winter encampment.—death of maupertuis.—infamous conduct of voltaire.—reproof by the king.—voltaire’s insincerity.—correspondence.—the king publishes his poems.—dishonorable conduct of the king.—new encampment near dresden.—destruction of frederick’s army in silesia.—atrocities perpetrated by the austrians.—astonishing march.—the austrians outwitted.—dresden bombarded and almost destroyed by frederick.—battle of liegnitz.—utter rout of the austrians.—undiminished peril of frederick.—letter to d’argens.
it was early in january, 1760, that the two hostile armies went into winter quarters. general daun, with his seventy-two thousand triumphant troops, held dresden. he encamped his army in an arc of a circle, bending toward the southwest from the city, and occupying a line about thirty miles in extent. frederick, with thirty-two thousand troops depressed by defeat, defiantly faced his foe in a concave arc concentric to that of daun. the two antagonistic encampments were almost within cannon-shot of each other.
never were the prospects of frederick more gloomy. he had taken up his residence for the winter in a very humble cottage near the hamlet of freiberg. he must have been very unhappy. scenes of suffering were every where around him. it was terribly cold. his troops were poorly clothed, and fed, and housed.
“it was one of the grimmest camps in nature; the canvas roofs grown mere ice-plates, the tents mere sanctuaries of frost. never did poor young archenholtz see such industry in dragging wood-fuel, such boiling of biscuits in broken ice, such crowding round the embers to roast one side of you while the other was freezing. but daun’s people, on the opposite side of the plauen dell, did the like. their tents also were left standing in the frozen state, guarded by alternating battalions no better off than their prussian neighbors.”142
thus affairs continued through the winter. there were two frostbitten armies facing each other on the bleak plains. with apparently not much to be gained in presenting this front of defiance,496 each party breasted the storms and the freezing gales, alike refusing to yield one inch of ground.
the winter camp.
during the previous summer, the philosopher maupertuis, after weary wanderings in the languor of consumption, and in great dejection of spirits, had been stricken by convulsions while in his carriage at basel. he had lost favor with the king, and was poor, friendless, and dying. his latter years had been imbittered by the venomous assaults of voltaire.
while in health and prosperity, quaffing the wines of frederick, he was an avowed infidel, and eagerly joined the ribald companions of the king in denouncing all religion as the fanaticism of weak minds. but in these hours of pain, of loneliness, and of approaching death he could find no consolation in the teachings of philosophy. he sent for two christian ministers to visit497 him daily, and daily had the bible read to him. it was a death-bed repentance. bitterly he deplored a wasted life. sincerely he seemed to embrace the doctrines of christianity.143 he died, after a lingering sickness, far from home and friends, on the 27th of july, 1759.
voltaire made himself very merry over the dying scene of maupertuis. there was never another man who could throw so much poison into a sneer as voltaire. it is probable that the conversion of maupertuis somewhat troubled his conscience as the unhappy scorner looked forward to his own dying hour, which could not be far distant. he never alluded to maupertuis without indulging in a strain of bitter mockery in view of his death as a penitent. even the king, unbeliever as he was in religion or in the existence of a god, was disgusted with the malignity displayed by voltaire. in reply to one of voltaire’s envenomed assaults the king wrote:
“you speak of maupertuis. do not trouble the ashes of the dead. let the grave, at least, put an end to your unjust hatreds. reflect that even kings make peace after long battling. can not you ever make it? i think you would be capable, like orpheus, of descending to hell, not to soften pluto, and bring back your beautiful emilie, but to pursue into that abode of woe an enemy whom your wrath has only too much persecuted in this world. for shame!”144
soon after frederick wrote to voltaire upon this subject again, still more severely, but in verse. the following is almost a literal translation of this poetic epistle:
“leave the cold ashes of maupertuis in peace. he was noble and faithful. he pardoned you that vile libel of doctor akakia which your criminal fury scribbled against him. and what return are you making? shame on such delirious ravings as those of voltaire! shall this grand genius, whom i have admired, soil himself with calumny, and be ferocious on the dead? shall he, like a vile raven, pounce upon the sepulchre, and make prey upon its corpses?”
