Wild Cossack parties are scouring over all parts of the field; robbing

the dead, murdering the wounded; doing arson, too, wherever possible;

and even snatching at the Prussian cannon left rearwards, so that the

Hussars have to go upon them again. One large mass of them plundering in

the Hamlet of Zicher, the Hussars surrounded: the Cossacks took to the

outhouses; squatted, ran, called in the aid of fire, their constant

friend: above 400 of them were in some big barn, or range of straw

houses; and set fire to it,--but could not get out for Hussars; the

Hussars were at the outgate: Not a devil of you! said the Hussars; and

the whole four hundred perished there, choked, burnt, or slain by

the Hussars,--and this poor Planet was at length rid of them.

[_Helden-Geschichte,_ v. 166.]

Friedrich sends for his tent-equipages; and the Army pitches its camp in

two big lines, running north and south, looking towards the Russian side

of things; Friedrich's tent in front of the first line; a warrior King

among his people, who have had a day's work of it. The Russian loss

turns out, when counted, to have been 21,529 killed, wounded and

missing, 7,990 of them killed; the Prussian sum-total is 11,390 (above

the Prussian third man), of whom 3,680 slain. And on the shores of

Acheron northward yonder, there still is a simmering. And far and wide

the country is alight with incendiary fires,--many devils still abroad.

Excellency Mitchell, about eight in the evening, is sent for by the

King; finds various chief Generals, Seidlitz among them, on their

various businesses there; congratulates "on the noble victory [not so

conclusive hitherto] which Heaven has granted your Majesty." "Had it not

been for him," said Friedrich,--"Had it not been for him, things

would have had a bad look by this time!" and turned his sun-eyes upon

Seidlitz, with a fine expression in them. [Preuss, ii. 153. Mitchell

(ii. 432) mentions the Interview, nothing of Seidlitz.] To which

Seidlitz's reply, I find, was an embarrassed blush and of articulate

only, "Hm, no, ha, it was your Majesty's Cavalry that did their

duty,--but Wakenitz [my second] does deserve promotion!"--which

Wakenitz, not in a too overflowing measure, got.

Fermor, during the night-watches, having cobbled himself into some kind

of ranks or rows, moves down well westward of Zabern Hollow; to the

Drewitz Heath, where he once before lay, and there makes his bivouac in

the wood, safe under the fir-trees, with the Zabern ground to front of

him. By the above reckoning, 28 or 29,000 still hang to Fermor, or

float vaporously round him; with Friedrich, in his two lines, are some

18,000:--in whole, 46,000 tired mortals sleeping thereabouts; near

12,000 others have fallen into a deeper sleep, not liable to be

disturbed;--and of the wounded on the field, one shudders to imagine.

Next day, Saturday, 26th, Fermor, again brought into some kind of rank,

and safe beyond the quaggy Zabern ground, sent out a proposal, "That

there be Truce of Three Days for burying the dead!"--Dohna, who happened

to be General in command there, answers, "That it is customary for

the Victor to take charge of burying the slain; that such proposal is

surprising, and quite inadmissible, in present circumstances." Fermor,

in the mean while, had drawn himself out, fronting his late battle-field

and the morning sun; and began cannonading across the Zabern ground;

too far off for hitting, but as if still intending fight: to which

the Prussians replied with cannon, and drew out before their tents in

fighting order. In both armies there was question, or talk, of

attacking anew; but in both "there was want of ammunition," want of real

likelihood. On Fermor's side, that of "attacking" could be talk only,

and on Friedrich's, besides the scarcity of ammunition, all creatures,

foot and especially horse, were so worn out with yesterday's work, it

was not judged practically expedient. A while before noon, the Prussians

retired to their Camp again; leaving only the artillery to respond, so

far as needful, and bow-wow across the Zabern ground, till the Russians

lay down again.

Friedrich's Hussars knew of the Russian WAGENBURG, or general baggage

reservoirs, at Klein Kamin, by this time. The Hussars had been in it,

last night; rummaging extensively, at discretion for some time; and had

brought away much money and portable plunder. Why Friedrich, who lay

direct between Fermor and his Wagenburg, did not, this day, extinguish

said Wagenburg, I do not know; but guess it may have been a fault of

omission, in the great welter this was now grown to be to the weary

mind. Beyond question, if one had blown up Fermor's remaining gunpowder,

and carried off or burnt his meal-sacks, he must have cowered away all

the faster towards Landsberg to seek more. Or perhaps Friedrich now

judged it immaterial, and a question only of hours?

About midnight of Saturday-Sunday, there again rose bow-wowing,

bellowing of Russian cannon; not from beyond the Zabern ground this

time, nor stationary anywhere, but from the south some transient part of

it, and not far off;--one ball struck a carriage near the King's tent,

and shattered it. Thick mist mantles everything, and it is difficult to

know what the Russians have on hand in their sylvan seclusions. After

a time, it becomes manifest the Russians are on retreat; winding round,

through the southern woods, behind Zorndorf and the charred Villages,

to Klein Kamin, Landsberg way. Friedrich, following now on the heel

of them, finds all got to Klein Kamin, to breakfast there in

their Wagenburg refectory,--sharply vigilant, many FLECHES (little

arrow-shaped redoubts, so named) and much artillery round them. Nothing

considerable to be done upon them, now or afterwards, except pick up

stragglers, and distress their rear a little. The King himself, in the

first movement, was thought to be in alarming peril, such a blaze of

case-shot rose upon him, as he went reconnoitring foremost of all.

[Tempelhof, ii. 216-238; Tielcke, ii. 79-154; Archenholtz, i. 253-264;

_Helden-Geschichte,_ v. 156-179 (with many LISTS, private LETTERS and

the like details); &c. &c.]

And this was, at last, the end of Zorndorf Battle; on the third day

this. Was there ever seen such a fight of Theseus and the Minotaur!

Theseus, rapid, dexterous, with Heaven's lightning in his eyes, seizing

the Minotaur; lassoing him by the hinder foot, then by the right horn;

pouring steel and destruction into him, the very dust darkening all the

air. Minotaur refusing to die when killed; tumbling to and fro upon its

Theseus; the two lugging and tugging, flinging one another about, and

describing figures of 8 round each other for three days before it ended.

Minotaur walking off on his own feet, after all. It was the bloodiest

battle of the Seven-Years War; one of the most furious ever fought; such

rage possessing the individual elements; rage unusual in modern wars.

Must have altered Friedrich's notion of the Russians, when he next comes

to speak with Keith. It was not till the fourth day hence (August

31st), so unattackably strong was this position at Klein Kamin, that the

Russian Minotaur would fairly get to its feet a second time, and

slowly stagger off, in real earnest, Landsberg way and Konigsberg

way;--Friedrich right glad to leave Dohna in attendance on it; and

hasten off (September 2d) towards Saxony and Prince Henri, where his

presence is now become very needful.

MAP GOES HERE FACING PAGE 138, BOOK XVIII----

Fermor, walking off in this manner,--not till the third day, nay not

conclusively till the seventh day, after Zorndorf,--strove at first to

consider himself victorious. "I passed the night on the field of battle

[or NOT far from it, for good reasons, Mutzel being bridgeless]: may not

I, in the language of enthusiasm, be considered conqueror? Here are 26

of their cannon, got when I cried 'Arah' prematurely. (Where the 103

pieces of my own are, and my 27 flags, and my Army-chest and sundries?

Dropped somewhere; they will probably turn up again!)" thinks

Fermor,--or strives to think, and says. So that, at Petersburg, at Paris

and Vienna, in the next three weeks, there were TE-DEUMS, Ambrosian

chantings, fires-of-joy; and considerable arguing among the Gazetteers

on both parts,--till the dust settled, and facts appeared as they were.

To the effect: "TE DEUM non LAUDAMUS; alas no, we must retract; and it

was good gunpowder thrown after bad!"

On always homewards, but at its own pace, waited on by Dohna, goes the

Russian Monster: violently case-shotting if you prick into its rearward

parts. One Palmbach,--under Romanzow, I think, who had not taken part

in the Battle, being out Stettin way, and unable to join till

now,--Palmbach, with a Detachment of 15,000, which was thought

sufficient for the object, did try to make a dash on Colberg,--how happy

had we any port on the Baltic, to feed us in this Country! But though

Colberg is the paltriest crow's-nest (BICOQUE), according to all

engineers, and is defended only by 700 militia (the Colonel of them, one

Heyde, a gray old Half-pay, not yet renowned in the soldier world, as he

here came to be), Palmbach, with his best diligence, could make nothing

of it; but, after battering, bombarding, even scalading, and in all

ways blurting and blazing at a mighty rate for four weeks, and wasting

a great deal of gunpowder and 2,000 Russian lives, withdrew on those

remarkable terms. [In _Helden-Geschichte,_ v. 349-365 ("3d-31st October,

1758"), a complete and minute JOURNAL of this First Siege of Colberg,

which is interesting to read of, as all the Three of them are.] And

did then, as tail of Fermor, what Fermor and the Russian Monster was

universally doing, make off at a good pace,--having nothing to live upon

farther,--and vanish from those Countries, to the relief of Dohna and

mankind.

September 2d, Friedrich, leaving all that, had marched for Saxony;

his presence urgently required there. Daun ought to be far on with the

conquest of that Country? Might have had it, say judges, if he had been

as swift as some.--At Zorndorf, among the Russian Prisoners were certain

Generals, Soltikof, Czernichef, Sulkowski the Pole, proud people in

their own eyes: no lodging for them but the cellars of Custrin. Russian

Generals complained, "Is this a lodging for Field-Officers of rank!"

Friedrich was not used to profane swearing, or vituperative outbursts;

but he answered to the effect: "Silence, ye incendiary individuals. Is

there a choice left of lodgings, and for you above others!" Upon

which they lay silent for some days, till better suited; in fact, till

exchanged,--and perhaps will soon turn up on us again.

Chapter XIV.--BATTLE OF HOCHKIRCH.

So soon as Friedrich quitted Bohemia and Silesia for his Russian

Enterprise, there rose high question at Vienna, "To what shall our Daun

now turn himself?" A Daun, a Reichs Army, free for new employment; in

Saxony not much to oppose them, in Silesia almost nothing in comparison.

"Recapture of Silesia?" Yes truly; that is the steady pole-star at

Vienna. But they have no Magazines in Silesia, no Siege-furnitures; and

the season is far spent. They decide that there shall be a stroke upon

Dresden, and recovery of Saxony, in Friedrich's absence. Nothing there

at present but a Prince Henri, weak in numbers, say one to two of the

Reichs Army by itself. Let the Reichs Army rise now, and advance through

the Metal Mountains from southeast on Prince Henri; let Daun circle

round on him, through the Lausitz from northeast: cannot they extinguish

Henri between them; snatch Dresden, a weak ill-fortified place, by

sudden onslaught, and recapture Saxony? That will be magnanimous to our

august Allies;--and that will be an excellent scaffolding for recapture

of Silesia next year. And cannot Daun leave a Force in the Silesian

vicinities,--Deville with so many thousands, Harsch with so

many,--to besiege one of their Frontier Places; Neisse, for example?

