Once, for some time, in the
wavering
of the mist,
there was seen, down in the plain opposite our centre,
a body of Cavalry.
there was seen, down in the plain opposite our centre,
a body of Cavalry.
Thomas Carlyle
From the middle of September, Marshal Keith, as
was observed, with Half of the Prussians, Duke Fer-
dinand of Brunswick under him, has been on the
Bohemian slope of the Metal Mountaias; securing the
roads, towns, and passes thereabouts, and looking out
for the advance of Marshal Browne from the interior
parts. Town of Aussig, and the River road (Castle of
Tetschen, on its high rock known to Tourists, which
always needs to be taken on such occasions), these
Keith has secured. Lies encamped from Peterswalde
to Aussig, the middle or main strength of him being
in the Hamlet of Johnsdorf: there lies Keith, fifteen
miles in length; like a strap, or bar, thrown across
the back of that Metal-Mountain Range, -- or part
of its back; for the range is very broad, and there is
much inequality, and many troughs, big and little,
partial and general, in the crossing of it. A tract
which my readers and I have crossed before now, by
the "Pascopol" or Post-road and otherwise; and shall
often have to cross!
Browne, vigorously astir in the interior (cannon
and equipments coming by relays at such a pace), is
daily advancing, with his best speed: in the last days
of September, Browne is encamped at Budin; may
* Archenholtz, i. 24.
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? 272 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
10th Sept. --1st Oct. 1756.
cross the Eger River any day, and will then be within
two marches of Keith. His intentions towards Pirna
Country are fixed and sure; but the plan or route he
will take is unknown to everybody, and indeed to
Browne himself, till he see near at hand and consider.
Browne's problem, he himself knows, is abundantly
abstruse, -- bordering on the impossible; but he will
try his best. To get within reach of the Saxons is
almost impossible to Browne, even were there no Keith
there. As good as impossible altogether, by any line
of march, while Keith is afoot in those parts. By
Aussig, down the River, straight for the interior of
their Camp, it is flatly impossible: by the south or
south-east corner of their Camp (Gottleube way), or
by the north-east (by Schandau way, right bank of
Elbe), it is virtually so, -- at least without beating
Keith. Could one beat Keith, indeed; -- but that will
not be easy! And that, unluckily, is the preliminary
to every thing.
"By the Hellendorf-Hennersdorf side, in the wastes where
"Gottleube Brook gathers itself, Browne might have a
"chance. There, on that south-east corner of their Camp,
"were he once there to attack the Prussians from without,
"while the Saxons burst up from within, -- there," thinks a
good judge, "is much the favourablest place. But unless
"Browned Army had wings, how is it ever to get there?
"Across those Metal-Mountain ranges, barred by Keith: --
"by Aussig, with the rocks overhanging Elbe ltiver and him,
"he cannot go in any case. Were there no Keith, indeed
"(but there always is, standing ready on the spring), one
"might hold to leftward, and by stolen marches, swift, far
"roundabout -- I
"By Schandau region, north side of the Elbe, is Browne's
"easiest, and indeed one feasible, point of approach, -- no
"Prussians at present between him and that; the road open,
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? CHAP, v. ] THE SAXONS BLOCKADED IN PIRNA. 273
10th Sept. --1st Oct. 1756.
"though a far circuit northward for Browne, -- were he to
"cross the Elbe inLeitmeritz circle, and march with velocity?
"That too will be difficult, -- nearly impossible in sight of
"Keith. And were that even done, the egress for the Saxons,
"bySchandau side, is through strait mountain-gorges, in-
"tricate steep passes, crossings of the Elbe: what force of
"Saxons or of Austrians will drive the Prussians from their
"redoubts and batteries there? "*
Browne's problem is none of the feasiblest: but his orders
are strict, "Relieve the Saxons, at all risks. " And Browne,
one of the ablest soldiers living ("Your Imperial Majesty's
best general," said the dying Khevenhuller long since), will
do his utmost upon it. Friedrich does not think the enter-
prise very dangerous, -- beating of Keith, the indispensable
preliminary to it; but will naturally himself go and look
into it.
