-in-Chief here. Has been in Turk and other
Wars; with little profit to himself or others. Used to like his
glass, they say; is still very poor, though now Duke in reality
as well as title (succeeded two egregious Brothers, some years
since, who had been spendthrift): he has still one other beat-
ing to get in this world, -- from Friedrich next year. Died
altogether, two years hence; and Wilhelmina heard no more
of him.
"At Meissen Bridge, say some, was this Half-hour's In-
"terview; at Pirna, the Bridge of Pima, others say;*--quite
"indifferent to us which. At Pirna, and hither and thither in
"Saxon Switzerland, Friedrich certainly was. 'Who ever
"'saw such positions, your Majesty? ' For Friedrich is
"always looking out, were it even from the window of his
"carriage, and putting military problems to himself in all
"manner of scenery, 'What would a man do, in that kind of
"'ground, if attacking, if attacked? with that hill, that brook,
"' that bit of bog? ' and advises every Officer to be continually
"doing the like. ** That is the value of picturesque or other
"scenery to Friedrich, and their effect on good Prussian Offi-
"cers and him.
* * "At Tetschen, Colonel Kahlbutz," diligent Prus-
sian Colonel, "plucks out those 100 Austrians from their rock
"nest there; makes them prisoners of war; -- which detained
"the Leitmeritz branch of us two days. August28th, junction
"at Leitmeritz thereupon. Magazine established there.
"Boats coming on presently. Friedrich himself camped at
"Lobositz in this part," -- Lobositz, or Lowositz, which he
will remember one day.
* See Orlich, n. 25; and Helden-Geschichle, n. 1166.
** Military Instructions? Rules for a good Commander of &c. ? -- I have,
for certain, read this Passage; but the reference is gone again, like a spar-
row from the housetop!
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? 26 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [bOOKXV.
15th Aug. --2d Sept. 1744.
"August 2. 9th, March to Budin; that is, southward, across
"the Eger; arrive within forty miles of Prag. Austrian
"Bathyani, summoned hastily out of his Bavarian posts, to
"succour in this pressing emergency, has arrived in these
"neighbourhoods, -- some 12,000 regulars under him, preced-
ed by clouds of hussars, whom Ziethen smites a little, by
"way of handsel; -- no other Austrian force to speak of here-
"abouts; and we are now between Bathyani and Prag.
"September 1st, To Mickowitz, near Welwarn, twenty
"miles from Prag. September 2d, Camp on the Weissenberg
"there. "*
And so they are all assembled about Prag, be-
girdling the poor City, -- third Siege it has stood
within these three years (since that moonlight November-
night in 1741); -- and are only waiting for their heavy
artillery to begin battering. The poor inhabitants, in
spite of three sieges; the 10,000 raw militia men,
mostly of Hungarian breed; the 4,000 regulars, and
Harsch and old Ogilvy, are all disposed to do their
best. Friedrich is naturally in haste to get hold of
Prag. But he finds, on taking survey, that the sword-
in-hand method is not now, as in 1741, feasible at all;
that the place is in good posture of strength; and will
need a hot battering to tear it open. Owing to that
accident at Tetschen, the siege-cannon are not yet
come up: 'Build your batteries, your Moldau-bridges,
your communications, till the cannon come; and be-
ware of Bathyani meddling with your cannon by the
road! "
"Bathyani is within twenty miles of us, at Beraun, a com-
''pact little Town to south-west; gathering aMagazine there;
"and ready for enterprises, -- in more force than Friedrich
"guesses. 'Drive him out, seize that Magazine of his! ' orders
* Helden-Gesohichle, 1. 1080.
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? CHAP. U. ] FRIEDRICH CAPTURES PRAG. ' 27
6th Sept. 1744.
"Friedrich (September 5th); and despatches General Hacke
"on it, a right man," -- at whose wedding we assisted (wed-
ding to an heiress, long since, in Friedrich Wilhelm's time),
if anybody now remembered. "And on the morrow there
"falls out a pretty little 'Action of Beraun,' about which great
"noise was made in the Gazettes pro and contra; which did
"not dislodge Bathyani by any means; but which might
"easily have ruined the impetuous Hacke and his 6,000, get-
"ting into masked batteries, Pandour whirlwinds, charges of
"horse 'from front, from rear, and from both flanks,' -- had
"not he, with masterly promptitude, whirled himself out of it,
"snatched instantly what best post there was, and defended
"himself inexpugnably there, for six hours, till relief came. "*
Brilliant little action, well performed on both sides, but lead-
ing to nothing; and which shall not concern us farther. Ex-
cept to say that Bathyani did now, more at his leisure, retire
out of harm's way; and begin collecting Magazines at Pilsen
far rearward, which may prove useful to Prince Karl, in the
route Prince Karl is upon.
