In the campaign of 1759, Frederick directed General Fink, with eighteen
thousand men, upon Maxen, for the purpose of cutting off the Austrian
army from the defiles of Bohemia. Surrounded by twice his numbers, Fink
capitulated after a sharp action, and fourteen thousand men laid down
their arms. This conduct was the more disgraceful, because General
Winch, who commanded the cavalry, cut his way through the enemy. The
whole blame of the surrender fell, therefore, upon Fink, who was
tried afterward by a court-martial, and sentenced to be cashiered and
imprisoned for two years.
In the campaign of Italy in 1796, the Austrian General Provéra
capitulated with two thousand men in the castle of Cossaria.
Subsequently, at the battle of La Favorite, the same general
capitulated with a corps of six thousand men. I scarcely dare to revert
to the shameful defection of General Mack in the capitulation of Ulm
in 1805, where thirty thousand Austrians laid down their arms--when we
have seen, during the wars of the Revolution, so many generals open
themselves a way by a vigorous effort through the enemy, supported only
by a few battalions.