No More Learning

Country Schoolmaster of those parts, whose Daybook
has been preserved,* "each regiment or division taking
"the place appointed it; all afternoon, till late in the
"night, submerging the Country as in a deluge," five
miles long of them; taking post at the foot of the Hills
there, from Hohenfriedberg round upon Striegau, look-
ing towards the morrow's sunrise. To us poor country-
folk not a beautiful sight; their light troops flying
ahead, and doing theft and other mischief at a sad
rate.
On the other hand, the Austrian and Saxon gen-
tlemen , from their Gallows-Hill at Hohenfriedberg,
notice, four or five miles in the distance, opposite them,
or a little to the left of opposite, a Body of Prussian
horse and foot, visibly wending northward; like a long
glittering serpent, the glitter of their muskets flashing
back yonder on the afternoon sun and us, as they
mount from hollow to height. Ten or twelve thousand
of them; making for Striegau, to appearance. Intending
to bivouac or billet there, and keep some kind of watch
over us; belike with an eye to being rearguard, on the
retreat towards Breslau to-morrow? Or will they retreat
without attempting mischief? Serenity of Weissenfels
engages to seize the heights and proper posts, over
yonder, this night yet; and will take Striegau itself,
the first thing, to-morrow morning.
Yes, your Serenities, those are Prussians in move-
ment: Vanguard Corps of Dumoulin, Winterfeld; --
Rittmeister Seydlitz rides yonder: -- and it is not
their notion to retreat without mischief. For there
stands, not so far off, on the Stanowitz Fuchsberg, a
brisk little Gentleman, if you could notice him; with
* In Liitzow, pp. 123-182. Carlyle, Frederick the Great. VIII. 10
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? 146 SECOND SILES1AN WAR. [book XV.
3d June 1745.
his eyes fixed on you, and plans in the head of him
now getting nearly mature. For certain, he is pushing
out that column of men; and all manner of other
columns are getting order to push out, and take their
ground; and to-morrow morning,--you will not find him
in retreat! Such are the phenomena in that Striegau-
Hohenfriedberg region, while the sun is bending west-
ward, on Thursday, 3d June 1745.
"From Hohenfriedberg, which leans against the higher
"Mountains,there maybe, across toStriegaunorth-east, which
"stands well apart from them, among lower Hills of its own, a
"distance of about five English miles. The intervening
"country is of flat, though upland nature: the first broad
"stage, or stair-step, so to speak, leading down into the general
"interior levels of Silesia in those parts. A tract which is now
"tolerably dried by draining, but was then marshy as well as
"bushy:--flat to the eye, yet must be imperceptibly convexed
"a little, for the line of watershed is hereabouts: walk from
"Hohenfriedberg to Striegau, the water on your left hand
"flows, though mainly in ditches or imperceptible oozings, to
"the north and west,-- there to fall into an eastern fork of the
"Roaring Neisse" (one of our three newNeisses, which is a
very quiet stream here; runs close by the Mountain base, fed
by many torrents, and must get its name, Wilthende or Roaring,
from the suddenness of its floods): "into this, bound northward
"and westward, run or ooze all waters on your left hand as you
"go to Striegau. Right hand, again, or to eastward,you will
"find all sauntering, or running in visible brooks into Striegau
"Water" (little River notable to us), "which comes circling
"from the Mountains, past Hohenfriedberg, farther south;
"and has got to some force as a stream before it reaches
"Striegau, and turns abruptly eastward; -- eastward, to join
"Schweidnitz Water, and form with it the second stair-step
"downwards to the Plain Country. Has its Fuchsbergs, Kuh-
"bergs, and little knolls and heights interspersed, on both
"sides of it, in the conceivable way.
"So that, looking eastward from the heights of Hohen-
"friedberg, our broad stage or stair-step has nothing of the
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? CHAP. IX. 1 ATTSTKIAN-SAXON ARMY INVADES SILESIA. 147
3d June 1745.