Tuesday, September 28th, Friedrich quits Pirna
Country by the Prag Highway; making due inspection
of his Posts as he goes along; and, the outmost of these
once past, drives rapidly up the Mountains; gets, with
small escort, through Peterswalde on to Johnsdorf that
night. Does not think this Keith position good;
breaks up this "Camp of Johnsdorf" bodily next morn-
ing; and marches down the Mountains, direct towards
Browne; who, we hear, is about crossing the Eger (his
Pontoons now come at last), and will himself be on
the advance. From Ttirmitz, a poor mountain hamlet
in the hollow of the Hills, which is headquarters that
night, the march proceeds again; Friedrich with the
vanguard; Army, I think, on various country-roads,
on both hands; till all get upon the Great Road again,
-- Prag-Toplitz-Dresden Post-road; which is called,
specially in this part of it, and loosely in whole,
"The Pascopol," and leads down direct to Budin and
Browne.
* (Emres de Frideric, iv. 86, 93, 96. Carlyle, Frederick the Great. IX. '18
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? 274 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
10th Sept. --1st Oct. 1756.
"A 'Pascopol' famed in military annals," says our
Tourist. "It is a road with many windings, many pre-
"cipitous sweeps of up and down; road precipitous in struc-
"ture; -- offers views to the lover of wild Nature: huge lone-
"some Hills scattered in the distance; waste expanses nearer
"hand, and futile attempts at moorish agriculture; but little
"else that is comfortable. In times of Peace, you will meet,
"at long intervals, some post-vehicle struggling forward
"under melancholy circumstances; some cart, or dilapidated
"mongrel between cart and basket, with a lean ox harnessed
"to it, and scarecrow driver, laden with pit-coal, -- which
"you wish safe home, and that the scarecrow were getting
"warmed by it. But in War-time the steep road is livelier;
"the common Invasion road between Saxony and Bohemia;
"whole Armies sweeping over it, and their thousandfold
"wagons and noises making clangour enough. " * * "One
"of those Hollows, on the Pascopol, is Joachimsthal, with
"its old Silver Mines; yielding coins which were in request
"with traders, the silver being fine. 'Let my ducat be a
"Joachimsthal one, then! ' the old trader would say: 'a
"Joachimsthal-er;' or for brevity, a 'Thal-er;' whence Thaler,
"and at last Dollar (almighty and otherwise), -- now going
"round the world! * Pascopol finishes in WelminaTown-
"ship. From the last hamlet in Welmina, at the neck of the
"last Hill, step downward one mile, holding rather to the
"left, you will come on the innocent Village of Lobositz, its
"poor corn-mills and huckster-shops all peaceably unknown
"as yet, which is soon to become very famous. "
The Country-roads where Friedrich's Army is on
march, I should think are mostly on the mounting
hand. For here, from Tiirmitz, is a trough again;
though the last considerable one; and on the crest of
that, we shall look down upon the Bohemian Plains
and the grand Basin of the Elbe, through various
scrubby villages which are not nameworthy; through
one called Kletschen, which for a certain reason is.
Crossing the shoulder of Kletschenberg (Hill of this
* Btisching, Eribeschreibung, v. 178.
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? CHAP. v. ] THE SAXONS BLOCKADED IN PIKNA. 275
10th Sept. --1st Oct. 1756.
Kletschen), which abuts upon the Pascopol, -- yonder
in bright sunshine is your beautiful expansive Basin
of the Elbe, and the green Bohemian Plains, revealed
for a moment. Friedrich snatches his glass, not with
picturesque object: "See, yonder is Feldmarschall
Browne, then! In camp yonder, down by Lobositz,
not ten miles from us" -- (it is most true; Browne
marched this morning, long before the Sun; crossed
Eger, and pitched camp at noon): -- "Good! " thinks
Friedrich. And pushes down into the Pascopol, into
the hollows and minor troughs, which hide Browne
henceforth, till we are quite near.
