Ohlau is a pleasant little Town, two marches southeast of Breslau; with
the Ohlau River on one side, and the Oder on the other; capable of some
defence, were there a garrison. Brieg the important Fortress, still
on the Oder, is some fifteen miles beyond Ohlau; after which, bending
straight south and quitting Oder, Neisse the still more important may be
thirty miles:--from Breslau to Neisse, by this route (which is BOW, not
STRING), sixty-five or seventy miles. One of my Topographers yields this
Note, if readers care for it:--
"Ohlau River, an insignificant drab-colored stream, rises well south of
Breslau, about Strehlen; makes, at first, direct eastward towards the
Oder; and then, when almost close upon it, breaks off to north, and
saunters along, irregularly parallel to Oder, for twenty miles farther,
before it can fall fairly in. To this circumstance both Breslau and a
Town of Ohlau owe their existence; Towns, both of them, 'between the
waters,' and otherwise well seated; Ohlau sheltering itself in the
attempted outfall of its little river; Breslau clustering itself about
the actual outfall: both very defensible places in the old rude time,
and good for trade in all times. Both Oder and Ohlau Rivers have split
and spread themselves into islands and deltas a good deal, at their
place of meeting; and even have changed their courses, and cut out new
channels for themselves, in the sandy country; making a very intricate
watery network of a site for Breslau: and indeed the Ohlau River here,
for centuries back, has been compelled into wide meanderings, mere
filling of rampart-ditches, so that it issues quite obscurely, and in an
artificial engineered condition, at Breslau."
Ohlau had been expected to make some defence; General Browne having
thrown 300 men into it, and done what he could for the works. And Ohlau
did at first threaten to make some; but thought better of it overnight,
and in effect made none; but was got (morning of January 9th) on
the common terms, by merely marching up to it in minatory posture.
"Prisoners of War, if you make resistance; Free Withdrawal [Liberty to
march away, arms shouldered, and not serve against us for a year], if
you have made none:" this is the common course, where there are Austrian
Soldiers at all; the course where none are, and only a few Syndics sit,
with their Town-Key laid on the table, a prey to the stronger hand, we
have already seen.
From Ohlau, proper Detachment, under General Kleist, is pushed forward
to summon Brieg; Jeetz from the other side of the river (whom we saw
crossing at Breslau the other day, interrupting his Majesty's dinner)
is to co-operate with Kleist in that enterprise,--were the Country once
cleared on his, Jeetz's, east side of Oder; especially were Namslau once
had, a small Town and Castle over there, which commands the Polish
and Hungarian road. Friedrich's hopes are buoyant; Schwerin is swiftly
rolling forward to rightward, nothing resisting him; Detachment is
gone from Schwerin, over the Hills, to Glatz (the GRAFSCHAFT, or County
Glatz, an Appendage to Schlesien), under excellent guidance; under
guidance, namely, of Colonel Camas, who has just come home from his
Parisian Embassy, and got launched among the wintry mountains, on a
new operation,--which, however, proves of non-effect for the present.
[_Helden-Geschichte,_ i. 678; Orlich, _Geschichte der beiden
Schlesischen Kriege,_ i. 49.]
Indeed, it is observable that southward of Breslau, the dispute, what
dispute there can be, properly begins; and that General Browne is there,
and shows himself a shining man in this difficult position. It must be
owned, no General could have made his small means go farther. Effective
garrisons, 1,600 each, put into Brieg and Neisse; works repaired,
magazines collected, there and elsewhere; the rest of his poor 7,000
thriftily sprinkled about, in what good posts there are, and "capable
of being got together in six hours:" a superior soldier, this Browne,
though with a very bad task; and seems to have inspired everybody with
something of his own temper. So that there is marching, detaching,
miscellaneous difficulty for Friedrich in this quarter, more than had
been expected. If the fate of Brieg and Neisse be inevitable, Browne
does wonders to delay it.
