There were yet, to the world's surprise and regret, Three Campaigns
of this War; but the Campaign 1760, which we are now upon, was what
produced or rendered possible the other two;--was the crisis of them,
and is now the only one that can require much narrative from us here.
Ill-luck, which, Friedrich complains, had followed him like his shadow,
in a strange and fateful manner, from the day of Kunersdorf and earlier,
does not yet cease its sad company; but, on the contrary, for long
months to come, is more constant than ever, baffling every effort of
his own, and from the distance sending him news of mere disaster and
discomfiture. It is in this Campaign, though not till far on in it,
that the long lane does prove to have a turning, and the Fortune of War
recovers its old impartial form. After which, things visibly languish:
and the hope of ruining such a Friedrich becomes problematic, the effort
to do it slackens also; the very will abating, on the Austrian part,
year by year, as of course the strength of their resources is still
more steadily doing. To the last, Friedrich, the weaker in material
resources, needs all his talent,--all his luck too. But, as the
strength, on both sides, is fast abating,--hard to say on which side
faster (Friedrich's talent being always a FIXED quantity, while all
else is fluctuating and vanishing),--what remains of the once terrible
Affair, through Campaigns Sixth and Seventh, is like a race between
spent horses, little to be said of it in comparison. Campaign 1760
is the last of any outward eminence or greatness of event. Let us
diligently follow that, and be compendious with the remainder.
Friedrich was always famed for his Marches; but, this Year, they
exceeded all calculation and example; and are still the admiration of
military men. Can there by no method be some distant notion afforded
of them to the general reader? They were the one resource Friedrich had
left, against such overwhelming superiority in numbers; and they came
out like surprises in a theatre,--unpleasantly surprising to Daun.
Done with such dexterity, rapidity and inexhaustible contrivance and
ingenuity, as overset the schemes of his enemies again and again, and
made his one army equivalent in effect to their three.
Evening of April 25th, Friedrich rose from his Freyberg cantonments;
moved back, that is, northward, a good march; then encamped himself
between Elbe and the Hill-Country; with freer prospect and more
elbow-room for work coming. His left is on Meissen and the Elbe; his
right at a Village called the Katzenhauser, an uncommonly strong camp,
of which one often hears afterwards; his centre camp is at Schlettau,
which also is strong, though not to such a degree. This line extends
from Meissen southward about 10 miles, commanding the Reich-ward Passes
of the Metal Mountains, and is defensive of Leipzig, Torgau and the
Towns thereabouts. [Tempelhof, iv. 16 et seq.] Katzenhauser is but a
mile or two from Krogis--that unfortunate Village where Finck got his
Maxen Order: "ER WEISS,--You know I can't stand having difficulties
raised; manage to do it!"
Friedrich's task, this Year, is to defend Saxony; Prince Henri having
undertaken the Russians,--Prince Henri and Fouquet, the Russians and
Silesia. Clearly on very uphill terms, both of them: so that Friedrich
finds he will have a great many things to assist in, besides defending
Saxony. He lies here expectant till the middle of June, above seven
weeks; Daun also, for the last two weeks, having taken the field in a
sort. In a sort;--but comes no nearer; merely posting himself astride of
the Elbe, half in Dresden, half on the opposite or northern bank of the
River, with Lacy thrown out ahead in good force on that vacant side; and
so waiting the course of other people's enterprises.
Well to eastward and rearward of Daun, where we have seen Loudon about
to be very busy, Prince Henri and Fouquet have spun themselves out into
a long chain of posts, in length 300 miles or more, "from Landshut,
along the Bober, along the Queiss and Oder, through the Neumark,
abutting on Stettin and Colberg, to the Baltic Sea." [Tempelhof, iv.
21-24.] On that side, in aid of Loudon or otherwise, Daun can attempt
nothing; still less on the Katzenhauser-Schlettau side can he dream of
an attempt: only towards Brandenburg and Berlin--the Country on that
side, 50 or 60 miles of it, to eastward of Meissen, being vacant of
troops--is Daun's road open, were he enterprising, as Friedrich hopes
he is not. For some two weeks, Friedrich--not ready otherwise, it being
difficult to cross the River, if Lacy with his 30,000 should think of
interference--had to leave the cunctatory Feldmarschall this chance or
unlikely possibility. At the end of the second week ("June 14th," as we
shall mark by and by), the chance was withdrawn.
Daun and his Lacy are but one, and that by no means the most harassing,
of the many cares and anxieties which Friedrich has upon him in those
Seven Weeks, while waiting at Schlettau, reading the omens. Never
hitherto was the augury of any Campaign more indecipherable to him, or
so continually fluctuating with wild hopes, which proved visionary, and
with huge practical fears, of what he knew to be the real likelihood.
"Peace coming?" It is strange how long Friedrich clings to that fond
hope: "My Edelsheim is in the Bastille, or packed home in disgrace:
but will not the English and Choiseul make Peace? It is Choiseul's one
rational course; bankrupt as he is, and reduced to spoons and kettles.
