It was about the middle of December when we came to Berlin, where I was
received with open arms. I became less cautious than formerly, and,
perhaps, more narrowly observed. A lieutenant of the foot guards, who
was a public Ganymede, and against whom I had that natural antipathy and
abhorrence I have for all such wretches, having indulged himself in some
very impertinent jokes on the secret of my amour, I bestowed on him the
epithet he deserved: we drew our swords, and he was wounded. On the
Sunday following I presented myself to pay my respects to his Majesty on
the parade, who said to me as he passed, "The storm and the thunder shall
rend your heart; beware!" {1} He added nothing more.
Some little time after I was a few minutes too late on the parade; the
King remarked it, and sent me, under arrest, to the foot-guard at
Potzdam. When I had been here a fortnight, Colonel Wartensleben came,
and advised me to petition for pardon. I was then too much a novice in
the modes of the court to follow his counsel, nor did I even remark the
person who gave it me was himself a most subtle courtier. I complained
bitterly that I had so long been deprived of liberty, for a fault which
was usually punished by three, or, at most, six days' arrest. Here
accordingly I remained.
Eight days after, the King being come to Potzdam, I was sent by General
Bourke to Berlin, to carry some letters, but without having seen the
King. On my return I presented myself to him on the parade; and as our
squadron was garrisoned at Berlin, I asked, "Does it please your Majesty
that I should go and join my corps?" "Whence came you?" answered he.
"From Berlin." "And where were you before you went to Berlin?" "Under
arrest." "Then under arrest you must remain!"
I did not recover my liberty till three days before our departure for
Silesia, towards which we marched, with the utmost speed, in the
beginning of May, to commence our second campaign.
Here I must recount an event which happened that winter, which became the
source of all my misfortunes, and to which I must entreat my readers will
pay the utmost attention; since this error, if innocence can be error,
was the cause that the most faithful and the best of subjects became
bewildered in scenes of wretchedness, and was the victim of misery, from
his nineteenth to the sixtieth year of his age. I dare presume that this
true narrative, supported by testimonies the most authentic, will fully
vindicate my present honour and my future memory.
Francis, Baron of Trenck, was the son of my father's brother,
consequently my cousin german. I shall speak, hereafter, of the singular
events of his life. Being a commander of pandours in the Austrian
service, and grievously wounded at Bavaria, in the year 1743, he wrote to
my mother, informing her he intended me, her eldest son, for his
universal legatee. This letter, to which I returned no answer, was sent
to me at Potzdam. I was so satisfied with my situation, and had such
numerous reasons so to be, considering the kindness with which the King
treated me, that I would not have exchanged my good fortune for all the
treasures of the Great Mogul.
On the 12th of February, 1744, being at Berlin, I was in company with
Captain Jaschinsky, commander of the body guard, the captain of which
ranks as colonel in the army, together with Lieutenant Studnitz, and
Cornet Wagnitz. The latter was my field comrade, and is at present
commander-general of the cavalry of Hesse Cassel. The Austrian Trenck
became the subject of conversation, and Jaschinsky asked if I were his
kinsman. I answered, yes, and immediately mentioned his having made me
his universal heir. "And what answer have you returned?" said
Jaschinsky.--"None at all."
The whole company then observed that, in a case like the present, I was
much to blame not to answer; that the least I could do would be to thank
him for his good wishes, and entreat a continuance of them. Jaschinsky
further added, "Desire him to send you some of his fine Hungarian horses
for your own use, and give me the letter; I will convey it to him, by
means of Mr. Bossart, legation counsellor of the Saxon embassy; but on
condition that you will give me one of the horses. This correspondence
is a family, and not a state affair; I will make myself responsible for
the consequences."
I immediately took my commander's advice, and began to write; and had
those who suspected me thought proper to make the least inquiry into
these circumstances, the four witnesses who read what I wrote could have
attested my innocence, and rendered it indubitable. I gave my letter
open to Jaschinsky, who sealed and sent it himself.
I must omit none of the incidents concerning this letter, it being the
sole cause of all my sufferings. I shall therefore here relate an event
which was the first occasion of the unjust suspicions entertained against
me.
One of my grooms, with two led horses, was, among many others, taken by
the pandours of Trenck. When I returned to the camp, I was to accompany
the King on a reconnoitring party. My horse was too tired, and I had no
other: I informed him of my embarrassment, and his Majesty immediately
made me a present of a fine English courser.
Some days after, I was exceedingly astonished to see my groom return,
with my two horses, and a pandour trumpeter, who brought me a letter,
containing nearly the following words:--
"The Austrian Trenck is not at war with the Prussian Trenck, but, on the
contrary, is happy to have recovered his horses from his hussars, and to
return them to whom they first belonged," &c.
I went the same day to pay my respects to the King, who, receiving me
with great coldness, said, "Since your cousin has returned your own
horses, you have no more need of mine."