"nature of a valley, but rather is a kind of insensibly swelling
"plain between two valleys, or hollows, of small depth; and
"slopes both ways. Both ways; but moretowards theStriegau-
"Water valley or hollow; and thence, in a lazily undulating
"manner, to other hollows and waters farther down. Fried-
"rich's Camp lies in the next, the Schweidnitz-Water hollow;
"and is five, or even nine miles long, from Schweidnitz north-
"ward; -- much hidden from the Austrian-Saxon gentlemen
"at present. No hills farther, mere flat country, to eastward
"of that. But to the north, again, about Striegau, the hollow
"deepens, narrows; and certain Hills," much notable at pre-
sent, "rise to west of Striegau, definite peaked Hills j with
"granite quarries in them and basalt blocks atop: -- Striegau,
"it appears, is, in old Czech dialect, Trziza, which means
"Triple Hill, the 'Town of the Three Hills. '* An ancient
"quaint little Town, of perhaps 2,000 souls: brown-gray, the
"stones of it venerably weathered; has its wide big^market-
"place, piazza, plain-stones, silent enough except on market-
"days: nestles itself compactly in the shelter of its Three
"Hills, which screen it from the north-west; and has a pictur-
esque appearance, its Hills and it, projected against the big
"Mountain range beyond, as you approach it from the Plain
"Country.
"Hohenfriedberg, at the other corner of our battle-stage,
"on the road to Landshut, is a Village of no great compass;
"but sticks pleasantly together, does not straggle in the usual
"way; climbs steep against its Gallows-Hill (now called
"'Siegesberg, Victory Hill,' with some tower or steeple-monu-
"ment on it, built by subscription); -- and would look better,
"if trimmed a little and habitually well swept. The higher
"Mountain summits, Landshutway, or still more if you look "south-eastward, Glatz-ward, rise blue and huge, remote on
"your right; to left, the Koaring-Neisse range close at hand,
"is also picturesque, though less Alpine in type. "f * * And
of all Hills, the notablest, just now to us, are those "Three"
at Striegau.
Those Three Hills of Striegau his Serenity of
Weissenfels is to lay hold of, this night, with his ex-
* LUIzow, p. 28. f Tourist's Note (1858).
10*
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? 148 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [b00KXV.
3d June 1745.
treme left, were it once got deployed and bivouacked.
Those Hills, if he can: but Prussian Dumoulin is al-
ready on march thither; and privately has his eye upon
them, on Friedrich's part! -- For the rest, this upland
platform, insensibly sloping two ways, and as yet un-
drained, is of scraggy boggy nature in many places;
much of it damp ground, or sheer morass; better parts
of it covered, at this season, with rank June grass, or
greener luxuriance of oats and barley. A humble
peaceable scene; peaceable till this afternoon; dotted,
too, with six or seven poor Hamlets, with scraggy
woods, where they have their fuel; most sleepy littery
ploughman Hamlets, sometimes with a Schloss or Man-
sion for the owner of the soil (who has absconded in
the present crisis of things), -- their evening smoke
rising rather fainter than usual; much cookery is not
advisable with Uhlans and Tolpatches flying about.
Northward between Striegau and the higher Mountains
there is an extensive Teichwirthschaft, or "Pond-Hus-
bandry" (gleaming visible from Hohenfriedberg Gal-
lows-Hill just now); a combination of stagnant pools
and carp-ponds, the ground much occupied hereabouts
with what they name Carp-Husbandry. Which is all
drained away in our time, yet traceable by the stu-
dious: -- 1uaggy congeries of sluices and fish-ponds,
no road through them except on intricate dams; have
scrubby thickets about the border; -- this also is very
strong ground, if Weissenfels thought of defence
there.
Which Weissenfels does not, but only of attack.
He occupies the ground nevertheless, rearward of this
Carp-Husbandry, as becomes a strategic man; gradually
bivouacking all round there, to end on the Three Hills,
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? CHAP. IX. ] AUSTRIAN-SAXON ARMY INVADES SILESIA. 149
3d Jane 1745.
were his last regiments got up. The Carp-Husbandry
is mainly about Eisdorf Hamlet: -- in Pilgramshayn,
where Weissenfels once thought of lodging, lives our
Writing-Schoolmaster. The Mountains lie to westward;
flinging longer shadows, as the invasive troops con-
tinually deploy, in that beautiful manner; and coil
themselves strategically on the ground, a bent rope,
cordon, or line (three lines in depth), reaching from the
front skirts of Hohenfriedberg to the Hills at Striegau
again, -- terrible to behold.