In which case, what a beautiful effect might Duke Ferdinand produce,
if he marched to Eger, say to Eger, with his 50,000 Germans (Britannic
Majesty and Pitt so gracious), and twitched Daun by the skirt, whirling
Daun home to Bohemia in a hurry!" Then the Turks; the Danes,--"Might not
the Danes send us a trifle of Fleet to Colberg (since the English
never will), and keep our Russians at bay?"--"At lowest these hopes are
consolatory," says he once, suspecting them all (as, no doubt, he often
enough does), "and give us courage to look calmly for the opening of
this Campaign, the very idea of which has made me shudder!" ["To Prince
Henri:" in _Schoning,_ ii. 246 (3d April, 1760): ib. 263 (of the DANISH
outlook); &c. &c.]
Meanwhile, by the end of May, the Russians are come across the
Weichsel again, lie in four camps on the hither side; start about June
1st;--Henri waiting for them, in Sagan Country his head-quarter; and on
both hands of that, Fouquet and he spread out, since the middle of May,
in their long thin Chain of Posts, from Landshut to Colberg again, like
a thin wall of 300 miles. To Friedrich the Russian movements are, and
have been, full of enigma: "Going upon Colberg? Going upon Glogau; upon
Breslau?" That is a heavy-footed certainty, audibly tramping forward on
us, amid these fond visions of the air! Certain too, and visible to a
duller eye than Friedrich's; Loudon in Silesia is meditating mischief.
"The inevitable Russians, the inevitable Loudon; and nothing but
Fouquet and Henri on guard there, with their long thin chain of posts,
infinitely too thin to do any execution!" thinks the King. To whom their
modes of operating are but little satisfactory, as seen at Schlettau
from the distance. "Condense yourself," urges he always on Henri; "go
forward on the Russians; attack sharply this Corps, that Corps, while
they are still separate and on march!" Henri did condense himself, "took
post between Sagan and Sprottau; post at Frankfurt,"--poor Frankfurt, is
it to have a Kunersdorf or Zorndorf every year, then? No; the cautious
Henri never could see his way into these adventures; and did not attack
any Corps of the Russians. Took post at Landsberg ultimately,--the
Russians, as usual, having Posen as place-of-arms,--and vigilantly
watched the Russians, without coming to strokes at all. A spectacle
growing gradually intolerable to the King, though he tries to veil his
feelings.
Neither was Fouquet's plan of procedure well seen by Friedrich in the
distance. Ever since that of Regiment Manteuffel, which was a bit of
disappointment, Loudon has been quietly industrious on a bigger scale.
Privately he cherishes the hope, being a swift vehement enterprising
kind of man, to oust Fouquet; and perhaps to have Glatz Fortress taken,
before his Russians come! In the very end of May, Loudon, privately
aiming for Glatz, breaks in upon Silesia again,--a long way to eastward
of Fouquet, and as if regardless of Glatz. Upon which, Fouquet, in dread
for Schweidnitz and perhaps Breslau itself, hastened down into the Plain
Country, to manoeuvre upon Loudon; but found no Loudon moving that way;
and, in a day or two, learned that Landshut, so weakly guarded, had been
picked up by a big corps of Austrians; and in another day or two, that
Loudon (June 7th) had blocked Glatz,--Loudon's real intention now clear
to Fouquet. As it was to Friedrich from the first; whose anger and
astonishment at this loss of Landshut were great, when he heard of it in
his Camp of Schlettau. "Back to Landshut," orders he (11th June, three
days before leaving Schlettau); "neither Schweidnitz nor Breslau are in
danger: it is Glatz the Austrians mean [as Fouquet and all the world now
see they do!]; watch Glatz; retake me Landshut instantly!"
The tone of Friedrich, which is usually all friendliness to Fouquet, had
on this occasion something in it which offended the punctual and rather
peremptory Spartan mind. Fouquet would not have neglected Glatz; pity he
had not been left to his own methods with Landshut and it. Deeply hurt,
he read this Order (16th June); and vowing to obey it, and nothing but
it, used these words, which were remembered afterwards, to his assembled
Generals: "MEINE HERREN, it appears, then, we must take Landshut again.
Loudon, as the next thing, will come on us there with his mass of force;
and we must then, like Prussians, hold out as long as possible, think of
no surrender on open field, but if even beaten, defend ourselves to the
last man. In case of a retreat, I will be one of the last that leaves
the field: and should I have the misfortune to survive such a day,
I give you my word of honor never to draw a Prussian sword more."
[Stenzel, v. 239.] This speech of Fouquet's (June 16th) was two days
after Friedrich got on march from Schlettau. June 17th, Fouquet got to
Landshut; drove out the Austrians more easily than he had calculated,
and set diligently, next day, to repair his works, writing to Friedrich:
"Your Majesty's Order shall be executed here, while a man of us lives."
Fouquet, in the old Crown-Prince time, used to be called Bayard by his
Royal friend. His Royal friend, now darker of face and scathed by much
ill-weather, has just quitted Schlettau, three days before this recovery
of Landshut; and will not have gone far till he again hear news of
Fouquet.