the friendship of these two remarkable men must have been of a singular character. voltaire thus maliciously wrote of the king:
498 “he is as potent and as malignant as the devil. he is also as unhappy, not knowing friendship.”
voltaire had, as a pet, a very vicious ape, treacherous, spiteful, who pelted passers-by with stones, and, when provoked, would bite terribly. the name of this hateful beast was luc. voltaire gave his friend frederick the nickname of luc. he corresponded freely with the enemies of his prussian majesty. a few extracts will reveal the character of the friendship of the philosopher. some days after the battle of kunersdorf voltaire wrote to d’argental:
“i do not love luc; far from it. i never will pardon him his infamous procedure with my niece,145 nor the face he has to write me flattering things twice a month without having ever repaired his wrongs. i desire much his entire humiliation, the chastisement of the sinner; whether his eternal damnation i do not quite know.”
again he wrote, a few months after, to the duke of choiseul: “he has been a bad man, this luc. and now, if one were to bet by the law of probability, it would be three to one that luc would go to pot [sera perdu], with his rhymings and his banterings, and his injustices and politics, all as bad as himself.”146
frederick affected great contempt for public opinion. he wrote to voltaire:
“i have the lot of all actors who play in public—applauded by some, despised by others. one must prepare one’s self for satires, for calumnies, for a multitude of lies, which will be sent abroad into currency against one. but need that trouble my tranquillity? i go my road. i do nothing against the interior voice of my conscience. and i concern myself very little in what way my actions paint themselves in the brain of beings not always very thinking, with two legs, and without feathers.”
it is evident that the king, thus surrounded with perils and threatened with utter destruction, was anxious for the termination of the war. but still this inflexible man would not listen to any suggestions for peace but on his own terms. he wrote to voltaire, urging him “to bring back peace.” at the same time he said,
499 “in spite of all your efforts, you will not get a peace signed by my hands except on conditions honorable to my nation. your people, blown up with self-conceit and folly, may depend on these words.”
but that he was fully awake to his perils, and keenly felt his sufferings, is manifest from the following extract from another of his letters:
“the sword and death have made frightful ravages among us. and the worst is that we are not yet at the end of the tragedy. you may judge what effect these cruel shocks make on me. i wrap myself in my stoicism the best i can. flesh and blood revolt against such tyrannous command, but it must be followed. if you saw me you would scarcely know me again. i am old, broken, gray-headed, wrinkled. i am losing my teeth and my gayety. if this go on, there will be nothing of me left but the mania of making verses, and an inviolable attachment to my duties, and to the few virtuous men whom i know.”
in the above letter the king alludes to the “mania of making verses.” strange as it may seem, he this winter, when apparently almost crushed beneath the weight of cares and sorrows, when every energy of mind and body seemed called into requisition in preparation for a new campaign, published an edition of his poems.
the allies represented a population of ninety millions. the realms of frederick embraced scarcely five millions of inhabitants. the allies decided that they would no longer make an exchange of prisoners. it was manifest that, by merely protracting the war, even without any signal successes on the part of the allies, frederick would find all his resources of men exhausted. frederick, who was never very scrupulous with regard to the means which he employed for the promotion of his ends, immediately compelled his prisoners of war, of whatever nationality, to enlist in his service.
“prisoners, captive soldiers, if at all likely fellows,” writes archenholtz, “were by every means persuaded and even compelled to take prussian service. compelled, cudgel in hand, not asked if they wished to serve, but dragged to the prussian colors, obliged to swear there, and fight against their countrymen.”147
500 frederick also seized money wherever he could find it, whether in the hands of friend or foe. his contributions levied upon the saxons were terrible. the cold and dreary winter passed rapidly away. the spring was late in that northern clime. it was not until the middle of june that either party was prepared vigorously to take the field. it was generally considered by the european world that frederick was irretrievably ruined. in the last campaign he had lost sixty thousand men. universal gloom and discouragement pervaded his kingdom. still frederick, by his almost superhuman exertions, had marshaled another army of one hundred thousand men. but the allies had two hundred and eighty thousand to oppose to them. though frederick in public assumed a cheerful and self-confident air, as if assured of victory, his private correspondence proves that he was, in heart, despondent in the extreme, and that scarcely a ray of hope visited his mind. to his friend d’argens he wrote:
“i am unfortunate and old, dear marquis. that is why they persecute me. god knows what my future is to be this year. i grieve to resemble cassandra with my prophecies. but how augur well of the desperate situation we are in, and which goes on growing worse? i am so gloomy to-day i will cut short.
