Farquhar and Malcolm Graheme were soon at home with their hosts. The
syndic had offered to have their meals prepared for them in a separate
chamber, but they begged to be allowed to take them with the family,
with whom they speedily became intimate.
Three weeks after the capture of New Brandenburg the news came that
Tilly with a large army was rapidly approaching.
Every effort was made to place the town in a position of defence. Day
after day messengers came in with the news that the other places which
had been garrisoned by the Swedes had been captured, and very shortly
the Imperialist army was seen approaching. The garrison knew that they
could expect no relief from Gustavus, who had ten days before marched
northward, and all prepared for a desperate resistance. The townsfolk
looked on with trembling apprehension, their sympathies were with the
defenders, and, moreover, they knew that in any case they might expect
pillage and rapine should the city be taken, for the property of the
townspeople when a city was captured was regarded by the soldiery as
their lawful prize, whether friendly to the conquerors or the reverse.
The town was at once summoned to surrender, and upon Lindsay's refusal
the guns were placed in position, and the siege began.
As Tilly was anxious to march away to the north to oppose Gustavus he
spared no effort to reduce New Brandenburg as speedily as possible, and
his artillery fired night and day to effect breaches in the walls. The
Scotch officers saw little of their hosts now, for they were almost
continually upon the walls.
At the first news of the approach of the Imperialists the syndic had
sent away his daughters to the house of a relative at Stralsund, where
his son was settled in business. When Farquhar and Malcolm returned to
eat a meal or to throw themselves on their beds to snatch a short sleep,
the syndic anxiously questioned them as to the progress of the
siege. The reports were not hopeful. In several places the walls were
crumbling, and it was probable that a storm would shortly be attempted.
The town itself was suffering heavily, for the balls of the besiegers
frequently flew high, and came crashing among the houses. Few of the
inhabitants were to be seen in the streets; all had buried their most
valuable property, and with scared faces awaited the issue of the
conflict.
After six days' cannonade the walls were breached in many places, and
the Imperialists advanced to the assault. The Scotch defended them with
great resolution, and again and again the Imperialists recoiled, unable
to burst their way through the lines of pikes or to withstand the heavy
musketry fire poured upon them from the walls and buildings.
But Tilly's army was so strong that he was able continually to bring up
fresh troops to the attack, while the Scotch were incessantly engaged.
For eight-and-forty hours the defenders resisted successfully, but at
last, worn out by fatigue, they were unable to withstand the onslaught
of the enemy, and the latter forced their way into the town. Still the
Scots fought on. Falling back from the breaches, they contested every
foot of the ground, holding the streets and lanes with desperate
tenacity, and inflicting terrible losses upon the enemy.
At last, twelve hours later, they were gathered in the marketplace,
nearly in the centre of the town, surrounded on all sides by the enemy.
Several times the Scottish bugles had sounded a parley, but Tilly,
furious at the resistance, and at the loss which the capture of the town
had entailed, had issued orders that no quarter should be given, and his
troops pressed the now diminished band of Scotchmen on all sides.
Even now they could not break through the circle of spears, but from
every window and roof commanding them a deadly fire was poured in.
Colonel Lindsay was shot dead. Captain Moncrieff, Lieutenant Keith, and
Farquhar fell close to Malcolm. The shouts of “Kill, kill, no quarter,”
rose from the masses of Imperialists. Parties of the Scotch, preferring
to die sword in hand rather than be shot down, flung themselves into the
midst of the enemy and died fighting.
At last, when but fifty men remained standing, these in a close body
rushed at the enemy and drove them by the fury of their attack some
distance down the principal street. Then numbers told. The band was
broken up, and a desperate hand-to-hand conflict raged for a time.
Two of the Scottish officers alone, Captain Innes and Lieutenant
Lumsden, succeeded in breaking their way down a side lane, and thence,
rushing to the wall, leapt down into the moat, and swimming across,
succeeded in making their escape, and in carrying the news of the
massacre to the camp of Gustavus, where the tale filled all with
indignation and fury. Among the Scotch regiments deep vows of vengeance
were interchanged, and in after battles the Imperialists had cause
bitterly to rue having refused quarter to the Scots at New Brandenburg.
