No More Learning

"Thursday 31st, Loudon, who has two bridges over Oder,
"and the Town begirt all round, summons Tauentzien in an
"awful-sounding tone: 'Consider, Sir: no defence possible;
"a trading Town, you ought not to attempt defence of it:
"surrender on fair terms, or I shall, which God forbid, be
"obliged to burn you and it from the face of the world! '
"'Pooh, pooh,' answers Tauentzien, in brief polite terms;
'"you yourselves had no doubt it was a Garrison, when we
"besieged you here, on the heel of Leuthen; had you? Go
"to! '-- Fiery Loudon cannot try storm, the Town having
"Oder and a wet ditch round it. He gets his bombarding
"batteries forward, as the one chance he has, aided by bully -
'' ing. And tomorrow,
"Friday, August 1st, sends, half officially, half in the
"friendly way, dreadful messages again: a warning to the
"Mayor of Breslau (which was not signed by Loudon),
'"Death and destruction, Sir, unless'--! -- warning to the
"Mayor; and, by the same private half-official messenger, a
"new summons to Tauentzien: 'Bombardment infallible;
"universal massacre by Croats; I will not spare the child in
"its mother's womb. ' 'I am not with child,' said Tauen-
''tzien, 'nor are mysoldiers! What is the use of such talk? '
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? CHAP. nI. ] BATTLE OF LIEGNJTZ. 51
3d Aug. 1760.
"And about 10 that night, Loudon does accordingly break
"out into all the fire of bombardment he is master of. Kindles
"the Town in various places, which were quenched again by
"Tauentzien's arrangements; kindles especially the King's
"fine Dwelling-house (Palace they call it), and adjacent
"streets, not quenchable till Palace and they are much
"ruined. Will this make no impression? Far too little.
"Next morning, Loudon sends a private messenger of
"conciliatory tone: 'Any terms your Excellency likes to
"name. Only spare me the general massacre, and child in
"the mother's womb! ' From all which Tauentzien infers
"that you are probably short of ammunition; and that his
"outlooks are improving. That day he gets guns brought
"to bear on General Loudon's own quarter; blazes into
"Loudon's sitting-room, so that Loudon has to shift else-
"whither. No bombardment ensues that night; nor next
"day anything but desultory cannonading, and much noise
"and motion; -- and at night, Sunday 3d, everything falls
"quiet, and, to the glad amazement of everybody, Loudon
"has vanished. " *
Loudon had no other shift left. This Sunday his
Russians are still five days distant; alert Henri, on the
contrary, is, in a sense, come to hand. Crossed the
Katzbach River this day, the Vanguard of him did, at
Parchwitz; and fell upon our Bakery; which has had
to take the road. "Guard the Bakery, all hands there,"
orders Loudon; "off to Striegau and the Hills with it;"
-- and is himself gone thither after it, leaving Breslau,
Henri and the Russians, to what fate may be in store
for them. Henri has again made one of his winged
* Tempelhof, rv. 90-100; Archenholtz, n. 89-94; Hofbericht von der Be-
lagerung von Breslau im August 1760 (in Seyfarth, lleylagen, n. 688-698);
also in Helden-Geschichte, vi. 299-309: in Anonymous of Hamburg (iv. 115-
124), that is, in the Old Newspapers, extremely particular account, How
"not only the finest Horse in Breslau, and the finest House" (King's Pa-
lace) , "but the handsomest Man, and, alas, also the prettiest Girl" (poor
Jungfer Miiller, shattered by a bomb-shell on thestreets), "were destroyed
in this short Siege," -- world-famous for the moment, I'rcuss, u. 246.
4*
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? 52 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
3d Aug. 1760.
marches, the deft creature, though the despondent;
"march of 90 miles in three days" (in the last three,
from Glogau, 90; in the whole, from Landsberg, above
200), "and has saved the State," says Retzow. "Made
"no camping, merely bivouacked; halting for a rest
"four or five hours here and there;"* and, on August
5th, is at Lissa (this side the Field of Leuthen); making
Breslau one of the gladdest of cities.