NIGHT OF JUNE 14th-15th, Friedrich, "between Zehren and Zabel,"
several miles down stream,--his bridges now all ready, out of Lacy's
cognizance,--has suddenly crossed Elbe; and next afternoon pitches
camp at Broschwitz, which is straight towards Lacy again. To Lacy's
astonishment; who is posted at Moritzburg, with head-quarter in that
beautiful Country-seat of Polish Majesty,--only 10 miles to eastward,
should Friedrich take that road. Broschwitz is short way north of
Meissen, and lies on the road either to Grossenhayn or to Radeburg
(Radeburg only four miles northward of Lacy), as Friedrich shall see
fit, on the morrow. For the Meissen north road forks off there, in those
two directions: straight northward is for Grossenhayn, right hand is for
Badeburg. Most interesting to Lacy, which of these forks, what is quite
optional, Friedrich will take! Lacy is an alert man; looks well to
himself; warns Daun; and will not be caught if he can help it.
Daun himself is encamped at Reichenberg, within two miles of him,
inexpugnably intrenched as usual; and the danger surely is not great:
nevertheless both these Generals, wise by experience, keep their eyes
open.
The FIRST great Feat of Marching now follows, On Friedrich's part; with
little or no result to Friedrich; but worth remembering, so strenuous,
so fruitless was it,--so barred by ill news from without! Both this
and the Second stand recorded for us, in brief intelligent terms by
Mitchell, who was present in both; and who is perfectly exact on every
point, and intelligible throughout,--if you will read him with a Map;
and divine for yourself what the real names are, out of the inhuman
blotchings made of them, not by Mitchell's blame at all. [Mitchell,
_Memoirs and Papers,_ ii. 160 et seq.]
TUESDAY, JUNE 17th, second day of Friedrich's stay at Broschwitz,
Mitchell, in a very confidential Dialogue they had together, learned
from him, under seal of secrecy, That it was his purpose to march for
Radeburg to-morrow morning, and attack Lacy and his 30,000, who lie
encamped at Moritzburg out yonder; for which step his Majesty was
pleased farther to show Mitchell a little what the various inducements
were: "One Russian Corps is aiming as if for Berlin; the Austrians are
about besieging Glatz,--pressing need that Fouquet were reinforced in
his Silesian post of difficulty. Then here are the Reichs-people close
by; can be in Dresden three days hence, joined to Daun: 80,000 odd there
will then be of Enemies in this part: I must beat Lacy, if possible,
while time still is!"--and ended by saying: "Succeed here, and all may
yet be saved; be beaten here, I know the consequences: but what can I
do? The risk must be run; and it is now smaller than it will ever again
be."
Mitchell, whose account is a fortnight later than the Dialogue itself,
does confess, "My Lord, these reasons, though unhappily the thing seems
to have failed, 'appear to me to be solid and unanswerable.'" Much
more do they to Tempelhof, who sees deeper into the bottom of them than
Mitchell did; and finds that the failure is only superficial. [Mitchell,
_Memoirs and Papers,_ ii. 160 (Despatch, "June 30th, 1760"); Tempelhof,
iv. 44.] The real success, thinks Tempelhof, would be, Could the King
manoeuvre himself into Silesia, and entice a cunctatory Daun away with
him thither. A cunctatory Daun to preside over matters THERE, in
his superstitiously cautious way; leaving Saxony free to the
Reichsfolk,--whom a Hulsen, left with his small remnant in Schlettau,
might easily take charge of, till Silesia were settled?" The plan was
bold, was new, and completely worthy of Friedrich," votes Tempelhof;
"and it required the most consummate delicacy of execution. To lure Daun
on, always with the prospect open to him of knocking you on the head,
and always by your rapidity and ingenuity to take care that he never
got it done." This is Tempelhof's notion: and this, sure enough, was
actually Friedrich's mode of management in the weeks following; though
whether already altogether planned in his head, or only gradually
planning itself, as is more likely, nobody can say. We will look a very
little into the execution, concerning which there is no dubiety:--
WEDNESDAY, 18th JUNE, "Friedrich," as predicted to Mitchell, the night
before, "did start punctually, in three columns, at 3 A.M. [Sun just
rising]; and, after a hot march, got encamped on the southward side
of Radeburg: ready to cross the Rodern Stream there to-morrow, as
if intending for the Lausitz [should that prove needful for alluring
Lacy],--and in the mean while very inquisitive where Lacy might be. One
of Lacy's outposts, those Saxon light horse, was fallen in with; was
chased home, and Lacy's camp discovered, that night. At Bernsdorf, not
three miles to southward or right of us; Daun only another three to
south of him. Let us attack Lacy to-morrow morning; wind round to get
between Daun and him, [Tempelhof, iv. 47-49.]--with fit arrangements;
rapid as light! In the King's tent, accordingly, his Generals are
assembled to take their Orders; brief, distinct, and to be done with
brevity. And all are on the move for Bernsdorf at 4 next morning; when,
behold,--
"THURSDAY, 19th, At Bernsdorf there is no Lacy to be found. Cautions
Dorn has ordered him in,--and not for Lacy's sake, as appears, but for
his own: 'Hitherward, you alert Lacy; to cover my right flank here, my
Hill of Reichenberg,--lest it be not impregnable enough against that
feline enemy!' And there they have taken post, say 60,000 against
30,000; and are palisading to a quite extraordinary degree. No fight
possible with Lacy or Daun."