When the last melee was at its thickest, and all hope was at an end,
Malcolm, who had been fighting desperately with his half pike, found
himself for a moment in a doorway. He turned the handle, and it opened
at once. The house, like all the others, was full of Imperialists, who
had thrown themselves into it when the Scots made their charge, and were
now keeping up a fire at them from the upper windows. Closing the door
behind him, Malcolm stood for a moment to recover his breath. He had
passed unscathed through the three days' fighting, though his armour and
helmet were deeply dinted in many places.
The din without and above was tremendous. The stroke of sword on armour,
the sharp crack of the pistols, the rattle of musketry, the shouts of
the Imperialists, and the wild defiant cries of the Highlanders mingled
together.
As Malcolm stood panting he recalled the situation, and, remembering
that the syndic's house was in the street behind, he determined to gain
it, feeling sure that his host would shelter him if he could. Passing
through the house he issued into a courtyard, quickly stripped off his
armour and accoutrements, and threw them into an outhouse. Climbing on
the roof of this he got upon the wall, and ran along it until behind the
house of the syndic. He had no fear of being observed, for the attention
of all in the houses in the street he had left would be directed to the
conflict below.
The sound of musketry had already ceased, telling that the work of
slaughter was well nigh over, when Malcolm dropped into the courtyard
of the syndic; the latter and his wife gave a cry of astonishment as the
lad entered the house, breathless and pale as death.
“Can you shelter me awhile?” he said. “I believe that all my countrymen
are killed.”
“We will do our best, my lad,” the syndic said at once. “But the houses
will be ransacked presently from top to bottom.”
“Let him have one of the servant's disguises,” the wife said; “they can
all be trusted.”
One of the serving men was at once called in, and he hurried off with
Malcolm.
The young Scotchmen had made themselves very popular with the servants
by their courtesy and care to avoid giving unnecessary trouble, and in
a few minutes Malcolm was attired as a serving man, and joined the
servants who were busy in spreading the tables with provisions, and
in broaching a large cask of wine to allay the passions of the
Imperialists.
It was not long before they came. Soon there was a thundering knocking
at the door, and upon its being opened a number of soldiers burst in.
Many were bleeding from wounds. All bore signs of the desperate strife
in which they had been engaged.
“You are welcome,” the host said, advancing towards them. “I have made
preparations for your coming; eat and drink as it pleases you.”
Rushing to the wine casks, the soldiers appeased their thirst with long
draughts of wine, and then fell upon the eatables. Other bands followed,
and the house was soon filled from top to bottom with soldiers, who
ransacked the cupboards, loaded themselves with such things as they
deemed worth carrying away, and wantonly broke and destroyed what they
could not. The servants were all kept busy bringing up wine from the
cellars. This was of good quality, and the soldiers, well satisfied,
abstained from personal violence.
All night long pandemonium reigned in the town. Shrieks and cries, oaths
and sounds of conflict arose from all quarters, as citizens or their
wives were slaughtered by drunken soldiers, or the latter quarrelled and
fought among themselves for some article of plunder. Flames broke out in
many places, and whole streets were burned, many of the drunken soldiers
losing their lives in the burning houses; but in the morning the bugles
rang out, the soldiers desisted from their orgies, and such as were able
to stand staggered away to join their colours.
A fresh party marched into the town; these collected the stragglers,
and seized all the horses and carts for the carriage of the baggage and
plunder. The burgomaster had been taken before Tilly and commanded to
find a considerable sum of money the first thing in the morning, under
threat that the whole town would be burned down, and the inhabitants
massacred if it was not forthcoming.
A council of the principal inhabitants was hastily summoned at daybreak.
The syndics of the various guilds between them contributed the necessary
sum either in money or in drafts, and at noon Tilly marched away with
his troops, leaving the smoking and ruined town behind him. Many of the
inhabitants were forced as drivers to accompany the horses and carts
taken away. Among these were three of the syndic's serving men, Malcolm
being one of the number.
It was well that the Pomeranian dialect differed so widely from the
Bavarian, so Malcolm's German had consequently passed muster without
suspicion. The Imperialist army, although dragging with them an immense
train of carts laden with plunder, marched rapidly. The baggage was
guarded by horsemen who kept the train in motion, galloping up and down
the line, and freely administering blows among their captives whenever a
delay or stoppage occurred.