There were too many who envied me to suppose these words would escape
repetition. The return of the horses seems infinitely to have increased
that suspicion Frederic entertained against me, and therefore became one
of the principal causes of my misfortunes: it is for this reason that I
dwell upon this and suchlike small incidents, they being necessary for my
own justification, and, were it possible, for that of the King. My
innocence is, indeed, at present universally acknowledged by the court,
the army, and the whole nation; who all mention the injustice I suffered
with pity, and the fortitude with which it was endured with surprise.
We marched for Silesia, to enter on our second campaign: which, to the
Prussians, was as bloody and murderous as it was glorious.
The King's head-quarters were fixed at the convent of Kamentz, where we
rested fourteen days, and the army remained in cantonments. Prince
Charles, instead of following us into Bohemia, had the imprudence to
occupy the plain of Strigau, and we already concluded his army was
beaten. Whoever is well acquainted with tactics, and the Prussian
manoeuvres, will easily judge, without the aid of calculation or
witchcraft, whether a well or ill-disciplined army, in an open plain,
ought to be victorious.
The army hastily left its cantonments, and in twenty-four hours was in
order of battle; and on the 14th of June, eighteen thousand bodies lay
stretched on the plain of Strigau. The allied armies of Austria and
Saxony were totally defeated.
The body guard was on the right; and previous to the attack, the King
said to our squadron, "Prove today, my children, that you are my body
guard, and give no Saxon quarter."
We made three attacks on the cavalry, and two on the infantry. Nothing
could withstand a squadron like this, which for men, horses, courage, and
experience, was assuredly the first in the world. Our corps alone took
seven standards and five pairs of colours, and in less than an hour the
affair was over.
I received a pistol shot in my right hand, my horse was desperately
wounded, and I was obliged to change him on the third charge. The day
after the battle all the officers were rewarded with the Order of Merit.
For my own part, I remained four weeks among the wounded, at Schweidnitz,
where there were sixteen thousand men under the torture of the army
surgeons, many of whom had not their wounds dressed till the third day.
I was near three months before I recovered the use of my hand: I
nevertheless rejoined my corps, continued to perform my duty, and as
usual accompanied the King when he went to reconnoitre. For some time
past he had placed confidence in me, and his kindness towards me
continually increased, which raised my gratitude even to enthusiasm.
I also performed the service of adjutant during this campaign, a
circumstantial account of which no person is better enabled to write than
myself, I having been present at all that passed. I was the scholar of
the greatest master the art of war ever knew, and who believed me worthy
to receive his instructions; but the volume I am writing would be
insufficient to contain all that personally relates to myself.
I must here mention an adventure that happened at this time, and which
will show the art of the great Frederic in forming youth for his service,
and devotedly attaching them to his person.
I was exceedingly fond of hunting, in which, notwithstanding it was
severely forbidden, I indulged myself. I one day returned, laden with
pheasants; but judge my astonishment and fears when I saw the army had
decamped, and that it was with difficulty that I could overtake the rear-
guard.
In this my distress, I applied to an officer of hussars, who instantly
lent me his horse, by the aid of which I rejoined my corps, which always
marched as the vanguard. Mounting my own horse, I tremblingly rode to
the head of my division, which it was my duty to precede. The King,
however, had remarked my absence, or rather had been reminded of it by my
superior officer, who, for some time past, had become my enemy.
Just as the army halted to encamp, the King rode towards me, and made a
signal for me to approach, and, seeing my fears in my countenance, said,
"What, are you just returned from hunting?" "Yes, your Majesty. I
hope--" Here interrupting me, he added, "Well, well, for this time, I
shall take no further notice, remembering Potzdam; but, however, let me
find you more attentive to your duty."
So ended this affair, for which I deserved to have been broken. I must
remind my readers that the King meant by the words remembering Potzdam,
he remembered I had been punished too severely the winter before, and
that my present pardon was intended as a compensation.
This was indeed to think and act greatly; this was indeed the true art of
forming great men: an art much more effectual than that of ferocious
generals, who threaten subalterns with imprisonment and chains on every
slight occasion; and, while indulging all the rigours of military law,
make no distinction of minds or of men. Frederic, on the contrary,
sometimes pardoned the failings of genius, while mechanic souls he
mechanically punished, according to the very letter of the laws of war.
I shall further remark, the King took no more notice of my late fault,
except that sometimes, when I had the honour to dine with him, he would
ridicule people who were too often at the chase, or who were so choleric
that they took occasion to quarrel for the least trifle.
The campaign passed in different manoeuvres, marches, and countermarches.
Our corps was the most fatigued, as being encamped round the King's tent,
the station of which was central, and as likewise having the care of the
vanguard; we were therefore obliged to begin our march two hours sooner
than the remainder of the army, that we might be in our place. We also
accompanied the King whenever he went to reconnoitre, traced the lines of
encampment, led the horse to water, inspected the head-quarters, and
regulated the march and encampment, according to the King's orders; the
performance of all which robbed us of much rest, we being but six
officers to execute so many different functions.