So that Soltikof, on arriving (village of Hundsfeld,
August 8th), by the other side of the River, finds
Henri's advanced guards entrenched over there, in Old
Oder; no Russian able to get within five miles of
Breslau, -- nor able to do more than cannonade in
the distance, and ask with indignation, "Where are
the siege-guns, then; where is General Loudon? In-
stead of Breslau capturable, and a sure Magazine for
us, here is Henri, and nothing but steel to eat! " And
the Soltikof risen into Russian rages, and the Monta-
lembert sunk in difficulties: readers can imagine these.
Indignant Soltikof, deaf to suasion, with this dangerous
Henri in attendance, is gradually edging back; always
rather back, with an eye to his provisions, and to cer-
tain bogs and woods he knows of. But we will leave
the Soltikof-Henri end of the line, for the opposite end,
which is more interesting. -- To Friedrich, till he got
to Silesia itself, these events are totally unknown. His
cunctatory Henri, by this winged march, when the mo-
ment came, what a service has he done! --
Tauentzien's behaviour, also, has been superlative
at Breslau; and was never forgotten by the King. A
very brave man, testifies Lessing of him; true to the
* Retzow, n. 230 (very vague); in Tempelhof (iv. 89, 90, 95-97) clear
and specific account.
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? CHAP. III. ] BATTLE OF LIEGNITZ. 53
lst-7thAug. 1760.
death: "Had there come but three, to rally with the
"King under a bush of the forest, Tauentzien would
"have been one. " Tauentzien was on the ramparts
once, in this Breslau pinch, giving orders; a bomb
burst beside him, did not injure him. "Mark that
place," said Tauentzien; and clapt his hat on it, con-
tinuing his orders, till a more permanent mark were put.
In that spot, as intended through the next thirty years,
he now lies buried. *
Friedrich on March, for the Third Time, to rescue
Silesia (August lst-15th).
August 1st, Friedrich crossed the Elbe at Zehren,
in the Schieritz vicinity, as near Meissen as he could;
but it had to be some six miles farther down, such the
liabilities to Austrian disturbance. All are across that
morning by 5 o'clock (began at 2); whence we double
back eastward, and camp that night at Dallwitz, --
are quietly asleep there, while Loudon's bombardment
bursts out on Breslau, far away! At Dallwitz we rest
next day, wait for our Bakeries and Baggages; and,
Sunday August 3d, at 2 in the morning, set forth on
the forlornest adventure in the world.
The arrangements of the March, foreseen and settled
beforehand to the last item, are of a perfection beyond
praise; -- as is still visible in the General Order, or
summary of directions given out; which, to this day,
one reads with a kind of satisfaction like that derivable
from the Forty-seventh of Euclid: clear to the meanest
capacity, not a word wanting in it, not a word super-
fluous, solid as geometry. "The Army marches always
* ilu? itair-Lexikon, rv. 72'75; Losing's Werke; &c. &c.
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? 51 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
lst-7thAug. 1760.
"in Three Columns, left Column foremost: our First
"Line of Battle" (in case we have fighting) "is this
"foremost Column; Second Line is the Second Column;
"Reserve is the Third. All Generals' chaises, money-
"wagons, and regimental Surgeons' wagons remain with
"their respective Battalions; as do the Heavy Batteries
"with the Brigades to which they belong. When the
"march is through woody country, the Cavalry regi-
"ments go in between the Battalions" (to be ready
against Pandour operations and accidents).
"With the First Column, the Ziethen Hussars and
"Free-Battalion Courbiere have always the vanguard;
"Mohring Hussars and Free-Battalion Quintus" (speed
to you, learned friend! ) "the rearguard. With the
"Second Column always the Dragoon regiments Nor-
"mann and Krockow have the vanguard; Regiment
"Czetteritz" (Dragoons, poor Czetteritz himself, with
his lost Manuscript, is captive since February last)
"the rearguard. With the Third Column always the
"Dragoon regiment Holstein as head, and the ditto
"Finkenstein to close the Column. " -- "During every
"march, however, there are to be of the Second Column
"2 Battalions joined with Column Third; so that the
"Third Column consist of 10 Battalions, the Second of
"6, while on march.
"Ahead of each Column go three Pontoon Wagons;
"and daily are 50 work-people allowed them, who are
"immediately to lay Bridge, where it is necessary.
