66 66 <6 high was then the renown of the Prussian arms, and "so closely connected with the ideas of spoil and prize"money, that Colignon's manufactury of patents was "ever employed. Many a spendthrift son along the Rhine, in Franconia, or in Suabia, was induced to rob "his parents, many an apprentice his master, many an 66 agent his employer, in order to seek out these magnani66 mous Prussian officers who bestowed commissions as freely as halfpence. Well-provided with their patents, they then hastened to Magdeburg, where they found "themselves received as common soldiers, and forcibly "enlisted as such in the various regiments. No complaint, no resistance availed them; they were plied "with the cane until even the most stubborn grew supple. By such and such like means did Colignon and his as"sistants procure the King during the war not less than 66 60,000 recruits.” * 66 66 Austria and Russia, on their part, made the greatest exertions for the coming campaign. One large Austrian army under Daun entered Saxony; another under Laudohn Silesia, and, with this last, the Russian General, Soltikow; received orders to co-operate. Laudohn was, as usual, the most active and successful of all. He defeated and took prisoner the Prussian General Fouqué at Landshut; he reduced in a six days' siege the important fortress of Glatz. At the news of Fouqué's danger, Frederick, though close pressed in Saxony, passed the Elbe and marched away to his relief. It was now the month of July, and the heat so overpowering, that on a single day 105 Prussians fell dead from their place in the ranks. Strict orders had been issued, from a regard to the health of the soldiers, that they should not, heated as they were with marching, be allowed to drink; but their thirst overcame their discipline; whenever they espied a pond or a streamlet, they broke their ranks and rushed towards it, drawing the water with their hats, and regardless of the blows which their officers and serjeants were all the while dealing upon them.† * Archenholtz, Siebenjähriger Krieg, vol. ii. p. 35. + Ibid. p. 47. He adds, that, according to the rules of the Prussian service at that time, the offenders should have been, not merely caned, but shot dead on the spot. 1760. DRESDEN BESIEGED AND FIRED. 199 Through this burning heat, and over those sandy plains, Frederick still marched on. At his departure, Marshal Daun had also set his own troops in motion, keeping pace with the Prussian, and marching along the borders of Bohemia. But on the intelligence that Fouqué was already defeated, Frederick, with all the promptness of genius, entirely altered his plans. First, pausing in his progress to gain some marches from Daun, he suddenly hastened back before Dresden, in the hope of taking that city by a COUP DE MAIN. That project, however well concerted, was baffled by the resolute resistance of the governor, Maguire, an officer of Irish parentage, and by the speedy return of Daun. It was then that Frederick gave orders of peculiar harshness. After the approach of the Austrians had put an end to every prospect of success in the siege, he yet,-whether to wreak his vengeance or display his power,-continued the bombardment, directing it not so much against the fortifications as against the town. Some of the most splendid palaces, of the most stately domes and spires, in Germany, were in a few days levelled to the ground. The suburbs without were set on fire, while red-hot balls kindled the houses within. Many of the peaceable inhabitants, old men, women, and children, were struck in the streets or crushed in their buildings; many others, and some of high rank and education, -beheld all their property consumed, and rushed from the town in affright and beggary. Thirty years of succeeding peace were not sufficient to repair this havoc, which has been universally and justly reprobated as a main blot on the fame of the Prussian monarch.* Another as cruel siege was threatened in Silesia. Laudohn at the head of 50,000 men appeared before the capital, Breslau, which had then 9,000 Austrian prisoners in its dungeons, and only 3,000 Prussian soldiers for its defence. But these were commanded by Tauentzien, one of the most gallant veterans of his age or country. Less "C'est une des taches les plus odieuses qui ternissent sa me"moire," &c. (Sismondi, Histoire des Français, vol. xxix. p. 211.) Some striking details of this bombardment are given by Rabener, who was present, in a letter to his friend Gellert. The letter is dated August 9. 1760, and printed in Rabener's Works, vol. vi. p. 239. 66 * ing, who had been his Secretary, used to say of him, that if even the Prussian cause were wholly ruined, and that the King could muster his remaining followers under a single tree, beneath that tree would Tauentzien be found.* On this occasion he stood firm against all the menaces of Laudohn. "Capitulate, capitulate," cried the Austrian general, or we shall give no quarter, - -even the child "unborn shall not be spared!". Tauentzien coolly answered: "I am not pregnant, nor are my soldiers.' With the same coolness did he maintain his post during the bombardment, and defend the city for several days, until the approach of Prince Henry induced Laudohn to raise the siege. 66 On the other hand, Frederick, baffled in his views upon Dresden, resumed his first design, and marched into Silesia. Here,—still followed by Daun, I he found himself opposed by three armies. But as they scattered in order to surround him, he watched his opportunity to deal a heavy blow on one of them. This was the battle of Liegnitz, which he gained over Laudohn on the 15th of August. "Under any other circumstances," writes the King himself, "the affair of the 15th would have decided "the campaign; now it seems only a scratch."