This is what Mitchell counts the failure of Friedrich's enterprise:
and certainly it grieved Friedrich a good deal. Who, on riding out to
reconnoitre Reichenberg (Quintus Icilius and Battalion QUINTUS part of
his escort, if that be an interesting circumstance), finds Reichenberg
a plainly unattackable post; finds, by Daun's rate of palisading, that
there will be no attack from Daun either. No attack from Daun;--and,
therefore, that Hulsen's people may be sent home to Schlettau again; and
that he, Friedrich, will take post close by, and wearisomely be content
to wait for some new opportunity.
Which he does for a week to come; Daun sitting impregnable, intrenched
and palisaded to the teeth,--rather wishing to be attacked, you would
say; or hopeful sometimes of doing something of the Hochkirch sort again
(for the country is woody, and the enemy audacious);--at all events,
very clear not to attack. A man erring, sometimes to a notable degree,
by over-caution. "Could hardly have failed to overwhelm Friedrich's
small force, had he at once, on Friedrich's crossing the Elbe, joined
Lacy, and gone out against him," thinks Tempelhof, pointing out the form
of operation too. [Tempelhof, iv. 42, 48.] Caution is excellent; but
not quite by itself. Would caution alone do it, an Army all of Druidic
whinstones, or innocent clay-sacks, incapable of taking hurt, would
be the proper one!--Daun stood there; Friedrich looking daily into
him,--visibly in ill humor, says Mitchell; and no wonder; gloomy and
surly words coming out of him, to the distress of his Generals: "Which
I took the liberty of hinting, one evening, to his Majesty;" hint
graciously received, and of effect perceptible, at least to my
imagining.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25th, After nearly a week of this, there rose, towards
sunset, all over the Reichenberg, and far and wide, an exuberant
joy-firing: "For what in the world?" thinks Friedrich. Alas, your
Majesty,--since your own messenger has not arrived, nor indeed ever
will, being picked up by Pandours,--here, gathered from the Austrian
outposts or deserters, are news for you, fatal enough! Landshut is done;
Fouquet and his valiant 13,000 are trodden out there. Indignant Fouquet
has obeyed you, not wisely but too well. He has kept Landshut six nights
and five days. On the morning of the sixth day, here is what befell:--
"LANDSHUT, MONDAY, 23d JUNE, About a quarter to two in the morning,
Loudon, who had gathered 31,000 horse and foot for the business, and
taken his measures, fired aloft, by way of signal, four howitzers into
the gray of the summer morning; and burst loose upon Fouquet, in various
columns, on his southward front, on both flanks, ultimately in his rear
too: columns all in the height of fighting humor, confident as three to
one,--and having brandy in them, it is likewise said. Fouquet and
his people stood to arms, in the temper Fouquet had vowed they would:
defended their Hills with an energy, with a steady skill, which Loudon
himself admired; but their Hill-works would have needed thrice the
number;--Fouquet, by detaching and otherwise, has in arms only 10,680
men. Toughly as they strove, after partial successes, they began to lose
one Hill, and then another; and in the course of hours, nearly all their
Hills. Landshut Town Loudon had taken from them, Landshut and its
roads: in the end, the Prussian position is becoming permeable, plainly
untenable;--Austrian force is moving to their rearward to block the
retreat.
"Seeing which latter fact, Fouquet throws out all his Cavalry, a poor
1,500, to secure the Passes of the Bober; himself formed square with the
wrecks of his Infantry; and, at a steady step, cuts way for himself with
bayonet and bullet. With singular success for some time, in spite of the
odds. And is clear across the Bober; when lo, among the knolls ahead,
masses of Austrian Cavalry are seen waiting him, besetting every
passage! Even these do not break him; but these, with infantry and
cannon coming up to help them, do. Here, for some time, was the fiercest
tug of all,--till a bullet having killed Fouquet's horse, and carried
the General himself to the ground, the spasm ended. The Lichnowski
Dragoons, a famed Austrian regiment, who had charged and again charged
with nothing but repulse on repulse, now broke in, all in a foam of
rage; cut furiously upon Fouquet himself; wounded Fouquet thrice; would
have killed him, had it not been for the heroism of poor Trautschke,
his Groom [let us name the gallant fellow, even if unpronounceable],
who flung himself on the body of his Master, and took the bloody strokes
instead of him; shrieking his loudest, 'Will you murder the Commanding
General, then!' Which brought up the Colonel of Lichnowski; a Gentleman
and Ritter, abhorrent of such practices. To him Fouquet gave his
sword;--kept his vow never to draw it again.