"The rearguard of each Column takes up these Bridges
"again; brings them on, and returns them to the head
"of the Column, when the Army has got to camp. In
"the Second Column are to be 500 wagons, and also
"in the Third 500; so shared that each battalion gets
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? CHAP. ill. ] BATTLE OF LIEGNITZ. 55
lst-7thAug. 17C0.
"an equal number. The battalions --"i * * This may
serve as specimen.
The March proceeded through the old Country; a little to
left of the track in June past: Roder Water, Pulsnitz Water;
Kamenz neighbourhood, Bautzen neighbourhood, -- Bunzlau
on Silesian ground. Daun, at Bischofawerda, had foreseen
this March; and, by his Light people, had spoiled the Road
all he could; broken all the Bridges, half-felled the Woods
(to render them impassable). Daun, the instant he heard of
the actual March, rose from Bischofswerda: forward, forward
always, to be ahead of it, however rapid; Lacy, hanging
on the rear of it, willing to give trouble with his Pandour
harpies, but studious above all that it should not whirl round
anywhere and get upon his, Lacy's, own throat. One of the
strangest marches ever seen. "An onlooker, who had ob-
served the march of these different Armies," says Friedrich,
"would have thought that they all belonged to one leader.
"Feldmarschall Daun's he would have taken for the Van-
"guard, the King's for the main Army, and General Lacy's
"for the Rearguard. "ff Tempelhof says: "It is given only
"to a Friedrich to march on those terms; between Two
"hostile Armies, his equals in strength, and a Third" (Lou-
don's, in Striegau Country) "waiting ahead. "
The March passed without accident of moment; had not,
from Lacy or Daun, any accident whatever. On the second
day, an Aide-de-Camp of Daun's was picked up, with Letters
from Lacy (back of the cards visible to Friedrich). Once, --
it is the third day of the March (August 6th, village of Roth-
wasser to be quarter for the night), -- on coming toward
Neisse River, some careless Officer, trusting to peasants, in-
stead of examining for himself and building a bridge, drove
his Artillery-wagons into the so-called ford of Neisse; which
nearly swallowed the foremost of them in quicksands.
Nearly, but not completely; and caused a loss of five or six
hours to that Second Column. So that darkness came on
Column Second in the woody intricacies; and several hun-
t In Tempelhof (iv. 125, 126) the entire Piece, tt (Euvres de Frederic, v. 56.
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? 56 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
7th Aug. 1760.
dreds of the deserter kind took the opportunity of disappear-
ing altogether. An unlucky, evidently too languid Officer;
though Priedrich did not annihilate the poor fellow, perhaps
did not rebuke him at all, but merely marked it in elucidation
of his qualities for time coming. "This miserable village of
"Rothwasser" (headquarters after the dangerous fording of
Neisse), says Mitchell, "standsin the middle of a wood, al-
"most as wild and impenetrable as those in North America.
"There was hardly ground enough cleared about it for the
"encampment of the troops. "* Thursday, August 7 th, Tried-
rich, -- traversing the old Country, but more direct, by
Konigsbriick and Kamenz this time, -- is at Bunzlau alto-
gether. "Bunzlau on the Bober;" the Silesian Bunzlau, not
the Bohemian or any of the others. It is some 30 miles west
of Liegnitz, which again lies some 40 north-west of Schweid-
nitz and the Strong Places. Friedrich has now done 100
miles of excellent marching; and he has still a good spell
more to do, -- dragging "2,000 heavy wagons" with him,
and across such impediments within and without. Readers
that care to study him, especially for the next few days, will
find it worth their while.
Tempelhof gives, as usual, a most clear Account, minute
to a degree; which, supplemented by Mitchell and a Reimann
Map, enables us as it were to accompany, and to witness with
our eyes. Hitherto a March toilsome in the extreme, in spite
of everything done to help it; starting at 3 or at 2 in the
morning; resting to breakfast in some shady place, while the
sun is high, frugally cooking under the shady woods, --
"Burschen abzukochen here," as the Order pleasantly bears.
All encamped now, at Bunzlau in Silesia, on Thursday even-
ing, with a very eminent week's work behind them. "In the
"last five days, above 100 miles of road, and such road; five
"considerable rivers in it" -- Bober, Queiss, Neisse, Spree,
Elbe; and with such a wagon-train of 2,000 teams **
Proper that we rest a day here; in view of the still swifter
marchings and sudden dashings about, which lie ahead. It
will be by extremely nimble use of all the limbs we have, --
hands as well as feet, -- if any good is to come of us now!