Of the Prussian marches in these parts, recorded by intricate Dryasdust,
there was no point so notable to me as this unrecorded one: the Stone
Pillar which, I see, the Kleist Detachment was sure to find, just now,
on the march from Ohlau to Brieg; last portion of that march, between
the village of Briesen and Brieg. The Oder, flowing on your left hand,
is hereabouts agreeably clothed with woods: the country, originally
a swamp, has been drained, and given to the plough, in an
agreeable manner; and there is an excellent road paved with solid
whinstone,--quarried in Strehlen, twenty miles away, among the Hills to
the right yonder, as you may guess;--road very visible to the Prussian
soldier, though he does not ask where quarried. These beautiful
improvements, beautiful humanities,--were done by whom? "Done in 1584,"
say the records, by "George the Pious;" Duke of Liegnitz, Brieg
and Wohlau; 156 years ago. "Pious" his contemporaries called this
George;--he was son of the ERBVERBRUDERUNG Duke, who is so important to
us; he was grandfather's grandfather of the last Duke of all; after whom
it was we that should have got these fine Territories; they should
all have fallen to the Great Elector, had not the Austrian strong hand
provided otherwise. George did these plantations, recoveries to the
plough; made this perennial whinstone road across the swamps; upon
which, notable to the roughest Prussian (being "twelve feet high by
eight feet square"), rises a Hewn Mass with this Inscription on it,--not
of the name or date of George; but of a thought of his, which is not
without a pious beauty to me:--_Straverunt alii nobis, nos Posteritati;
Omnibus at Christus stravit ad asra viam._ Others have made roads for
us; we make them for still others: Christ made a road to the stars for
us all. [Zollner, _Briefe uber Schlesien,_ i. 175; Hubner, i. t. 101.]
I know not how many Brandenburgers of General Kleist's Detachment, or
whether any, read this Stone; but they do all rustle past it there,
claiming the Heritage of this Pious George; and their mute dim interview
with him, in this manner, is a thing slightly more memorable than orders
of the day, at this date.
It was on the 11th, two days after Ohlau, that General Kleist summoned
Brieg; and Brieg answered resolutely, No. There is a garrison of 1,600
here, and a proper magazine: nothing for it but to "mask" Brieg too;
Kleist on this side the River, Jeetz on that,--had Jeetz once done with
Namslau, which he has not by any means. Namslau's answer was likewise
stiffly in the negative; and Jeetz cannot do Namslau, at least not
the Castle, all at once; having no siege-cannon. Seeing such stiffness
everywhere, Friedrich writes to Glogau, to the Young Dessauer,
"Siege-artillery hither! Swift, by the Oder; you don't need it where you
are!" and wishes it were arrived, for behoof of Neisse and these stiff
humors.
FRIEDRICH COMES ACROSS TO OTTMACHAU; SITS THERE, IN SURVEY OF NEISSE,
TILL HIS CANNON COME.
The Prussians met with serious resistance, for the first time (9th
January, same day when Ohlau yielded), at a place called Ottmachau; a
considerable little Town and Castle on the Neisse River, not far west of
Neisse Town, almost at the very south of Silesia. It lay on the route of
Schwerin's Column; long distances ahead of Liegnitz,--say, by straight
highway a hundred miles;--during which, to right and to left, there had
been nothing but submission hitherto. No resistance was expected here
either, for there was not hope in any; only that Browne had been here;
industrious to create delay till Neisse were got fully ready. He is, by
every means, girding up the loins of Neisse for a tight defence; has put
1,600 men into it, with proper stores for them, with a resolute skilful
Captain at the top of them: assiduous Browne had been at Ottmachau,
as the outpost of Neisse, a day or two before; and, they say, had
admonished them "Not to yield on any terms, for he would certainly come
to their relief." Which doubtless he would have done, had it been in his
power; but how, except by miracle, could it be? On the 9th of January,
when Schwerin comes up, Browne is again waiting hereabouts. Again in
defensive posture, but without force to undertake anything; stands on
the Southern Uplands, with Bohmen and Mahren and the Giant Mountains at
his back;--stands, so to speak, defensive at his own House-door, in this
manner; and will have, after SEEING Ottmachau's fate and Neisse's, to
duck in with a slam! At any rate, he had left these Towns in the
above firm humor, screwed to the sticking-place; and had then galloped
else-whither to screw and prepare.