Siege-cannon having at last come (September 8th),
the batteries are all mounted: -- on Wednesday 9th,
late at night, the Artillery, "in enormous quantity,"
opens its dread throat; poor Prag is started from its
bed, by torrents of shot, solid and shell, from three
different quarters; and makes haste to stand to its guns.
From three different quarters; from Bubenetsch north-
ward; from the Upland of St. Lawrence (famed
Weissenberg, or White-Hill) westward; and from the
Ziscaberg eastward (Hill of Zisca, where iron Zisca
posted himself on a grand occasion once), -- which
latter is a broad long Hill, west end of it falling sheer
over Prag; and on another point of it, highest point
of all, the Praguers have a strong battery and works.
The Prag guns otherwise are not too effectual; planted
* Die bey Beraun vorgefallene Action (in Seyfarth, Deylage, 1. 136,137).
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? 28 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [BOOK XV.
9th--16th Sept. 1744.
mostly on low ground. By much the best Prag battery
is this of the Ziscaberg. And this, after two days' ex-
perience had of it, the Prussians determine to take on
the morrow.
September 12th, Schwerin, who commands on that
side, assaults accordingly; with the due steadfastness
and stormfulness; throwing shells and balls by way of
prelude. Friedrich, with some group of staff-officers
and dignitaries, steps out on the Bubenetsch post, to
see how this affair of the Ziscaberg will prosper: the
Praguers thereabouts, seeing so many dignitaries, turn
cannon on them. 'Disperse, Ihr Herren; have a care! "
cried Friedrich; not himself much minding, so intent
upon the Ziscaberg. And could have skipt indifferently
over your cannon-balls ploughing the ground, -- had
not one fateful ball shattered out the life of poor Prince
Wilhelm; a good young Cousin of his, shot down here
at his hand. Doubtless a sharp moment for the King.
Prince Margraf Wilhelm and a poor young page, there
they lie dead; indifferent to the Ziscaberg and all
coming wars of mankind. Lamentation, naturally, for
this young man, -- Brother to the one that fell at
Mollwitz, youngest Brother of the Markgraf Karl, who
commands in this Bubenetsch redoubt: -- But we must
lift our eyeglass again; see how Schwerin is prosper-
ing. Schwerin, with due steadfastness and stormful-
ness, after his prelude of bombshells, rushes on double-
quick; cannot be withstood; hurls out the Praguers,
and seizes their battery; a ruinous loss to them.
Their grand Zisca redoubt is gone, then; and two
subsidiary small redoubts behind it withal, which the
French had built, and named "the magpie-nests (nids
a pie);" these also are ours. And we overhang, from
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? CMAP. n. ] PRIEDRICH CAPTTJRES PRAG. 29
9th-16th Sept. 1744.
our Zisca Hill, the very roofs, as it were; and there is
nothing but a long bare curtain now in this quarter,
ready to be battered in breach, and soon holed, if
needful. It is not needful, -- not quite. In the course
of three days more, our Bubenetsch battery, of enormous
power, has been so diligent, it has set fire to the Water-
mill; burns irretrievably the Water-mill, and still worse,
the wooden Sluice of the Moldau; so that the river
falls to the everywhere wadeable pitch. And Governor
Harsch perceives that all this quarter of the Town is
open to any comer; -- and in fact, that he will have
to get away, the best he can.
White flag accordingly (Tuesday 15th): "Free with-
drawal, to the Wischerad; won't you? " "By no man-
ner of means! " answers Friedrich. Bids Schwerin from
his Ziscaberg make a hole or two in that "curtain"
opposite him; and gets ready for storm.