Quite near, through Welmina and a certain final
gap of the Hills, Friedrich with the vanguard does
emerge, "an hour before sunset;" overhanging Browne;
not above a mile from the Camp of Browne. A very
large Camp, that of Browne's, flanked to right by the
Elbe; goes from Sulowitz, through Lobositz, to Wel-
hoten close on Elbe; -- and has properties extremely
well worth studying just now! "Friedrich," the Books
say, "bivouacks by a fire of sticks," short way down
on the southern slope of the Hill; and till sunset and
after, has eyeglass, brain, and faculties and activities
sufficienty occupied for the rest of the night; -- his
Divisions gradually taking post behind him, under
arms; "not till midnight, the very rearmost of them. "*
* "Tuesday, 28th September, left the Camp at Sedlitz, with 8 battalions,
"20 squadrons, to Johnsdorf: 29th, to Tiirmitz,--Browne is to pass the
"Eger tomorrow. From the tops of the Pascopol (30th), see an Austrian
"Camp in the Plain of Lobositz. Vanguard bivouacks in the 'neck' of
"the two Hills or a little beyond. " Prussian Account of Campaign 1756
in Gesammelte Nachrichten, i. 841-45, 840-858); Anonymous of Hamburg;
&c. &c.
18*
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? 276 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book xvtt.
1st Oct. 1756.
CHAPTEE VI.
BATTLE OP LOBOSITZ.
WelminA, -- or Reschni-Aujest, last pertinent of
Welmina (but we will take Friedrich's name for it), --
offers to the scrutinising eye nothing, in our day, bnt
some bewildered memory of "Alte Fritz" clinging ob-
stinately even to the Peasant mind thereabouts. A
sleepy littery place; some biggish haggard untrimmed
trees, some broken-backed sleepy-looking thatched
houses, not in contact, and each as far as might be
with its back turned on the other, and cloaked in its
own litter and privacy. Probably no human creature
will be visible, as you pass through. Much straw
lying about, chiefly where the few gaunt trees look down
on it (cattle glad of any shelter): in fact, it is mainly
an extinct tumult of straw; nothing alive, as you pass,
but a few poor oxen languidly sauntering up and down,
finding much to trample, little to eat. The Czech
Populations (were it not for that "Question of the Na-
tionalities") are not very beautiful!
Close south of this poor Hamlet is a big Hill, con-
spicuous with three peaks; quite at the other base of
which, a good way down, lies Lobositz, the main Village
in those parts; a place now of assiduous corn-mill and
fruit trade; and one of the stations on the Dresden-
Prag Railway. This Hill is what Lloyd calls the
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? CHAP. VI. ] BATTLE OP LOBOSITZ. 277
lit Oct. 1756.
Lobosch; * twin to which, only flatter, is Lloyd's "Ho-
molka Hill" (Hill of Radostitz in more modern Plans
and Books). Conspicuous Heights, and important to
us here, -- though I did not find the Peasants much
know them under those names. By the southern
shoulder of this Lobosch Hill runs the road from Wel-
mina to Lobositz, with branches towards many other
villages. To your right or southern hand, short way
southward, rises the other Hill, which Lloyd calls
Homolka Hill; the gap or interval between Homolka and Lobosch, perhaps a furlong in extent, is essentially
the pass through those uplands. This pass, Friedrich,
at the first moment, made sure of; filling the same
with battalions, there to bivouack. He likewise
promptly laid hold of the two Hills, high Lobosch to
his left, and lower Homolka to right; which precau-
tionary measure it is reckoned a fault in Browne to
have neglected, that night; fault for which he smarted
on the morrow.
From this upland pass, or neck between the two
Mountains, Friedrich's battalions would have had a
fine view, had the morning shone for them: Lobositz,
Leitmeritz, Melnick; a great fertile Valley, or expanse
of fruitful country, many miles in breadth and length;
Elbe, like a silver stripe, winding grandly through the
finest of all his countries, before ducking himself into
the rock-tumults of that Pirna district. The mountain
gorges of Prag and Moldau River, south of Melnick,
lie hidden under the horizon, or visible only as peaks,
thirty miles and more to south-eastward; a bright coun-
* Major-General Lloyd, History of the late War in Germany, 1756-1759.
(3 voll. 4to, London, 1781), I. 2-11.
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? 278 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XTO.
1st Oct. 1756.
try intervening, springled with steepled towns. To
north-westward, far away, are the Lausitz Mountains,
ranked in loose order, but massive, making a kind of
range; and as outposts to them in their scattered state,
Hills of good height and aspect are scattered all about,
and break the uniformity of the Plain. Nowhere in
North Germany could the Prussian battalions have a
finer view, -- if the morning were fine, and if views
were their object.