"The wrecks of Fouquet's Infantry were, many of them, massacred, no
quarter given; such the unchivalrous fury that had risen. His Cavalry,
with the loss of about 500, cut their way through. They and some
stragglers of Foot, in whole about 1,500 of both kinds, were what
remained of those 10,680 after this bloody morning's work. There had
been about six hours of it; 'all over by 8 o'clock.'" [_Hofbericht
von der am 23 Junius, 1760, bey Landshuth vorgefallenen Action_ (in
Seyfarth, _Beylagen,_ ii. 669-671); _Helden-Geschichte,_ vi. 258-284;
Tempelhof, iv. 26-41; Stenzel, v. 241 (who, by oversight,--this Volume
being posthumous to poor Stenzel,--protracts the Action to "half-past 7
in the evening").]
Fouquet has obeyed to the letter: "Did not my King wrong me?" Fouquet
may say to himself. Truly, Herr General, your King's Order was a little
unwise; as you (who were on the ground, and your King not) knew it
to be. An unwise Order;--perhaps not inexcusable in the sudden
circumstances. And perhaps a still more perfect Bayard would have
preferred obeying such a King in spirit, rather than in letter, and
thereby doing him vital service AGAINST his temporary will? It is not
doubted but Fouquet, left to himself and his 13,000, with the Fortresses
and Garrisons about him, would have maintained himself in Silesia till
help came. The issue is,--Fouquet has probably lost this fine King
his Silesia, for the time being; and beyond any question, has lost him
10,000 Prussian-Spartan fighters, and a fine General whom he could ill
spare!--In a word, the Gate of Silesia is burst open; and Loudon has
every prospect of taking Glatz, which will keep it so.
What a thunder-bolt for Friedrich! One of the last pillars struck away
from his tottering affairs. "Inevitable, then? We are over with it,
then?" One may fancy Friedrich's reflections. But he showed nothing of
them to anybody; in a few hours, had his mind composed, and new plans on
the anvil. On the morrow of that Austrian Joy-Firing,--morrow, or some
day close on it (ought to have been dated, but is not),--there went
from him, to Magdeburg, the Order: "Have me such and such quantities of
Siege-Artillery in a state of readiness." [Tempelhof, iv. 51.] Already
meaning, it is thought, or contemplating as possible a certain Siege,
which surprised everybody before long! A most inventive, enterprising
being; no end to his contrivances and unexpected outbreaks; especially
when you have him jammed into a corner, and fancy it is all over with
him!
"To no other General," says Tempelhof, "would such a notion of besieging
Dresden have occurred; or if it had suggested itself, the hideous
difficulties would at once have banished it again, or left it only as a
pious wish. But it is strokes of this kind that characterize the great
man. Often enough they have succeeded, been decisive of great campaigns
and wars, and become splendid in the eyes of all mankind; sometimes, as
in this case, they have only deserved to succeed, and to be splendid in
the eyes of judges. How get these masses of enemies lured away, so
that you could try such a thing? There lay the difficulty; insuperable
altogether, except by the most fine and appropriate treatment. Of a
truth, it required a connected series of the wisest measures and most
secret artifices of war;--and withal, that you should throw over them
such a veil as would lead your enemy to see in them precisely the
reverse of what they meant. How all this was to be set in action, and
how the Enemy's own plans, intentions and moods of mind were to be used
as raw material for attainment of your object,--studious readers will
best see in the manoeuvres of the King in his now more than critical
condition; which do certainly exhibit the completest masterpiece in the
Art of leading Armies that Europe has ever seen."
Tempelhof is well enough aware, as readers should continue to be, that,
primarily, and onward for three weeks more, not Dresden, but the getting
to Silesia on good terms, is Friedrich's main enterprise: Dresden only
a supplement or substitute, a second string to his bow, till the first
fail. But, in effect, the two enterprises or strings coincide, or are
one, till the first of them fail; and Tempelhof's eulogy will apply
to either. The initiatory step to either is a Second Feat of
Marching;--still notabler than the former, which has had this poor
issue. Soldiers of the studious or scientific sort, if there are yet any
such among us, will naturally go to Tempelhof, and fearlessly encounter
the ruggedest Documents and Books, if Tempelhof leave them dubious on
any point (which he hardly will): to ingenuous readers of other sorts,
who will take a little pains for understanding the thing, perhaps the
following intermittent far-off glimpses may suffice. [Mitchell, ii. 162
et seq.; and Tempelhof (iv. 50-53 et seq.), as a scientific check on
Mitchell, or unconscious fellow-witness with him,--agreeing beautifully
almost always.]
On ascertaining the Landshut disaster, Friedrich falls back a little;
northward to Gross-Dobritz: "Possibly Daun will think us cowed by what
has happened; and may try something on us?" Daun is by no means sure of
this COWED phenomenon, or of the retreat it has made; and tries nothing
on it; only rides up daily to it, to ascertain that it is there; and
diligently sends out parties to watch the Northeastward parts, where
run the Silesian Roads. After about a week of this, and some
disappointments, Friedrich decides to march in earnest. There had, one
day, come report of Lacy's being detached, Lacy with a strong Division,
to block the Silesian roads; but that, on trial, proved to be false.