And so the Ottmachau Austrians, "260 picked grenadiers" (400 dragoons
there also at first were, who, after flourishing about on the outskirts
as if for fighting, rode away), fire "DESPERAT," says my intricate
friend; [_Helden-Geschichte_, i. 672-677; Orlich, i. 50.] entirely
refusing terms from Schwerin; kill twelve of his people (Major de Rege,
distinguished Engineer Major, one of them): so that Schwerin has to
bring petards upon them, four cannon upon them; and burst in their
Town Gate, almost their Castle Gate, and pretty much their Castle
itself;--wasting three days of his time upon this paltry matter. Upon
which they do signify a willingness for "Free Withdrawal." "No, IHR
HERREN" answers, Schwerin; "not now; after such mad explosion. His
Majesty will have to settle it." Majesty, who is by this time not far
off, comes over to Ottmachau (January 12th); gives words of rebuke,
rebuke not very inexorable; and admits them Prisoners of War. "The
officers were sent to Custrin, common men to Berlin;" the usual
arrangement in such case. Ottmachau Town belongs to the Right Reverend
von Sinzendorf, Bishop of Breslau, and Primate; whose especial Palace is
in Neisse; though he "commonly sends his refractory Priests to do their
penance in the Schloss at Ottmachau here,"--and, I should say, had
better himself make terms, and come out hitherward, under present
aspects.
Friedrich continues at Ottmachau; head-quarters there thenceforth, till
he see Neisse settled. On the morrow, (13th) he learns that the Siege
Artillery is at Grotkau; well forward towards Neisse; halfway between
Brieg and it. Same day, Colonel Camas returns to him out of Glatz; five
of his men lost; and reports That Browne has had the roads torn up, that
Glatz is mere ice and obstruction, and that nothing can be made of it at
this season. Good news alternating with not so good.
The truth is, Friedrich has got no Strong Place in Schlesien; all
strengths make unexpected defence; paltry little Namslan itself
cannot be quite taken, Castle cannot, till Jeetz gets his
siege-artillery,--which does not come along so fast as that to Neisse
does. Here is an Excerpt from my Dryasdust, exact though abridged,
concerning Jeetz:--
"JANUARY 24th, 1741. Prussians, masters of the Town for a couple of
weeks back, have got into the Church at Namslau, into the Cloister; are
preparing plank floors for batteries, cutting loop-holes; diligent as
possible,--siege-guns now at last just coming. The Castle fires fiercely
on them, makes furious sallies, steals six of our oxen,--makes insolent
gestures from the walls; at least one soldier does, this day. 'Sir,
may I give that fellow a shot?' asks the Prussian sentry. 'Do, then,'
answers his Major: 'too insolent that one!' And the sentry explodes on
him; brings him plunging down, head foremost (HERUNTER PURZELTE); the
too insolent mortal, silent enough thenceforth." [_Helden-Geschichte,_
i. 703.]--Jeetz did get his cannon, though not till now, this very day
I think; and then, in a couple of days more, Jeetz finished off Namslau
("officers to Custrin, Common men to Berlin"); and thereupon blockades
the Eastern side of Brieg, joining hands with Kleist on the Western:
whereby Brieg, like Glogau, is completely masked,--till the season mend.
Friedrich, now that his artillery is come, expects no difficulty with
Neisse. A "paltry hamlet (BICOQUE)" he playfully calls it; and, except
this, Silesia is now his. Neisse got (which would be the desirable
thing), or put under "mask" as Glogau is, and as Brieg is being, Austria
possesses not an inch of land within these borders. Here are some
Epistolary snatches; still in the light style, not to say the flimsy
and uplifted; but worth giving, so transparent are they; off hand, like
words we had heard his Majesty SPEAK, in his high mood:--
KING TO M. JORDAN, AT BERLIN (two successive Letters).
1. "OTTMACHAU, 14th JANUARY, 1741 [second day after our arrival there].
My dear Monsieur Jordan, my sweet Monsieur Jordan, my quiet Monsieur
Jordan, my good, my benign, my pacific, my humanest Monsieur Jordan,--I
announce to Thy Serenity the conquest of Silesia; I warn thee of the
bombardment of Neisse [just getting ready], and I prepare thee for still
more important projects; and instruct thee of the happiest successes
that the womb of Fortune ever bore.
