As one of our principal objects is to lay before young military
students sieges in which masters of the art of war have been engaged,
we cannot pass by two of this city, both containing lessons worthy of
being remembered.
The capture of Schweidnitz offers a fresh proof that no precaution is
unnecessary in war. The smallest negligence in the service of places
contiguous to the enemy, is most frequently punished by unexpected
reverses. Five hundred prisoners were negligently guarded in the
fortress of Schweidnitz. Amongst them was a Major Rocca, a clever
Italian partisan. This major formed the idea of placing the fortress
in which he was confined in the hands of the Austrians. He had the
address to insinuate himself so completely into the good graces of
the commander, that he had liberty to walk among all the works, to
become acquainted with the places of all the sentinels and of all the
_corps-de-garde_; he frequently saw the Austrians, prisoners like
himself, intrigued in the city, and regularly informed General Laudon
of all he saw, perceived, or imagined, that would facilitate the
surprise of Schweidnitz. According to these instructions, the general
drew up his plan of attack, which he executed in the night between
the 30th of September and the 1st of October. He distributed twenty
battalions in four attacks, one upon the Breslau gate, another upon
the Striegau gate, the third upon the fort of Boeckendorff, and the
fourth upon the Water fort. M. de Zastrow, governor of Schweidnitz,
having some suspicions of the enemy’s intentions, called his garrison
to arms about the middle of the night, and spread them about the works;
but he committed the faults of not giving his officers instructions
how to act, of not sending cavalry to a certain distance on the
look-out, and of not discharging fire-bombs to throw a light upon
the approach of the enemy. The Austrians advanced to the palisades,
without being discovered. There were only twelve cannon fired upon
them, and the musketry was so weak that it did them no harm. The guard
of the Striegau gate was surprised, and they penetrated thence through
the works. During this confusion, the Austrian prisoners threw off
the mask, took possession of the interior gate of the city, threw it
open to the enemy’s advancing troops, and made themselves masters of
the whole place. The only person who held out was the commander of
the Water fort; but his resistance was useless. Such an unexpected
misfortune changed all the plans of the king of Prussia, who could
only, during the remainder of this campaign, defend, against a superior
enemy, the fortresses and territories he had left.