Friedrich is aware thatDaun already holds Striegau "as an
* Mitchell, ii. 190; Tempelhof, Iv. 131.
** Tempelhof, iv. 123-150.
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? CHAP. III. ] BATTLE OF LIEGNITZ. 57
9th-llth Aug. 1760.
outpost" (Loudon thereabouts, unknown toFriedrich), "these
several days;" and that Daun personally is at Schmottseifen,
in our own old Camp there, twenty or thirty miles to south of
us, and has his Lacy to leftward of him, partly even to rear-
ward: rather in advance of us, both of them, -- if we were for
Laudshut; which we are not. "Be swift enough, may not
we cut through to Jauer, and get ahead of Daun? " counts
Friedrich: "To Jauer, south-east of us, from Bunzlau here,
is 40 miles; and to Jauer it is above 30 east for Daun: pos-
sible to be there before Daun! Jauer ours, thence to the
Heights of Striegau and Hohenfriedberg Country, within
wind of Schweidnitz, of Breslau: magazines, union with
Prince Henri, all secure thereby? " So reckons the sanguine
Friedrich; unaware that Loudon, with his corps of 35,000,
has been summoned hitherward; which will make important
differences! Loudon, Beck with a smaller Satellite Corps,
both these, unknown to Friedrich, lie ready on the east of
him: Loudon's Army on the east; Daun's, Lacy's on the
south and west; three big Armies, with their Satellites,
gathering in upon this King: here is a Three-headed Dog,
in the Tartarus of a world he now has! On the fourth side
of him is Oder, and the Russians, who are also perhaps
building Bridges, by way of a supplementary or fourth head.
August 9th (Bunzlau to Goldberg), Friedrich, with his
Three Columns and perfect arrangements, makes a long
march: from Bunzlau at 3 in the morning; and at 5 after-
noon arrives in sight of the Katzbach Valley, with the little
Town of Goldberg some miles to right. Katzbach River is
here; and Jauer, for to-morrow, still fifteen miles ahead.
But on reconnoitering here, all is locked and bolted: Lacy
strong on the Hills of Goldberg; Daun visible across the
Katzbach; Daun, and behind him Loudon, inexpugnably
posted: Jauer an impossibility! We have bread only for
eight days; our Magazines are at Schweidnitz and Breslau; what is to be done? Get through, one way or other, we
needs must!
Friedrich encamps for the night; expecting an
attack. If not attacked, he will make for Liegnitz leftward;
cross the Katzbach there, or farther down atParchwitz: --
Parchwitz, Neumarkt, Leuthen, we have been in that country
before now: -- Courage!
August lOth-llth (to Liegnitz and back). At 5 a. m. , Sunday
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? 58 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
11th Aug. 1760.
August 10th, Friedrich, nothing of attack having come, got
on march again: down his own left bank of the Katzbach,
straight for Liegnitz; unopposed altogether; not even a
Pandour having attacked him overnight. But no sooner is
he under way, than Daun too rises; Daun, Loudon, close by,
on the other side of Katzbach, and "like a Fourth column to
our Three," keep step with us, on our right; Lacy's light
people hovering on our rear: -- three truculent fellows in
buckram; fancy the feelings of the wayworn solitary fourth,
whom they are gloomily dogging in this way! The solitary
fourth does his fifteen miles to Liegnitz, unmolested by them;
encamps on the Heights which look down on Liegnitz over
the south; finds, however, that the Loudon-Daun people
have likewise been diligent; that they now lie stretched out
on their right bank, three or four miles up-stream or to rear-
ward, and what is far worse, seven miles downwards, or
ahead: that, in fact, they are a march nearer Parchwitz
than he; -- and that there is again no possibility. "Perhaps
byJauer, then, still? Out of this, and at lowest, into some
vicinity of bread, it does behove us to be! " At 11 that night
Friedrich gets on march again; returns the way he came.
And,
August 11th, At daybreak, is back to his old ground; no-
thing now to oppose him but Lacy, who is gone across from
Goldberg, to linger as rear of the Daun-Loudon march.