The morning, first in October, was not fine; and it
was far other than scenery that the Prussian battalions
had in hand! -- Friday 1st October 1756, Day should
have broken: but where is Day? At seven in the
morning (and on till eleven), thick mist lay over the
plain; thin fog to the very hilltops; so that you cannot
see a hundred yards ahead. Lobositz is visible only as
through a crape; farther on, nothing but grey sea;
under which, what the Austrians are doing, or whether
there are any Austrians, who can say? Leftward on
the Lobosch-Hill side, as we reconnoitre, some Pan-
dours are noticeable, nestled in the vineyards there: --
that sunward side of the Lobosch is all vineyards, be-
longing to the different Lobositzers; scrubby vineyards,
all in a brown plucked state at this season. Vineyards
parted by low stone walls, say three or four feet high
(parted by hurdles, or by tiny trenches, in our day,
and the stone walls mere stone-facings): there are the
Pandours crouched, and give fire in a kneeling posture
when you approach. Lower down, near Lobositz itself,
flickerings as of Horse squadrons, probably Hussar
parties, twinkle dubious in the wavering mist. Problem
wrapt in mist; nothing to be seen; and all depends on
judging it with accuracy! Seven by the clock: Deploy,
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? CHAP. VI. ] BATTLE OP LOBOSITZ. 279
1st Oct. 1156.
at any rate; let us cover our post; and be in readiness
for events.
Friedrich's vanguard of itself nearly fills that neck,
or space between the Lobosch and Homolka Hills. He
spreads his Infantry and "hundred fieldpieces," in
part, rightwards along the Homolka Hill; but chiefly
leftwards along the Lobosch, where their nearest duty
is to drive off those Pandours. Always as a new bat-
talion, pushing farther leftward, comes upon its ground,
the Pandours give fire on it; and it on the Pandours;
till the Left Wing in complete, and all the Lobosch
is, in this manner, a crackling of Pandour musketry
and anti-musketry. Eight Wing, steady to its guns
on the Homolka, has as yet nothing to do. Those
wings of Infantry are two lines deep; the Cavalry, in
three lines, is between them in the centre; no room
for Cavalry elsewhere, except on the outskirts some
fringing of light horse, to be ready for emergencies.
The Pandour firing, except for the noise of it,
does not amount to much; they can take no aim, says
Lloyd, crouching behind their stone-fences; and the
Prussian Battalions, steadily pushing downwards, trample
out their sputtering, and clear the Lobosch of them to
a safe distance. But the ground is intricate, so wrapt
in mist for the present. That crackling lasts for hours;
decisive of nothing; and the mist also, and one's anx-
ious guessings and scrutinisings, lasts in a wavering
fitful manner.
Once, for some time, in the wavering of the mist,
there was seen, down in the plain opposite our centre,
a body of Cavalry. Horse for certain: say ten squa-
drons of them, or 1,500 Horse; continually manoeuver-
ing, changing shape; now in more ranks, now in fewer;
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? 280 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
1st Oct. 1756.
sometimes "chequer-wise," formed like a draught-board;
shooting out wings: they career about, one sees not
whither, or vanish again into the mist behind. "Browne's
rearguard this, that we are come upon," thinks Fried-
rich; "these squatted Pandours, backed by Horse, must
be his rearguard, that are amusing us: Browne and the
Army are off; crossing the Elbe, hastening towards the
Schandau, the Pima quarter, while we stand bickering
and idly sputtering here! " -- Weary of such idle
business, Friedrich orders forward Twenty of his Squa-
drons from the centre station: "Charge me those Aus-
trian Horse, and let us finish this. " The Twenty
Squadrons, preceded by a pair of field-pieces, move
down hill; storm-in upon the Austrian party, storm
it furiously into the mist; are furiously chasing it,
-- when unexpected cannon-batteries, destructive case-
shot, awaken on their left flank (batteries from Lobo-
sitz, one may guess); and force them to draw back.
To draw back, with some loss; and rank again, in
an indignantly blown condition, at the foot of their
Hill. Indignant; after brief breathing, they try it once
more.