In front of Hohenfriedberg, we say, is the extremity
or right wing of the Austrian-Saxon bivouac, or will be
when the process is complete; five miles to north-east,
sweeping round upon Striegau region, will be their left,
where mainly are the Saxons, -- to nestle upon those
Three Hills of Striegau: whitherward, however, Du-
moulin, on Friedrich's behalf, is already on march.
Austrian-Saxon bivouac, as is the way in regulated
hosts, can at once become Austrian-Saxon order-of-
battle: and then, probably, on the Chord of that Arc
of five miles, the big Fight will roll tomorrow; Striegau
one end of it, Hohenfriedberg the other. Flattish, some-
what elliptic upland, stair-step from the Mountains, as
we called it; tract considerably cut with ditches, carp-
husbandries, and their tufts of wood; line from Striegau
to Hohenfriedberg being axis or main diameter of it,
and in general the line of watershed: there, probably,
will the tug of war be. Friedrich, on his Fuchsberg,
knows this; the Austrian-Saxon gentlemen, over their
wine on the Gallows-Hill, do not yet know it, but will
know.
It was about four in the afternoon, when Valori,
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? 150
[book xr. 3d June 1745.
SECOND SILESIAN WAR.
with a companion, waiting a good while in the King's Tent at Jauernik, at last saw his Majesty return from
the Fuchsberg observatory. Valori and friend have
great news: "Toumay fallen; siege done, your Majesty! "
Valori's friend is one De Latour; who had brought
word of Fontenoy ("important victory on the Sca-
mander," as Friedrich indignantly defined it to him-
self); and was bid wait here till this Siege-of-Tournay
consummation ("as helpful to me as the Siege of
Pekin! ") should supervene. They hasten to salute his
Majesty with the glorious tidings. Hmph! thinks
Friedrich; and we are at death-grips here, little to be
helped by your taking Pekin! However, he lets wit of
nothing. "I make my compliments; mean to fight to-
morrow. "* Valori, as old soldier and friend, volunteers
to be there and assist: -- Good.
Friedrich, I presume, at this late hour of four, may
be snatching a morsel of dinner; his orderlies are
silently speeding, plans taken, orders given: To start
all, at eight in the evening, for the Bridge of Striegau;
there to cross, and spread to the right and to the left.
Silent, not a word spoken, not a pipe lighted: silently
across the Striegau Water there. A march of three
miles for the nearest, who are here at Jauernik; of
nine miles for the farthest about Schweidnitz; at
Schweidnitz leave all your baggage, safe under the
guns there. To the Bridge of Striegau, diligently,
silently march along; Bridge of Striegau, there cross
Striegau Water, and deploy to right and to left, in
the way each of you knows. These are Friedrich's
orders.
* Valori, i. 228.
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? CHAP. IX. ] AUSTRIAN-SAXON ARMY INVADES SILESIA. 151
3d June 1745.
Late in the dusk, Dumoulin and Winterfeld, whom
we saw silently on march some hours ago, have silently
glided past Striegau, and got into the Three-Hill
region, which is some furlong or so farther north: --
to his surprise, Dumoulin finds Saxon parties posting
themselves thereabouts. He attacks said Saxon parties;
and, after some slight tussle, drives them mostly from
their Three Hills; mostly, not altogether; one Saxon
Hill is precipitous on our hither side of it, and we
must leave that till the dawn break. Of the other
Heights Dumoulin takes good possession, with cannon
too, to be ready against dawn; -- and ranks himself
out to leftward withal, along the plain ground; for he
is to be right wing, had the other troops come up.
These are now all under way; astir from Jauernik and
Schweidnitz, silently streaming along; and Dumoulin
bivouacks here, -- very silent he: not so silent the
Saxons; who are still marching in, over yonder, to
westward of Dumoulin, their rearguard groping out its
posts as it best can in the dark. Elsewhere, miles and
miles along the foot of the Mountains, Austrian-Saxon
watchfires flame through the ambrosial night; and it is
an impressive sight for Dumoulin, -- still more for the
poor Schoolmaster at Pilgramshayn and others, less
concerned than Dumoulin. "It was beautiful," says
Stille, who was there, "to see how the plain about
"Rohnstock, and all over that way, was ablaze with
"thousands of watchfires (tausend und aber tausend); by
"the light of these, we could clearly perceive the
"enemy's troops continually defile from the Hills the
"whole night through. "*
* Cited in Seyfarth, i. 680.