Upon which
Harsch, next morning, has to beat the chamade, and
surrender Prisoner of War. And thus, Wednesday 16th,
it is done: a siege of one week, no more, -- after all
that thrashing of grain, drilling of militia, and other
spirited preparation. Harsch could not help it; the
Prussian cannonading was so furious. *
Prag has to swear fealty to the Kaiser; and "pay
a ransom of 200,000/. " Drilled militia, regulars,
Hungarians, about 16,000, -- only that many of the
Tolpatches contrived to whisk loose, -- are marched
prisoners to Glatz and other strong places. Prag City,
with plenty of provision in it, is ours. A brilliant be-
ginning of a Campaign; the eyes of all Europe turned
* Orlich, n. 36-39; Heldcn-Geschichte, 1. 1082, and u. 1168; (Euvres de
Frederic, in. 56; &c. &c.
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? 30 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
9th--16th Sept. 1744.
again, in very various humour, on this young King. If
only the French do their duty, and hang well on the
skirts of Marshal Traun (or of Prince Karl, the
Cloak of Traun), who is hastening hitherward all he
can.
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? CHAP. m. ] FRIEDRICH COMES UPON PRINCE KARL. 31
Uth Sept. 1744.
CHAPTER III.
FRIEDRICH, DILIGENT IN HIS BOHEMIAN CONQUESTS, UN-
EXPECTEDLY COMES UPON PRINCE KARL, WITH NO
FRENCH ATTENDING HIM.
This electrically sudden operation on Prag was
considered by astonished mankind, whatever else they
might think about it, a decidedly brilliant feat of War:
falling like a bolt out of the blue, -- like three bolts,
suddenly coalescing over Prag, and striking it down.
Friedrich himself, though there is nothing of boast
audible here or anywhere, was evidently very well
satisfied; and thought the aspects good. There is Prince
Karl whirling instantly back from his Strasburg Pro-
spects; the general St. Vitus' Dance of Austrian things,
rising higher and higher in these home parts: --
reasonable hope that "in the course of one Campaign,"
proud obstinate Austria might feel itself so wrung and
screwed as to be glad of Peace with neighbours not
wishing War. That was the young King's calculation
at this time. And, had France done at all as it pro-
mised, -- or had the young King himself been con-
siderably wiser than he was, -- he had not been dis-
appointed in the way we shall see!
Friedrich admits he did not understand War, at
this period. His own scheme now was: To move to-
wards the south-west, there to abolish Bathyani and
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? 32 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [BOOK XV.
17th Sept. 1744.
his Tolpatches, who are busy gathering Magazines for
Prince Karl's advent; to seize the said Magazines,
which will be very useful to us; then advance straight
towards the Passes of the Bohemian Mountains. Towns
of Furth, Waldmiinchen, unfortunate Town of Cham
(burnt by Trenck, where masons are now busy); these
stand successive in the grand Pass, through which the
highway runs; some hundred miles or so from where
we are: march, at one's swiftest, thitherward, Bathyani's
Magazines to help; and there await Prince Karl? It
was Friedrich's own notion; not a bad one, though not
the best. The best, he admits, would have been: To
stay pretty much where he was, abolish Bathyani's
Tolpatch people, seizing their Magazines, and collect-
ing others; in general, well rooting and fencing him-
self in Prag, and in the Circles that lie thereabouts
upon the Elbe, -- bounded to southward by the Sazawa
(branch of the Moldau), which runs parallel to the
Elbe; -- but well refusing to stir much farther at such
an advanced season of the year.
That second plan would have been the wisest: --
then why not follow it? Too tame a plan for the
youthful mind. Besides, we perceive, as indeed is in-
timated by himself, he dreaded the force of public
opinion in France. "Aha, look at your King of Prussia
again. Gone to conquer Bohemia: and, except the
Three Circles he himself is to have of it, lets Bohemia
go to the winds! " This sort of thing, Friedrich ad-
mits, he dreaded too much, at that young period; so
loud had the criticisms been on him, in the time of the
Breslau Treaty: "Out upon your King of Prussia; call
you that an honourable Ally! " Undoubtedly, a weak-
ness in the young King; inasmuch, says he, as "every
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? CHAP. III. ] FRIEDRICH COMES UPON PRINCE KARL. 33
17th Sept. 1744.
"General" (and every man, add we) "should look to
"the fact, not to the rumour of the fact. " Well; but,
at least, he will adopt his own other notion; that of
making for the Passes of the Bohemian Mountains; to
abolish Bathyani at the least, and lock the door upon
Prince Karl's advent? That was his own plan; and,
though second-best, that also would have done well,
had there been no third.