“write to me when you have nothing better to do. and don’t forget a poor philosopher who, perhaps to expiate his incredulity, is doomed to find his purgatory in this world.”
again, and at the same time, he wrote to another friend:
“the difficulties i had last campaign were almost infinite, there were such a multitude of enemies acting against me. pomerania, brandenburg, saxony, frontiers of silesia, were alike in danger, and often all at one time. if i escaped absolute destruction, i must impute it chiefly to the misconduct of my enemies, who gained such advantages, but had not the sense to follow them up. experience often corrects people of their blunders. i can not expect to profit by any thing of that kind on their part in the course of this campaign.”148
four campaigns of the seven years’ war have passed. we are now entering upon the fifth, that of 1760. the latter part501 of april frederick broke up his encampment at freiberg, and moved his troops about twenty miles north of dresden. here he formed a new encampment, facing the south. his left wing was at meissen, resting on the elbe. his right wing was at the little village of katzenh?user, about ten miles to the southwest. frederick established his head-quarters at schlettau, midway of his lines. the position thus selected was, in a military point of view, deemed admirable. general daun remained in dresden “astride” the elbe. half of his forces were on one side and half on the other of the river.
the stunning news soon reached frederick that general fouquet, whom he had left in silesia with twelve thousand men, had been attacked by a vastly superior force of austrians. the assault was furious in the extreme. thirty-one thousand austrians commenced the assault at two o’clock in the morning. by eight o’clock the bloody deed was done. ten thousand of the prussians strewed the field with their gory corpses. two thousand only escaped. general fouquet himself was wounded and taken prisoner. to add to the anguish of the king, this disaster was to be attributed to the king himself. he had angrily ordered general fouquet to adopt a measure which that general, better acquainted with the position and forces of the foe, saw to be fatal. heroically he obeyed orders, though he knew that it would prove the destruction of his army.
silesia was at the mercy of the foe. frederick regarded the calamity as irreparable. still in a few hours he recovered his equanimity, and in public manifested his accustomed stoicism. the victorious austrian soldiers in silesia conducted themselves like fiends. their plunderings and outrages were too shocking to be recited. “nothing was spared by them,” writes frederick, “but misery and ugliness.”
there was a small garrison at glatz, at silesia, which, though closely besieged, still held out against the austrians. frederick thought that if he could by any stratagem draw general daun from dresden, he could, by a sudden rush, break down its walls and seize the city. he moved with celerity which completely deceived the austrian commander. at two o’clock in the morning of wednesday, july 2d, his whole army was almost on the run toward silesia. they marched as troops never marched before.502 for twelve hours their speed was unintermitted. the next day, in utter exhaustion, they rested. but on friday, as the village clocks were tolling the hour of midnight, all were again on the move, the king himself in front. again it was a run rather than a march through a dreary realm of bogs, wild ravines, and tangled thickets. at three o’clock on saturday morning the march was resumed.
general daun was soon informed of this energetic movement. he instantly placed himself at the head of sixty thousand troops, and also set out, at his highest possible speed, for glatz.
sunday, july 6th, was a day of terrible heat. at three o’clock in the morning the prussian troops were again in motion. there was not a breath of wind. the blazing sun grew hotter and hotter. there was no shade. the soldiers were perishing of thirst. still the command was “onward,” “onward.” in that day’s march one hundred and five prussian soldiers dropped dead in their tracks.