"This ought to suffice thee. Be my Cicero as to the justice of my
cause, and I will be thy Caesar as to the execution. Adieu: thou
knowest whether I am not, with the most cordial regard, thy faithful
friend.--F."
2. "OTTMACHAU, 17th JANUARY, 1741. I have the honor to inform your
Humanity that we are christianly preparing to bombard Neisse; and that
if the place will not surrender of good-will, needs must that it be
beaten to powder (NECESSITE SERA DE L'ABIMER). For the rest, our affairs
go the best in the world; and soon thou wilt hear nothing more of us.
For in ten days it will all be over; and I shall have the pleasure of
seeing you and hearing you, in about a fortnight.
"I have seen neither my Brother [August Wilhelm, not long ago at
Strasburg with us, and betrothed since then] nor Keyserling: I left them
at Breslau, not to expose them to the dangers of war. They perhaps will
be a little angry; but what can I do?--The rather as, on this occasion,
one cannot share in the glory, unless one is a mortar!
"Adieu, M. le Conseiller [Poor's-RATH, so styled]. Go and amuse yourself
with Horace, study Pausanias, and be gay over Anacreon. As to me, who
for amusement have nothing but merlons, fascines and gabions, [Merlons
are mounds of earth placed behind the solid or blind parts of the
parapet (that is, between the embrasures) of a Fortification; fascines
are bundles of brushwood for filling up a ditch; gabions, baskets filled
with earth to be ranged in defence till you get trenches dug.] I pray
God to grant me soon a pleasanter and peacefuler occupation, and you
health, satisfaction and whatever your heart desires.--F." [_OEuvres de
Frederic,_ xvii. 84.]
KING FRIEDRICH TO M. LE COMTE ALGAROTTI (gone on a journey).
"OTTMACHAU, 17th JANUARY, 1741 [same day as the above to Jordan]. I
have begun to settle the Figure of Prussia: the outline will not be
altogether regular; for the whole of Silesia is taken, except one
miserable hamlet (BICOQUE), which perhaps I shall have to keep blockaded
till next spring.
"Up to this time, the whole conquest has cost only Twenty Men, and
Two Officers, one of whom is the poor De Rege, whom you have seen
at Berlin,"--De Rege, Engineer Major, killed here at Ottmachau, in
Schwerin's late tussle.
"You are greatly wanting to me here. So soon as you have talked that
business over, write to me about it. [What is the business? Whither is
the dusky Swan of Padua gone?] In all these three hundred miles I
have found no human creature comparable to the Swan of Padua. I would
willingly give ten cubic leagues of ground for a genius similar to
yours. But I perceive I was about entreating you to return fast, and
join me again,--while you are not yet arrived where your errand was.
Make haste to arrive, then; to execute your commission, and fly back to
me. I wish you had a Fortunatus Hat; it is the only thing defective in
your outfit.
"Adieu, dear Swan of Padua: think, I pray you, sometimes of those who
are getting themselves cut in slices [ECHINER, chined] for the sake
of glory here, and above all do not forget your friends who think a
thousand times of you.
"FREDERIC." [_OEuvres de Frederic,_ xviii. 28.]
The object of the dear Swan's journey, or even the whereabouts of
it, cannot be discovered without difficulty; and is not much worth
discovering. "Gone to Turin," we at last make out, "with secret
commissions:" [Denina, _La Prusse Litteraire_ (Berlin, 1790), i. 198. A
poor vague Book; only worth consulting in case of extremity.] desirable
to sound the Sardinian Majesty a little, who is Doorkeeper of the Alps,
between France and Austria, and opens to the best bidder? No great
things of a meaning in this mission, we can guess, or Algarotti had not
gone upon it,--though he is handy, at least, for keeping it unnoticed by
the Gazetteer species. Nor was the Swan successful, it would seem;
the more the pity for our Swan! However, he comes back safe; attends
Friedrich in Silesia; and in the course of next month readers will see
him, if any reader wished it.