Siege-furnitures to come from Mahren: Neisse is not farther from Olmutz

than Olmutz was from it.

That was the scheme fallen upon; now getting executed while Friedrich

is at Zorndorf well away. And that, if readers fix it intelligently in

their memory, will suffice to introduce to them the few words more that

can be allowed us here upon it. A very few words, compressed to the

utmost,--merely as preface to Hochkirch, whither we must hasten;

Hochkirch being the one incident which, except to studious soldiers, has

now and here any interest, out of the very many incidents which, then

and there, were so intensely interesting to all mankind. To readers who

are curious, and will take with them any poorest authentic Outline

of the Localities concerned, the following condensed Note will not be

unintelligible.

DAUN AND THE REICHS ARMY INVADE SAXONY, IN FRIEDRICH'S ABSENCE.

"Daun, pushing out with his best speed, along the Bohemian-Silesian

border, had got to Zittau AUGUST 17th; which poor City is to be his

basis and storehouse; the greatest activity and wagoning now visible

there,"--among the burnt walls getting rebuilt. And in the same days,

Zweibruck and his Reichs Army are vigorously afoot; Zweibruck pushing

across the Metal Mountains, the fastest he can; intending to plant

himself in Pirna Country. Not to mention General Dombale, Zweibruck's

Austrian Second; who has the Austrian 15,000 with him; and, by way

of preface, has emerged to westward, in Zwickau-Tschopau Country;

calculating that Prince Henri will not be able to attend to him just

now. And in effect Prince Henri, intent upon Zweibruck and the Pirna

Country, takes position in the old Prussian ground there ('head-quarter

Gross Seidlitz,' as in 1756); and can only leave a Detachment in

Tschopau Country to wait upon Dombale; who does at least shoot out Croat

parties, 'quite across Saxony, to Halle all the way,' and entertain the

Gazetteers, if he can do little real mischief.

"AUGUST 19th, from Zittau, Daun, after short pause, again pushes

forward,--nothing but Ziethen attending him in the distance, till we see

whitherward;--Margraf Karl waiting impatient, at Grussau, till Ziethen

see. [Tempelhof, ii. 258, 260 et seq.] Daun, soon after Zittau, shoots

out Loudon, Brandenburg way, as if magnanimously intending 'co-operation

with the Russians;' which would give Daun pleasure, could it be done

without cost. Loudon does despatch a 500 hussars to Frankfurt [Friedrich

now gone for Custrin], who, I think, carry a Letter for Fermor there;

but lose it by the way,"--for the benefit of readers, if they will wait.

"Loudon captures a poor little place in Brandenburg itself; bullies it

into surrender, after a day (the very day of Zorndorf Battle, 'August

25th'):--place called Peitz, garrisoned by forty-five invalids; who go

on 'free withdrawal,' poor old souls, and leave their exiguous stock of

salt-victual and military furnitures to Loudon. [In _Helden-Geschichte,_

v. 229-232, the "Capitulation" IN EXTENSO.] Upon which Loudon

whirls back out of those Countries; finding his skirts trodden on by

Ziethen,--who now sees what Daun and he are at; and warns Margraf Karl

[properly Keith, who has now joined again, as real president or chief]

That HITHER is the way. Margraf Karl, on the slip for some time past,

starts from Grussau instantly (I should guess, not above 25,000 of

all arms); leaving Fouquet with perhaps 10,000 to do his utmost, when

Generals Harsch and Deville with their 20 or 30,000 come upon Silesia

and him,--as indeed they are already doing; already blockading Neisse,

more or less, with an eye to besieging it so soon as possible.

"Meanwhile, Serene Highness of Zweibruck, the Reichsfolk and some

Austrians with him, prefaced by Dombale more to westward, is wending

into Pirna Country; and, in spite of what Prince Henri can do (Mayor

and the Free Corps shining diligent, and Henri one of the watchfulest of

men), Zweibruck does get in; sets Maguire with Austrians upon besieging

Pirna, that is to say, the Sonnenstein of Pirna; 3d-5th SEPTEMBER,

gets the Sonnenstein, a thought sooner than was counted on; [In

_Helden-Geschichte,_ v. 223-228, account of this poor Siege, and of the

movements before and after.] and roots himself there,--'head-quarters in

Struppen' again, 'bridge at Ober-Raden' again, all as in 1756; which, if

nothing else can well do it, may give his Highness a momentary interest

with some readers here. Prince Henri is at Gross Seidlitz, alive every

fibre of him: but with Daun circling round to northward on his left,

intending evidently to take him in flank or rear; with Dombale already

to rear, in the above circumstances, on his right; and Zweibruck himself

lying here in front free to act, and impregnable if acted upon: what

is Prince Henri to do? It is for Henri's rear, not his flank, that Daun

aims: AUGUST 26th, Daun, who had got to Gorlitz, a march or two from

Zittau, started again at his best step by the Bautzen Highway towards

Meissen Bridge, a 70 or 80 miles down the Elbe: there Daun intends to

cross, and to double back upon Dresden and Prince Henri; who will thus

find himself enclosed between THREE fires,--if two were not enough, or

even if one (the Daun one itself, or the Zweibruck itself, not to count

the Dombale), in such strength as Prince Henri has!

"A lost Prince Henri,--if there be not shift in him, if there be not

help coming to him! Prince Henri, seeing how it was, drew back from

Gross Seidlitz; with beautiful suddenness, one night; unmolested: in

the morning, Zweibruch's hussars find him posted-- inexpugnable on the

Heights of Gahmig,--which is nearer Dresden a good step; nearer Dombale;

and not so ready to be enclosed by Daun, without enclosure of Dresden

too. Prince Henri's manoeuvring, in this difficult situation, is the

admiration of military men: how he stuck by Gahmig; but threw out,

in the vital points, little camps,--'camp of Kesselsdorf' (a place

memorable), on the west of Dresden; and on the east, in the north suburb

of Dresden itself across the River (should we have to go across the

River for Daun's sake), a 'strong abatis;' and neglected nothing; self

and everybody under him, lively as eagles to make themselves dangerous,

Mayer in particular distinguishing himself much. Prince Henri would

have been a hard morsel for Daun. But beyond that, there is help on the

road."

FRIEDRICH INTERVENING, DAUN DRAWS BACK; INTRENCHES HIMSELF IN

NEIGHBORHOOD TO DRESDEN AND PIRNA; FRIEDRICH FOLLOWING HIM. FOUR ARMIES

STANDING THERE, IN DEAD-LOCK, FOR A MONTH; WITH ISSUE, A FLANK-MARCH

ON THE PART OF FRIEDRICH'S ARMY, WHICH HALTS AT HOCHKIRCH (September

12th-October 10th, 1758).

Daun, since August 26th, is striding towards Meissen Bridge; without

rest, day after day, at the very top of his speed,--which I find is

"nine miles a day;" [Tempelhof, ii. 261.] Bos being heavy of foot,

at his best. September 1st, Daun has got within ten miles of Meissen

Bridge, when--Here is news, my friends; King of Prussia has beaten our

poor Russians; will soon be in full march this way! King of Prussia and

Margraf Karl both bending hitherward; at the rate, say, of "nineteen

miles a day," instead of nine:--Meissen Bridge is not the thing we shall

want! Daun instantly calls halt, at this news; waits, intrenches; and,

in a day or two, finding the news true, hurries to rearward all he can.

From the Russian side too, Daun has heard of Zorndorf, and the grand

"Victory" of Fermor there; but knows well, by this sudden re-emergence

of the Anti-Fermor, what kind of Victory it is.

Was it here while waiting about Meissen, or where was it, that Daun got

his Letter to Fermor answered in that singular way? The Letter of two

weeks ago,--carried by Loudon's Hussars, or by whomsoever,--for certain,

it was retorted or returned upon Daun; not as if from the Dead-Letter

Office, but with an Answer he little expected! Here is what record I

have; very vague for a well-known little fact of sparkling nature:--

"A curious Letter fell into Friedrich's hands [Bearer, I always guess,

the Loudon Hussar-Captain with his 500, pretending to form junction

with Fermor], Prussian Hussars picking it up somewhere,--date, place,

circumstances, blurred into oblivion in those poor Books; Letter itself

indisputable enough, and Answer following on it; Letter and Answer

substantially to this effect:--

"DAUN TO FERMOR [Probably from Zittau, by Loudon's Hussars].

"Your Excellenz does not know that wily Enemy as I do. By no means get

into battle with such a one. Cautiously manoeuvre about; detain him

there, till I have got my stroke in Saxony done: don't try fighting him.

DAUN."

"ANSWER AS FROM FERMOR (Zorndorf once done, Daun by the first

opportunity got his Answer, duly signed 'Fermor,' but evidently in a

certain King's handwriting):--

"Your Excellenz was in the right to warn me against a cunning Enemy,

whom you knew better than I. Here have I tried fighting him, and got

beaten. Your unfortunate "FERMOR." [Muller, _Kurzgefasste Beschreibung

der drei Schlesischen Kriege_ (Berlin, 1755); in whom, alone of all the

reporters, is the story given in an intelligible form. This Muller's

Book is a meritoriously brief Summary, incorrect in no essential

particular, and with all the Battle-Plans on one copperplate: LIEUTENANT

Muller, this one; not PROFESSOR Muller, ALIAS Schottmuller by any

means!]

September 9th, Friedrich and Margraf Karl, correct to their appointment,

meet at Grossenhayn, some miles north of Meissen and its Bridge; by

which time Daun is clean gone again, back well above Dresden again,

strongly posted at Stolpen (a place we once heard of, in General

Haddick's time, last Year), well in contact with Daun's Pirna friends

across the River, and out of dangerous neighborhoods. Friedrich and the

Margraf have followed Daun at quick step; but Daun would pause nowhere,

till he got to Stolpen, among the bushy gullets and chasms. September

12th, Friedrich had speech of Henri, and the pleasure of dining with

him in Dresden. Glad to meet again, under fortunate management on both

parts; and with much to speak and consult about.

A day or two before, there had lain (or is said to have lain) a grand

scheme in Daun: Zweibruck to burst out from Pirna by daybreak, and

attack the Camp of Gahmig in front (35,000 against 20,000); Daun to

cross the River on pontoons, some hours before, under cloud of night,

and be ready on rear and left flank of Gahmig (with as many supplemental

thousands as you like): what can save Prince Henri? Beautiful plan; on

which there were personal meetings and dinings together by Zweibruck and

Daun; but nothing done. [Tempelhof, ii. 262-265.] At the eleventh hour,

say the Austrian accounts, Zweibruck sent word, "Impossible to-morrow;

cannot get in my Out-Parties in time!"--and next day, here is Friedrich

come, and a collapse of everything. Or perhaps there never seriously was

such a plan? Certain it is, Daun takes camp at Stolpen, a place known

to him, one of the strongest posts in Germany; intrenches himself to

the teeth,--good rear-guard towards Zittau and the Magazines; River

and Pirna on our left flank; Loudon strong and busy on our right flank,

barring the road to Bautzen;--and obstinately sits there, a very bad

tooth in the jaw of a certain King; not to be extracted by the best

kinds of forceps and the skilfulest art, for nearly a month to come.