Friedrich steps across on Lacy, thirsting to have a stroke at
Lacy; who vanishes fast enough, leaving the ground clear.
Could but our baggage have come as fast as we! But our bag-
gage, Quintus guarding and urging, has to groan on for five
hours yet; and without it, there is no stirring. Five mortal
hours; -- by which time, Daun, Lacy, Loudon are all up
again; between us and Jauer, between us and everything
helpful; -- and Friedrich has to encamp in Seichau, -- "a
very poor Village in the Mountains" (writes Mitchell, who
was painfully present there), "surrounded on all sides by
"Heights; on several of which, in the evening, the Austrians
"took camp, separated from us by a deep ravine only. " *
Outlooks are growing very questionable to Mitchell
and everybody. "Only four-days provisions" (in reality
* Mitchell, u. 194.
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? CHAP. m. ] BATTLE OF LIEGNITZ. 59
11th Aug. 1760. '
six), whisper the Prussian Generals gloomily to Mitchell
and to one another: "Shall we have to make for Glo-
gau, then, and leave Breslau to its fate? Or perhaps
it will be a second Maxen to his Majesty and us, who
was so indignant with poor Finck? " My friends, no;
a Maxen like Finck's it will never be: a very different
Maxen, if any! But we hope better things.
Friedrich's situation, grasped in the Three-lipped
Pincers in this manner, is conceivable to readers. Sol-
tikof, on the other side of Oder, as supplementary or
fourth lip, is very impatient with these three. "Why
all this dodging, and fidgeting to and fro? You are
above three to one of your enemy. Why don't you
close on him at once, if you mean it at all? The end
is, He will be across the Oder; and it is I that shall
have the brunt to bear: Henri and he will enclose me
between two fires! " And in fact, Henri, as we know,
though Friedrich does not or only half does, has gone
across Oder, to watch Soltikof, and guard Breslau from
any attempts of his, -- which are far from his thoughts
at this moment; -- a Soltikof fuming violently at the
thought of such cunctations, and of being made cat's-
paw again. "Know, however, that I understand you,"
violently fumes Soltikof, "and that I won't. I fall
back into the Trebnitz Bog-Country, on my own right
bank here, and look out for my own safety. " --?
"Patience, your noble Excellenz," answer they always;
"oh, patience yet a little! Only yesterday (Sunday
10th, the day after his arrival in this region), we had
decided to attack and crush him; Sunday very early:*
but he skipped away to Liegnitz. Oh, be patient yet
a day or two: he skips about at such a rate! " Monta-
* Tempelhof, iv. 137,148-150.
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? 60 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
12th Aug. 1760.
lembert has to be suasive as the Muses and the Sirens.
Soltikof gloomily consents to another day or two. And
even, such his anxiety lest this swift King skip over
upon him, pushes out a considerable Russian Division,
24,000 ultimately, under Czernichef, towards the
King's side of things, towards Auras on Oder, namely,
-- there to watch for oneself these interesting Royal
movements; or even to join with Loudon out there, if
that seem the safer course, against them. Of Czernichef
at Auras we shall hear farther on, -- were these Royal
movements once got completed a little.
Morning of August 12th, Friedrich has, in his bad lodging
atSeichau, laid a new plan of route: "Towards Schweidnitz
let it be; round by Pombsen and the south-east, by the Hill-
roads, make a sweep flankward of the enemy! " -- and has
people out reconnoitering the Hill-roads. Hears, however,
about 8 o'clock, That Austrians in strength are coming be-
tween us and Goldberg! "Intending to enclose us in this
bad pot of aSeichau; no crossing of theKatzbach, or other
retreat to be left us at all? " Friedrich strikes his tents; ranks
himself; is speedily in readiness for dispute of such extremity;
-- sends out new patrols, however, to ascertain. "Austrians
in strength" there are not on the side indicated; -- whereupon
he draws in again. But, on the other hand, the Hill-roads
are reported absolutely impassable for baggage; Pombsen an
impossibility, as the other places have been. So Friedrich
sits down again in Seichau to consider; does not stir all day.