"Don't try it! " Friedrich had sent out to tell them:
for the mist was clearing; and Friedrich, on the higher
ground, saw new important phenomena: but it was too
late. For the Twenty Squadrons are again dashing
forward; sweeping down whatever is before them: in
spite of cannon-volleys, they plunge deeper and deeper
into the mist; come upon "a ditch twelve feet broad"
(big swampy drain, such as are still found there, grass-
green in summer time); clear said ditch; forward still
deeper into the mist: and after three-hundred yards,
come upon a second far worse "ditch;" plainly im-
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? CHAP. VI. ] BATTLE OP LOBOSITZ. 281
1st Oct. 1756.
passable this one, -- "ditch" they call it, though it is
in fact a vile sedgy Brook, oozing along there (the
Morell Bach, considerable Brook, lazily wandering to-
wards Lobositz, where it disembogues in rather swifter
fashion); -- and are saluted with cannon, from the
farther side; and see serried ranks under the gauze of
mist: Browne's Army, in fact! The Twenty Squadrons
have to recoil out of shot-range, the faster the better;
with a loss of a good many men, in those two charges.
Friedrich orders them up Hill again; much regretful
of this second charge, which he wished to hinder; and
posts them to rearward, -- where they stand silent,
the unconscious stoic-philosophers in buff, and have
little further service through the rest of the day.
It is now 11 o'clock; the mist all clearing off; and
Friedrich, before that second charge, had a growing
view of the Plain and its condition. Beyond question,
there is Browne; not in retreat, by any means; but in
full array; numerous, and his position very strong.
Ranked, unattackable mostly, behind that oozy Brook,
or Bach of Morell; which has only two narrow Bridges,
cannon plenty on both: one Bridge from the south parts
to Sulowitz {our road to Sulowitz and it would be by
Radostitz and the Homolka); and then one other Bridge,
connecting Sulowitz with Lobositz, -- which latter is
Browne's own Bridge, uniting right wing and left of
Browne, so to speak; and is still more unattackable, in
the circumstances. What will Friedrich decide on at-
tempting?
That oozy Morell Brook issues on Browne's side of
Lobositz, cutting Browne in two; but is otherwise all
in Browne's favour. Browne extends through Lobositz;
and beyond it, curves up to Welhoten on the River
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? 282 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVD.
1st Oct. 1756.
brink; at Lobositz are visible considerable redoubts,
cannon-batteries, and much regular infantry. Browne
will be difficult to force yonder, in the Lobositz part;
but yonder alone can he be tried. He is pushing up
more Infantry that way; conscious probably of that
fact, -- and that the Lobosch Hill is not his, but an-
other's. What would not Browne now give for the
Lobosch Hill! Yesternight he might have had it gratis,
in a manner; and indeed did try slightly, with his
Pandour people (durst not at greater expense), -- who
have now ceased sputtering, and cower extinct in the
lower vineyards there. Browne, at any rate, is rapidly
strengthening his right wing, which has hold of Lo-
bositz; pushing forward in that quarter, -- where the
Brook withal is of firmer bottom and more wadeable.
Thither too is Friedrich bent. So that Lobositz is
now the key of the Battle; there will the tug of war
now be.
Friedrich's cavalry is gone all to rearward. His
right wing holds the Homolka Hill, -- that too would
now be valuable to Browne; and cannot be had gratis,
as yesternight! Friedrich's left wing is on the Lobosch;
Pandours pretty well extinct before it, but now from
Welhoten quarter new Regulars coming on thither, --
as if Browne would still take the Lobosch? Which
would be victory to him; but is not now possible to
Browne. Nor will long seem so; -- Friedrich having
other work in view for him; -- meaning now to take
Lobositz, instead of losing the Lobosch to him! Fried-
rich pushes out his Left Wing still further leftward,
leftward and downward withal, to clear those vineyard-
fences completely of their occupants, Pandour or Re-
gular, old or new. This is done; the vineyard-fences
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? CHAP. VI. ] BATTLE OF LOBOSITZ. 283
1st Oct. 1756.
swept; -- and the sweepings driven, in a more and
more stormy fashion, towards Welhoten and Lobositz;
the Lobosch falling quite desperate for Browne.