Four Armies, Friedrich's, Henri's, Daun's, Zweibruck's, all within

sword-stroke of each other,--the universal Gazetteer world is on tiptoe.

But except Friedrich's eager shiftings and rubbings upon Stolpen (west

side, north, and at length northeast side), all is dead-lock, and

nothing comes of it.

Friedrich has his food convenient from Dresden; but a road to Bautzen

withal is what he cannot do without;--and there lies the sorrow, and the

ACHING, as this tooth knows well, and this jaw well! Harsch and Deville

are busy upon Neisse, have Neisse under blockade, perhaps upon Kosel

too, for some time past, [Neisse "blockaded more and more" since August

4th (Kosel still earlier, but only by Pandour people); not completely so

till September 30th, or even till October 26th: _Helden-Geschichte,_ v.

268-270.] and are carting the siege-stock to begin bombardment: a road

to Silesia, before very long, Friedrich must and will have. Friedrich's

operations on Daun in this post are patiently artful, and curious to

look upon, but beyond description here: enough to say, that in the

second week he makes his people hut themselves (weather wet and bad);

and in the fourth week, finding that nothing contrivable would provoke

Daun into fighting,--he loads at Dresden provisions for I think nine

days; makes, from two or from three sides, a sudden spurt upon Loudon,

who is Daun's northern outpost; brushes Loudon hastily away; and himself

takes the road for Bautzen, by Daun's right flank, thrown bare in this

manner. [Tempelhof, ii. 278.]

Road for Bautzen; which is the road for Zittau withal, for Daun's

bread-basket, as well as for Neisse and Harsch! Nine days' provision;

that is our small outfit, that and our own right-hands; and the waste

world lies all ahead. OCTOBER 1st, Retzow, as vanguard, sweeps out

the few Croats from Bautzen, deposits his meal-wagons there; occupies

Hochkirch, and the hilly environs to east; is to take possession of

Weissenberg especially, and of the Stromberg Hill and other strong

points: which Retzow punctually does, forgetting nothing,--except

perhaps the Stromberg, not quite remembered in time; a thing of small

consequence in Retzow's view, since all else had gone right.

Hearing of which, Daun, with astonishment, finds that he must quit those

beautifully chasmy fastnesses of Stolpen, and look to his bread; which

is getting to lie under the enemy's feet, if Zittau road be left yonder

as it is. OCTOBER 5th, after councils of war and deliberation enough,

Daun gets under way; [Ib. ii. 279.] cautiously, favored by a night very

dark and wet, glides through to right of Friedrich's people, softly

along between Bautzen and the Pirna Country; nobody molesting him, so

dark and wet: and after one other march in those bosky solitudes, sits

down at Kittlitz,--ahead or to east of Bautzen, of Hochkirch, of

Retzow and all Friedrich's people;--and again sets to palisading

and intrenching there. Kittlitz, near Lobau, there is Daun's new

head-quarter; Lobau Water, with its intricate hollows, his line of

defence: his posts going out a mile to north and to south of Kittlitz.

And so sits; once more blocking Zittau road, and quietly waiting what

Friedrich will do.

Friedrich is at Bautzen since the 7th; impatient enough to be forward,

but must not till a second larger provision-convoy from Dresden come in.

Convoy once in, Friedrich hastens off, Tuesday, 10th October, towards

Weissenberg Country, where Retzow is; some ten or twelve miles to

eastward,--Zittau-ward, if that chance to suit us; Silesia-ward, as

is sure to suit. At the "Pass of Jenkowitz," short way from Bautzen,

Pandours attempt our baggage; need to be battered off, and again

off: which apprises Friedrich that Daun's whole Army is ahead in the

neighborhood somewhere. Marching on, Friedrich, from the knoll of

Hochkirch, shoulder of the southern Hills, gets complete view of

Daun,--stretching north and south, at right angles to the Zittau roads

and to Friedrich, in the way we described;--and is a little surprised,

and I could guess piqued, at seeing Daun in such a state of forwardness.

"Encamp here, then!" he says,--here, on this row of Heights parallel to

Daun, within a mile of Daun: just here, I tell you! under the very

nose of Daun, who is above two to one of us; and see what Daun will

do. Marwitz, his favorite Adjutant, one of those free-spoken Marwitzes,

loyal, skilful, but liable to stiff fits, takes the liberty to

remonstrate, argue; says at length, He, Marwitz, dare not be concerned

in marking out such an encampment; not he, for his poor part! And is put

under arrest; and another Adjutant does it; cannon playing on his people

and him while engaged in the operation.

Friedrich's obstinate rashness, this Tuesday Evening, has not wanted its

abundant meed of blame,--rendered so emphatic by what befell on Saturday

morning next. His somewhat too authoritative fixity; a certain radiancy

of self-confidence, dangerous to a man; his sovereign contempt of

Daun, as an inert dark mass, who durst undertake nothing: all this

is undeniable, and worth our recognition in estimating Friedrich. One

considerably extenuating circumstance does at last turn up,--in the

shape of a new piece of blame to the erring Friedrich; his sudden anger,

namely, against the meritorious General Retzow; his putting Retzow under

arrest that Tuesday Evening: "How, General Retzow? You have not taken

hold of the Stromberg for me!" That is the secret of Retzow: and on

studying the ground you will find that the Stromberg, a blunt tabular

Hill, of good height, detached, and towering well up over all that

region, might have rendered Friedrich's position perfectly safe. "Seize

me the Stromberg to-morrow morning, the first thing!" ordered Friedrich.

And a Detachment went accordingly; but found Daun's people already

there,--indisposed to go; nay determined not to go, and getting

reinforced to unlimited amounts. So that the Stromberg was left

standing, and remained Daun's; furnished with plenty of cannon by Daun.

Retzow's arrest, Retzow being a steady favorite of Friedrich's, was only

of a few hours: "pardonable that oversight," thinks Friedrich, though it

came to cost him dear. For the rest, I find, Friedrich's keeping of this

Camp, without the Stromberg, was intended to end, the third day hence:

"Saturday, 14th, then, since Friday proves impossible!" Friedrich had

settled. And it did end Saturday, 14th, though at an earlier HOUR, and

with other results than had been expected. Keith said, "The Austrians

deserve to be hanged if they don't attack us here." "We must hope they

are more afraid of us than even of the gallows," answered Friedrich.

A very dangerous Camp; untenable without the Stromberg. Let us try to

understand it, and Daun's position to it, in some slight degree.

"Hochkirch (HIGHkirk) is an old Wendish-Saxon Village, standing

pleasantly on its Hill-top, conspicuous for miles round on all sides,

or on all but the south side, where it abuts upon other Heights, which

gradually rise into Hills a good deal higher than it. The Village hangs

confusedly, a jumble of cottages and colegarths, on the crown and north

slope of the Height; thatched, in part tiled, and built mostly of rough

stone blocks, in our time,--not of wood, as probably in Friedrich's. A

solid, sluttishly comfortable-looking Village; with pleasant hay-fields,

or long narrow hay-stripes (each villager has his stripe), reaching down

to the northern levels. The Church is near the top; Churchyard, and some

little space farther, are nearly horizontal ground, till the next Height

begins sloping up again towards the woody Hills southward. The view from

this little esplanade atop, still better from the Church belfry, is wide

and pretty. Free on all sides except the south: pleasant Heights and

Hollows, of arable, of wood, or pasture; well watered by rushing Brooks,

all making northward, direct for Spree (the Berlin Spree), or else into

the Lobau Water, which is the first big branch of Spree.

"The place is still partly of Wendish speech; the Parson has to preach

one half of the Sunday in Wend, the other in German. Among the Hills

to south," well worth noting at present, "is one called CZARNABOG, or

'Devil's Hill;' where the Wendish Devil and his Witches (equal to any

German on his Blocksberg, or preternatural Bracken of the Harz) hold

their annual WITCHES'-SABBATH,--a thing not to be contemplated without

a shudder by the Wendish mind. Thereabouts, and close from Hochkirch

southward, all is shadowy intricacy of thicket and wild wood. Northward

too from Hochkirch, and all about, I perceive the scene was woodier then

than now;--and must have looked picturesque enough (had anybody been

in quest of that), with the multifarious uniforms, and tented people

sprinkled far and wide among the leafy red-and-yellow of October, 1758."

[Tourist's Note, September, 1858.]

In the Village of Wuischke, precisely at the northern base of that

shaggy Czarnabog or Devil's Hill, stand Loudon and 3,000 Croats and

grenadiers, as the extreme left of Daun's position. Wuischke is nearly

straight south of Hochkirch; so far westward has Loudon pushed forward

with his Croats, hidden among the Hills; though Daun's general position

lies a good mile to east of Friedrich's:--irregularly north and south,

both Friedrich and Daun; the former ignorant what Croats and Loudonries,

there may be among those Devil's Hills to his right; the latter not

ignorant. Friedrich's right wing, Keith in command of it, stretches

to Hochkirch and a little farther: beyond Hochkirch, it has Four flank

Battalions in potence form, with proper vedettes and pickets; and above

all, with a strong Battery of Twenty Guns, which it maintains on the

next Height immediately adjoining Hochkirch, and perceptibly higher than

Hochkirch. This is the finis of Keith on his right; and--except those

vedettes, and pickets of Free-corps people, thrown out a little way

ahead into the bushes, on that side--Friedrich's right wing knows

nothing of the shaggy elevations horrent with wood, which lie to

southward; and merely intends to play its Twenty Cannon upon them,

should they give birth to anything. This is Friedrich's posture on his

right or south wing.

From Hochkirch northward or nearly so, but sprinkled about in all the

villages and points of strength, as far up as Drehsa and beyond Drehsa,

to near Kotitz, a less important village, Friedrich extends about four

miles; centre at Rodewitz, where his own head-quarter is, above two

miles north of Hochkirch. Not far from Rodewitz, but a little to left

and ahead, stands his second and best Battery, of Thirty Guns; ready to

play upon Lauska, a poor village, and its roadway, should the Austrians

try anything there, or from their Stromberg post, which is a good mile

behind Lauska. His strength, in these lines, some count to be only

28,000, or less. Four or five miles to northeast, in and behind

Weissenberg (which we used to know last summer), lies Retzow, with

perhaps 10 or 12,000, which will bring him up to 40,000, were they

properly joined with him as a left wing. Daun's force counts 90,000;

with Friedrich lying under his nose in this insolent manner.

Daun's head-quarter, as we said, is Kittlitz; a Village some two miles

short of Lobau, in the direction southeast of Friedrich; perhaps five

miles to southeast of Rodewitz, Friedrich's lodging. It is close upon

the Bautzen-Zittau Highway; Zittau some twenty miles to south of it,

Herrnhuth and the pacific Brethren about half-way thither. Kittlitz lies

more to south than Hochkirch itself; and Daun's outposts, as we saw,

circle quite round among those Devil's Hills, and envelop Friedrich's

right flank. But Daun's main force lies chiefly northward, and well

to west, of Kittlitz; parallel to Friedrich, and eastward of him; with

elaborate intrenchments; every village, brook, bridge, height and bit of

good ground, Stromberg to end with, punctually secured. Obliquely over

the Stromberg, holding the Stromberg and certain Villages to southeast

and to northwest of it, lies D'Ahremberg, as right wing: about 20,000

he, put into oblique potence; looking into Kotitz, which is Friedrich's

extreme left; and in a good measure dividing Friedrich from the Retzow

10,000. And lastly, as reserve, in front of Reichenbach, eight or nine

miles to east of all that, lies the Prince of Baden-Durlach, 25,000 or

so; barring Retzow on that side, and all attempts on the Silesian

Road there. Daun's lines, not counting in the southern outposts or

Devil's-Hill parties, are considerably longer than Friedrich's, and also

considerably deeper. The two head-quarters are about five miles apart:

but the two fronts--divided by a brook and good hollow running here (one

of many such, making all for Lobau Water)--are not half a mile apart.