But there was, as we hinted, a third plan, ardently
favoured by Belleisle, whose war-talent Friedrich much
respected at this time: plan built on Belleisle's reminis-
cences of the old Tabor-Budweis businesses, and totally
inapplicable now. Belleisle said, "Go south-east, not
south-west; right towards the Austrian Frontier itself;
that will frighten Austria into a fine tremor. Shut up
the roads from Austria: Budweis, Neuhaus; seize those
two Highroad Towns, and keep them, if you would
hold Bohemia; the want of them was our ruin there. "
Your ruin, yes: but your enemy was not coming from
Alsace and the south-west then. He was coming from
Austria; and your own home lay on the south-west: it
is all different now! Friedrich might well think him-
self bewitched not to have gone for Cham and Furth,
and the Passes of the Bohmer-Wald, according to his
own notion. But so it was; he yielded to the big re-
putation of Belleisle, and to fear of what the world
would say of him in France; a weakness which he will
perhaps be taught not to repeat. In fact, he is now
about to be taught several things; -- and will have to
pay his school-wages as he goes.
Coriyie, Frederick the Great, VIII.
3
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? 34
SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
17th--27th Sept. 1744.
Friedrich, leaving small Garrison in Prag, rushes swiftly
up the Moldau Valley, upon the Tabor-Budweis Coun-
try; to please his French Friends.
Friedrich made no delay in Prag; in haste at this
late time of year. September 17th, on the very mor-
row of the Siege, the Prussians get in motion south-
ward; on the 19th, Friedrich, from his post to north of
the City, defiles through Prag, on march to Kunraditz,
-- first stage on that questionable Expedition up the
Moldau Valley, right bank; towards Tabor, Budweis,
Neuhaus; to threaten Austria, and please Belleisle and
the French.
Prag is left under General Einsiedel with a small
garrison of 5,000; -- Einsiedel, a steady elderly gen-
tleman, favourite of Friedrich Wilhelm's, has brief
order, or outline of order to be filled up by his own
good sense. Posadowsky follows the march, with as
many meal-wagons as possible, -- draught-cattle in very
ineffectual condition. Our main Magazine is at Leit-
meritz (should have been brought on to Prag, thinks
Friedrich); Commissariat very ill-managed in compari-
son to what it ought to be, -- to what it shall be, if
we ever live to make another Campaign. Heavy ar-
tillery is left in Prag (another fault); and from each
regiment, one of its baggage-wagons. * "We rest a
"day here at Kunraditz: 21st September, get to the
"Sazawa River; -- 22d, to Bistritz (rest a day); --
"26th, to Miltschin; and 27th, to Tabor:" -- But the
Diary would be tedious.
* Helden-GeschiMe, 1. 1083; Orlich, u. 41 et sqq. ; Frederic, ui. 59; &c.
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? CBXT. m. ] PRIEDRICH COMES UPON PRINCE KARL. 35
19th --27th Sept. 1744. :
Friedrich goes in two Columns; one along the great road
towards Tabor, under Schwerin this, and Friedrich mainly
with him; the other to the right, along the River's bank, under
Leopold, Young Dessauer, which has to goby wild country
roads, or now and then roads of its own making; and much
needs the pioneer (a difficult march in the shortening days).
Posadowsky follows with the proviant, drawn by cattle of
the horse and ox species, daily falling down starved: great
swearing there too, I doubt not! GeneralNassau is vanguard,
and stretches forward successfully at a much lighter pace.
There are two Rivers, considerable branches of the Mol-
dau, coming from eastward; which, and first of them the
Sazawa, concern us here. After mounting the southern Up-
lands from Prag for a day or two, you then begin to drop
again, into the hollow of a River called Sazawa, important in
Bohemian Wars. It is of winding course, the first consider-
able branch of the Moldau, rising in Teutschbrod Country,
seventy or eighty miles to east of us: in regard to Sazawa,
there is, at present, no difficulty about crossing, the Country
being all ours. After the Sazawa, mount again, long miles,
day after day, through intricate stony desolation, rocks, bogs,
untrimmed woods, you will get to Tabor, which is the crown
of that rough moor country: from Prag to Tabor is some sixty
miles. After Tabor the course of those brown mountain-
brooks is all towards the Luschnitz, the next considerable
branch of the Moldau; branch still longer and more winding
than the Sazawa; Budweis stands on this branch; and there
you are out of the stony moors and in a rich champaign, com-
fortable to man and horse, were you but once there, after
plodding through the desolations. But from that Sazawa to
the Luschnitz, mounting and falling in such fashion, there
must be six-score miles or thereby. Plod along; and keep a
sharp eye upon the whirling clouds of Pandours, for those too
have got across upon us, -- added to the other tempests of
Autumn.
