sufferings of the peasantry.—renown and peril of frederick.—new plan of maria theresa.—despondency of frederick.—surprise and rout of the austrians.—the “old dessauer” enters saxony.—battle of kesseldorf.—singular prayer of the old dessauer.—signal victory of the prussians.—elation of frederick.—the peace of dresden.—death of m. duhan.
after the retreat of the austrians, frederick returned to his camp to find it plundered and burned. the semi-barbarian assailants had also consigned to the flames eight or ten sick prussians whom they found there, and several women whom they caught. “we found the limbs of these poor men and women lying about,” writes general lehwald.
the camp was so utterly destroyed that frederick could not even obtain pen and ink. he was obliged to write with a pencil. not a loaf of bread nor a cup of wine was left for the exhausted king. the hungry soldiers, after a conflict of five hours, having had neither breakfast nor dinner, found no refreshments awaiting them; yet, without a murmur, they smoked their pipes, drank some spring water, and rejoiced in their great victory.
“never mind,” said the king; “it is a cheap price to pay for escaping an attack from pandours in the rear, while such a battle was raging in front.”
frederick remained at sohr five days. the country was scoured in all directions to obtain food for his army. it was necessary that the troops should be fed, even if the poor inhabitants starved miserably. no tongue can tell the sufferings which consequently fell upon the peasantry for leagues around. prince charles, with his shattered army, fell back to k?niggr?tz, remorselessly plundering the people by the way. frederick, ordering his army to retire to silesia, returned to berlin.
the victory of sohr filled europe with the renown of frederick. still his peril was great, and the difficulties before him apparently insurmountable. his treasury was exhausted. his only ally, france, would furnish him with no money, had no confidence365 in him, and was in heart exasperated against him. not a single court in europe expressed any friendship for frederick. on the contrary, nearly all would have rejoiced at his downfall. there seemed to be no end to the campaigns which were opening before him. yet frederick knew not where to obtain the money to meet the expense even of a single campaign.
under these circumstances, frederick made indirect but vigorous exertions to bring the war to a close. “i am ready and desirous now,” he said, “as at all times, for peace. i will immediately sheathe the sword if i can be guaranteed the possession of silesia.”
“i, too, am anxious for peace,” maria theresa replied, “and will joyfully withdraw my armies if silesia, of which i have been robbed, is restored to me.”
thus his prussian majesty and the queen of hungary met each other like two icebergs in a stormy sea. the allies were exasperated, not conquered, by the defeat of sohr. maria theresa, notwithstanding the severity of winter’s cold, resolved immediately to send three armies to invade prussia, and storm berlin itself. she hoped to keep the design profoundly secret, so that frederick might be taken at unawares. the swedish envoy at dresden spied out the plan, and gave the king warning. marshal grüne was to advance from the rhine, and enter brandenburg from the west. prince charles, skirting western silesia, was to march upon brandenburg from the south. general rutowski was to spring upon the old dessauer, who was encamped upon the frontiers of saxony, overwhelm and crush his army with superior numbers, and then, forming a junction with marshal brüne, with their united force rush upon berlin.
frederick was astounded, alarmed, for a moment overwhelmed, as these tidings were clearly made known to him. he had brought all this upon himself. “and yet,” the wretched man exclaimed, “what a life i lead! this is not living; this is being killed a thousand times a day!”
this despondency lasted, however, but a moment. concealing his emotions, he smoothed his furrowed brow, dressed his face in smiles, and wrote doggerel verses and jocose letters as if he were merely a fashionable man of pleasure. at the same time he rallied all his marvelous energies, and prepared to meet the exigency366 with sagacity and intrepidity rarely surpassed. orders were immediately dispatched to the old dessauer to marshal an army to oppose grüne and rutowski, while the king hastened to silesia to attack prince charles. leopold, though he had nearly numbered his threescore years and ten, according to frederick, was very glad to fight once again before he died. the veteran general ventured to make some suggestions in reference to the orders he had received. the king sternly replied,
“when your highness gets armies of your own, you will order them according to your mind. at present, it must be according to mine.”