Towards Hochkirch and the top of this brook, the opposing posts are

quite crammed close on one another; divided only by their hollow. Many

brooks, each with a definite hollow, run tinkling about here, swift but

straitened to get out; especially Lobau Water, which receives them all,

has to take a quite meandering circling course (through Daun's quarters

and beyond them) before it can disembogue in Spree, and decidedly set

out for Berlin under that new name. The Landscape--seen from Hochkirch

Village, still better from the Church-steeple which lifts you high

above it, and commands all round except to the south, where Friedrich's

battery-height quite shuts you in, and hides even those Devil's Hills

beyond--is cheerful and pretty. Village belfries, steeples and towers;

airy green ridges of heights, and intricate greener valleys: now rather

barer than you like. The Tourist tells me, in Friedrich's time there

must have been a great deal more of wood than now.

WHAT ACTUALLY BEFELL AT HOCHKIRCH (Saturday, 14th October, 1758).

Friedrich, for some time,--probably ever since Wednesday morning, when

he found the Stromberg was not to be his,--had decided to be out of this

bad post. In which, clearly enough, nothing was to be done, unless

Daun would attempt something else than more and more intrenching and

palisading himself. Friedrich on the second day (Thursday, 12th) rode

across to Weissenberg, to give Retzow his directions, and take view of

the ground: "Saturday night, Herr Retzow, sooner it cannot be [Friedrich

had aimed at Friday night, but finds the Provision-convoy cannot

possibly be up]; Saturday night, in all silence, we sweep round out of

this,--we and you;--hurl Baden-Durlach about his business; and are at

Schops and Reichenbach, and the Silesian Highway open, next morning,

to us!" [Tempelhof, ii. 320.] Quietly everything is speeding on towards

this consummation, on Friedrich's part. But on Daun's part there

is--started, I should guess, on the very same Thursday--another

consummation getting ready, which is to fall out on Saturday MORNING,

fifteen hours before that other, and entirely supersede that other!--

Keith's opinion, that the Austrians deserve to be hanged if they

don't attack us here, is also Loudon's opinion and Lacy's, and indeed

everybody's,--and at length Daun's own; who determines to try something

here, if never before or after. This plan, all judges admit, was

elaborate and good; and was well executed too,--Daun himself presiding

over the most critical part of the execution. A plan to have ruined

almost any Army, except this Prussian one and the Captain it chanced

to have. A universal camisado, or surprisal of Friedrich in his Camp,

before daylight: everybody knows that it took effect (Hochkirch,

Saturday, 14th October, 1758, 5 A.M. of a misty morning); nobody expects

of an unassisted fellow-creature much light on so doubly dark a thing.

But the truth is, there are ample accounts, exact, though very chaotic;

and the thing, steadily examined, till its essential features

extricate themselves from the unessential, proves to be not quite

so unintelligible, and nothing like so destructive, overwhelming and

ruinous as was supposed.

Daun's plan is very elaborate, and includes a great many combinations;

all his 90,000 to come into it, simultaneously or in succession. But the

first and grandly vital part, mainspring and father to all the rest, is

this: That Daun, in person, after nightfall of Friday, shall, with the

pick of his force, say 30,000 horse and foot, with all their artilleries

and tools, silently quit his now position in front of Hochkirch,

Friedrich's right wing. Shall sweep off, silently to southward and

leftward, by Wuischke; thence westward and northward, by the northern

base of those Devil Mountains, through the shaggy hollows and thick

woods there, hitherto inhabited by Croats only, and unknown to the

Prussians: forward, ever forward, through the night-watches that way;

till he has fairly got to the flank of Hochkirch and Friedrich: Daun to

be standing there, all round from the southern environs of Hochkirch,

westward through the Woods, by Meschwitz, Steindorfel, and even north

to Waditz (if readers will consult their Map), silently enclosing

Friedrich, as in the bag of a net, in this manner;--ready every man and

gun by about four on Saturday morning. Are to wait for the stroke of

five in Hochkirch steeple; and there and then to begin business,--there

first; but, on success THERE, the whole 90,000 everywhere,--and to draw

the strings on Friedrich, and bag and strangle his astonished people and

him.

The difficulty has been to keep it perfectly secret from so vigilant a

man as Friedrich: but Daun has completely succeeded. Perhaps Friedrich's

eyes have been a little dimmed by contempt of Daun: Daun, for the

last two days especially, has been more diligent than ever to palisade

himself on every point; nothing, seemingly, on hand but felling woods,

building abatis, against some dangerous Lion's-spring. They say also,

he detected a traitor in his camp; traitor carrying Letters to Friedrich

under pretence of fresh eggs,--one of the eggs blown, and a Note of

Daun's Procedures substituted as yolk. "You are dead, sirrah," said

Daun; "hoisted to the highest gallows: Are not you? But put in a Note

of my dictating, and your beggarly life is saved." Retzow Junior, though

there is no evidence except of the circumstantial kind, thinks this

current story may be true. [Retzow, i. 347.] Certain it is, neither

Friedrich nor any of his people had the least suspicion of Daun's

project, till the moment it exploded on them, when the clock at

Hochkirch struck five. Daun, in the last two days, had been felling even

more trees than they are aware of,--thousands of trees in those Devil's

wildernesses to Friedrich's right; and has secretly hewn himself roads,

passable by night for men and ammunition-wagons there:--and in front of

Friedrich, especially Hochkirch way, Daun seems busier than ever felling

wood, this Friday night; numbers of people running about with axes, with

lanterns over there, as if in the push of hurry, and making a great deal

of noise. "Intending retreat for Zittau to-morrow!" thinks Friedrich, as

the false egg-yolk had taught him; or merely, "That poor precautionary

fellow!" supposing the false yolk a myth. In short, Daun has got through

his nocturnal wildernesses with perfect success. And stands, dreamt of

by no enemy, in the places appointed for his 30,000 and him; and that

poor old clock of Hochkirch, unweariedly grunting forward to the stroke

of five, will strike up something it is little expecting!--

The Prussians have vedettes, pickets and small outposts of Free-corps

people scattered about within their border of that Austrian Wood, the

body of which, about Hochkirch as everywhere else, belongs wholly to

Croats. Of course there are guard-parties, sentries duly vigilant, in

the big Battery to southeast of Hochkirch,--and along southwestward in

that POTENCE, or fore-arm of Four Battalions, which are stationed there.

Four good Battalions looking southward there, with Cavalry to right;

Ziethen's Cavalry,--whose horses stand saddled through the night, ready

always for the nocturnal "Pandourade," which seldom fails them. There,

as elsewhere, are the due vigilances, watchmen, watch-fires. The rest of

the Prussian Army is in its blankets, wholly asleep, while Daun stands

waiting for the stroke of five.

That Daun, bursting in with his chosen 30,000, will trample down the

sleeping Prussian POTENCE at Hochkirch; capture its big Battery to left,

its Village of Hochkirch to rear, and do extensive ruin on the whole

right wing of Friedrich; rendering Friedrich everywhere an easy conquest

to the rest of Daun's people, who stand, far and wide, duly posted and

prepared, waiting only their signal from Hochkirch: much of this, all of

it that had regard to Hochkirch Battery and Village, and the Prussians

stationed there, Daun did execute. And readers, from the data they have

got, must conceive the manner of it,--human description of the next Two

Hours, about Hochkirch, in the thick darkness there, and stormful sudden

inroad, and stormful resistance made, being manifestly an impossible

thing. Nobody was "massacred in his bed" as the sympathetic gazetteers

fancied; nobody was killed, that I hear of, without arms, in his hand:

but plenty of people perished, fierce of humor, on both sides; and from

half-past five till towards eight, there was a general blaze of fiery

chaos pushing out ever and anon, swallowed in the belly of Night again,

such as was seldom seen in this world. Instead of confused details, and

wearisome enumeration of particulars, which nobody would listen to or

understand, we will give one intelligent young gentleman's experience,

our friend Tempelhof's, who stood in this part of the Prussian Line;

experience distinct and indubitable to us; and which was pretty

accurately symbolical, I otherwise see, of what befell on all points

thereabouts. Faithfully copied, and in the essential parts not even

abridged, here it is:--

Tempelhof, at that time a subaltern of artillery, was stationed with a

couple of 24-pounders in attendance on the Battalion Plothow, which

with three others and some cavalry lay to the south side of Hochkirch,

forming a kind of fore-arm or POTENCE there to right of the big Battery,

with their rear to Hochkirch; and keeping vedettes and Free-corps

parties spread out into the woods and Devil's Hills ahead. Tempelhof

had risen about three, as usual; had his guns and gunners ready; and was

standing by the watch-fire, "expecting the customary Pandourade," and

what form it would take this morning. "Close on five o'clock; and not a

mouse stirring! We are not to have our Pandourade, then?" On a sudden,

noise bursts out; noise enough, sharp fire among the Free-corps people;

fire growing ever sharper, noisier, for the next half-hour, but nothing

whatever to be seen. "Battalion Plothow had soon got its clothes on, all

to the spatterdashes; and took rank to right and left of the FLECHE, and

of my two guns, in front of its post: but on account of the thick

fog everything was totally dark. I fired off my cannons [shall we say

straight southward?] to learn whether there was anything in front of

us. No answer: 'Nothing there--Pshaw, a mere crackery (GEKNACKER) of

Pandours and our Free-corps people, after all!' But the noise grew

louder, and came ever nearer; I turned my guns towards it [southward,

southeastward, or perhaps a gun each way?]--and here we had a salvo in

response, from some battalions who seemed to be two hundred yards or so

ahead. The Battalion Plothow hereupon gave fire; I too plied my cannons

what I could,--and had perhaps delivered fifteen double shots from them,

when at once I tumbled to the ground, and lost all consciousness" for

some minutes or moments.

Awakening with the blood running down his face, poor Tempelhof concluded

it had been a musket-shot in the head; but on getting to his hands and

knees, he found the place "full of Austrian grenadiers, who had crept in

through our tents to rear; and that it had been a knock with the butt of

the musket from one of those fellows, and not a bullet" that had struck

him down. Battalion Plothow, assailed on all sides, resisted on all

sides; and Tempelhof saw from the ground,--I suppose, by the embers

of watch-fires, and by rare flashes of musketry, for they did not fire

much, having no room, but smashed and stabbed and cut,--"an infantry

fight which in murderous intensity surpasses imagination. I was taken

prisoner at this turn; but soon after got delivered by our cavalry

again." [Tempelhof, ii. 324 n.]

