had been some time fixed, sprang out of the door, tumbled the sentinel
from the top to the bottom of the stairs, passed the men who happened to
be drawn up before the prison door to relieve the guard, attacked them
sword in hand, threw them suddenly into surprise by the manner in which
I laid about me, wounded four of them, made way through the rest, sprang
over the breastwork of the ramparts, and with the sword drawn in my hand
immediately leaped this astonishing height without receiving the least
injury; I leaped the second wall with equal safety and good fortune.
None of their pieces were loaded; no one durst leap after me, and in
order to pursue, they must go round through the tower and gate of the
citadel, so that I had the start full half an hour.
“A sentinel, however, in a narrow passage endeavoured to oppose my
flight, but I parried his fixed bayonet and wounded him in the face. A
second sentinel, meantime, ran from the outworks to seize me behind, and
I, to avoid him, I made a spring at the palisades; unluckily my foot
got stuck, and the sentinel seized it and held me by it till his
comrades came up, who beat me with the butt end of their muskets, and
dragged me back to prison, while I struggled and defended myself like a
man grown desperate.
“Certain it is, had I more carefully jumped the palisades, and
despatched the sentinel who opposed me I might have escaped, and gained
the mountains. Thus might I have fled to Bohemia, after having, at noon
day, broken from the fortress at Glatz, sprung past all its sentinels,
over all its walls, and passed with impunity, in spite of the guard, who
were under arms, ready to oppose me. I should not, with a sword in my
hand, have feared any single opponent, and was able to contend with the
swiftest runners. That good fortune which had so far attended me,
forsook me at the palisades, where hope was at an end.
“The severities of imprisonment were increased, two sentinels and an
under officer were locked in with me, and were themselves guarded by
sentinels without. I was beaten and wounded by the butt ends of their
muskets, my right foot was sprained. I spit blood, and my wounds were
not cured in less than a month.
“I was now informed for the first time that the king had only condemned
me to a year’s imprisonment to learn whether his suspicions were well
founded. My mother had petitioned for me, and was answered, ‘Your son
must remain a year imprisoned as a punishment for his rash
correspondence.’ Of this I was ignorant, and it was reported in Glatz,
that my imprisonment was for life. I had only three weeks longer to
repine for the loss of liberty, when I made this rash attempt. What must
the king think? Was he not obliged to act with this severity? How could
prudence excuse my
[Illustration: My foot got stuck, and the sentinel seized it.]
impatience, thus to risk a confiscation, when I was certain of receiving
freedom, justification, and honour in three weeks. But such was my
adverse fate, circumstances all tended to injure and persecute me, till
at length I gave everyone reason to suppose I was a traitor,
notwithstanding the purity of my intentions.
“Once more then I was in a dungeon, and no sooner was I there than I
formed new projects of flight. I first gained the intimacy of my guards.
I had money, and this, with the compassion I had inspired, might effect
anything among discontented Prussian soldiers. Soon I had gained
thirty-two men who were ready to execute, on the first signal, whatever
I should command. Two or three excepted, they were unacquainted with
each other, they consequently could not all betray me at once. One
Nicholai, a subaltern, was chosen as the leader.
“The garrison consisted only of one hundred and twenty men from the
garrison regiment--the rest being dispersed in the county of Glatz--and
four officers their commanders, three of whom were in my interest.
Everything was prepared, swords and pistols were concealed in the oven,
which was in my prison. We intended to give liberty to all the
prisoners, and retire with drums beating, into Bohemia.
“Unfortunately, an Austrian deserter, to whom Nicholai had imparted our
design revealed our conspiracy. The governor instantly sent his adjutant
to the citadel with orders that the officer on guard should arrest
Nicholai, and with his men take possession of the casement.
“Nicholai was on the guard, and the lieutenant was my friend, and being
in the secret gave the signal that all was discovered. Nicholai only
knew all the conspirators, several of whom that day were on guard. He
instantly formed his resolution, leaped into the casement, crying,
‘Comrades, to arms! we are betrayed;’ all followed to the guard-house,
where they seized on the cartridges. The officer having only eight men,
and threatening to fire on whoever should offer resistance, came to
deliver me from prison, but the iron door was too strong and the time
too short for that to be demolished. Nicholai, calling to me, bid me aid
them, but in vain; and perceiving nothing more could be done for me,
this brave man, heading nineteen others, marched to the gate of the
citadel, where there was a sub-officer and ten soldiers, obliged these
to accompany him, and thus arrived safely at Braunau, in Bohemia, for
before the news was spread through the city, and men were collected for
the pursuit, they were nearly half way on their journey.
“Two years after I met with this extraordinary man at Ofenburg, where he
was a writer; he entered immediately into my service, and became my
friend, but died some months after of a burning fever at my quarters in
Hungary, at which I was deeply grieved, for his memory will ever be dear
to me.