frederick had an army of thirty-five thousand men at liegnitz, in silesia, under the command of young leopold. every man was a thoroughly trained soldier. the army was in the best possible condition. at seven o’clock in the morning of november 15, 1745, the king left berlin at full speed for liegnitz. he arrived there the next day, and at once took the command. “there is great velocity in this young king,” writes carlyle; “a panther-like suddenness of spring in him; cunning too, as any felis of them; and with claws as the felis leo on occasion.”
prince charles was en route for berlin—a winter’s march of a hundred and fifty miles. he was not aware that the king of prussia was near him, or that the king was conscious of his bold design. on saturday night, november 20, the army of prince charles, forty thousand strong, on its line of march, suspecting no foe near, was encamped in villages, extending for twenty miles along the banks of the queiss, one of the tributaries of the oder. four marches would bring them into brandenburg. it was the design of frederick to fall with his whole force upon the centre of this line, cut it in two, and then to annihilate the extremities. early in the morning of sunday, the 21st, frederick put his troops in motion. he marched rapidly all that day, and monday, and tuesday. in the twilight of tuesday evening, a dense fog enveloping the landscape, frederick, with his concentrated force, fell impetuously upon a division of the austrian army encamped in the village of hennersdorf.
the assault was as sudden and resistless as the sweep of the avalanche. the austrian division was annihilated. scarcely a man escaped. this achievement was deemed a very brilliant367 passage of war. it cut the austrian army in twain and secured its ruin.
the next morning the prussian troops, led by their indomitable king, were early on the march, groping through the thick mist to find more of the foe. but the blow already given was decisive. the austrian army was shattered, demoralized, ruined. the king could find nothing but broken tumbrils, abandoned wagons, and the débris of an utterly routed army. prince charles, bewildered by the disaster, had wheeled his columns around, and fled through the passes of the mountains back to bohemia. five thousand of his troops he left behind in killed or prisoners.
frederick was not unduly elated with his victory. he was still terribly harassed for money. there were campaigns opening before him, in an unending series, requiring enormous expenditure. even many such victories as he had just gained would only conduct him to irretrievable ruin, unless he could succeed in conquering a peace. in these dark hours the will of this extraordinary man remained inflexible. he would not listen to any propositions for peace which did not guarantee to him silesia. maria theresa would listen to no terms which did not restore to her the lost province.
frederick, in this great emergence, condescended again to write imploringly to france for pecuniary aid. he received a sarcastic reply, which exasperated him, and which was couched in such polite terms that he could not openly resent it. marshal grüne, who was advancing rapidly from the rhine to berlin, hearing of the defeat of his confederates at hennersdorf, and of the retreat of prince charles, wheeled his columns south for saxony. here he effected a junction with general rutowski, near dresden. their combined troops intrenched themselves, and stood on the defensive.
on the 29th of december, the old dessauer, with thirty-five thousand men, crossed the frontiers and entered saxony. he marched rapidly upon leipsic, and seized the town, from which a division of rutowski’s army precipitately fled. leopold found here quite a supply of commissary and ordnance stores. he also replenished his empty army-chest by levying a contribution of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars upon the inhabitants.368 then, by a rapid march northeast to torgo, on the elbe, he captured another imperial magazine. turning south, he pressed his troops along up the river to myssen, which was within two days’ easy march of dresden. here there was a bridge across the oder. frederick was pushing his troops, by forced marches, from hennersdorf, to effect a junction with leopold at myssen. unitedly they were to fall upon grüne and rutowski at dresden. in the mean time, also, prince charles, a despondent man, crushed by domestic woe and humiliating defeats, was moving, by not very energetic steps, to re-enforce the allied troops at dresden.
it was two o’clock in the afternoon of sunday, december 12, when the banners of the old dessauer appeared before myssen. the saxon commander there broke down the bridge, and in the darkness of the night stole away with his garrison to dresden. leopold vigorously but cautiously pursued. as the allied army was near, and in greater force than leopold’s command, it was necessary for him to move with much discretion. his march was along the west bank of the river. the ground was frozen and white with snow.
on wednesday morning, december 15, the advance-guard of the prussians saw before them the allied army, thirty-five thousand strong, occupying a very formidable position. marshal grüne and general rutowski had advanced a few miles north from dresden to meet the prussians. their troops were drawn up in battle array, extending from the river elbe on the east, to the village of kesselsdorf on the west. a small stream, with a craggy or broken gully or dell, extended along their whole front. the southern ridge, facing the advancing prussians, bristled with artillery. some of the pieces were of heavy calibre. leopold had only light field-pieces.