This latter circumstance, of being delivered by the Cavalry, I find to

be of frequent occurrence in that first act of the business there: the

Prussian Battalion, surprised on front and rear, always makes murderous

fight for itself: is at last overwhelmed, obliged to retire, perhaps

opening its way by bayonet charge;--upon which our Cavalry (Ziethen's,

and others that gathered to him) cutting in upon the disordered

surprisers, cut them into flight, rescue the prisoners, and for a time

reinstate matters. The Prussian battalions do not run (nobody runs); but

when repulsed by the endless odds, rally again. The big Battery is not

to be had of them without fierce and dogged struggle; and is retaken

more than once or twice. Still fiercer, more dogged, was the struggle

in Hochkirch Village; especially in Hochkirch Church and

Churchyard,--whither the Battalion Margraf-Karl had flung themselves;

the poor Village soon taking fire about them. Soon taking fire, and

continuing to be a scene of capture and recapture, by the flame-light;

while Battalion Margraf-Karl stood with invincible stubbornness, pouring

death from it; not to be compulsed by the raging tide of Austrian

grenadiers; not by "six Austrian battalions," by "eight," or by never

so many. Stood at bay there; levelling whole masses of them,--till its

cartridges were spent, all to one or two per man; and Major Lange, the

heroic Captain of it, said, "We shall have to go, then, my men; let us

cut ourselves through!"--and did so, in an honorably invincible manner;

some brave remnant actually getting through, with Lange himself wounded

to death.

I think it was not till towards six o'clock that the right wing

generally became aware what the case was: "More than a Pandourade,

yes;"--though what it might be, in the thick fog which had fallen,

blotting out all vestiges of daylight, nobody could well say. Rallied

Battalions, reinforced by this or the other Battalion hurrying up from

leftward, always charge in upon the enemy, in Hochkirch or wherever he

is busy; generally push him back into the Night; but are then fallen

upon on both flanks by endless new strength, and obliged to draw back in

turn. And Ziethen's Horse, in the mean while, do execution; breaking in

on the tumultuous victors; new Cuirassiers, Gens-d'Armes dashing up

to help, so soon as saddled, and charging with a will: so that, on the

whole, the enemy, variously attempting, could make nothing of us on that

western, or rearward side,--thanks mainly to Ziethen and the Horse. "Had

we but waited till three or four of our Battalions had got up!" say the

Prussian narrators. But it is thick mist; few yards ahead you cannot see

at all, unless it be flame; and close at hand, all things and figures

waver indistinct,--hairy outlines of blacker shadows on a ground of

black.

It must have been while Lange was still fighting, perhaps before Lange

took to the Church of Hochkirch, scarcely later than half-past six (but

nobody thought of pulling out his watch in such a business!)--about six,

or half-past six, when Keith, who has charge of this wing, and lodges

somewhere below or north of Hochkirch, came to understand that his

big Battery was taken; that here was such a Pandourade as had not been

before; and that, of a surety, said Battery must be retaken. Keith

springs on horseback; hastily takes "Battalion Kannacker" and several

remnants of others; rushes upwards, "leaving Hochkirch a little to

right; direct upon the big Battery." Recaptures the big Battery. But

is set upon by overwhelming multitudes, bent to have it back;--is

passionate for new assistance in this vital point; but can get none:

had been "DISARTED by both his Aide-de-camps," says poor John Tebay,

a wandering English horse-soldier, who attends him as mounted groom;

"asked twenty times, and twenty more, 'Where are my Aide-de-camps!'"

["Captens Cockcey and Goudy" he calls them--(COCCEJI whose Father

the Kanzler we have seen, and GAUDI whose self),--who both had, in

succession, struck into Hochkirch as the less desperate place, according

to Tebay: see TEBAY'S LETTER to Mitchell, "Crossen, October 29th" (in

MEMOIRS AND PAPERS, ii. 501-505);--which is probably true every word,

allowing for Tebay's temper; but is highly indecipherable, though not

entirely so after many readings and researehings.]--but could get

no response or reinforcement; and at length, quite surrounded and

overwhelmed, had to retire; opening his way by the bayonet; and before

long, suddenly stopping short,--falling dead into Tebay's arms; shot

through the heart. Two shots on the right side he had not regarded;

but this on the left side was final: Keith's fightings are suddenly

all done. Tebay, in distraction, tried much to bring away the body; but

could by no present means; distractedly "rid for a coach;" found, on

return, that the Austrians had the ground, and the body of his master;

Hochkirch, Church and all, now undisputedly theirs.

To appearance, it was this news of Keith's repulse (I know not whether

of Keith's DEATH as yet) that first roused Friedrich to a full sense of

what was now going on, two miles to south of him. Friedrich, according

to his habits, must have been awake and afoot when the Business first

broke out; though, for some considerable time, treating it as nothing

but a common crackery of Pandours. Already, finding the Pandourade

louder than usual, he had ordered out to it one battalion and the other

that lay handy: but now he pushes forward several battalions under Franz

of Brunswick (his youngest Brother-in-law), with Margraf Karl and

Prince Moritz: "Swift you, to Hochkirch yonder!"--and himself springs on

horseback to deal with the affair. Prince Franz of Brunswick, poor young

fellow, cheerily coming on, near Hochkirch had his head shorn off by a

cannon-ball. Moritz of Dessau, too, "riding within twenty yards of the

Austrians," so dark was it, he so near-sighted, got badly hit,--and soon

after, driving to Bautzen for surgery, was made prisoner by Pandours;

[In ARCHENHOLTZ (i. 289, 290) his dangerous adventures on the road to

Bautzen, in this wounded condition.] never fought again, "died next

year of cancer in the lip." Nothing but triumphant Austrian shot and

cannon-shot going yonder; these battalions too have to fall back with

sore loss.

Friedrich himself, by this time, is forward in the thick of the tumult,

with another body of battalions; storming furiously along, has his horse

shot under him; storms through, "successfully, by the other side of

Hochkirch" (Hochkirch to his left):--but finds, as the mist gradually

sinks, a ring of Austrians massed ahead, on the

--MAP GOES HERE, FACING PAGE 160, BOOK XVIII------

Heights; as far as Steindorfel and farther, a general continent of

Austrians enclosing all the south and southwest; and, in fact, that here

is now nothing to be done. That the question of his flank is settled;

that the question now is of his front, which the appointed Austrian

parties are now upon attacking. Question especially of the Heights of

Drehsa, and of the Pass and Brook of Drehsa (rearward of his centre

part), where his one retreat will lie, Steindorfel being now lost. Part

first of the Affair is ended; Part second of it begins.

Rapidly enough Friedrich takes his new measures. Seizes Drehsa Height,

which will now be key of the field; despatches Mollendorf thither

(Mollendorf our courageous Leuthen friend); who vigorously bestirs

himself; gets hold of Drehsa Height before the enemy can; Ziethen

co-operating on the Heights of Kumschutz, Canitz and other points of

vantage. And thus, in effect, Friedrich pulls up his torn right skirt

(as he is doing all his other skirts) into new compact front against the

Austrians: so that, in that southwestern part especially; the Austrians

do not try it farther; but "retire at full gallop," on sight of this

swift seizure of the Keys by Mollendorf and Ziethen. Friedrich also

despatches instant order to Retzow, to join him at his speediest.

Friedrich everywhere rearranges himself, hither, thither, with skilful

rapidity, in new Line of Battle; still hopeful to dispute what is left

of the field;--longing much that Retzow could come on wings.

By this time (towards eight, if I might guess) Day has got the upper

hand; the Daun Austrians stand visible on their Ring of Heights all

round, behind Hochkirch and our late Battery, on to westward and

northward, as far as Steindorfel and Waditz;--extremely busy rearranging

themselves into something of line; there being much confusion, much

simmering about in clumps and gaps, after such a tussle. In front of us,

to eastward, the appointed Austrian parties are proceeding to attack:

but in daylight, and with our eyes open, it is a thing of difficulty,

and does not prosper as Hochkirch did. Duke D'Ahremberg, on their

extreme right, had in charge to burst in upon our left, so soon as he

saw Hochkirch done: D'Ahremberg does try; as do others in their places,

near Daun; but with comparatively little success. D'Ahremberg, meeting

something of check or hindrance where he tried, pauses, for a good

while, till he see how others prosper. Their grand chance is their

superiority of number; and the fact that Friedrich can try nothing upon

THEM, but must stand painfully on the defensive till Retzow come.

To Friedrich, Retzow seems hugely slow about it. But the truth is,

Baden-Durlach, with his 20,000 of Reserve, has, as per order, made

attack on Retzow, 20,000 against 12: one of the feeblest attacks

conceivable; but sufficient to detain Retzow till he get it repulsed.

Retzow is diligent as Time, and will be here.

Meanwhile, the Austrians on front do, in a sporadic way, attack and

again attack our batteries and posts; especially that big Battery of

Thirty Guns, which we have to north of Rodewitz. The Austrians do take

that Battery at last; and are beginning again to be dangerous,--the

rather as D'Ahremberg seems again to be thinking of business. It is high

time Retzow were here! Few sights could be gladder to Friedrich, than

the first glitter of Retzow's vanguard,--horse, under Prince Eugen of

Wurtemberg,--beautifully wending down from Weissenberg yonder; skilfully

posting themselves, at Belgern and elsewhere, as thorns in the sides of

D'Ahremberg (sharp enough, on trial by D'Ahremberg). Followed, before

long, by Retzow himself; serenely crossing Lobau Water; and, with great

celerity, and the best of skill, likewise posting himself,--hopelessly

to D'Ahremberg, who tries nothing farther. The sun is now shining; it is

now ten of the day. Had Retzow come an hour sooner;--efore we lost that

big Battery and other things! But he could come no sooner; be thankful

he is here at last, in such an overawing manner.

Friedrich, judging that nothing now can be made of the affair, orders

retreat. Retreat, which had been getting schemed, I suppose, and planned

in the gloom of the royal mind, ever since loss of that big Battery

at Rodewitz. Little to occupy him, in this interim; except indignant

waiting, rigorously steady, and some languid interchange of cannon-shot

between the parties. Retreat is to Klein-Bautzen neighborhood (new

head-quarter Doberschutz, outposts Kreckwitz and Purschwitz); four miles

or so to northwest. Rather a shifting of your ground, which astonishes

the military reader ever since, than a retreating such as the common

run of us expected. Done in the usual masterly manner; part after part

mending off, Retzow standing minatory here, Mollendorf minatory there,

in the softest quasi-rhythmic sequence; Cavalry all drawn out between

Belgern and Kreckwitz, baggage-wagons filing through the Pass of

Drehsa;--not an Austrian meddling with it, less or more; Daun and his

Austrians standing in their ring of five miles, gazing into it like

stone statues; their regiments being still in a confused state,--and

their Daun an extremely slow gentleman. [Tempelhof, ii. 319-336;

Seyfarth, _Beylagen,_ i. 432-453; _Helden-Geschichte,_ v. 241-257;

Archenholtz, &c. &c.]