general daun thought that such energy as this could not be a feint. he was much nearer to glatz than was frederick. monday, july 7th, the prussian troops rested. general daun pressed on. tuesday night he was two days’ march ahead of frederick. in the mean time, the prussian king, who had made this tremendous march simply to draw the foe from dresden, suddenly turned, and with the utmost velocity directed his troops back toward the city.
general maguire had been left in dresden with but about fourteen thousand men for its defense. on saturday, july 13th, the prussian army appeared before the city. all the night they were erecting their batteries. early sunday morning the cannonade began. as daun might speedily arrive at the head of sixty thousand troops for the relief of the garrison, the bombardment was conducted with the utmost possible energy. day and night the horrible tempest fell upon the doomed city. adversity had soured the king’s disposition, and rendered him merciless. he had no compassion upon the innocent inhabitants. it was his aim, at whatever cost, to secure the immediate surrender of the place. he cruelly directed his terrific fire upon the thronged dwellings rather than upon the massive fortifications. street after street blazed up in flames. it was frederick’s relentless503 plan by “fire torture” to force the citizens to compel maguire to the surrender. but the austrian commander hardened his heart against the misery of the saxon people, and held the place.
general daun was proverbially slow-footed. for thirteen days the wretched city burned and bled. in a memorial to the world, which the king of poland, as elector of saxony, published on the occasion, he said,
“had the enemy attacked dresden according to the rules and the customs of war, had they directed their efforts against the ramparts, the king would, without doubt, have lamented the evils which would have resulted from it to his people, but he would have lamented them without complaining. but the prussians made war on the innocent townsmen. their fire was wholly directed against the houses. they endeavored to destroy a town which they could not take.”
in truth, when general daun approached, and frederick saw that there was no possibility of his taking the city, he, in the wantonness of his rage, set fire to upward of a hundred houses in the suburbs which had hitherto escaped the flames. three hundred and fifty houses were destroyed within the walls. more than that number were half destroyed, shattered by bombs, and scorched with flames. these were terrible calamities falling upon a city already exhausted by four years of the most desolating war. the king of poland closed his appeal by saying,
“the king thinks it scarcely worth while to mention his palaces and his gardens sacked and ruined, in contempt of the regard usually paid from one sovereign to another. is there a man in all europe who does not see in these terrible effects an implacable hatred and a destructive fury which all nations ought to concur in repressing?”149
frederick, being constrained by the approach of general daun to raise the siege of dresden, retired to his intrenched camp at schlettau. leaving fifteen thousand men to guard the camp, he, on the 1st of august, before the dawn, crossed the elbe, and was again on the rapid march toward silesia. his army consisted of thirty thousand men, and was accompanied by two thousand heavy baggage-wagons. in five days the king marched over one hundred miles, crossing five rivers. armies of the allies, amounting504 to one hundred and seventy-five thousand austrians and russians, were around him—some in front, some in his rear, some on his flanks.150
on the 14th of august frederick had reached liegnitz. his foes surrounded him in such numbers that escape seemed impossible, and destruction sure. general loudon, with thirty-five thousand allies, was scarcely a mile east of him. general lacy, with an immense swarm of cavalry, was at the distance of but a few thousand yards on the west. general daun, with his immense army, approaching from the southwest, had taken possession of liegnitz. frederick was encamped upon some heights a few miles east of the city. to human view, the position of his prussian majesty was desperate.
“he was clinging on the head of slippery abysses, his path hardly a foot’s breadth, mere enemies and avalanches hanging round on every side; ruin likelier at no moment of his life.”
on the night of the 14th frederick had stationed his lines with the greatest care to guard against surprise. at midnight, wrapped in his cloak, and seated on a drum by a watch-fire, he had just fallen asleep. an irish officer, a deserter from the austrians, came blustering and fuming into the camp with the announcement that general lacy’s army was on the march to attack frederick by surprise. frederick sprang to his horse. his perfectly drilled troops were instantly in motion. by a rapid movement his troops were speedily placed in battle array upon the heights of the wolfsberg. they would thus intercept the enemy’s line of march, would take him by surprise, and were in the most admirable position to encounter superior numbers. to deceive the foe, all the prussian camp-fires were left burning. general loudon had resorted to the same stratagem to deceive frederick.