The whole country through which they passed was desolated and wasted,
and the army would have fared badly had it not been for the herds of
captured cattle they drove along with them, and the wagons laden with
flour and wine taken at New Brandenburg and the other towns they had
stormed. The marches were long, for Tilly was anxious to accomplish his
object before Gustavus should be aware of the direction he was taking.
This object was the capture of the town of Magdeburg, a large and
important city, and one of the strongholds of Protestantism. Here he was
resolved to strike a blow which would, he believed, terrify Germany into
submission.
When Gustavus heard that Tilly had marched west, he moved against
Frankfort-on-the-Oder, where the Imperialists were commanded by Count
Schomberg. The latter had taken every measure for the defence of the
town, destroying all the suburbs, burning the country houses and mills,
and cutting down the orchards and vineyards.
Gustavus, accompanied by Sir John Hepburn, at once reconnoitred the
place and posted his troops. The Blue and Yellow Brigades were posted
among the vineyards on the road to Custrin; the White Brigade took post
opposite one of the two gates of the town. Hepburn and the Green Brigade
were stationed opposite the other.
As the Swedes advanced the Imperialist garrison, who were 10,000 strong,
opened fire with musketry and cannon from the walls. The weakest point
in the defence was assigned by Schomberg to Colonel Walter Butler, who
commanded a regiment of Irish musketeers in the Imperialist service.
In the evening Hepburn and some other officers accompanied the king
to reconnoitre near the walls. A party of Imperialists, seeing some
officers approaching, and judging by their waving plumes they were
of importance, sallied quietly out of a postern gate unperceived and
suddenly opened fire. Lieutenant Munro, of Munro's regiment, was shot in
the leg, and Count Teuffel, a colonel of the Life Guards, in the arm.
A body of Hepburn's regiment, under Major Sinclair, rushed forward and
drove in the Imperialists, a lieutenant colonel and a captain being
captured.
So hotly did they press the Imperialists that they were able to make a
lodgment, on some high ground near the rampart, on which stood an old
churchyard surrounded by a wall, and whence their fire could sweep
the enemy's works. Some cannon were at once brought up and placed in
position here, and opened fire on the Guben gate. Captain Gunter, of
Hepburn's regiment, went forward with twelve men, and in spite of a very
heavy fire from the walls reconnoitred the ditch and approaches to the
walls.
The next day all was ready for the assault. It was Palm Sunday, the
3d of April, and the attack was to take place at five o'clock in the
afternoon. Before advancing, Hepburn and several of the other officers
wished to lay aside their armour, as its weight was great, and would
impede their movements. The king, however, forbade them to do so.
“No,” he said; “he who loves my service will not risk life lightly. If
my officers are killed, who is to command my soldiers?”
Fascines and scaling ladders were prepared. The Green Brigade were to
head the assault, and Gustavus, addressing them, bade them remember New
Brandenburg.
At five o'clock a tremendous cannonade was opened on the walls from all
the Swedish batteries, and under cover of the smoke the Green Brigade
advanced to the assault. From the circle of the walls a cloud of smoke
and fire broke out from cannon and arquebus, muskets, and wall pieces.
Sir John Hepburn and Colonel Lumsden, side by side, led on their
regiments against the Guben gate; both carried petards.
In spite of the tremendous fire poured upon them from the wall they
reached the gate, and the two colonels fixed the petards to it and
retired a few paces. In a minute there was a tremendous explosion, and
the gate fell scattered in fragments. Then the Scottish pikemen rushed
forward. As they did so there was a roar of cannon, and a storm of
bullets ploughed lanes through the close ranks of the pikemen, for the
Imperialists, expecting the attack, had placed cannon, loaded to the
muzzle with bullets, behind the gates.
Munro's regiment now leapt into the moat, waded across, and planting
their ladders under a murderous fire, stormed the works flanking the
gate, and then joined their comrades, who were striving to make an
entrance. Hepburn, leading on the pikemen, was hit on the knee, where he
had in a former battle been badly wounded.