And in this manner Friedrich, like a careless swimmer caught in the

Mahlstrom, has not got swallowed in it; but has made such a buffeting

of it, he is here out of it again, without bone broken,--not, we hope,

without instruction from the adventure. He has lost 101 pieces of

cannon, most of his tents and camp-furniture; and, what is more

irreparable, above 8,000 of his brave people, 5,381 of them and 119

Officers (Keith and Moritz for two) either dead or captive. In men the

Austrian loss, it seems, is not much lower, some say is rather a shade

higher; by their own account, 325 Officers, 5,614 rank and file, killed

and wounded,--not reckoning 1,000 prisoners they lost to us, and "at

least 2,000" who took that chance of deserting in the intricate dark

woods. [Tempelhof, ii. 336; but see Kausler, p. 576.]

Friedrich, all say, took his punishment in a wonderfully cheerful

manner. De Catt the Reader, entering to him that evening as usual, the

King advanced, in a tragic declamatory attitude; and gave him, with

proper voice and gesture, an appropriate passage of Racine:--

"Enfin apres un an, tu me revois, Arbate,

Non plus comme autrefois cet heureux Mithridate,

Qui, de Rome toujours balancant le destin,

Tenait entre elle et moi l'univers incertain.

Je suis vaincu; Pompee a saisi l'avantage

D'une nuit qui laissait peu de place au courage;

Mes soldats presque nus, dans"...

Not a little to De Catt's comfort. [Rodenbeck, i. 354.] During the

retreat itself, Retzow Junior had come, as Papa's Aide-de-Camp, with a

message to the King; found him on the heights of Klein Bautzen, watching

the movements. Message done with, the King said, in a smiling tone,

"Daun has played me a slippery trick to-day!" "I have seen it," answered

Retzow; "but it is only a scratch, which your Majesty will soon manage

to heal again."--"GLAUBT ER DIES, Do you think so?" "Not only I, but the

whole Army firmly believe it of your Majesty."--"You are quite right,"

added the King, in a confidentially candid way: "We will manage Daun.

What I lament is, the number of brave men that have died this morning."

[Retzow, i. 359 n.] On the morrow, he was heard to say publicly: "Daun

has let us out of check-mate; the game is not lost yet. We will rest

ourselves here, a few days; then go for Silesia, and deliver Neisse."

The Anecdote-Books (perhaps not mythically) add this: "Where are all

your guns, though?" said the King to an Artilleryman, standing vacant

on parade, next day. "IHRO MAJESTAT, the Devil stole them all, last

night!"--"Hm, well, we must have them back from him." [Archenholtz, i.

299.]

Nothing immoderately depressive in Hochkirch, it appears;--though, alas,

on the fourth day after, there came a message from Baireuth; which did

strike one down: "My noble Wilhelmina dead; died in the very hours while

we were fighting here!" [On a common Business-Letter to Prince Henri,

"Doberschutz, 18th October, 1758," is this sudden bit of Autograph:

"GRAND DIEU, MA SOEUR DE BAREITH!"--(Schoning, _Der siebenjahrige Krieg,

nach der Original-Correspondens &c. aus den Staats-Archiven:_ Potsdam,

1851: i. 287.)] Readers must conceive it: coming unexpected more or

less, black as sudden universal hurricane, on the heart of the man; a

sorrow sacred, yet immeasurable, irremediable to him; as if the sky

too were falling on his head, in aid of the mean earth and its

ravenings:--of all this there can nothing be said at present.

Friedrich's one relief seems to have been the necessity laid on him of

perpetual battling with outward business;--we may fancy, in the rapid

weeks following, how much was lying at all times in the background of

his mind suppressed into its caves.

Daun, it appears, was considerably elated; spent a great deal of

his time, so precious just at present, in writing despatches, in

congratulating and being congratulated;--did an elaborate TE-DEUM, or

Ambrosian Song, in Artillery and VOX HUMANA,--which with the adjuncts,

say splenetic people, as at Kolin, sensibly assisted Friedrich's

affairs. Daun was by no means of braggart turn; but the recognition of

his matchless achievement by the gazetteer public, whether in exultation

or in lamentation, was loud and universal; and the joy, in Vienna and

the cognate quarters, knew no bounds for the time being. Thus, among

other tokens, the Holiness of our Lord the Pope, blessing Heaven for

such success against the Heretic, was pleased to send him "a Consecrated

Hat and Sword,"--such as the old Popes were wont, very long ago, to

bestow on distinguished Champions against the Heathen,--(much jeered at,

and crowed over, by a profane Friedrich [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ xv.

122, 124, 126, &c. &c.: in PREUSS, ii. 196, complete List of these

poor Pieces; which are hearty, not hypocritical, in their contemptuous

hilarity, but have little other metit.]): "the effect of which

miraculous furnishings," says Tempelhof, "turned out to be that the

Feldmarschall never gained any success more;" in fact, except that small

thing on Finck next Year, never any, as it chanced. Daun had withdrawn

to his old Camp, on the day of Hochkirch; leaving only a detachment on

the field there: it was not for six or seven days more that he stept out

to the Kreckwitz and Purschwitz neighborhood; more within sight of his

vanquished enemy,--but nothing like vigilant enough of what might still

be in him, after such vanquishing!--We must spare this Note, for the

sake of a heroic kind of man, who had not too much of reward in the

world:--

"Tebay could not recover Keith's body: Croats had the plundering of

Keith; other Austrians, not of Croat kind, carried the dead General

into Hochkirch Church: Lacy's emotion on recognizing him there,--like

a tragic gleam of his own youth suddenly brought back to him, as in

starlight, piercing and sad, from twenty years distance,--is well known

in Books. On the morrow, Sunday, October 15th, Keith had honorable

soldier's-burial there,--'twelve cannon' salvoing thrice, and 'the whole

Corps of Colloredo' with their muskets thrice; Lacy as chief mourner,

not without tears. Four months after, by royal order, Keith's body was

conveyed to Berlin; reinterred in Berlin, in a still more solemn public

manner, with all the honors, all the regrets; and Keith sleeps now in

the Garnison-Kirche:--far from bonnie Inverugie; the hoarse sea-winds

and caverns of Dunottar singing vague requiem to his honorable line

and him, in the imaginations of some few. 'My Brother leaves me a noble

legacy,' said the old Lord Marischal: 'last year he had Bohemia under

ransom; and his personal estate is 70 ducats, (about 25 pounds).

[Varnhagen, p. 261.]

"In Hochkirch Church there is still, not in the Churchyard as formerly,

a fine, modestly impressive Monument to Keith; modest Urn of black

marble on a Pedestal of gray,--and, in gold letters, an Inscription not

easily surpassable in the lapidary way:... 'DUM IN PRAELIO NON PROCUL

HINC INCLINATAM SUORUM ACIEM MENTE MANU VOCE ET EXEMPLO RESTITUERAT

PUGNANS UT HEROAS DECET OCCUBUIT. D. XIV. OCTOBRIS' These words go

through you like the clang of steel. [In RODENBECK, i. 149. Given also

(very nearly correct) in CORRESPONDENCE OF SIR ROBERT MURRAY KEITH

(London, 1849), i. 151. This is the junior of the two Diplomatic

Roberts, genealogical cousins of Keith; by this one (in 1771, not 1776

as German Guide-books have it) the Hochkirch Monument was set up. A very

interesting Collection of LETTERS those of his;--edited with the usual

darkness, or rather more.] Friedrich's sorrow over him ('tears,' high

eulogies, 'LOUA EXTREMEMENT') is itself a monument. Twenty years after,

Keith had from his Master a Statue, in Berlin. One of Four; to the Four

most deserving: Schwerin (1771), Winterfeld (1777), Seidlitz (1779,

Keith (when?), [Nicolai _ (Beschreibung der Residenzstadte,_ i. 193,

194) gives these dates for the Three, and for Keith's no date.]--which

still stand in the Wilhelm Platz there.

"Hochkirch Church has been rebuilt in late years: a spacious airy

Church, with galleries, and requisites, especially with free air, light

and cleanliness. Capable perhaps of 1,500 sitters: half of them Wends.

'Above 700 skeletons, in one heap, were dug out, in cutting the new

foundations. The strong outer Door of the old Church, red oak, I should

think, is still retained in that capacity; still shows perhaps half a

dozen rough big quasi-KEYHOLES, torn through it in different parts, and

daylight shining in, where the old bullets passed. The Keith Monument,

perhaps four feet high, is on the flagged floor, left side of the

pulpit, close by the wall,--'the bench where Keith's body lay has had

to be cased in new plank [zinc would be better] against the knives of

tourists.'"

Old Lord Marischal--George, "MARECHAL D'ECOSSE" as he always signs

himself--was by this time seventy-two; King's Governor of Neufchatel,

for a good while past and to come (1754-1763). In "James," the junior,

but much the stronger and more solid, he has lost, as it were, a FATHER

and younger brother at once; father, under beautiful conditions; and the

tears of the old man are natural and affecting. Ten years older than his

Brother; and survived him still twenty years. An excellent cheery old

soul, he too; honest as the sunlight, with a fine small vein of gayety,

and "pleasant wit," in him: what a treasure to Friedrich at Potsdam,

in the coming years; and how much loved by him (almost as one BOY loves

another), all readers would be surprised to discover. Some hints of him

will perhaps be allowed us farther on.

SEQUEL OF HOCHKIRCH; THE CAMPAIGN ENDS IN A WAY SURPRISING TO AN

ATTENTIVE PUBLIC (22d October-20th November, 1758).

There followed upon Hochkirch five weeks of rapid events; such as

nobody had been calculating on. To the reader, so weary of marchings,

manoeuvrings, surprisals, campings and details of war, not many words,

we hope, may render these results conceivable.

Friedrich stayed ten days, refitting himself, in that Camp of

Klein-Bautzen, on one of the branches of the Spree. Daun, who had

retired to his old strong place, on the 14th, scarcely occupying

Hochkirch Field at all, came out in about a week; and took a strong post

near Friedrich; not attempting anything upon him, but watching him, now

better within sight. Friedrich's fixed intention is, to march to Neisse

all the same; what probably Daun, under the shadow of his laurels and

his new Papal Hat, may not have considered possible, with the road to

Neisse blocked by 80,000 men. Friedrich has refitted himself with the

requisite new cannon and furnitures, from Dresden; especially with

Prince Henri and 6,000 foot and horse,--led by Prince Henri in person;

so Prince Henri would have it, the capricious little man; and that Finck

should be left in Saxony instead of him. All which weakens Saxony not a

little. But Friedrich hopes the Reichs Army is a feeble article; ill off

for provision in those parts, and not likely to attempt very much on the

sudden. Accordingly:--

FRIEDRICH MARCHES, ENIGMATICALLY, NOT ON GLOGAU, BUT ON REICHENBACH AND

GORLITZ; TO DAUN'S ASTONISHMENT.

SUNDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 22d, Convoy of many wagons quit Bautzen (Bautzen

Proper, not the Village, but the Town), laden with all the wounded of

Hochkirch; above 3,000 by count, to carry them to Dresden for deliberate

surgery. Keith's Tebay, I perceive, is in this Convoy; not ill hurt, but

willing to lie in Hospital a little, and consider. These poor fellows

cannot get to Dresden: on the second day, a Daun Detachment, hussaring

about in those parts, is announced ahead; and (by new order from

head-quarters) the Convoy turns northwards for Hoyerswerda,--(to Tebay's

disgust with the Commandant; "shied off," says Tebay, "for twelve

hussars!" [Second LETTER from Tebay, in Mitchell, ubi supra.])--and, I

think, in the end, went on to Glogau instead of Dresden. Which was very

fortunate for Tebay and the others. The poor wounded being thus disposed

of, Friedrich next night, at 10 o'clock, Monday, 23d, in the softest

manner, pushes off his Bakery and Army Stores a little way, northward

down the Spree Valley, on the western fork of the Spree (fork farthest

from Daun); follows, himself, with the rest of the Army, next evening,

down the eastern fork, also northward. "Going for Glogau," thinks Daun,

when the hussars report about it (late on Tuesday night): "Let him go,

if he fancy that a road TO Neisse! But, indeed, what other shift has

he," considers Daun, "but to try rallying at Glogau yonder, safe under

the guns?"--and is not in the slightest haste about this new matter.

[Tempelhof, ii. 341-347.]

United with his baggage-column, Friedrich proceeds northeastward;

crosses Spree still northward or northeastward; encamps there, in the

dark hours of Tuesday; no Daun heeding him. Before daylight, however,

Friedrich is again on foot; in several columns now, for the bad

country-roads ahead;--and has struck straight SOUTHeastward, if Daun

were noting him. And, in the afternoon of Wednesday, Daun is astonished

to learn that this wily Enemy is arrived in Reichenbach vicinity;

sweeping in our poor posts thereabouts; immovably astride of the

Silesian Highway, after all! An astonished Daun hastens out, what he

can, to take survey of the sudden Phenomenon. Tries it, next day and

next, with his best Loudons and appliances; finds that this Phenomenon

can actually march to Neisse ahead of him, indifferent to Pandours, or

giving them as good as they bring;--and that nothing but a battle and

beating (could we rashly dream of such a thing, which we cannot)

will prevent it. "Very well, then!" Daun strives to say. And lets the

Phenomenon march (FROM Gorlitz, OCTOBER 30th); Loudon harassing the

rear of it, for some days; not without counter harassment, much waste

of cannonading, and ruin to several poor Lausitz Villages by

fire,--"Prussians scandalously burn them, when we attack!" says Loudon.

Till, at last, finding this march impregnably arranged, "split into

two routes," and ready for all chances, Loudon also withdraws to more

promising business. Poor General Retzow Senior was of this march;

absolutely could not be excused, though fallen ill of dysentery, like

to die;--and did die, the day after he got to Schweidnitz, when the

difficulties and excitement were over. [Retzow, i. 372.]

Of Friedrich's march, onward from Gorlitz, we shall say nothing farther,

except that the very wind of it was salvatory to his Silesian Fortresses

and interests. That at Neisse, on and after November 1st,--which is the

third or second day of Friedrich's march,--General Treskow, Commandant

of Neisse, found the bombardment slacken more and more ("King of Prussia

coming," said the Austrian deserters to us); and that, on November 6th,

Treskow, looking out from Neisse, found the Austrian trenches empty,

Generals Harsch and Deville hurrying over the Hills homewards,--pickings

to be had of them by Treskow,--and Neisse Siege a thing finished.

[TAGEBUCH, &c. ("Diary of the Siege of Neisse," 4th August, 26th

October, 6th November, 1758, "1 A.M. suddenly"), in Seyfarth,

_Beylagen,_ ii. 468-472: of Treskow's own writing; brief and clear.

_Helden-Geschichte,_ v. 268-270.] It had lasted, in the way of blockade

and half-blockade, for about three months; Deville, for near one month,

half-blockading, then Harsch (since September 30th) wholly blockading,

with Deville under him, and an army of 20,000; though the actual

cannonade, very fierce, but of no effect, could not begin till little

more than a week ago,--so difficult the getting up of siege-material

in those parts. Kosel, under Commandant Lattorf, whose praises, like

Treskow's, were great,--had stood four months of Pandour blockading and

assaulting, which also had to take itself away on advent of Friedrich.

Of Friedrich, on his return-journey, we shall hear again before long;

but in the mean while must industriously follow Daun.

FELDMARSCHALL DAUN AND THE REICHS ARMY TRY SOME SIEGE OF DRESDEN

(9th-16th November).

OCTOBER 30th, Daun, seeing Neisse Siege as good as gone to water,

decided with himself that he could still do a far more important stroke:

capture Dresden, get hold of Saxony in Friedrich's absence. Daun turned

round from Reichenbach, accordingly; and, at his slow-footed pace,

addressed himself to that new errand. Had he made better despatch,

or even been in better luck, it is very possible he might have done

something there. In Dresden, and in Governor Schmettau with his small

garrison, there is no strength for a siege; in Saxony is nothing but

some poor remnant under Finck, much of it Free-corps and light people:

capable of being swallowed by the Reichs Army itself,--were the Reichs

Army enterprising, or in good circumstances otherwise. It is true the

Russians have quitted Colberg as impossible; and are flowing homewards

dragged by hunger: the little Dohna Army will, therefore, march for

Saxony; the little Anti-Swedish Army, under Wedell, has likewise been

mostly ordered thither; both at their quickest. For Daun, all turns on

despatch; loiter a little, and Friedrich himself will be here again!

Daun, I have no doubt, stirred his slow feet the fastest he could.

NOVEMBER 7th, Daun was in the neighborhood of Pirna Country again, had

his Bridge at Pirna, for communication; urged the Reichs Army to bestir

itself, Now or never. Reichs Army did push out a little against

Finck; made him leave that perpetual Camp of Gahmig, take new camps,

Kesselsdorf and elsewhere; and at length made him shoot across Elbe, to

the northwest, on a pontoon bridge below Dresden, with retreating room

to northward, and shelter under the guns of that City. Reichs Army

has likewise made powerful detachments for capture of Leipzig and the

northwestern towns; capture of Torgau, the Magazine town, first of all:

summon them, with force evidently overpowering, "Free withdrawal, if you

don't resist; and if you do--!" At Torgau there was actual attempt made

(November 12th), rather elaborate and dangerous looking; under Haddick,

with near 10,000 of the "Austrian-auxiliary" sort: to whom the old

Commandant--judging Wedell, the late Anti-Swedish Wedell, to be now

near--rushed out with "300 men and one big gun;" and made such a firing

and gesticulation as was quite extraordinary, as if Wedell were here

already: till Wedell's self did come in sight; and the overpowering

Reichs Detachment made its best speed else-whither. [Tempelhof, &c.;

"Letter from a Prussian Officer," in _Helden-Geschichte_, v. 286.] The

other Sieges remained things of theory; the other Reichs Detachments

hurried home, I think, without summoning anybody.

Meanwhile, Daun, with the proper Artilleries at last ready, comes

flowing forward (NOVEMBER 8th-9th); and takes post in the Great Garden,

or south side of Dresden; minatory to Schmettau and that City. The

walls, or works, are weak; outside there is nothing but Mayer and the

Free Corps to resist, who indeed has surpassed himself this season, and

been extraordinarily diligent upon that lazy Reichs Army. Commandant

Schmettau signifies to Daun, the day Daun came in sight, "If your

Excellenz advance farther on me, the grim Rules of War in besieged

places will order That I burn the Suburbs, which are your defences

in attacking me,"--and actually fills the fine houses on the Southern

Suburb with combustible matter, making due announcements, to Court and

population, as well as to Dann. "Burn the Suburbs?" answers Daun: "In

the name of civilized humanity, you will never think of such thing!"

"That will I, your Excellenz, of a surety, and do it!" answers

Schmettau. So that Dresden is full of pity, terror and speculation. The

common rumor is, says Excellency Mitchell, who is sojourning there for

the present, "That Bruhl [nefarious Bruhl, born to be the death of

us!] has persuaded Polish Majesty to sanction this enterprise of

Daun's,"--very careless, Bruhl, what become of Dresden or us, so the

King of Prussia be well hurt or spited!

Certain enough, NOVEMBER 9th, Daun does come on, regardless of

Schmettau's assurances; so that, "about midnight:" Mayer, who "can hear

the enemy busily building four big batteries" withal, has to report

himself driven to the edge of those high Houses (which are filled with

combustibles), and that some Croats are got into the upper windows.

"Burn them, then!" answers Schmettasu (such the dire necessity of sieged

places): and, "at 3 A.M." (three hours' notice to the poor inmates),

Mayer does so; hideous flames bursting out, punctually at the stroke of

3: "whole Suburb seemed on blaze [about a sixth part of it actually

so], nay you would have said the whole Town was environed in flames."

Excellency Mitchell climbed a steeple: "will not describe to your

Lordship the horror, the terror and confusion of this night; wretched

inhabitants running with their furniture [what of it they had got flung

out, between 12 o'clock and 3] towards the Great Garden; all Dresden, to

appearance, girt in flames, ruins and smoke." Such a night in Dresden,

especially in the Pirna Suburb, as was never seen before. [Mitchell,

_Memoirs and Papers,_ i. 459. In _Helden-Geschichte,_ v. 295-302, minute

account (corresponding well with Mitchell's); ib. 303-333, the certified

details of the damage done: "280 houses lost;" "4 human lives."] This

was the sad beginning, or attempt at beginning, of Dresden Siege; and

this also was the end of it, on Daun's part at present. For four days

more, he hung about the place, minatory, hesitative; but attempted

nothing feasible; and on the fifth day,--"for a certain weighty reason,"

as the Austrian Gazettes express it,--he saw good to vanish into the

Pirna Rock-Country, and be out of harm's way in the mean while!

The Truth is, Daun's was an intricate case just now; needing, above all

things, swiftness of treatment; what, of all things, it could not get

from Daun. His denunciations on that burnt Suburb were again loud; but

Schmettau continues deaf to all that,--means "to defend himself by the

known rules of war and of honor;" declares, he "will dispute from street

to street, and only finish in the middle of Polish Majesty's Royal

Palace." Denunciation will do nothing! Daun had above 100,000 men in

those parts. Rushing forward with sharp shot and bayonet storm, instead

of logical denunciation, it is probable Daun might have settled his

Schmettau. But the hour of tide was rigorous, withal;--and such an ebb,

if you missed it in hesitating! NOVEMBER 15th, Daun withdrew; the ebbing

come. That same day, Friedrich was at Lauban in the Lausitz, within a

hundred miles again; speeding hitherward; behind him a Silesia brushed

clear, before him a Saxony to be brushed. "Reason weighty" enough, think

Daun and the Austrian Gazettes! But such, since you have missed the

tide-hour, is the inexorable fact of ebb,--going at that frightful rate.

Daun never was the man to dispute facts.

November 20th, Friedrich arrived in Dresden; heard, next day, that Daun

had wheeled decisively homeward from Pirna Country; that the Reichs Army

and he are diligently climbing the Metal Mountains; and that there is

not in Saxony, more than in Silesia, an enemy left. What a Sequel to

Hochkirch! "Neisse and Dresden both!" we had hoped as sequel, if lucky:

"Neisse OR Dresden" seemed infallible. And we are climbing the Metal

Mountains, under facts superior to us.