"Pshaw, nothing for us but to go ourselves!" concludes Friedrich,--and,
JULY 1st, sends off his Bakery and Heavy Baggage; indicating to
Mitchell, "To-morrow morning at 3!"--Here is Mitchell's own account;
accurate in every particular, as we find: [Mitchell, ii. 164; Tempelhof,
iv. 54.]
WEDNESDAY, JULY 2d. "From Gross-Dobritz to Quosdorf [to Quosdorf, a poor
Hamlet there, not QuoLsdorf, as many write, which is a Town far enough
from there]--the Army marched accordingly. In two columns; baggage,
bakery and artillery in a third; through a country extremely covered
with wood. Were attacked by some Uhlans and Hussars; whom a few
cannon-shot sent to the road again. March lasted from 3 in the morning
to 3 in the afternoon;" twelve long hours. "Went northeastward a space
of 20 miles, leaving Radeburg, much more leaving Reichenberg, Moritzburg
and the Daun quarters well to the right, and at last quite to rearward;
crossed the Roder, crossed the Pulsnitz," small tributaries or
sub-tributaries of the Elbe in those parts; "crossed the latter (which
divides Meissen from the Lausitz) partly by the Bridge of Krakau, first
Village in the Lausitz. Head-quarter was the poor Hamlet of Quosdorf,
a mile farther on. 'This march had been carefully kept secret,' says
Mitchell; 'and it was the opinion of the most experienced Officers,
that, had the Enemy discovered the King of Prussia's design, they might,
by placing their light troops in the roads with proper supports, have
rendered it extremely difficult, if not impracticable.'"
Daun very early got to know of Friedrich's departure, and whitherward;
which was extremely interesting to Daun: "Aims to be in Silesia before
me; will cut out Loudon from his fine prospects on Glatz?"--and had
instantly reinforced, perhaps to 20,000, Lacy's Division; and ordered
Lacy, who is the nearest to Friedrich's March, to start instantly on the
skirts of said March, and endeavor diligently to trample on the same.
For the purpose of harassing said March, Lacy is to do whatever he with
safety can (which we see is not much: "a few Uhlans and Hussars"); at
lowest, is to keep it constantly in sight; and always encamp as near it
as he dare; [Tempelhof, iv. 54.]--Daun himself girding up his loins; and
preparing, by a short-cut, to get ahead of it in a day or two. Lacy
was alert enough, but could not do much with safety: a few Uhlans and
Hussars, that was all; and he is now encamped somewhere to rearward, as
near as he dare.
THURSDAY, 3d JULY. "A rest-day; Army resting about Krakau, after such
a spell through the woody moors. The King, with small escort, rides out
reconnoitring, hither, thither, on the southern side or Lacy quarter: to
the top of the Keulenberg (BLUDGEON HILL), at last,--which is ten or a
dozen miles from Krakau and Quosdorf, but commands an extensive view.
Towns, village-belfries, courses of streams; a country of mossy woods
and wild agricultures, of bogs, of shaggy moor. Southward 10 miles is
Radeberg [not RadebUrg, observe]; yonder is the town of Pulsnitz on our
stream of Pulsnitz; to southeast, and twice as far, is Bischofswerda,
chasmy Stolpen (too well known to us before this): behind us,
Konigsbruck, Kamenz and the road from Grossenhayn to Bautzen: these and
many other places memorable to this King are discoverable from Bludgeon
Hill. But the discovery of discoveries to him is Lacy's Camp,--not very
far off, about a mile behind Pulsnitz; clearly visible, at Lichtenberg
yonder. Which we at once determine to attack; which, and the roads to
which, are the one object of interest just now,--nothing else visible,
as it were, on the top of the Keulenberg here, or as we ride homeward,
meditating it with a practical view. 'March at midnight,' that is the
practical result arrived at, on reaching home."
FRIDAY, JULY 4th. "Since the stroke of midnight we are all on march
again; nothing but the baggages and bakeries left [with Quintus to watch
them, which I see is his common function in these marches]; King himself
in the Vanguard,--who hopes to give Lacy a salutation. [Tempelhof, iv.
56.] 'The march was full of defiles,' says Mitchell: and Mitchell, in
his carriage, knew little what a region it was, with boggy intricacies,
lakelets, tangly thickets, stocks and stumps; or what a business to pass
with heavy cannon, baggage-wagons and columns of men! Such a march; and
again not far from twenty miles of it: very hot, as the morning broke,
in the breathless woods. Had Lacy known what kind of ground we had to
march in, and been enterprising--! thinks Tempelhof. The march being
so retarded, Lacy got notice of it, and vanished quite away,--to
Bischofswerda, I believe, and the protecting neighborhood of Daun.
Nothing of him left when we emerge, simultaneously from this hand and
from that, on his front and on his rear, to take him as in a vice, as in
the sudden snap of a fox-trap;--fox quite gone. Hardly a few hussars of
him to be picked up; and no chase possible, after such a march."
Friedrich had done everything to keep himself secret: but Lacy has
endless Pandours prowling about; and, I suppose, the Country-people
(in the Lausitz here, who ought to have loyalty) are on the Lacy side.