To Mitchell's horror, who, "with great labour," burns all the
legationary ciphers and papers ("impossible to save the bag-
gage if we be attacked in this hollow pot of a camp"), and
feels much relieved on finishing. *
Towards sunset, General Biilow, with the Second Line
(second column of march), is sent out Goldberg-way, to take
hold of the passage of the Katzbach: and at 8 that night, we
all march, recrossing there about 1 in the morning; thence
down our left bank to Liegnitz for the second time, -- sixteen
* Mitchell, u. 144; Tempelhof, iv. 144.
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? CHAP. in. ] BATTLE OF LIEGNITZ. 61
13th-14th AUff. 1760.
hours of it in all, or till noon of the 13th. Mitchell had been
put with the Cavalry part; and "cannot but observe to your
"Lordship what a chief comfort it was in this long, dangerous
"and painful March," to have burnt one's ciphers and dread
secrets quite out of the way.
And thus, Wednesday August 13th, about noon, we
are in our old Camp; Headquarter in the southern
suburb of Liegnitz (a wretched little Tavern, which
they still show there, on mythical terms): main part
of the Camp, I should think, is on that range of
Heights, which reaches two miles southward, and is
now called "Siegesberg (Victory Hill)," from a modern
Monument built on it, after nearly 100 years. Here
Friedrich stays one day, -- more exactly, 30 hours; --
and his shifting, next time, is extremely memorable.
Battle in the Neighbourhood of Liegnitz, does ensue
(Friday morning, 15th August 1760. )
Daun, Lacy and Loudon, the Three-lipped Pincers,
have of course followed, and are again agape for Fried-
rich, all in scientific postures: Daun in the Jauer re-
gion, seven or eight miles south; Lacy about Goldberg,
as far to south-west; Loudon "between Jeschkendorf
and Koischwitz," north-eastward, somewhat closer on
Friedrich, with the Katzbach intervening. That Czerni-
chef, with an additional 24,000, to rear of Loudon, is
actually crossing Oder at Auras, with an eye to junc-
tion, Friedrich does not hear till to-morrow. *
The scene is rather pretty, if one admired scenes.
Liegnitz, a square, handsome, brick-built Town, of old
standing, in good repair (population then, say 7,000),
* Tempelhof, iv. 148-151; Mitchell, n. 197.
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? 62 FEIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
13th-141h Aug. 1760.
with fine old castellated edifices and aspects: pleasant
meeting, in level circumstances, of the Katzbach valley
with the Schwartzwasser {Black-water) ditto, which
forms the north rim of Liegnitz; pleasant mixture of
green poplars and brick towers, -- as seen from that
"Victory Hill" (more likely to be "Immediate-Ruin
Hill! ") where the King now is. Beyond Liegnitz and
the Schwartzwasser, north-westward, right opposite to
the King's, rise other Heights, called of Pfaffendorf,
which guard the two streams after their uniting.
Kloster Wahlstatt, a famed place, lies visible to south-
east, few miles off. Readers recollect one Bliicher
"Prince of Wahlstatt," so named from one of his Anti-
Napoleon victories gained there? Wahlstatt was the
scene of an older Fight, almost six centuries older, * --
a then Prince of Liegnitz versus hideous Tartar multi-
tudes, who rather beat him; and has been a Cloister
Wahlstatt ever since. Till Thursday 14th, about 8 in
the evening, Friedrich continued in his Camp of Lieg-
nitz. We are now within reach of a notable Passage
of War.
Friedrich's Camp extends from the Village of
Schimmelwitz, fronting the Katzbach for about two
miles, north-eastward, to his Headquarter in Liegnitz
Suburb: Daun is on his right and rearward, now come
within four of five miles; Loudon to his left and front-
ward, four or five, the Katzbach separating Friedrich
and him; Lacy lies from Goldberg north-eastward, to
within perhaps a like distance rearward: that is the
position on Thursday 14th. Provisions being all but
run out; and three Armies, 90,000 (not to count Czerni-
* April 9th, 1241 (KBhler, Reichs-Historie).
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? CHAP. m. ] BATTLE OF LIEGNITZ. 63
13th-Hth Aug. 1760.
chef and his 24,000 as a fourth) watching round our
30,000, within a few miles; there is no staying here, beyond this day. If even this day it be allowed us?
This day, Friedrich had to draw out, and stand to
arms for some hours; while the Austrians appeared ex-
tensively on the Heights about, apparently intending
an attack; till it proved to be nothing: only an elaborate
reconnoitering by Daun; and we returned to our tents
again.