Still further, we often executed the office of couriers, to bear the
royal commands to detachments. The King was particularly careful that
the officers of his guards, whom he intended should become excellent in
the art of tactics, should not be idle in his school. It was necessary
to do much in order that much might be learnt. Labour, vigilance,
activity, the love of glory and the love of his country, animated all his
generals; into whom, it may be said, he infused his spirit.
In this school I gained instruction, and here already was I selected as
one designed to instruct others; yet, in my fortieth year, a great
general at Vienna told me, "My dear Trenck, our discipline would be too
difficult for you to learn; for which, indeed, you are too far advanced
in life." Agreeable to this wise decision was I made an Austrian
invalid, and an invalid have always remained; a judgment like this would
have been laughed at, most certainly, at Berlin.
If I mistake not, the famous battle of Soor, or Sorau, was fought on the
14th day of September. The King had sent so many detachments into
Saxony, Bohemia, and Silesia, that the main army did not consist of more
than twenty-five thousand men. Neglecting advice, and obstinate in
judging his enemy by numbers, and not according to the excellence of
discipline, and other accidents, Prince Charles, blind to the real
strength of the Prussian armies, had enclosed this small number of
Pomeranian and Brandenburg regiments, with more than eighty-six thousand
men, intending to take them all prisoners.
It will soon be seen from my narrative with what kind of secrecy his plan
was laid and executed.
The King came into my tent about midnight; as he also did into that of
all the officers, to awaken them; his orders were, "Secretly to saddle,
leave the baggage in the rear, and that the men should stand ready to
mount at the word of command."
Lieutenant Studnitz and myself attended the King, who went in person, and
gave directions through the whole army; meantime, break of day was
expected with anxiety.
Opposite the defile through which the enemy was to march to the attack
eight field-pieces were concealed behind a hill. The King must
necessarily have been informed of the whole plan of the Austrian general,
for he had called in the advanced posts from the heights, that he might
lull him into security, and make him imagine we should be surprised in
the midst of sleep.
Scarcely did break of day appear before the Austrian artillery, situated
upon the heights, began to play upon our camp, and their cavalry to march
through the defile to the attack.
As suddenly were we in battle array; for in less than ten minutes we
ourselves began the attack, notwithstanding the smallness of our number,
the whole army only containing five regiments of cavalry. We fell with
such fury upon the enemy (who at this time were wholly employed in
forming their men at the mouth of the defile, and that slowly, little
expecting so sudden and violent a charge), that we drove them back into
the defile, where they pressed upon each other in crowds; the King
himself stood ready to unmask his eight field-pieces, and a dreadful and
bloody slaughter ensued in this narrow place; from which the enemy had
not the power to retreat. This single incident gained the battle, and
deceived all time hopes of Prince Charles.
Nadasti, Trenck, and the light troops, sent to attack our rear, were
employed in pillaging the camp. The ferocious Croats met no opposition,
while this their error made our victory more secure. It deserves to be
noticed that, when advice was brought to the King that the enemy had
fallen upon and were plundering the camp, his answer was, "So much the
better; they have found themselves employment, and will be no impediment
to our main design."
Our victory was complete, but all our baggage was lost; the headquarters,
utterly undefended, were totally stripped; and Trenck had, for his part
of the booty, the King's tent and his service of plate.
I have mentioned this circumstance here, because that, in the year 1740,
my cousin Trenck, having fallen into the power of his enemies, who had
instituted a legal, process against him, was accused, by some villanous
wretches, of having surprised the King in bed at the battle of Sorau, and
of having afterwards released him for a bribe.
What was still worse, they hired a common woman, a native of Brunn, who
pretended she was the daughter of Marshal Schwerin, to give in evidence
that she herself was with the King when Trenck entered his tent, whom he
immediately made prisoner, and as immediately released.
To this part of the prosecution I myself, an eye-witness, can answer: the
thing was false and impossible. He was informed of the intended attack.
I accompanied the watchful King from midnight till four in the morning,
which time he employed in riding through the camp, and making the
necessary preparations to receive the enemy; and the action began at
five. Trenck could not take the King in bed, for the battle was almost
gained when he and his pandours entered the camp and plundered the head-
quarters.
As for the tale of Miss Schwerin, it is only fit to be told by
schoolboys, or examined by the Inquisition, and was very unworthy of
making part of a legal prosecution against an innocent man at Vienna.
This incident, however, is so remarkable that I shall give in this work a
farther account of my kinsman, and what was called his criminal process,
at reading which the world will be astonished. My own history is so
connected with his that this is necessary, and the more so because there
are many ignorant or wicked people at Vienna, who believe, or affirm,
Trenck had actually taken the King of Prussia prisoner.
Never yet was there a traitor of the name of Trenck; and I hope to prove,
in the clearest manner, the Austrian Trenck as faithfully served the
Empress-Queen as the Prussian Trenck did Frederic, his King. Maria
Theresa, speaking to me of him some time after his death, and the snares
that had been laid for him, said, "Your kinsman has made a better end
than will be the fate of his accusers and judges."
Of this more hereafter: I approach that epoch when my misfortunes began,
and when the sufferings of martyrdom attended me from youth onward till
my hairs grew grey.