† Still it secured Silesia, inducing the Russians to repass the Oder, and preventing any further siege of Breslau or Schweidnitz. But he could not hinder a body of Russians under Tottleben, and of Austrians under Lacy, from pushing forward to Berlin. The Prussian capital was then begirt only by a palisade, and defended by a handful of convalescents. These, however, headed by the gallant General Seydlitz, with his wound at Kunersdorf yet raw, made a most resolute resistance; citizens and soldiers showed nearly equal spirit, and it was only on the enemy's reinforcements coming up that they agreed to a capitulation. On the 9th of October, Lacy and Tottleben marched in. Lacy, an Irishman in Maria Theresa's service, is accused of plundering the palaces of Charlottenburg and Schönhausen, and allowing his troops great excesses in the suburbs of Berlin. On the other * Preuss, Lebens-Geschichte, vol. ii. p. 247. † Letter to the Marquis d'Argens, August 27. 1760. 1760. DREADFUL SLAUGHTER AT TORGAU. 201 hand, Prince Esterhazy, who commanded at Potsdam, showed the most courteous and humane forbearance, taking away but a single picture from Sans Souci as a memorial of his conquest. Still more remarkable was the conduct of the Russians. These invaders, whose havoc in the open country had been so appalling, here refrained, as the Prussian writers gratefully acknowledge, from the slightest act of violence or outrage, merely levying, as they were well entitled to do, a contribution of 1,700,000 dollars from the city. Their stay at Berlin was only of three days duration; the news of Frederick's approach urged both Tottleben and Lacy to a precipitate retreat. Having thus freed Silesia by his victory, and Berlin by his approach, Frederick turned his arms towards Saxony. Marshal Daun had marched again into that country, and had overrun the whole; he had taken Leipsick, Wittenberg, and Torgau, and fixed his head-quarters at the latter. Had he there remained unmolested, he would have commanded the course of the Elbe, and cut off the communication between the King and the northern provinces. Frederick (who had already crossed the Elbe at Dessau, and recovered Leipsick,) determined at all risks to give him battle. On the 3d of November he led on his troops to the assault; they were 44,000, and Daun's at least 60,000. But, besides his superiority of numbers, the Austrian Marshal had carefully entrenched and fortified his position. It was a dreadful day of carnage; on both sides blood flowed as water. The Prussians marched full upon Daun's batteries of 400 pieces of cannon; within half an hour above 5,000 grenadiers, the pride and strength of Frederick's army, lay dead or disabled on the ground. None exposed their persons more courageously than the monarch himself. "Did you ever hear a stronger cannonade?" said he, to one of his Generals; "I for one never did." After a while he received a contusion on the breast from a spent ball, and was compelled to quit the field. Daun also had fallen from a wound in the foot, and was carried back into Torgau, leaving the command to General O'Donnell, another of those brave Irishmen whose principles pre vented their entering our own service, and whose merit ensured their promotion in any other. Long and fierce was the conflict. The sun went down amidst clouds and rain, and a frosty night succeeded; but still did the fighting continue. In front the Prussians had given way, but their reserve under General Ziethen attacked the Austrians from behind, and succeeded in gaining the heights which formed the strength of their position. This success was decisive of the day. Frederick, who had been removed to the little village of Elsnig, and lay stretched on the pavement of the church, beside the aitar, on which he wrote his despatches, thought that his attack had failed, and intended to renew it on the morrow. It was late in the evening when an express arrived with the unexpected tidings of victory. At the dawn of next day his own eyes beheld the Austrian army already beyond the Elbe, and in full retreat. But how far from welcome was the sight of the battle-field itself! There, thousands of wounded, to whom no assistance had been or could be rendered, lay as they had fallen, exposed to all the horrors of that wintry night, their own blood frozen on their wounds, nay, worse still in many cases, stripped and left bare by the followers and marauders of both armies. When the morning broke it found many of these poor wretches still writhing in agony, but many more stiffened in death. The entire loss of the Austrians, including prisoners, was computed at 20,000; that of the Prussians at 14,000. It would seem as if the recollection of this frightful butchery had sunk deep in the minds of both contending parties; both, as if in concert, avoided any other pitched battle during the remainder of the war. The immediate result of this battle was the Austrian evacuation of all Saxony, excepting Dresden. Frederick fixed his own winter-quarters at Leipsick. Thus had ended prosperously for his arms the fifth campaign of this most unequal war. In the south he had maintained his position with the loss of one fortress and one skirmish (Glatz and Landshut), and the gain of two battles (Liegnitz and Torgau), · the former lost by his Generals, the latter gained by himself. In the centre his capital had been taken, but honourably defended and speedily reco |