Berlin.
We arrived here in the height of the preparation for the reviews.
Nothing was to be seen in the streets but soldiers parading, and
officers hurrying backwards and forwards. The town looked more like the
cantonment of a great army, than the capital of a kingdom in the time of
profound peace. The Court itself resembled the levee of a General in the
field—except the foreign ministers, and a few strangers, every man there
(for there were no women) was dressed in a military uniform.
Mr. Harris, the British minister, attended the D—— of H——, the day we
were presented to the King. A son of Prince Kaunitz’s, and some other
strangers, were presented at the same time. The Count Reuse, chamberlain
of the Court, named each person to his Majesty as he approached. He
conversed a considerable time with the D——, and spoke a few words
to every person who was presented.—His countenance and manner are
exceedingly animated.—He seemed that day in very high spirits, and spoke
to all his officers in an easy style, and with a kind of gay affability.
On their part, they appear before their master with an erect military
boldness, free from that cringing address which prevails in many Courts,
but would not succeed here.
The King was three days at Berlin before the reviews began, and passed
some hours every morning in the park, where there were four or five
thousand men ordered daily, not to be exercised, but simply that the
King might examine the state of each corps in particular: and it is
incredible with what accuracy and minute attention he did examine them,
the Colonel of the regiment under scrutiny walking along with him,
to answer any question, and hear his directions and remarks. By this
exactness, he not only knows the condition of the army in general, but
the appearance, degree of discipline, and strength of each regiment.
The whole number reviewed was about thirty-six or thirty-eight thousand,
consisting of the garrison of Berlin, and troops from some of the
adjacent towns and villages. This army was in the field three mornings
successively, and the operations were different each day. I shall
endeavour to give you an idea of the plan of the last day’s review, which
is freshest in my memory.
At break of day, about eight thousand men marched out of Berlin, under
the command of a general officer, and took possession of a village,
situated on a rising ground, at the distance of two or three miles. About
an hour after, the King himself joined the army, which was assembled
without the gates. He divided it into three columns. Two general officers
took the command of two of them; he himself led the third. The whole
marched by three different routes towards the village, where the former
detachment had now taken post. In the attack and defence of this village
the review consisted.
As the army advanced, they were cannonaded from the village, but could
not be supposed to suffer much, because the leader of each column
advanced with caution, taking such circuits as exposed the men very
little.
At length the three columns met on a large plain near the village, but
protected from the batteries by a rising of the ground. Here the King
formed the army into two lines. While this was doing, they were perfectly
secure; but they could not advance towards the village otherwise than
by going over the swell in the ground, and being exposed to all the
cannon of the enemy. This was to be performed, therefore, with as much
expedition as could be consistent with good order. The right wing of the
army made the attack. As soon as the signal was given, all the drums
and fifes struck up at once. The soldiers advanced with a rapid pace.
A numerous train of large field-pieces, placed at proper intervals,
advanced with equal velocity, and kept in a line with the front rank. The
rapidity with which they were charged and discharged as they advanced
was quite astonishing. When the line came within a proper distance of
the village, the soldiers began to use their firelocks. In the mean
time there was a furious cannonade, and discharge of small shot from the
village. The King was between the advancing line and the village during
the attack. When they had got very near the hedges, a new battery opened
from the village. The King gave a signal, and the first line broke,
fell into an artificial confusion, and gave back towards the second
line, which opened at several places, and closed again the moment the
retreating line had pierced through. The second line then moved to the
attack, as the former had done. This also seemed to be repulsed—a retreat
was sounded, and the whole wing began to retire. A body of cavalry then
appeared from the village, and were advancing to charge the retreating
army, but were themselves charged, and driven back, by the cavalry of the
right wing.
A body of hussars pursued also from the village, and harassed the
retreating army. These were sometimes repulsed by the soldiers, who
turned and fired on them, and sometimes by detached parties of cavalry,
which drove them away.
These various operations lasted from five in the morning till noon, when
the troops returned to Berlin.—It is hardly possible for any words of
mine to convey an adequate idea of the perfect manner in which these
evolutions were executed. The charges made by the cavalry were praised by
the King himself. I had never seen so great a body together, and had no
idea that it was possible to charge at full gallop, and keep the ranks
and distances so exactly as they did.
Upon the principle, that velocity is equal to weight, they endeavour to
compensate for the lightness of the horses by the quickness of their
motion. The hussars in the Prussian army are taught, not only to harass a
retreating army in detached parties, but to charge like heavy cavalry in
a large body. The late General Seidlitz, who had the reputation of being
the best officer of cavalry in Europe, brought the Prussian dragoons
to a wonderful degree of perfection, and it is said that he gained the
battle of Rosbach by one brisk charge. Ever since, the King of Prussia
has bestowed great attention on his cavalry. They are now habituated to
charge in large bodies, and at full speed.
The cuirassiers are the flower of the Prussian army. They are dressed in
buff coats, and wear very heavy iron breastplates, which cover all the
fore-part of the body, and have been tried by musket-shot before they are
delivered to the men.
I neglected to mention, that the infantry were ordered to shout as they
advanced to the attack on the village, and that this practice is adopted
by the Prussians in actual service. The King, as I am informed, is of
opinion, that this keeps up the spirits of the men, and prevents them
from reflecting on the danger of their situation. There are a greater
proportion of drummers in the Prussian service than in most others: a
regulation, in all probability, founded on the same principle.
The evening after the reviews, there were a concert and supper at Prince
Henry’s palace. The Queen was present, and the King’s brothers, Henry
himself, and Ferdinand, with their Princesses; also the Prince and
Princess of Prussia, Prince Frederick of Brunswick and his Princess, and
a numerous company. I here delivered to Prince Frederick the letter I
had brought from his mother, who I found had before apprized him of my
intention to go to Berlin.
The King himself was not present. He seldom appears at festivals. All his
hours, not employed in business, he spends in reading, or in the society
of a few people whom he esteems. The Hereditary Prince of Brunswick is at
present the King’s most constant companion, a choice which does not more
honour to the Prince than to the King’s discernment.
Prince Henry’s palace is one of the most magnificent buildings in Berlin.
No subject of the King of Prussia lives in a more sumptuous manner than
this Prince, who keeps a numerous establishment of servants, mostly
handsome young men, very richly dressed. The entertainment on this
occasion was remarkably splendid.