in the cold of the winter morning the old dessauer carefully reconnoitred the position of his foes. their batteries seemed innumerable, protected by earth-works, and frowning along a cliff which could only be reached by plunging into a gully and wading through a half-frozen bog. there was, however, no alternative but to advance or retreat. he decided to advance.
forming his army in two parallel lines, nearly five miles long, facing the foe, he prepared to open the battle along the whole369 extent of the field. while thus engrossing the attention of the enemy, his main attempt was to be directed against the village of kesselsdorf, which his practiced eye saw to be the key of the position. it was two o’clock in the afternoon ere all his arrangements were completed. the old dessauer was a devout man—in his peculiar style a religious man, a man of prayer. he never went into battle without imploring god’s aid. on this occasion, all things being arranged, he reverently uncovered his head, and in presence of the troops offered, it is said, the following prayer:
“o my god, help me yet this once. let me not be disgraced in my old days. but if thou wilt not help me, don’t help those scoundrels, but leave us to try it out ourselves.”
having uttered this prayer, he waved his hat to his troops, and shouted, “on, in god’s name!”
“the prussians,” writes carlyle, “tramp on with the usual grim-browed resolution, foot in front, horse in rear. but they have a terrible problem at that kesselsdorf, with its retrenched batteries and numerous grenadiers fighting under cover. the very ground is sore against them; up-hill, and the trampled snow wearing into a slide, so that you sprawl and stagger sadly. thirty-one big guns, and near nine thousand small, pouring out mere death on you from that knoll-head. the prussians stagger; can not stand; bend to rightward to get out of shot range; can not manage it this bout. rally, re-enforced; try it again. again with a will; but again there is not a way. the prussians are again repulsed; fall back down this slippery course in more disorder than the first time. had the saxons stood still, steadily handling arms, how, on such terms, could the prussians have ever managed it?”90
at the second repulse, the saxon grenadiers, greatly elated, gave a shout of “victory,” and rushed from their works to pursue the retreating prussians. this was their ruin.
“old leopold, quick as thought, noticing the thing, hurls cavalry on these victorious, down-plunging grenadiers; slashes them asunder into mere recoiling whirlpools of ruin, so that few of them got back unwounded; and the prussians, storming in along with them, aided by ever new prussians, the place was at length carried.”91
370 and now the prussians from the centre press the foe with new vigor. leopold, at the head of his victorious division, charged the allied troops in flank, pouring in upon them his resistless horsemen. whole regiments were made prisoners. ere nightfall of the short december day, the whole allied army, broken and disordered, was on the retreat back to dresden. the night alone protected them from utter ruin. they had lost six thousand prisoners, and three thousand in killed and wounded.92
prince charles had arrived in dresden the night before. he heard the roar of the cannonade all the day, but, for some unexplained reason, did not advance to the support of his friends. the very unsatisfactory excuse offered was, that his troops were exhausted by their long march; and that, having been recently twice beaten by the prussians, his army would be utterly demoralized if led to another defeat.
on the evening of tuesday, the 14th, frederick, with his advanced guard, reached myssen. all the next day, wednesday, he was hurrying up his troops from the rear. in the afternoon he heard the deep booming of the cannon far up the elbe. in the evening the sky was ablaze with the glare of the watch-fires of leopold’s victorious troops. the next morning frederick pressed forward with all haste to join leopold. couriers on the way informed him of the great victory. at wilsdruf, a few miles from the field of battle, he met leopold, who had advanced in person to meet his king. frederick dismounted, uncovered his head, and threw his arms around the old dessauer in a grateful embrace.
together the king and his sturdy general returned to kesselsdorf, and rode over the field of battle, which was still strewn with the ghastly wrecks of war. large numbers of the citizens of dresden were on the field searching for their lost ones among the wounded or the dead. the queen of poland and her children remained in the city. frederick treated them with marked politeness, and appointed them guards of honor. the king371 of poland, who, it will be remembered, was also elector of saxony, applied for peace. frederick replied:
“guarantee me the possession of silesia, and pay me seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the expenses of this campaign, and i will withdraw my army.”
frederick and the old dessauer.
m. d’arget, private secretary of the french minister valori, gives an interesting account of an interview he held with frederick at this time. m. d’arget was quite a favorite of the king, who conversed with him with unusual frankness.
