66 CHAPTER XXXVI. IN the debate upon the monument to Wolfe, Pitt had paid some well-earned compliments to Admiral Saunders, —a man, he said, equalling those who have beaten Armadas, - May I anticipate?" added he,—“those who "will beat Armadas!"* These words proved prophetic, and were fulfilled almost immediately after they were uttered. On that same day, the 20th of November, we achieved a great victory at sea. During the whole summer the Brest fleet had been closely blockaded by Admiral Sir Edward Hawke, while some frigates under Captain Duff cruised along the coast to the southward, from the port of Orient to the sands of Olonne. But when the autumnal gales set in, Sir Edward Hawke was driven from the coast of France to that of England, and the French Admiral at Brest, M. de Conflans, seized the opportunity to sail forth with his fleet, twenty-one ships of the line and four frigates. His design was to attack and overpower the squadron of Duff before the larger fleet could return to its assistance; but Hawke, with an energy that appeared as though it could control the winds and the waves, and which in truth could profit by the slightest variations in either, was already steering back to his post, and succeeded in joining Duff's squadron off the point of Quiberon before Conflans could attack it. With the addition of Duff's force the English Admiral was an overmatch for the French; he was superior by two ships of the line and six frigates, and (according to the not unapt, though quibbling, illustration of a contemporary writer,) he descried the enemy fluttering at his appearance as a bird at the sight of a "HAWK." Conflans no longer ventured to seek, nor even to await, an engagement in the open sea. He drew his 66 * Lord Orford's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 393. 1759. ADMIRAL HAWKE. 169 ships close in shore towards the mouth of the Vilaine, — a coast guarded by granite rocks and islets above, - by shoals and quicksands below. On this very coast the earliest British fleet on record had perished.* Had Sir Edward Hawke desired to retire without striking a blow, he would not have wanted strong arguments to justify his conduct; and no doubt, had there still been a Prime Minister like Newcastle, there would have been no lack of Admirals like Byng. But it is the peculiar glory of Pitt, — and a praise which all parties have concurred in awarding him,-that he could impress his own energy on every branch of the public service; that under his direction our chiefs, both by land and sea, viewed obstacles and dangers as he did,-only as a spur to exertion, and as an enhancement of fame. Neither the terrors of an unknown coast, nor those of a wintry storm (for it was now the 20th of November, and the sea was rolling high) could divert the settled purpose of Hawke. He gave the signal for immediate action,-passing by the rest of the enemy's fleet with his own ship, the Royal George, and reserving his fire for the Soleil Royal, which bore M. de Conflans, and was at this time the largest vessel in the French navy. In vain did his pilot represent to him the peril of such a navigation. Sir Edward answered, "You have done your duty in this remonstrance; you are now to obey my orders, and lay me alongside the French Admiral." An action commenced in such a spirit could scarcely fail of triumphant success. Before night two French ships had struck; four others, amongst which was the Soleil Royal, had been sunk; the rest, more or less damaged, sought safety by running up the Vilaine. During the whole ensuing night Hawke heard guns of distress, but could not tell whether of friend or foe, nor yet offer any assistance. In the morning it was found, that, besides the French ships stranded, two of ours, the Resolution and the Essex, were lost, having become entangled in the shoals, but all their men and part of their stores were 66 66 * Cæsar, De Bell. Gall. lib. iii. ch. 9. and 15. This was in Cæsar s war against the Veneti, or people of Vannes. And he adds: "Auxilia "a Britanniâ, quæ contra eas regiones posita est, arcessunt." saved. The number of our killed had been but forty,— of our wounded but 200. Such was the entire loss attending this important victory, won in the midst of storm and tempest, which ended all thoughts of the threatened invasion, and gave the finishing blow to the naval power of France during the whole remainder of the war. The thanks of Parliament were voted to the gallant Admiral; a pension of 1,500l. a year for his own life and his son's was conferred by the King, and in the ensuing reign he was raised to the peerage. It well deserves commemoration, that Admiral Saunders, who had just returned from North America, immediately, and without waiting for orders, sailed from Plymouth to join Hawke, and take part in the expected action, but arrived too late. Before Dunkirk, as before Brest, our blockading squadron had been driven homewards by the violence of the eastern gales, and Thurot had been enabled to make his escape from the first as Conflans from the latter; but his force was no more than five ships, and he could only in the first instance seek shelter along the coasts of Sweden and Norway. This year, so fraught with glory to England, was not auspicious to our ally the King of Prussia. During the spring and early summer he had remained entirely on the defensive, content with maintaining against the Austrians the borders of Saxony and Silesia. But a formidable Russian army, commanded by General Soltikow, was now again advancing to the Oder, and the Austrians were, moreover, sending it a large auxiliary force under Laudohn. It was Frederick's object to prevent, if possible, this junction. He despatched General Wedel with some good troops, and with positive orders to risk an engagement. Wedel accordingly attacked the Russians on the 23d of July, but was worsted, with heavy loss, and the enemy's junction was completed. Frederick now resolved to march against the Russians in person. He found them still on the right bank of the Oder, close to the city of Frankfort, and encamped at the village of Kunersdorf; it was nearly the same district where he had de 1759. THE KING OF PRUSSIA DEFEATED. 