“Go on, bully Munro,” he said jocularly to his old schoolfellow, “for I
am wounded.”
A major who advanced to take his place at the head of the regiment
was shot dead, and so terrible was the fire that even the pikemen of
Hepburn's regiment wavered for a moment; but Munro and Lumsden, with
their vizors down and half pikes in their hands, cheered on their men,
and, side by side, led the way.
“My hearts!” shouted Lumsden, waving his pike--“my brave hearts, let's
enter.”
“Forward!” shouted Munro; “advance pikes!”
With a wild cheer the Scots burst forward; the gates were stormed,
and in a moment the cannon, being seized, were turned, and volleys of
bullets poured upon the dense masses of the Imperialists. The pikemen
pressed forward in close column, shoulder to shoulder, the pikes
levelled in front, the musketeers behind firing on the Imperialists in
the houses.
In the meantime Gustavus, with the Blue and Yellow Swedish Brigades,
stormed that part of the wall defended by Butler with his Irishmen.
These fought with extreme bravery, and continued their resistance until
almost every man was killed, when the two brigades burst into the
town, the White Brigade storming the wall in another quarter. Twice the
Imperialist drums beat a parley, but their sound was deadened by the
roar of musketry and the boom of cannon from wall and battery, and the
uproar and shouting in every street and house. The Green Brigade, under
its commander, maintained its regular order, pressing forward with
resistless strength. In vain the Austrians shouted for quarter. They
were met by shouts of--“Remember New Brandenburg!”
Even now, when all was lost, Tilly's veterans fought with extreme
bravery and resolution; but at last, when Butler had fallen, and
Schomberg and Montecuculi, and a few other officers had succeeded in
escaping, all resistance ceased. Four colonels, 36 officers, and 3000
men were killed. Fifty colours and ten baggage wagons, laden with gold
and silver plate, were captured.
Many were taken prisoners, and hundreds were drowned in the Oder, across
which the survivors of the garrison made their escape. Plundering at
once began, and several houses were set on fire; but Gustavus ordered
the drums to beat, and the soldiers to repair to their colours outside
the town, which was committed to the charge of Sir John Hepburn, with
his regiment.
The rumour that Magdeburg was the next object of attack circulated among
Tilly's troops the day after they marched west from New Brandenburg. It
originated in some chance word dropped by a superior officer, and seemed
confirmed by the direction which they were taking which was directly
away from the Swedish army. There was a report, too, that Count
Pappenheim, who commanded a separate army, would meet Tilly there, and
that every effort would be made to capture the town before Gustavus
could march to its assistance.
Malcolm could easily have made his escape the first night after leaving
New Brandenburg; but the distance to be traversed to join the Swedish
army was great, confusion and disorder reigned everywhere, and he had
decided that it would be safer to remain with the Imperialist army until
Gustavus should approach within striking distance. On the road he kept
with the other two men who had been taken with the horses from the
syndic of the weavers, and, chatting with them when the convoy halted,
he had not the least fear of being questioned by others. Indeed, none of
those in the long train of carts and wagons paid much attention to their
fellows, all had been alike forced to accompany the Imperialists, and
each was too much occupied by the hardships of his own lot, and by
thoughts of the home from which he had been torn, to seek for the
companionship of his comrades in misfortune.
As soon, however, as Malcolm heard the report of Tilly's intentions, he
saw that it was of the utmost importance that the King of Sweden should
be informed of the Imperialist plans as early as possible, and he
determined at once to start and endeavour to make his way across the
country. At nightfall the train with the baggage and plunder was as
usual so placed that it was surrounded by the camps of the various
brigades of the army in order to prevent desertion. The previous night
an escape would have been comparatively easy, for the soldiers were worn
out by their exertions at the siege of New Brandenburg, and were still
heavy from the drink they had obtained there; but discipline was now
restored, and the sentries were on the alert. A close cordon of these
was placed around the baggage train; and when this was passed, there
would still be the difficulty of escaping through the camps of soldiery,
and of passing the outposts. Malcolm waited until the camp became quiet,
or rather comparatively quiet, for the supplies of wine were far from
exhausted, and revelling was still going on in various parts of the
camp, for the rigid discipline in use in modern armies was at that time
unknown, and except when on duty in the ranks a wide amount of license
was permitted to the soldiers. The night was fine and bright, and
Malcolm saw that it would be difficult to get through the line of
sentries who were stationed some thirty or forty yards apart.