to the surprise of general loudon, there was opened upon his advance-guard of five thousand men, as it was pressing forward on its stealthy march, in the darkness ascending an eminence, the most destructive discharge of artillery and musketry. the division was hurled back with great slaughter. gathering re-enforcements, it advanced the second and the third time with the same results. cavalry, infantry, artillery, were brought forward,505 but all in vain. frederick brought into action but fifteen thousand men. he utterly routed the hostile army of thirty-five thousand men, killing four thousand, and taking six thousand prisoners. he also captured eighty-two cannon, twenty-eight flags, and five thousand muskets. his own loss was eighteen hundred men. the battle commenced at three o’clock in the morning, and was over at five o’clock.
battle of liegnitz, august 16, 1760.
a a. prussian camp, left with fires burning. b b b. prussian main army. c c. ziethen’s division. d d. loudon’s camp, also left with fires burning. e e e. loudon’s army attacked by the prussians. f f f. approach of daun. g g. lacy’s cavalry.
frederick remained upon the field of battle four hours gathering up the spoils. the dead were left unburied. the wounded were placed in empty meal-wagons. general loudon fled precipitately across the katzbach river. to deceive the austrians in reference to his movements, frederick wrote a false dispatch to his brother henry, which he placed in the hands of a trusty peasant. the peasant was directed to allow himself to be taken. the plan worked to a charm. the other portions of the allied army, deceived by the dispatch, retreated as frederick wished to have them. he soon formed a junction with his brother henry, and being astonished himself at his almost miraculous506 escape, marched to the strong fortress of breslau, which was still held by a small prussian garrison, and where he had large magazines.
but, notwithstanding this wonderful victory and narrow escape, it still seemed that frederick’s destruction was only postponed for a short time. he was in the heart of silesia, and was surrounded by hostile armies three times more numerous than his own.
twelve days after the battle of liegnitz frederick wrote as follows to his friend, the marquis d’argens, who was at berlin. the letter was dated hermannsdorf, near breslau, 27th of august, 1760:
“formerly, my dear marquis, the affair of the 15th would have decided the campaign. at present it is but a scratch. a great battle must determine our fate. such we shall soon have. then, should the event prove favorable to us, you may, with good reason, rejoice. i thank you for your sympathy. it has cost much scheming, striving, and address to bring matters to this point. do not speak to me of dangers. the last action cost me only a coat and a horse. that is buying victory cheap.151
“i never in my life was in so bad a posture as in this campaign. miracles are still needed to overcome the difficulties which i foresee. i do my duty as well as i can. but remember, my dear marquis, that i can not command good fortune. i am obliged to leave too much to chance, as i have not the means to render my plans more certain.
“i have the labors of hercules to perform, at an age, too, when my strength is leaving me, when my infirmities increase, and, to speak the truth, when hope, the only consolation of the unhappy, begins to desert me. you are not sufficiently acquainted with the posture of affairs to know the dangers which threaten the state. i know them, but conceal them. i keep all my fears to myself, and communicate to the public only my hopes and the trifle of good news i may now and then have. if the blow i now meditate succeeds, then, my dear marquis, will be the time to express our joy. but, till then, do not let us flatter ourselves, lest unexpected bad news deject us too much.
507 “i live here the life of a literary monk. i have much to think of about my affairs. the rest of my time i give to literature, which is my consolation. i know not if i shall survive this war. should it so happen, i am resolved to pass the rest of my days in retirement, in the bosom of philosophy and friendship.
“as soon as the roads are surer i hope you will write more frequently. i do not know where we shall have our winter quarters. our houses at breslau have been destroyed in the late bombardment. our enemies envy us every thing, even the air we breathe. they must, however, leave us some place. if it be a safe one, i shall be delighted to receive you there.
“here is business which i must attend to. i was in a writing vein, but i believe it is better to conclude, lest i should tire you and neglect my own duties. adieu, my dear marquis. i embrace you.
frederick.”