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? 152 SECOND. SILBSIAN WAR. [book XV.
3d June 1745.
Serenity of "Weissenfels, after all, does not lodge at
Pilgramshayn; far in the night, he goes to sleep at
Rohnstock, a Schloss and Hamlet on that fork of
Roaring Neisse, by the foot of the Mountains; three or
four miles off, yet handy enough for picking up Strie-
gau the first thing tomorrow. His Highness Prince
Karl lies in Hausdorf, tolerable quarters, pretty much
in the centre of his long bivouac; day's business well
done, and bottle (as one's wont rather is) well enjoyed.
Nadasti has been out scouting; but was pricked into
by hussar parties, fired into from the growing corn;
and could make out little, but the image of his own
ideas. Nadasti's ultimate report is, That the Prussians
are perfectly quiet in their camp; from Jauernik to
Schweidnitz, watchfires all alight, sentries going their
rounds. And so they are, in fact; sentries and watch-
fires, -- but now nothing else there, a mere shell of a
camp; the men of it streaming steadily along, without
speech, without tobacco; and many of them are across
Striegau Bridge by this time! --
It was past eleven, so close and continuous went
this march, before Valori and his Latour, with their
carriages and furnitures, coald find an interval, and
get well into it. Never will Valori forget the discipline
of these Prussians, and how they marched. Difficult
ways; the hard road is for their artillery; the men
march on each side, sometimes to mid-leg in water, --
never mind. Wholly in order, wholly silent; Valori
followed them three leagues close, and there was not
one straggler. Every private man, much more every
officer, knows well what grim errand they are on; and
they make no remarks. Steady as Time; and, except
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? CHAk IX. ] AUSTRIAN-SAXON ARMY INVADES SILESIA. 153
3d June 1745.
that their shoes are not of felt, silent as he. The
Austrian watch-fires glow silent manifold to leftward
yonder; silent overhead are the stars: the path of
all duty, too, is silent (not about Striegau alone)
for every well-drilled man. Tomorrow; -- well, to-
morrow?
A grimmish feeling against the Saxons is under-
stood to be prevalent among these men. Bruhl, Weissen-
fels himself, have been reported talking high, -- "Reduce our King to the size of an Elector again," and
other foolish things; -- indeed, grudges have been
accumulating for some time. "Kein Pardon (No quar-
ter)! " we hear has been a word among the Saxons, as
they came along; the Prussians growl to one another,
"Very well, then, None! " Nay Friedrich's general
order is, "No prisoners, you cavalry, in the heat of
fight; cavalry, strike at the faces of them: you in-
fantry, keep your fire till within fifty steps; bayonet
withal is to be relied on. " These were Friedrich's last
general orders, given in the hollow of the night, near
the foot of that Fuchsberg where he had been so busy
all day; a widish plain space hereabouts, Striegau
Bridge now near: he had lain some time in his cloak,
waiting till the chief generals, with the heads of their
columns, could rendezvous here. He then sprang on
horseback; spoke briefly the essential things (one of
them the above); -- "Had meant to be more minute, in
regard to positions and the like; but all is so in dark-
ness, embroiled by the flare of the Austrian watch-
fires, we can make nothing farther of localities at pre-
sent: Striegau for right wing, left wing opposite to
Hohenfriedberg -- so, and Striegau Water well to rear
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? 154 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
3d June 1745.
of us. Be diligent, exact, all faculties awake: your
own sense, and the Order of Battle which you know,
must do the rest. Forward; steady: can I doubt but
you will acquit yourselves like Prussian men? " And
so they march, across the Bridge at Striegau, south
outskirt of the Town, -- plank Bridge, I am afraid;
-- and pour themselves, to right and to left, conti-
nually the livelong night.
To describe the Battle which ensued, Battle named
of Striegau or Hohenfriedberg, excels the power of
human talent, -- if human talent had leisure for such employment. It is the huge shock and clash of 70,000
against 70,000, placed in the way we said. An
enormous furious simultas (or "both-at-once," as the
Latin phrase it), spreading over ten square miles.