Henceforth Friedrich directs all his industry to
taking Lobositz; Browne, to the defending of it, which
he does with great vigour and fire; his batteries, re-
doubts, doing their uttermost, and his battalions rushing
on, mass of them after mass, at quick march, obstinate,
fierce to a degree, in the height of temper; and showing
such fight as we never had of them before. Friedrich's
Left Wing and Browne's Right now have it to decide
between them; -- any attempt Browne makes with his
Left through Sulowitz (as he once did, and once only)
is instantly repressed by cannon from the Homolka
Hill. And the rest of the Battle, or rather the Battle
itself, -- for all hitherto has been pickeering and
groping in the mist, -- may be made conceivable in
few words.
Friedrich orders the second line of his Left Wing
to march up and join with the first; Right Wing,
shoving its two lines into one, is now to cover the Lo-
bosch as well. Left Wing, in condensed condition,
shall fall down on Lobositz, and do its best. They
are now clear of the vineyard works; the ground is
leveller, though still sloping, -- a three furlongs from
the Village, and somewhat towards the Elbe, when
Browne's battalions first came extensively to close
grips; fierce enough (as was said); the toughest wrestle
yet had with those Austrians, -- coming on with steady
fury, under such force of cannon; with iron ramrods,
too, and improved ways, like our own. But nothing
could avail them; the counter-fury being so great. They
had to go at the Welhoten part, and even to run, --.
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? 284 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book rra.
1st Oct. 1756.
plunging into Elbe, a good few of them, and drowning
there, in the vain hope to swim. "Never have my
troops," says Friedrich, "done such miracles of valour,
"cavalry as well as infantry, since I had the honour to
"command them. By this dead-lift achievement (tour
"de force) I have seen what they can do. "*
In fine, after some three hours more of desperate
tugging and struggling, cannon on both sides going at
a great rate, and infinite musketry ("ninety cartridges
a man on our Prussian side, and ammunition falling
done"), not without bayonet-pushings, and smitings
with the butt of your musket, the Austrians are driven
into Lobositz; are furiously pushed there, and, in spite
of new battalions coming to the rescue, are fairly pushed
through. These Village-streets are too narrow for new
battalions from Browne; "much of the Village should
have been burnt beforehand," say cool judges. And
now, sure enough, it does get burnt; Lobositz is now
all on fire, by Prussian industry. So that the Austrians
have to quit it instantly; and rush off in great disorder;
key of the Battle, or Battle itself, quite lost to them.
The Prussian infantry, led by the Duke of Bruns-
* Letter to Schwerin, "Lobositz, 2d August 1756" (Retzow, i. 64); Re-
lation de la Campagne 1756, that is, Prussian Account (in Gcsammelte Nacli-
richten), i. 848. Lloyd, ut supra, i. 2-11 (who has solid information at first
hand, having been an actor in these Wars. A man of great natural saga-
city and insight; decidedly luminous and original, though of somewhat
crabbed temper now and then; a man well worth hearing on this and on
whatever else he handles). Tempelhof, Geschichte ties siebenjahrigenKrieges
(which is at first a mere Translation of Lloyd, nothing new in it but cer-
tain notes and criticisms on Lloyd; when Lloyd ends, Tempelhof, Prussian
Major and Professor, a learned, intelligent, but diffuse man, of far inferior
talent to Lloyd, continues and completes on his own footing: six very thin
4tos, Berlin, 1794), i. 38 (Battle, with foot-notes), and ib. 51 (criticism of
Lloyd). Prussian and Austrian Accounts in Helden-Geschichte, in. 800 et
seq. Many Narratives in Feldiuge, and the Beylage to Seyfarth; &c. &c.
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? CHAP. VI. ] BATTLE OF LOBOSITZ. 285
1st Oct. 1756.
wick-Bevern ("Governor of Stettin," one of the Duke-
Ferdinand cousinry, frugal and valiant), gave the highest
satisfaction; seldom was such firing, such furious push-
ing; they had spent ninety cartridges a man; were at
last quite out of cartridges; so that Bevern had to say,
"Strike in with bayonets, meine Kinder; butt-ends, or
what we have; her an V Our Grenadiers were mainly
they that burnt Lobositz. "How salutary now would it
"have been," says Epimetheus Lloyd, "had Browne
"had a small battery on the other side of the Elbe;"
whereby he might have taken them in flank, and shorn
them into the wind! Epimetheus marks this battery
on his Plan; and is wise behindhand, at a cheap
rate.