On the ninth day of their march, the Prussians begin to
descry on the horizon ahead the steeples and chimney-tops of
Tabor, on its high scarped rock, or "Hill of Zisca," -- for it
was Zisca and his Hussites that built themselves this Bit of
Inexpugnability, and named it Tabor from their Bibles, -- in
those waste mountain regions. On the tenth day (27th Sept. ),
3*
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? 36 SECOND SILESIAN WAR, [book XV.
19th Sept. --2d Oct. 1744.
the Prussians without difficulty took Tabor; walls being
ruined, garrison small. We lie at Tabor till the 30th, last
day of September. Thence, 2d October, part of us to Moldau
Tein leftwards; where cross the Moldau by a Bridge, --
'Bridge' one has heard of, in oldBroglio times; -- cross there,
with intent (easily successful) to snatch that 'Castle ofFrauen-
berg,' darling of Broglio, for which he fought his Pharsalia of
a Sahay to no purpose!
Both Columns got united at Tabor; and paused for a day
or two, to rest, and gather up their draggled skirts there. The
Expedition does not improve in promise, as we advance in it;
the march one of the most untowardly; and Posadowsky
comes up with only half of his provision-carts, -- half of his
cattle having fallen down of bad weather, hill-roads, and
starvation; what could he do? That is an ominous circum-
stance, not the less.
Three things are against the Prussians on this
March; two of them accidental things. First, there is,
at this late season too, the intrinsic nature of the
Country; which Friedrich with emphasis describes as
boggy, stony, precipitous; a waste, hungry, and al-
together barren Country, -- too emphatically so de-
scribed. But then secondly, what might have been
otherwise, the Population, worked upon by Austrian
officials, all fly from the sight of us; nothing but fireless
deserted hamlets; and the corn, if they ever had any,
all thrashed and hidden. No amount of money can
purchace any service from them. Poor dark creatures;
not loving Austria much, but loving some others even
less, it would appear. Of bigoted Papist Creed, for
one thing; that is a great point. We do not meddle
with their worship more or less; but we are Heretics,
and they hate us as the Night. Which is a dreadful
difficulty you always have in Bohemia: nowhere but
in the Circle of Konigsgratz, where there are Hussites
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? cmr. m,] FRIEDKICH COMES UPON PRINCE KARL. 37
Sept. -Oct. 1744.
(far to the rear of us at this time), will you find it
otherwise. This is difficulty second.
Then, thirdly, what much aggravates it, -- we ne-
glected to abolish Bathyani! And here are Bathyani's
Pandours come across the Moldau on us. Plenty of
Pandours; -- to whom '10,000 fresh Hungarians,' of
a new Insurrection which has been got up there, are
daily speeding forward to add themselves: -- such a
swarm of hornets, as darkens the very daylight for
you. Vain to scourge them down, to burn them off by
blaze of gunpowder: they fly fast; but are straightway
back again. They lurk in these bushy wildernesses,
scraggy woods: no foraging possible, unless whole re-
giments are sent out to do it; you cannot get a letter
safely carried for them. They are an unspeakable
contemptible grief to the earnest leader of men. -- Let
us proceed, however; it will serve nothing to complain.
Let us hope the French sit well on the skirts of Prince
Karl: these sorrowful labours may all turn to good, in
that case.
Friedrich pushes on from Tabor; shoots partly (as
we have seen) across the Moldau, to the left bank as
well; captures romantic Frauenberg on its high rock,
where Broglio got into such a fluster once. We could
push to Pisek, too, and make a 'Bivouac of Pisek,' if
we lost our wits! Nassau is in Budweis, in Neuhaus;
and proper garrisons are gone thither: nothing wanting
on our side of the business. But these Pandours, these
10,000 Insurrection Hungarians, with their Trencks
spurring them! A continual unblessed swarm of hornets,
these; which shut out the very light of day from us.
Too literally, the light of day: we can get no free
messaging from part to part of our own Army even.
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