And Campaign Third has closed in this manner;--leaving things much as it

found them. Essentially a drawn match; Contending Parties little altered

in relative strength;--both of them, it may be presumed, considerably

weaker. Friedrich is not triumphant, or shining in the light of

bonfires, as last Year; but, in the mind of judges, stands higher than

ever (if that could help him much);--and is not "annihilated" in the

least, which is the surprising circumstance.

Friedrich's marches, especially, have been wonderful, this Year. In

the spring-time, old Marechal de Belleisle, French Minister of War,

consulting officially about future operations, heard it objected once:

"But if the King of Prussia were to burst in upon us there?" "The King

of Prussia is a great soldier," answered M. de Belleisle; "but his Army

is not a shuttle (NAVETTE),"--to be shot about, in that way, from side

to side of the world! No surely; not altogether. But the King of Prussia

has, among other arts, an art of marching Armies, which by degrees

astonishes the old Marechal. To "come upon us EN NAVETTE," suddenly

"like a shuttle" from the other side of the web, became an established

phrase among the French concerned in these unfortunate matters.

[Archenholtz, i. 316; Montalembert, SAEPIUS, for the phrase "EN

NAVETTE."]

"The Pitt-and-Ferdinand Campaign of 1758," says a Note, which I would

fain abridge, "is more palpably victorious than Friedrich's, much more

an affair of bonfires than his; though it too has had its rubs. Loss of

honor at Crefeld; loss of Louisburg and Codfishery: these are serious

blows our enemy has had. But then, to temper the joy over Louisburg,

there was, at Ticonderoga, by Abercrombie, on the small scale (all

the extent of scale he had), a melancholy Platitude committed: that of

walking into an enemy without the least reconnoitring of him, who proves

to be chin-deep in abatis and field-works; and kills, much at his ease,

about 2,000 brave fellows, brought 5,000 miles for that object. And

obliges you to walk away on the instant, and quit Ticonderoga, like

a--surely like a very tragic Dignitary in Cocked-hat! To be cashiered,

we will hope; at least to be laid on the shelf, and replaced by some

Wolfe or some Amherst, fitter for the business! Nor were the Descents on

the French Coast much to speak of: 'Great Guns got at Cherbourg,' these

truly, as exhibited in Hyde-Park, were a comfortable sight, especially

to the simpler sort: but on the other hand, at Morlaix, on the part of

poor old General Bligh and Company, there had been a Platitude equal or

superior to that of Abercrombie, though not so tragical in loss of men.

'What of that?' said an enthusiastic Public, striking their balance, and

joyfully illuminating.--Here is a Clipping from Ohio Country, 'LETTER

of an Officer [distilled essence of Two Letters], dated, FORT-DUQUESNE,

28th NOVEMBER, 1758:--

"'Our small Corps under General Forbes, after much sore scrambling

through the Wildernesses, and contending with enemies wild and tame,

is, since the last four days, in possession of Fort Duquesne [PITTSBURG

henceforth]: Friday, 24th, the French garrison, on our appearance, made

off without fighting; took to boats down the Ohio, and vanished out

of those Countries,'--forever and a day, we will hope. 'Their

Louisiana-Canada communication is lost; and all that prodigious tract of

rich country,'--which Mr. Washington fixed upon long ago, is ours

again, if we can turn it to use. 'This day a detachment of us goes to

Braddock's field of battle [poor Braddock!], to bury the bones of our

slaughtered countrymen; many of whom the French butchered in cold blood,

and, to their own eternal shame and infamy, have left lying above ground

ever since. As indeed they have done with all those slain round the

Fort in late weeks;'--calling themselves a civilized Nation too!" [Old

Newspapers (in _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1759, pp. 41, 39).]

LOWER RHINE, JULY-NOVEMBER, 1758. "Ferdinand's manoeuvres, after

Crefeld, on the France-ward side of Rhine, were very pretty: but,

without Wesel, and versus a Belleisle as War-Minister, and a Contades

who was something of a General, it would not do. Belleisle made uncommon

exertions, diligent to get his broken people drilled again; Contades

was wary, and counter-manoeuvred rather well. Finally, Soubise" (readers

recollect him and his 24 or 30,000, who stood in Frankfurt Country, on

the hither or north side of Rhine), famed Rossbach Soubise,--"pushing

out, at Belleisle's bidding, towards Hanover, in a region vacant

otherwise of troops,--became dangerous to Ferdinand. 'Making for

Hanover?' thought Ferdinand: 'Or perhaps meaning to attack my 12,000

English that are just landed? Nay, perhaps my Rhine-Bridge itself, and

the small Party left there?' Ferdinand found he would have to return,

and look after Soubise. Crossed, accordingly (August 8th), by his old

Bridge at Rees,--which he found safe, in spite of attempts there had

been; ["Fight of Meer" (Chevert, with 10,000, beaten off, and the Bridge

saved, by Imhof, with 3,000;--both clever soldiers; Imhof in better

luck, and favored by the ground: "5th August, 1758"): MAUVILLON, i.

315.]--and never recrossed during this War. Judges even say his first

crossing had never much solidity of outlook in it; and though so

delightful to the public, was his questionablest step.

"On the 12,000 English, Soubise had attempted nothing. Ferdinand joined

his English at Soest (August 20th); to their great joy and his; [Duke

of Marlborough's heavy-laden LETTER to Pitt, "Koesfeld, August 15th:"

"Nothing but rains and uncertainties;" "marching, latterly, up to our

middles in water;" have come from Embden, straight south towards Wesel

Country, almost 150 miles (Soest still a good sixty miles to southeast

of us). CHATHAM CORRESPONDENCE (London, 1838), i. 334, 337. The poor

Duke died in two months hence; and the command devolved on Lord

George Sackville, as is too well known.] 10 to 12,000 as a first

instalment:--Grand-looking fellows, said the Germans. And did you ever

see such horses, such splendor of equipment, regardless of expense? Not

to mention those BERGSCHOTTEN (Scotch Highlanders), with their bagpipes,

sporrans, kilts, and exotic costumes and ways; astonishing to the German

mind. [Romantic view of the BERGSCHOTTEN (2,000 of them, led by the

Junior of the Robert Keiths above mentioned, who is a soldier as yet),

in ARCHENHOLTZ, i. 351-353: IB. and in PREUSS, ii. 136, of the "uniforms

with gold and silver lace," of the superb horses, "one regiment all

roan horses, another all black, another all" &c.] Out of all whom

(BERGSCHOTTEN included), Ferdinand, by management,--and management

was needed,--got a great deal of first-rate fighting, in the next Four

Years.

"Nor, in regard to Hanover, could Soubise make anything of it; though

he did (owing to a couple of stupid fellows, General Prince von Ysenburg

and General Oberg, detached by Ferdinand on that service) escape the

lively treatment Ferdinand had prepared for him; and even gave a kind

of Beating to each of those stupid fellows, [1. "Fight of Sandershausen"

(Broglio, as Soubise's vanguard, 12,000; VERSUS Ysenburg, 7,000, who

stupidly would not withdraw TILL beaten: "23d July, 1758," BEFORE

Ferdinand had come across again). 2. Fight of Lutternberg (Soubise,

30,000; VERSUS Oberg, about 18,000, who stupidly hung back till Soubise

was all gathered, and THEN &c., still more stupidly: "10th October,

1758"). See MAUVILLON, i. 312 (or better, ARCHENHOLTZ, i. 345); and

MAUVILLON, i. 327. Both Lutternberg and Sandershausen are in the

neighborhood of Cassel;--as many of those Ferdinand fights were.]--one

of which, Oberg's one, might have ruined Oberg and his Detachment

altogether, had Soubise been alert, which he by no means was! 'Paris

made such jeering about Rossbach and the Prince de Soubise,' says

Voltaire, [_Histoire de Louis XV._ ] 'and nobody said a word about these

two Victories of his, next Year!' For which there might be two reasons:

one, according to Tempelhof, that 'the Victories were of the so-so

kind (SIC WAREN AUCH DARNACH);' and another, that they were ascribed to

Broglio, on both occasions,--how justly, nobody will now argue!

"Contades had not failed, in the mean while, to follow with the

main Army; and was now elaborately manoeuvring about; intent to have

Lippstadt, or some Fortress in those Rhine-Weser Countries. On the tail

of that second so-so Victory by Soubise, Contades thought, Now would be

the chance. And did try hard, but without effect. Ferdinand was himself

attending Contades; and mistakes were not likely. Ferdinand, in the

thick of the game (October 21st-30th), 'made a masterly movement'--that

is to say, cut Contades and his Soubise irretrievably asunder:

no junction now possible to them; the weaker of them liable to

ruin,--unless Contades, the stronger, would give battle; which, though

greatly outnumbering Ferdinand, he was cautious not to do. A melancholic

cautious man, apt to be over-cautious,--nicknamed 'L'APOTHECAIRE' by the

Parisians, from his down looks,--but had good soldier qualities withal.

Soubise and he haggled about, a short while,--not a long, in these

dangerous circumstances; and then had to go home again, without result,

each the way he came; Contades himself repassing through Wesel, and

wintering on his own side of the Rhine."

How Pitt is succeeding, and aiming to succeed, on the French Foreign

Settlements: on the Guinea Coast, on the High Seas everywhere; in the

West Indies; still more in the East,--where General Lally (that fiery

O'MuLLALLY, famous since Fontenoy), missioned with "full-powers," as

they call them, is raging up and down, about Madras and neighborhood, in

a violent, impetuous, more and more bankrupt manner:--Of all this we can

say nothing for the present, little at any time. Here are two facts

of the financial sort, sufficiently illuminative. The much-expending,

much-subsidying Government of France cannot now borrow except at 7 per

cent Interest; and the rate of Marine Insurance has risen to 70 per

cent. [Retzow, ii. 5.] One way and other, here is a Pitt clearly

progressive; and a long-pending JENKINS'S-EAR QUESTION in a fair way to

be settled!

Friedrich stays in Saxony about a month, inspecting and adjusting;

thence to Breslau, for Winter-quarters. His Winter is like to be a sad

and silent one, this time; with none of the gayeties of last Year; the

royal heart heavy enough with many private sorrows, were there none of

public at all! This is a word from him, two days after finishing Daun

for the season:--

FRIEDRICH TO MYLORD MARISCHAL (at Colombier in Neufchatel).

"DRESDEN, 23d November, 1758.

"There is nothing left for us, MON CHER MYLORD, but to mingle and blend

our weeping for the losses we have had. If my head were a fountain of

tears, it would not suffice for the grief I feel.

"Our Campaign is over; and there has nothing come of it, on one side or

the other, but the loss of a great many worthy people, the misery of a

great many poor soldiers crippled forever, the ruin of some Provinces,

the ravage, pillage and conflagration of some flourishing Towns.

Exploits these which make humanity shudder: sad fruits of the wickedness

and ambition of certain People in Power, who sacrifice everything to

their unbridled passions! I wish you, MON CHER MYLORD, nothing that has

the least resemblance to my destiny; and everything that is wanting to

it. Your old friend, till death."--F. [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ xx. 273.]