171 His force was now 48,000 feated them the year before. men; their's, including Laudohn's, above 60,000. On the 12th of August, a day of nearly tropical heat, the King led on his troops at mid-day to the charge. Long and bloody was the fight. Before six in the evening, however, the Russians had been driven from their lines, with the loss of several thousand prisoners and nearly 200 pieces of cannon. The victory seemed decided, and Frederick despatched a courier with the joyful tidings to Berlin. Had the Prussians been satisfied with these advantages, there seems no doubt that the enemy would have forthwith retreated towards their own dominions, as they had last year after the battle of Zorndorf; but the King was eager, not merely to defeat, but to destroy these barbarous invaders. Wearied as were his troops, and contrary to the advice of Seydlitz and his other best officers, he commanded another attack. By this time the Russians had taken post on some rising ground, — the cemetery of the Jews of Frankfort. Several times were the Prussians led up by their monarch in person to assail this strong position, but always in vain. At length their exhaustion from a long previous march, from so many hours of conflict, — from the burning heat of that summer day, could no longer be controlled, and Laudohn, watching the moment, poured in upon them with a body of yet fresh Austrian cavalry. The effect was decisive. A defeat ensued, the most complete that Frederick had yet sustained, or, perhaps, yet inflicted. A full half of the Prussian army were killed, wounded, or taken. Frederick himself had been urged to quit the field before the rout became universal, but answered, “I have a duty to "perform as well as you.". Two horses were killed under him, and a gold case which he carried in his pocket was crushed by a musket-ball. In the retreat he was nearly surrounded and made prisoner, and only saved by the intrepidity of one of his officers, Captain Prittnitz, who threw himself forward with an hundred hussars, and effected a few moments' diversion. It was many miles from the field of battle, at the village of Otscher, that the King first found some moments of respite or repose. There, in a hut which had been plundered and half ruined by some roving Cossacks, he flung himself down upon a heap of straw. Of the 48,000 men whom he had led to conflict in the morning scarcely 3,000 then remained beneath his banner. Berlin seemed open to the enemy, and no hope beyond it. Besides the Russians, no doubt that Austrians, Poles, Swedes, and Saxons, every tribe, would be ready to rush in upon the fallen lion. During these dismal hours the thoughts of Frederick reverted to the phial of poison which he still bore concealed in his clothes, and he appears to have determined upon suicide, as his sole refuge from an ignominious submission. To Count Finkenstein, his principal Minister at Berlin, he wrote a brief account of his overthrow, and added: "The results of this disaster will be 66 even worse than the disaster itself. I have no resource " left, and to tell you the truth, I look upon every thing as "lost. But I shall not survive the ruin of my country. "Farewell for ever. FEDERIC."*-In like manner, and in the same night, he drew out instructions for General Finck, on whom the chief command of the army would after his own death devolve. After directing that an oath of allegiance should be taken to his nephew, and that his brother, Prince Henry, should be obeyed as Regent, he points out some faint prospect of defeating Laudohn should he advance singly, and with too much ardour, towards Berlin. "Such," he says in conclusion, "is the only advice which, under such unhappy circumstances, I find myself able to give. Had I any resources " left I should have remained at my post."† 66 Even the man most determined on self-destruction from his misfortunes will hesitate,-so long as these misfortunes leave him any respite,-before he swallows the dose or draws the trigger. Frederick paused in his resolve until he should see the enemy advancing. To his surprise he found them neglect their auspicious opportunity. With the Russians, as with all other yet semi-barbarous tribes, the first days after a successful *It was the King's constant habit, — from what reason or fancy I know not, to sign in French, as Féderic, instead of Frederic. See, for instance, in the first volume of the Chatham Correspondence, a fac-simile of his letter to Pitt, dated January 5. 1759. † Both these remarkable documents, the first in the original French, and the second translated from the German,—will be found in my Appendix. |