Rather say, a wide congeries of electric simultaneities;
all electric, playing madly into one another; most loud,
most mad: the aspect of which is smoky, thunderous,
abstruse; the true sequences of which, who shall un-
ravel? There are five accounts of it, all modestly
written, each true-looking from its own place: and a
thrice-diligent Prussian Officer, stationed on the spot
in late years, has striven well to harmonise them all. *
Well worth the study of military men; -- who might
* Five Accounts: 1? . The Prussian Official Account, in Ifelden-Ge-
schiohte, i. 1098-1102. 2". The Saxon, ib. 1103-1108. 3? . The Austrian,
ib. 1109-1115. 4". Stille's (n. 125-133, of English Translation). 5? . Fried-
rich's own, fl? <<urcs, in. 108-118. Liitzow, above cited, is the harmoniser.
Besides which, two of value, inFeldzuife, 1. 310-323,328-336; not to men-
tion Cogniazzo, Confessions of an Austrian Veteran (Breslau, 1788-1791:
strictly Anonymous at that time, and candid or almost more to Prussian
merit; -- still worth reading, here and throughout), n. 123-135; &c. &c.
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? CHAP. IX. ] AUSTRIAN-SAXON ARMY INVADES SILESIA. 155
Sd June 1745.
make tours towards this and the other great battlefield,
and read such things, were they wise. For us, a fea-
ture or two, in the huge general explosion, to assist
the reader's fancy in conceiving it a little, is all that
can be pretended to.
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? 156
[book XV. 4th Jane 1745.
SECOND SILESIAN WAR.
CHAPTER X.
BATTLE OP HOHENFRIEDBERG.
With the first streak of dawn, the dispute renewed
itself between those Prussians and Saxons who are on
the Heights of Striegau. The two Armies are in con-
tact here; they lie wide apart as yet at the other end.
Cannonading rises here, on both sides, in the dim gray
of the morning, for the possession of these Heights.
The Saxons are out-cannonaded and dislodged, other
Saxons start to arms in support: the cry "To arms! "
spreads everywhere, rouses Weissenfels to horseback;
and by sunrise a furious storm of battle has begun, in
this part. Hot and fierce, on both sides; charges of
horse, shock after shock, bayonet-charges of foot; the
great guns going like Jove's thunder, and the con-
tinuous tearing storm of small guns, very loud indeed:
such a noise, as our poor Schoolmaster, who lives on
this spot, thinks he will hear only once again, when
the Last Trumpet sounds! It did indeed, he informs
us, resemble the dissolution of Nature: "For all fell
dark too;" a general element of sulphurous powder-
smoke, streaked with dull blazes; and death and de-
struction very nigh. What will become of poor pacific
mortals hereabouts? Rittmeister Seydlitz, Winterfeld
his patron, ride, with knit brows, in these horse-charges;
fiery Rothenburg too; Truchsess von Waldburg, at the
head of his Division, -- poor Truchsess known in
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? CHAP. X. ] BATTLE OP HOHENFRIEDBERa. 157
4th Jane 1745.
London society, a cannon-ball smites the life out of
him, and he ended here.
At the first clash of horse and foot, the Saxons
fancied they rather had it; at the second, their horse
became distressed; at the third, they rolled into dis-
orderly heaps. The foot also, stubborn as they were,
could not stand that swift firing, followed by the
bayonet and the sabre; and were forced to give ground.
The morning sun shone into their eyes, too, they say;
and there had risen a breath of easterly wind, which
hurled the smoke upon them, so that they could not
see. Decidedly staggering backwards; getting to be
taken in flank and ruined, though poor Weissenfels
does his best. About five in the morning, Friedrich
came galloping hitherward; Valori with him: uMon ami,
this is looking well! This will do, won't it? " The
Saxons are fast sinking in the scale; and did nothing
thenceforth but sink ever faster; though they made a
stiff defence, fierce exasperation on both sides; and
disputed every inch. Their position, in these scraggy
Woods and Villages, in these Morasses and Carp-Hus-
bandries, is very strong.