“these kind condescensions of his majesty,” writes m. d’arget, “emboldened me to represent to him the brilliant position he now held, and how noble it would be, after being the hero of germany, to become the pacificator of europe.”
“i grant it, my dear d’arget,” said the king, “but it is too372 dangerous a part to play. a reverse brings me to the edge of ruin. i know too well the mood of mind i was in the last time i left berlin ever to expose myself to it again. if luck had been against me there, i saw myself a monarch without a throne. a bad game that. in fine, i wish to be at peace.”
“i represented to him,” continues m. d’arget, “that the house of austria would never, with a tranquil eye, see his house in possession of silesia.”
“those that come after me,” said the king, “will do as they like. the future is beyond man’s reach. i have acquired; it is theirs to preserve. i am not in alarm about the austrians. they dread my armies—the luck that i have. i am sure of their sitting quiet for the dozen years or so which may remain to me of life. there is more for me in the true greatness of laboring for the happiness of my subjects than in the repose of europe. i have put saxony out of a condition to hurt me. she now owes me twelve million five hundred thousand dollars. by the defensive alliance which i form with her, i provide myself a help against austria. i would not, henceforth, attack a cat, except to defend myself. glory and my interests were the occasion of my first campaigns. the late emperor’s situation, and my zeal for france, gave rise to the second. always since, i have been fighting for my own hearths—for my very existence. i know the state i have got into. if i now saw prince charles at the gates of paris, i would not stir.”
“and would you regard with the same indifference,” m. d’arget rejoined, “seeing us at the gates of vienna?”
“yes,” the king replied. “i swear it to you, d’arget. in a word, i want to have some good of my life. what are we, poor human atoms, to get up projects that cost so much blood!”
on the 25th of december, 1745, the peace of dresden was signed. the demands of frederick were acceded to. augustus iii. of saxony, maria theresa of austria, and george ii. of england became parties to the treaty. the next day frederick attended sermon in the protestant church. monday morning his army, by slow marches, commenced its return to brandenburg. frederick, highly elated by the wonderful and almost miraculous change in his affairs, entered his carriage in company with his two brothers, and drove rapidly toward berlin. the next day,373 at two o’clock in the afternoon, they reached the heath of britz, five miles out from the city. here the king found an immense concourse of the citizens, who had come on horseback and in carriages to escort him to his palace. frederick sat in an open phaeton, accompanied by the prince of prussia and prince henry. the throng was so great that the horses could only proceed at the slowest pace. the air resounded with shouts of “long live frederick the great.” the king was especially gracious, saying to those who eagerly crowded around his carriage wheels,
“do not press each other, my children. take care of yourselves that the horses may not trample upon you, and that no accident may happen.”
it was remarked that the whole behavior of the king upon this occasion exhibited the utmost mildness, gentleness, and affability. he seemed to be influenced by the most tender regard for the welfare of the people.
upon reaching the palace, he stood for a moment upon the grand stairway, and, surveying the thronging thousands, took off his hat and saluted them. this gave rise to a burst of applause louder and heartier than berlin had ever heard before. the king disappeared within the palace. where the poor neglected queen was at this time we are not informed. there are no indications that he gave her even a thought.
at six o’clock in the evening the whole city was illuminated. frederick entered his carriage, and, attended by his two brothers, the prince of prussia and prince henry, rode out to take the circuit of the streets. but the king had received information that one of his former preceptors, m. duhan, lay at the point of death. he ordered his carriage to be at once driven to the residence of the dying man. the house of m. duhan was situated in a court, blazing with the glow of thousands of lamps.
“it was an affecting sight,” says m. bielfeld, “to see a dying man in the midst of a brilliant illumination, surrounded by princes, and visited by a triumphant monarch, who, in the midst of the incessant clamor of exultation, sought only to alleviate the sick man’s pangs, participating in his distress, and reflecting upon the vanity of all human grandeur.”
the king having taken a tender adieu of m. duhan, who died374 the next morning, traversed the brilliant streets of the rejoicing city, and returned to the palace about ten that evening.
frederick now entered upon a period of ten years of peace.