Friedrich understands well enough that Daun, with
the facts now before him, will gradually form his plan,
and also, from the lie of matters, what his plan will be:
many are the times Daun has elaborately reconnoitered,
elaborately laid his plan; but found, on coming to exe-
cute, that his Friedrich was off in the interim, and the
plan gone to air. Friedrich has about 2,000 wagons to
drag with him in these swift marches: Glogau Maga-
zine, his one resource, should Breslau and Schweidnitz
prove unattainable, is forty-five long miles north-west-
ward. "Let us lean upon Glogau withal," thinks
Friedrich; "and let us be out of this straightway!
March tonight; towards Parchwitz, which is towards
Glogau too. Army rest till daybreak on the Heights
of Pfaffendorf yonder, to examine, to wait its luck: let
the empty meal-wagons jingle on to Glogau; load
themselves there, and jingle back to us in Parchwitz
neighbourhood, should Parchwitz not have proved
impossible to our manoeuverings, -- let us hope it may
not! " Daun and the Austrians having ceased
reconnoitering, and gone home, Friedrich rides with his
Generals, through Liegnitz, across the Schwartzwasser,
to the Pfaffendorf Heights. "Here, Messieurs, is our
first halting-place to be: here we shall halt till day^
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? 64 FRIEDRICH NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED. [book XX.
13tb-14th Aug. 17CU.
break, while the meal-wagons jingle on! " And ex-
plains to them orally where each is to take post, and
how to behave. Which done, he too returns home, no
doubt a wearied individual; and at 4 of the afternoon,
lies down to try for an hour or two of sleep, while
all hands are busy packing, according to the Orders
given.
It it a fact recorded by Friedrich himself, and by
many other people, That, at this interesting juncture,
there appeared at the King's gate, King hardly yet
asleep, a staggering Austrian Officer, Irish by nation,
who had suddenly found good to desert the Austrian
Service for the Prussian -- ("Sorrow on them: a pack
of" -- what shall I say? ) -- Irish gentleman, bursting
with intelligence of some kind, but evidently deep in
liquor withal, "Impossible; the King is asleep," said
the Adjutant on duty; but produced only louder in-
sistance from the drunk Irish gentleman. "As much
as all your heads are worth; the King's own safety,
and not a moment to lose! " What is to be done?
They awaken the King: "The man is drunk, but
dreadfully in earnest, your Majesty. " "Give him
quantities of weak tea" (Tempelhof calls in tea, but Friedrich merely warm water); "then examine him,
and report if it is anything. " Something it was:
"Your Majesty to be attacked, for certain, this night! "
what his Majesty already guessed: -- something, most
likely little; but nobody to this day knows. Visible
only, that his Majesty, before sunset, rode out recon-
noitering with this questionable Irish gentleman, now
in a very flaccid state; and altered nothing whatever in
prior arrangements; -- and that the flaccid Irish gen-
tleman staggers out of sight, into dusk, into rest and
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/hvd. hwiije Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? CHAP. III. ] BATTLE OF LIEGNITZ. 65
loth Aug. 1760.
darkness, after this one appearance on the stage of
History. *
From about 8 in the evening, Friedrich's people got
on march, in their several columns, and fared punctually
on; one column through the streets of Liegnitz, others
to left and to right of that; to left mainly, as remoter
from the Austrians and their listening outposts from
beyond the Katzbach River; -- where the camp-fires
are burning extremely distinct tonight. The Prussian
camp-fires, they too are all burning uncommonly vivid;
country people employed to feed them; and a few
hussar sentries and drummers to make the customary
sounds for Daun's instruction, till a certain hour.
Friedrich's people are clearing the North Suburb of
Liegnitz, crossing the Schwartzwasser: artillery and
heavy wagons all go by the Stone-bridge at Topferberg
(Potter-hill) there; the lighter people by a few pontoons
farther down that stream in the Pfaffendorf vicinity.
About 1 in the morning, all, even the right wing from
Schimmelwitz, are safely across.
Schwartzwasser, a River of many tails (boggy most
of them, Schnelle or Swift Deichsel hardly an excep-
tion), gathering itself from the southward for twenty
or more miles, attains its maximum of north at a place
called Waldau, not far north-west of Topferberg.