“Now was I exposed to all the storms of ill fortune; a prosecution was
entered against me as a conspirator, who wanted to corrupt the officers
and soldiers of the King. They commanded me to name the remaining
conspirators; but to these questions I made no answer except by
steadfastly declaring I was an innocent prisoner, an officer unjustly
broken, because I had never been brought to trial,--that consequently I
was released from all my engagements.
“A lieutenant, whose name was Bach, a Dane, mounted guard every fourth
day, and was the terror of the whole garrison; for being a perfect
master of arms, he was incessantly involved in quarrels, and generally
left his marks behind him. He had served in two regiments, neither of
which would associate with him for this reason, and he had been sent to
the garrison regiment at Glatz as a punishment.
“Bach, one day sitting beside me, related how the evening before he had
wounded a lieutenant, of the name of Schell in the arm. I replied,
laughing, ‘Had I my liberty, I believe you would find some trouble in
wounding me, for I have some skill in the sword.’ The blood instantly
flew into his face. We split off a kind of a pair of foils from an old
door, which had served me as a table, and at the first lunge I hit him
on the breast.
“His rage became ungovernable, and he left the prison. What was my
astonishment when, a moment after, I saw him return with two soldier’s
swords, which he had concealed under his coat. ‘Now then, boaster,
prove,’ said he, giving me one of them, ‘what thou art able to do.’ I
endeavoured to pacify him, by representing the danger; but
ineffectually. He attacked me with the utmost fury, and I wounded him in
the arm.
“Throwing his sword down, he fell upon my neck, kissed me, and wept. At
length, after some convulsive emotions of pleasure, he said, ‘Friend,
thou art my master, and thou must, thou shalt, by my aid, obtain thy
liberty, as certainly as my name is Bach.’ We bound up his arm as well
as we could. He left me, and secretly went to a surgeon to have it
properly dressed, and at night returned.
“Lieutenant Schell was just come from the garrison at Habelschwert, to
the citadel of Glatz, and in two days was to mount guard over me, till
which time our attempt was suspended. I had received no more supplies,
and my purse only contained some six pistoles. It was therefore
resolved that Bach should go to Schweidnitz, and obtain money of a sure
friend of his in that city.
“It must be borne in mind that at this period the officers and I all
understood each other, Captain Roder alone excepted, who was exact,
rigid, and gave trouble on every possible occasion. Major Quaadt was my
kinsman by my mother’s side, a good friendly man, and ardently desirous
I should escape, seeing my calamities were so much increased. The four
lieutenants, who successively mounted guard over me, were Bach,
Schroeder, Lunitz, and Schell. The first was the grand projector, and
made all preparations. Schell was to desert with me, and Schroeder and
Lunitz, three days after, were to follow. No one ought to be surprised
that officers of garrison regiments should be so ready to desert; they
are in general either men of violent passions, quarrelsome, overwhelmed
with debts, or unfit for service. They are usually sent to garrison as a
punishment, and are called the refuse of the army. Dissatisfied with
their situation, their pay much reduced, and despised by the troops,
such men, expecting advantage, may be brought to engage in the most
desperate undertaking; for none of them can hope for their discharge.
They all hoped by my means to better their fortune, I always having had
money enough, and with money, nothing is more easy than to find friends
in places where each individual is desirous of escaping from slavery.
“The governor had in the meantime been informed how familiar I had
become with the officers, and, growing alarmed at this circumstance, he
sent orders that my door should no more be opened, but that I should
receive my food through a small window that had been made for the
purpose. The care of the prison was committed to the major, and he was
forbidden to eat with me under pain of being broken.
“His precautions were ineffectual. The officers procured a false key,
and remained with me half the day and night.
“A Captain Damnitz was imprisoned in an apartment by the side of mine.
This man had deserted from the Prussian service, with the money
belonging to his company, to Austria, where he obtained a commission in
his cousin’s regiment. This cousin having prevailed on him to serve as a
spy during the campaign of 1744, he was taken in the Prussian
territories, recognised, and condemned to be hanged.
“Some Swedish volunteers who were then in the army interested themselves
in his behalf, and his sentence was changed to perpetual imprisonment,
with a sentence of infamy.
“This wretch, who two years afterwards, by the aid of his protectors,
not only obtained his liberty, but a lieutenant-colonel’s commission,
was the secret spy of the major over the prisoners, and he remarked that
notwithstanding the express prohibition laid on the officers, they still
passed the greater part of their time in my company.
“The 24th of December came, and Schell mounted guard. He entered my
prison immediately, where he continued a long time, and we made our
arrangements for flight when he should next mount guard.