It had proved to be farther north, too, than was
expected; so that the Prussians had to wheel round a
little (right wing as a centre, fighting army as radius)
before they could come parallel, and get to work: a
delicate manoeuvre, which they executed to Valori's
admiration, here in the storm of battle; tramp, tramp,
velocity increasing from your centre outwards, till at
the end of the radius, the troops are at treble quick,
fairly running forward, and the line straight all the
while. Admirable to Valori, in the hot whirlwind of
battle here. For the great guns go, in horrid salvoes,
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? 158 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
4th June 1745.
unabated, and the crackling thunder of the small guns;
"terrible tusselling about those Carp-ponds, that quaggy
"Carp-husbandry," says the Schoolmaster, "and the
"Heavens blotted out in sulphurous fire-streaked smoke.
"What had become of us pacific? Some had run in
"time, and they were the wisest; others had squatted,
"who could find a nook suitable. Most of us had
"gathered into the Nursery-garden at the foot of our
"Village; we sat quaking there, -- our prayers grown
"tremulously vocal; -- in tears and wail, at least the
"women part. Enemies made reconcilement with each
"other," says he, "and dear friends took farewell. "*
One general Alleleu; the Last Day, to all appearance,
having come. Friedrich, seeing things in this good
posture, gallops to the left again, where much urgently
requires attention from him.
On the Austrian side, Prince Karl, through his
morning sleep at Hausdorf, had heard the cannonading:
"Saxons taking Striegau! " thinks he; a pleasant lullaby
enough; and continues to sleep and dream. Agitated
messengers rush in, at last; draw his curtains: "Prus-
sians all in rank, this side Striegau Water; Saxons
beaten, or nearly so, at Striegau: we must stand to
arms, your Highness! " -- "To arms, of course," answers
Karl; and hurries now, what he can, to get everything
in motion. The bivouac itself had been in order of
battle; but naturally there is much to adjust, to put in
trim; and the Austrians are not distinguished for
celerity of movement. All the worse for them just
now.
On Friedrich's side, so far as I can gather, there
* His Narrative, in Ltitzow, ubi supra.
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? CHAP. X. ] BATTLE OF HOHENFKIEDBEKG. 159
4th June 1745.
have happened two cross accidents. First, hy that
wheeling movement, done to Valori's admiration in the
Striegau quarter, the Prussian line has hitched itself
up towards Striegau, has got curved inward, and covers
less ground than was counted on; so that there is like
to be some gap in the central part of it; -- as in fact
there was, in spite of Friedrich's efforts, and hitchings
of battalions and squadrons: an indisputable gap,
though it turned to rich profit for Friedrich; Prince
Karl paying no attention to it. Upon such indisputable
gap a wakeful enemy might have done Friedrich some
perilous freak; but Karl was in his bed, as we say; --
in a terrible flurry, too, when out of bed. Nothing was
done upon the gap; and Friedrich had his unexpected
profit by it before long.
The second accident is almost worse. Striegau
Bridge (of planks, as I feared), creaking under such a
heavy stream of feet and wheels all night, did at last
break, in some degree, and needed to be mended; so
that the rearward regiments, who are to form Fried-
rich's left wing, are in painful retard; -- and are be-
coming frightfully necessary, the Austrians as yet far
outflanking us, capable of taking us in flank with that
right wing of theirs! The moment was agitating to a
General-in-chief: Valori will own this young King's
bearing was perfect; not the least flurry, though under
such a strain. He has aides-de-camp, dashing out
everywhither with orders, with expedients; Prince
Henri, his younger Brother, galloping the fastest; nay,
at last, he begs Valori himself to gallop, with orders
to a certain General Gessler, in whose Brigade are
Dragoons. Which Valori does, -- happily without
effect on Gessler; who knows no Valori for an aide-de-
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? 160 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
4th June 1745.
camp, and keeps the ground appointed him; rearward
of that gap we talked of.
Happily the Austrian right wing is in no haste to
charge. Happily Ziethen, blocked by that incumbrance
of the Bridge mending, "finds a ford higher up,' the
assiduous Ziethen; splashes across, other regiments fol-
lowing; forms in line well leftward; and instead of
waiting for the Austrian charge, charges home upon
them, fiercely through the difficult grounds. No danger
of the Austrians outflanking us now; they are them-
selves likely to get hard measure on their flank. By
the ford and by the Bridge, all regiments, some of
them at treble quick, get to their posts still in time.