Browne's Bight Wing, and probably his Army with
it, would have gone much to perdition, now that Lo-
bositz was become Prussian, -- had not Browne, in
the nick of the moment, made a masterly movement:
pushed forward his Centre and Left Wing, numerous
battalions still fresh, to interpose between the chasing
Prussians and those fugitives. The Prussians, infantry
only, cannot chase on such terms; the Prussian cavalry,
we know, is far rearward on the high ground. Browne
retires a mile or two, -- southward, Budin-ward, -- not
chased; and there halts, and rearranges himself; think-
ing what farther he will do. His aim in fighting had
only been to defend himself; and in that humble aim he
has failed. Chase of the Prussians over that Homolka-
Lobosch country, with the high grounds rearward and
the Metal Mountains in their hands, he could in no
event have attempted.
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? 286 SEVEN-YEARS WAR BEGINS. [book XVII.
1st Oct. 1756.
The question now is: Will he go back to Budin;
or will he try farther towards Schandau? Nature points
to the former course, in such circumstances; Friedrich,
by way of assisting, does a thing much admired by
Lloyd; -- detaches Bevern with a strong party south-
ward, out of Lobositz, which is now his, to lay hold
of Tschirskowitz, lying Budin-ward, but beyond the
Budin Road. Which feat, when Browne hears of it,
means to him, "Going to cut me off from Budin, then?
"From my ammunition-stores, from my very bread-cup-
"board! " And he marches that same midnight, silently,
in good order, back to Budin. He is not much ruined;
nay the Prussian loss is numerically greater: "3,308
"killed and wounded, on the Prussian side; on the
"Austrian, 2,984, with three cannon taken and two
"standards. " Not ruined at all; but foiled, frustrated;
and has to devise earnestly, "What next? " Once re-
arranged, he may still try.
The Battle lasted seven hours; the last four of it
very hot, till Lobositz was won and lost. It was about
5 p. m. when Browne fired his retreat-cannon: -- cannon
happened to be loaded (say the Anecdote-Books, mythi-
cally given now and then); Friedrich, wearied enough,
had flung himself into his carriage for a moment's rest,
or thankful reflection; and of all places, the ball of the
retreat-cannon lighted there. Between Friedrich's feet,
as he lay reclining, -- say the Anecdote-Books, whom
nobody is bound to believe.
On the strength of those two Prussian charges,
which had retired from case-shot on their flank, and
had not wings, for getting over sedge and ooze, Austria
pretended to claim the victory. "Two charges repelled
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:32 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiijh Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. VI. ] BATTLE OF LOBOSITZ. 287
4th Oct. 1756.
by our gallant horse; Lobositz, indeed, was got on fire,
and we had nothing for it but to withdraw; but we
took a new position, and only left that for want of
water;" -- with the like excuses. "Essentially a clear
victory," said the Austrians; and sang Te-Deum about
it; -- but profited nothing by that piece of melody.
The fact, considerable or not, was, from the first, too
undeniable: Browne beaten from the field. And beaten
from his attempt too (the Saxons not relievable by this
method); and lies quiet in Budin again, -- with his
water sure to him; but what other advantages gained?
Here are two Letters, brief both, which we may as
well read:
1". Friedrich to Wilhelmina (at Baireuth).
"Lobositz, 4th October 1756.
""My deAr Sistee, -- Your will is accomplished. Tired
"out by these Saxon delays, I put myself at the head of my
"Army of Bohemia" (Keith's hitherto); "and marched from
"Aussig to -- a Name which seemed to me of good augury,
"being yours, -- to the Village of Welmina (Battle was
called of Welmina, by the Prussians at first). "I found the
"Austrians here, near Lobositz; and, after a Fight of seven
"hours, forced them to run. Nobody of your acquaintance
"iskilled, except Generals Ltideritz and Oerzen" (who are
not of ours).
"I return you a thousand thanks for the tender part you
"take in my lot. Would to Heaven the valour of my Army
"might procure us a stable Peace! That ought to be the
'' aim of War. Adieu, my dear Sister; I embrace you tenderly,
"assuring you of the lively affection with which I am" --
* (Euvres, xxvn. i. 291.
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