Friedrich has to take his disappointment. He encamps here, on the
Heights, head-quarter Pulsnitz,--till Quintus come up with the baggage,
which he does punctually, but not till nightfall, not till midnight the
last of him.
SATURDAY, JULY 5th. "To the road again at 3 A.M. Again to northward, to
Kloster (CLOISTER) Marienstern, a 15 miles or so,--head-quarter in the
Cloister itself. Daun had set off for Bautzen, with his 50 or 60,000,
in the extremest push of haste, and is at Bautzen this night; ahead
of Friedrich, with Lacy as rear-guard of him, who is also ahead of
Friedrich, and safe at Bischofswerda. A Daun hastening as never before.
This news of a Daun already at Bautzen awakened Friedrich's utmost
speed: 'Never do, that Daun be in Silesia before us! Indispensable to
get ahead of Bautzen and him, or to be waiting on the flank of his next
march!' Accordingly,
"SUNDAY, JULY 6th, Friedrich, at 3 A.M., is again in motion; in three
columns, streaming forward all day: straight eastward, Daun-ward.
Intends to cross the Spree, leaving Bautzen to the right; and take
post somewhere to northeast of Bautzen, and on the flank of Daun. The
windless day grows hotter and hotter; the roads are of loose sand,
full of jungles and impediments. This was such a march for heat and
difficulty as the King never had before. In front of each Column went
wagons with a few pontoons; there being many brooks and little streams
to cross. The soldier, for his own health's sake, is strictly forbidden
to drink; but as the burning day rose higher, in the sweltering close
march, thirst grew irresistible. Crossing any of these Brooks, the
soldiers pounce down, irrepressible, whole ranks of them; lift water,
clean or dirty; drink it greedily from the brim of the hat. Sergeants
may wag their tongues and their cudgels at discretion: 'showers of
cudgel-strokes,' says Archenholtz; Sergeants going like threshers on the
poor men;--'though the upper Officers had a touch of mercy, and affected
not to see this disobedience to the Sergeants and their cudgels,'
which was punishable with death. War is not an over-fond Mother, but a
sufficiently Spartan one, to her Sons. There dropt down, in the march
that day, 105 Prussian men, who never rose again. And as to intercepting
Daun by such velocity,--Daun too is on march; gone to Gorlitz, at almost
a faster pace, if at a far heavier,--like a cart-horse on gallop; faring
still worse in the heat: '200 of Daun's men died on the road this day,
and 300 more were invalided for life.' [Tempelhof, iv. 58; Archenholtz,
ii. 68; Mitchell, ii. 166.]
"Before reaching the Spree, Friedrich, who is in the Vanguard, hears
of this Gorlitz March, and that the bird is flown. For which he has,
therefore, to devise straightway a new expedient: 'Wheel to the right;
cross Spree farther down, holding towards Bautzen itself,' orders
Friedrich. And settles within two miles of Bautzen; his left being at
Doberschutz,--on the strong ground he held after Hochkirch, while Daun,
two years ago, sat watching so quiescent. Daun knows what kind of march
these Prussians, blocked out from relief of Neisse, stole on him THEN,
and saved their Silesia, in spite of his watching and blocking;--and
has plunged off, in the manner of a cart-horse scared into galloping, to
avoid the like." What a Sabbath-day's journey, on both sides, for those
Sons of War! Nothing in the Roman times, though they had less
baggage, comes up to such modern marching: nor is this the fastest of
Friedrich's, though of Daun's it unspeakably is. "Friedrich, having
missed Daun, is thinking now to whirl round, and go into Lacy,--which
will certainly bring Daun back, even better.
"This evening, accordingly, Ziethen occupies Bautzen; sweeps out certain
Lacy precursors, cavalry in some strength, who are there. Lacy has come
on as far as Bischofswerda: and his Horse-people seem to be wide ahead;
provokingly pert upon Friedrich's outposts, who determines to chastise
them the first thing to-morrow. To-morrow, as is very needful, is to be
a rest-day otherwise. For Friedrich's wearied people a rest-day; not at
all for Daun's, who continues his heavy-footed galloping yet another day
and another, till he get across the Queiss, and actually reach Silesia."
MONDAY, JULY 7th. "Rest-day accordingly, in Bautzen neighborhood;
nothing passing but a curious Skirmish of Horse,--in which Friedrich,
who had gone westward reconnoitring, seeking Lacy, had the main share,
and was notably situated for some time. Godau, a small town or village,
six miles west of Bautzen, was the scene of this notable passage:
actors in it were Friedrich himself, on the Prussian part; and, on the
Austrian, by degrees Lacy's Cavalry almost in whole. Lacy's Cavalry,
what Friedrich does not know, are all in those neighborhoods: and
no sooner is Godau swept clear of them, than they return in greater
numbers, needing to be again swept; and, in fact, they gradually
gather in upon him, in a singular and dangerous manner, after his first
successes on them, and before his Infantry have time to get up and
support.