“Meantime Lieut. Schroeder, who was in the secret, had no doubt but that
we were betrayed, knowing that the spy Damnitz had informed the governor
that Schell was then in my chamber. Schroeder, therefore, full of
terror, came running to the citadel, and said to Schell: ‘Save thyself,
friend; all is discovered, and thou wilt instantly be put under
arrest.’
“Schell might easily have provided for his own safety, by flying singly,
Schroeder having prepared horses on one of which he himself offered to
accompany him into Bohemia.
“How did this worthy man, in a moment so dangerous, act towards his
friend? Running suddenly into my prison, he drew a corporal’s sabre from
under his coat, and said, ‘My friend, we are betrayed; follow me, only
do not allow me to fall alive into the hands of my enemies.’
“I would have spoken, but interrupting me, and taking me by the hand, he
added, ‘Follow me, we have not a moment to lose.’ I therefore slipped on
my coat and boots, without having time to take the little money I had
left; and as we went out of the prison, Schell said to the sentinel, ‘I
am taking the prisoner into the officer’s apartment; stand where you
are.’
“Into this room we really went, but passed out at the other door. The
design of Schell was to go under the arsenal, which was not far off, to
gain the covered way, leap the palisadoes, and afterwards escape the
best manner we might.
“We had hardly gone a hundred paces before we met the Adjutant and Major
Quaadt. Schell started back, sprang upon the rampart, and leaped from
the wall, which was at that part not very high. I followed, and alighted
unhurt, except having grazed my shoulder. My poor friend was not so
fortunate, having put out his ankle. He immediately drew his sword,
presented it to me, and begged me to despatch him and fly. He was a
small, weak man; but, far from complying with his request, I took him in
my arms, threw him over the palisadoes, afterwards got him on my back,
and began to run, without knowing very well which way I went.
“It may not be unnecessary to notice the fortunate circumstances that
favoured our enterprise.
“The sun had just set as we took to flight, and a hoar frost came on. No
one would run the risk that we had done, by making so dangerous a leap.
We heard a terrible noise behind us. Everybody knew us, but before they
could go round the citadel, and run through the town, in order to pursue
us, we had got a full half-league.
“The alarm guns were fired before we were a hundred paces distant, at
which my friend was very much terrified, knowing that in such cases it
was generally impossible to escape from Glatz unless the fugitives had
got a start of full two hours; the passes being immediately all stopped
by the peasants and hussars, who are exceedingly vigilant. No sooner is
a prisoner missed than the gunner runs from the guard house and fires
the cannon on the three sides of the fortress, which are kept loaded day
and night for that purpose.
“We were not five hundred paces from the wall when all before us and
behind us were in motion. It was daylight when we leaped, yet was our
attempt as fortunate as it was wonderful; this I attributed to my
presence of mind, and the reputation I had already gained, which made it
thought a service of danger for two or three men to attack me.
“It was, besides, imagined we were well provided with arms for our
defence, and it was little suspected that Schell had only his sword, and
I an old corporal’s sabre.
“Scarcely had I borne my friend three hundred paces, before I set him
down, and I looked round me; but darkness came on so fast, that I could
see neither town nor citadel, consequently, we ourselves could not be
seen.
“My presence of mind did not forsake me; death or freedom was my
determination. ‘Where are we, Schell?’ said I to my friend. ‘Where does
Bohemia lie? On which side is the river Neiss.’ The worthy man could
make no answer; his mind was all confusion, and he despaired of our
escape. He still, however, entreated I would not let him be taken alive,
and affirmed my labour was all in vain. After having promised, by all
that was sacred, I would save him from an infamous death, if no other
means were left, and thus raised his spirits, he looked round, and knew,
by some trees, we were not far from the city gates.
“I asked him, ‘Where is the Neiss?’ He pointed sideways. ‘All Glatz has
seen us fly towards the Bohemian mountains. It is impossible we should
avoid the hussars, the passes being all guarded, and we beset with
enemies.’ So saying, I took him on my shoulders, and carried him to the
Neiss. Here we distinctly heard the alarm sounded in the villages, and
the peasants, who likewise were to form the line of desertion, were
everywhere in motion and spreading the alarm. I came to the Neiss, which
was a little frozen, entered it with my friend, and carried him as long
as I could wade; and when I could not feel the bottom, which did not
continue for a space of eighteen feet, he clung round me, and thus we
got safely to the other shore. The reader will easily suppose swimming
in the midst of December, and remaining afterwards in the open air
eighteen hours, was a severe hardship.
“About seven o’clock, the hoar frost was succeeded by frost and
moonlight. The carrying of my friend kept me warm, it is true; but I
began to be tired, while he suffered everything that frost, the pain of
a dislocated foot (which I in vain endeavoured to reset), and the danger
of death from a thousand hands could inflict.