Accident second has passed without damage. Forward,
then; rapid, steady; and reserve your fire till within
fifty paces! -- Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick (Fried-
rich's Brother-in-law, a bright-eyed steady young man,
of great heart for fight) tramps forth with his Division:
-- steady! -- all manner of Divisions tramp forth; and
the hot storm, Ziethen and cavalry dashing upon that
left wing of theirs, kindles here also far and wide.
The Austrian cavalry on this wing and elsewhere,
it is clear, were ill off. "We could not charge the
"Prussian right wing, say they, partly because of the
"morasses that lay between us; and partly" (which is
remarkable) "because they rushed across and charged
"us. "* Prince Karl is sorry to report such things of
his cavalry; but their behaviour was bad and not good.
The first shock threw them wavering; the second, --
nothing would persuade them to dash forth and meet
it. High officers commanded, obtested, drew out
pistols, Prince Karl himself shot a fugitive or two, --
* Austrian report, Helden-Geschichte, 1. 1113,
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? CHAP. X. ] BATTLE OF HOHENFRIEDBERG. 161
4th June Uib.
it was to no purpose; they wavered worse at every
new shock; and at length a shock came (sixth it was,
as the reporter counts) which shook them all into the
wind. Decidedly shy of the Prussians with their new
manoeuvres, and terrible way of coming on, as if sure
of beating. In the Saxon quarter, certain Austrian
regiments of horse would not charge at all; merely
kept firing from their carbines, and when the time
came ran.
As for the Saxons, they have been beaten these
two hours; that is to say, hopeless these two hours, and
getting beaten worse and worse. The Saxons cannot
stand, but neither generally will they run; they dispute
every ditch, morass, and tuft of wood, especially every
village. Wrecks of the muddy desperate business last,
hour after hour. "I gave my men a little rest under
"the garden walls," says one Saxon gentleman, "or
"they would have died, in the heat and thirst and
"extreme fatigue: I would have given 100 gulden"
(10/. sterling) "for a glass of water. " * The Prussians
push them on, bayonet in back; inexorable, not to be
resisted; slit off whole battalions of them (prisoners
now, and quarter given); take all their guns, or all
that are not sunk in the quagmires; -- in fine, drive
them, part into the Mountains direct, part by circuit
thither, down upon the rear of the Austrian fight:
through Hausdorf, Seifersdorf and other Mountain
gorges, where we hear no more of them, and shall say
no more of them. A sore stroke for poor old Weissen-
fels; the last public one he has to take, in this world,
for the poor man died before long. Nobody's blame,
* Helden-Geschichte, ubi suprk.
Carlyte, Frederick Hie Great. VIII. H
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? 162 SECOND SILESIAN WAR. [book XV.
4th June 1745.
he says; every Saxon man did well; only some Austrian
horse-regiments, that we had among us, were too shy.
Adieu to poor old Weissenfels. Luck of war, what else,
-- thereby is he in this pass.
And now new Prussian force, its Saxons being well
abolished, is pressing down upon Prince Karl's naked
left flank. Yes; -- Prince Karl too will have to go.
His cavalry is, for most part, shaken into ragged clouds;
infantry, steady enough men, cannot stand everything.
"I have observed," says Friedrich, "if you step sharply
"up to an Austrian battalion" (within fifty paces or so),
"and pour in your fire well, in about a quarter of an
"hour, you see the ranks beginning to shake, and jum-
"ble towards indistinctness;"* a' very hopeful symptom
to you!
It was at this moment that Lieutenant-General
Gessler, under whom is the Dragoon regiment Baireuth,
who had kept his place in spite of Valori's message,
determined on a thing, -- advised to it by General
Schmettau (younger Schmettau) who was near. Gessler,
as we saw, stood in the rear line, behind that gap
(most likely one of several gaps, or wide spaces, left
too wide as we explained): Gessler, noticing the jumbly
condition of those Austrian battalions, heaped now one
upon another in this part, -- motions to the Prussian
Infantry to make what further room is needful; then
dashes through, in two columns (self and the Dragoon-
Colonel heading the one, French Chasot, who is Lieu-
tenant-Colonel, heading the other), sabre in hand, with
extraordinary impetus and fire, into the belly of these
jumbly Austrians; and slashes them to rags, "twenty
* Military Instructions.
? ?