"Friedrich was too impatient in this provoking little haggle, arresting
him here. He had ordered on the suitable Battalion with cannon; but
hardly considers that the Battalion itself is six miles off,--not
to speak of the Order, which is galloping on horseback, not going by
electricity:--the impatient Friedrich had slashed in at once upon Godau,
taken above 100 prisoners; but is astonished to see the slashed
people return, with Saxon-Dragoon regiments, all manner of regiments,
reinforcing them. And has some really dangerous fencing there;--issuing
in dangerous and curious pause of both parties; who stand drawn up,
scarcely beyond pistol-shot, and gazing into one another, for I know
not how many minutes; neither of them daring to move off, lest, on the
instant of turning, it be charged and overwhelmed. As the impatient
Friedrich, at last, almost was,--had not his Infantry just then got in,
and given their cannon-salvo. He lost about 200, the Lacy people hardly
so many; and is now out of a considerable personal jeopardy, which is
still celebrated in the Anecdote-Books, perhaps to a mythical extent.
'Two Uhlans [Saxon-Polish Light-Horse], with their truculent pikes, are
just plunging in,' say the Anecdote-Books: Friedrich's Page, who had got
unhorsed, sprang to his feet, bellowed in Polish to them: 'What are
you doing here, fellows?' 'Excellenz [for the Page is not in Prussian
uniform, or in uniform at all, only well-dressed], Excellenz, our horses
ran away with us,' answer the poor fellows; and whirl back rapidly." The
story, says Retzow, is true. [Retzow, ii. 215.]
This is the one event of July 7th,--and of July 8th withal; which day
also, on news of Daun that come, Friedrich rests. Up to July 8th, it is
clear Friedrich is shooting with what we called the first string of his
bow,--intent, namely, on Silesia. Nor, on hearing that Daun is forward
again, now hopelessly ahead, does he quit that enterprise; but, on the
contrary, to-morrow morning, July 9th, tries it by a new method, as we
shall see: method cunningly devised to suit the second string as well.
"How lucky that we have a second string, in case of failure!"--
TUESDAY, 8th JULY. "News that Daun reached Gorlitz yesternight; and
is due to-night at Lauban, fifty miles ahead of us:--no hope now
of reaching Daun. Perhaps a sudden clutch at Lacy, in the opposite
direction, might be the method of recalling Daun, and reaching him? That
is the method fallen upon.
"Sun being set, the drums in Bautzen sound TATTOO,--audible to listening
Croats in the Environs;--beat TATTOO, and, later in the night, other
passages of drum-music, also for Croat behoof (GENERAL-MARCH I think it
is); indicating That we have started again, in pursuit of Daun. And in
short, every precaution being taken to soothe the mind of Lacy and
the Croats, Friedrich silently issues, with his best speed, in Three
columns, by Three roads, towards Lacy's quarters, which go from that
village of Godau westward, in a loose way, several miles. In three
columns, by three routes, all to converge, with punctuality, on Lacy.
Of the columns, two are of Infantry, the leftmost and the rightmost, on
each hand, hidden as much as possible; one is of Cavalry in the middle.
Coming on in this manner--like a pair of triple-pincers, which are to
grip simultaneously on Lacy, and astonish him, if he keep quiet. But
Lacy is vigilant, and is cautious almost in excess. Learning by his
Pandours that the King seems to be coming this way, Lacy gathers himself
on the instant; quits Godau, by one in the morning; and retreats bodily,
at his fastest step, to Bischofswerda again; nor by any means stops
there." [Tempelhof, iv. 61-63.]
For the third time! "Three is lucky," Friedrich may have thought:
and there has no precaution, of drum-music, of secrecy or persuasive
finesse, been neglected on Lacy. But Lacy has ears that hear the grass
grow: our elaborately accurate triple-pincers, closing simultaneously
on Bischofswerda, after eighteen miles of sweep, find Lacy flown again;
nothing to be caught of him but some 80 hussars. All this day and
all next night Lacy is scouring through the western parts at an
extraordinary rate; halting for a camp, twice over, at different
places,--Durre Fuchs (THIRSTY FOX), Durre Buhle (THIRSTY SWEETHEART), or
wherever it was; then again taking wing, on sound of Prussian parties to
rear; in short, hurrying towards Dresden and the Reichsfolk, as if for
life.
Lacy's retreat, I hear, was ingeniously done, with a minimum of disorder
in the circumstances: but certainly it was with a velocity as if his
head had been on fire; and, indeed, they say he escaped annihilation by
being off in time. He put up finally, not at Thirsty Sweetheart, still
less at Thirsty Fox, successive Hamlets and Public Houses in the sandy
Wilderness which lies to north of Elbe, and is called DRESDEN HEATH;
but farther on, in the same Tract, at Weisse Hirsch (WHITE HART); which
looks close over upon Dresden, within two miles or so; and is a kind
of Height, and military post of advantage. Next morning, July 10th,
he crosses Dresden Bridge, comes streaming through the City; and takes
shelter with the Reichsfolk near there:--towards Plauen Chasm; the
strongest ground in the world; hardly strong enough, it appears, in the
present emergency.
Friedrich's first string, therefore, has snapt in two; but, on the
instant, he has a second fitted on:--may that prove luckier!