After thinking for some time he went up to a group of eight or ten
horses which were fastened by their bridles to a large store wagon on
the outside of the baggage camp. Malcolm unfastened the bridles and
turned the horses heads outwards. Then he gave two of them a sharp prick
with his dagger, and the startled animals dashed forward in affright,
followed by their companions. They passed close to one of the sentries,
who tried in vain to stop them, and then burst into the camp beyond,
where their rush startled the horses picketed there. These began to kick
and struggle desperately to free themselves from their fastenings. The
soldiers, startled at the sudden noise, sprang to their feet, and much
confusion reigned until the runaway horses were secured and driven back
to their lines.
The instant he had thus diverted the attention of the whole line of
sentries along that side of the baggage camp, Malcolm crept quietly up
and passed between them. Turning from the direction in which the horses
had disturbed the camp, he made his way cautiously along. Only the
officers had tents, the men sleeping on the ground around their fires.
He had to move with the greatest caution to avoid treading upon the
sleepers, and was constantly compelled to make detours to get beyond
the range of the fires, round which groups of men were sitting and
carousing.
At last he reached the outside of the camp, and taking advantage of
every clump of bushes he had no difficulty in making his way through the
outposts, for as the enemy was known to be far away, no great vigilance
was observed by the sentries. He had still to be watchful, for fires
were blazing in a score of places over the country round, showing that
the foragers of the army were at their usual work of rapine, and he
might at any moment meet one of these returning laden with spoil.
Once or twice, indeed, he heard the galloping of bodies of horse, and
the sound of distant pistol shots and the shrieks of women came faintly
to his ears. He passed on, however, without meeting with any of the
foraging parties, and by morning was fifteen miles away from Tilly's
camp. Entering a wood he threw himself down and slept soundly for some
hours. It was nearly noon before he started again. After an hour's
walking he came upon the ruins of a village. Smoke was still curling up
from the charred beams and rafters of the cottages, and the destruction
had evidently taken place but the day before. The bodies of several
men and women lay scattered among the houses; two or three dogs were
prowling about, and these growled angrily at the intruder, and would
have attacked him had he not flourished a club which he had cut in the
woods for self defence.
Moving about through the village he heard a sound of wild laughter, and
going in that direction saw a woman sitting on the ground. In her lap
was a dead child pierced through with a lance. The woman was talking
and laughing to it, her clothes were torn, and her hair fell in wild
disorder over her shoulders. It needed but a glance to tell Malcolm that
the poor creature was mad, distraught by the horrors of the previous
day.
A peasant stood by leaning on a stick, mournfully regarding her. He
turned suddenly round with the weapon uplifted at the sound of Malcolm's
approach, but lowered it on seeing that the newcomer was a lad.
“I hoped you were a soldier,” the peasant said, as he lowered his stick.
“I should like to kill one, and then to be killed myself. My God, what
is life worth living for in this unhappy country? Three times since the
war began has our village been burned, but each time we were warned of
the approach of the plunderers, and escaped in time. Yesterday they came
when I was away, and see what they have done;” and he pointed to his
wife and child, and to the corpses scattered about.
“It is terrible,” Malcolm replied. “I was taken a prisoner but two days
since at the sack of New Brandenburg, but I have managed to escape. I am
a Scot, and am on my way now to join the army of the Swedes, which will,
I hope, soon punish the villains who have done this damage.”
“I shall take my wife to her mother,” the peasant said, “and leave
her there. I hope God will take her soon, and then I will go and take
service under the Swedish king, and will slay till I am slain. I would
kill myself now, but that I would fain avenge my wife and child on some
of these murderers of Tilly's before I die.”
Malcolm felt that the case was far beyond any attempt at consolation.
“If you come to the Swedish army ask for Ensign Malcolm Graheme of
Reay's Scottish regiment, and I will take you to one of the German
corps, where you will understand the language of your comrades.” So
saying he turned from the bloodstained village and continued his way.