“We were somewhat tranquil, however, since nobody would pursue us to
Silesia. I followed the course of the river for half an hour, and having
once passed the first villages that formed the line of desertion, with
which Schell was perfectly acquainted, we in a lucky moment found a
fisherman’s boat moored to the shore. Into this we leaped, crossed the
river again, and soon gained the mountains. Here being come, we sat
ourselves down on the snow. Hope revived in our hearts, and we held
council concerning how it was best to act. I cut a stick to assist
Schell in hopping forward as well as he could when I was tired of
carrying him; and thus we continued our route, the difficulties of which
were increased by the mountain snows.
“Thus passed the night, during which, up to the middle in snow, we made
but little way. There were no paths to be traced in the mountains, and
they were in many places impassable.
“Day at length appeared. We thought ourselves near the frontiers, which
are twenty English miles from Glatz, when we suddenly, to our terror,
heard the city clock strike. Overwhelmed as we were by hunger, cold,
pain, and fatigue, it was impossible we should hold out during the day.
After some consideration, and another half-hour’s labour, we came to a
village at the foot of the mountain, on the side of which, about three
hundred paces from us, we perceived two separate houses, and the sight
inspired us with a stratagem that was successful.
“We lost our hats in leaping the ramparts, but Schell had preserved his
scarf and gorget, which would give him authority among the peasants.
“I then cut my finger, rubbed the blood over my face, my shirt, and my
coat, and bound up my head, to give myself the appearance of a man
dangerously wounded. In this condition, I carried Schell to the end of
the wood, not far from these houses. Here he tied my hands behind my
back, but so that I could easily disengage them in time of need, and
hobbled after me by aid of his staff, calling for help.
“Two old peasants appeared, and Schell commanded them to run to the
village and tell a magistrate to come immediately with a cart. ‘I have
seized this knave,’ added he, ‘who has killed my horse, and in the
struggle I have put out my ankle. However, I have wounded him and bound
him. Fly quickly; bring a cart, lest he should die before he is hanged.’
“As for me, I suffered myself to be led, as if half dead, into the
house. A peasant was dispatched to the village.
“An old woman and a pretty girl seemed to take great pity on me, and
gave me some bread and milk; but how great was our astonishment when the
aged peasant called Schell by his name, and told him he well knew we
were deserters, he having the night before been at a neighbouring
alehouse, where the officer in pursuit of us came, named and described
us, and related the whole history of our flight. The peasant knew
Schell, because his son served in his company, and had often spoken of
him when he was quartered at Habelschwert.
“Presence of mind and resolution were all that were now left. I
instantly ran to the stable, while Schell detained the peasant in the
chamber. He, however, was a worthy man, and directed him to the road
towards Bohemia. We were still about seven miles from Glatz, having lost
ourselves among the mountains, where we had wandered many miles. The
daughter followed me. I found three horses in the stable but no
bridles. I conjured her in the most passionate manner possible to assist
me. She was affected, seemed half willing to follow me, and gave me two
bridles. I led the horses to the door, called Schell, and helped him,
with his lame leg, on horseback. The old peasant then began to weep, and
begged I would not take his horses; but he luckily wanted courage, and
perhaps the will to impede us, for with nothing more than a dung fork,
in our then feeble condition, he might have stopped us long enough to
have called in assistance from the village.
“And now behold us on horseback, without hats or saddles--Schell with
his uniform scarf and gorget, and I in my red regimental coat. Still we
were in danger of seeing all our hopes vanish, for my horse would not
stir from the stable. However, at last, good horseman-like, I made him
move. Schell led the way, and we had scarcely gone a hundred paces
before we perceived the peasants coming in crowds from the village. As
kind fortune would have it, the people were all at church, it being a
festival. It was nine in the morning, and had the peasants been at home
we had been lost without redemption. We were obliged to take the road to
Wunshelburg, and pass through the town where Schell had been quartered a
month before, and in which he was known by everybody. Our dress, without
hats or saddles, sufficiently proclaimed we were deserters; our horses,
however, continued to go tolerably well, and we had the good luck to get
through the town, although there was a garrison of one hundred and
eighty infantry and twelve horse purposely to arrest deserters. Schell
knew the road to Brummen, where we arrived at eleven o’clock, and from
thence we went to Braunau, where we were safe.”
During the first few months following his escape, Trenck
[Illustration: Trenck escaping with Lieutenant Schell.]
wandered about miserably, pursued everywhere by the vengeance of
Frederick, and being obliged sometimes to resist sword in hand persons
sent in pursuit of him. Proscribed in his own country, he had taken
service with Austria. At length, after a series of adventures, of which
he gives an account in his “Memoirs” that bears all the impress of
sincerity, notwithstanding the extraordinary events to which it refers,
he found himself at Dantzic, where he was delivered up to the King of
Prussia by the treachery of the imperial resident and the authorities of
the city. He was then taken to Magdeburg, and imprisoned in the citadel.