Prussia. the right of the empress-queen to Silesia still continued, and for the recovery of that province the contracting powers should mutually furnish an army of 60,000 men. To this treaty, called the treaty of Petersburg, the king of Poland was invited to accede ; but he, being in a manner in the power of the king of Prussia, did not think proper to sign it however, he verbally acceded to it in such a manner, that the other parties were fully convinced of his design to cooperate with all their measures; and in consideration of this intention, it was agreed that he should have a share in the partition of the king of Prussia's dominions, in case of a successful event of their enterprises.

19

axony,

In consequence of these machinations, every art was used to render the king of Prussia personally odious to the empress of Russia; the queen of Hungary made vast preparations in Bohemia and Moravia; and the king of Poland, under pretence of a military amusement, drew together 16,000 men, with whom he occupied a strong post at Pirna. The queen of Hungary, still further to strengthen herself, concluded a treaty with the court of France at Versailles, dated May 1. 1756. But in the mean time, the king of Prussia having understood by his emissaries what was going forward, resolved to be beforehand with his enemies, and at least feinvades to keep the war out of his own country; and therefore entered Saxony with a considerable army. At first be affected only to demand a free passage for his troops, and an observance of the neutrality professed by the king of Poland; but, having good reasons to doubt this neutrality, he demanded, as a preliminary, that these Saxon troops should immediately quit the strong post they occupied, and disperse themselves. This demand was refused; on which his Prussian majesty blockaded the Saxon camp at Pirna, resolving to reduce it by famine, since its strong situation rendered an attack very dangerous. At that time there were in Bohemia two Saxon armies, one under the command of M. Brown, and the other under M. Picolomini. To keep these in awe, the king had sent M. Schwerin with an army into Bohemia from the country of Glatz, and M. Keith had penetrated into the same kingdom on the side of Misnia. But still the king of Prussia did not entirely confide in these dispositions; and therefore fearing lest M. Brown might afford some d takes assistance to the Saxons, he joined his forces under ,∞∞ Sax- Keith, and on December 1. attacked and defeated the s pri

20

hers,

Austrian general, so that the latter found it impossible to relieve the Saxons, who, after a vain attempt to retire from their post, were all taken prisoners. The king of Poland quitted his dominions in Germany, and the Prussians took up their winter quarters in Saxony. Here they seized on the revenues, levied exorbitant contributions, and obliged the country to furnish them with recruits. The king of Prussia at this time made himself master of the archives of Dresden, by which means he procured the originals of those pieces above mentioned, which, when produced to the world, gave a full proof of the combination that bad is pro- been formed against him, and consequently justified the measures he had taken for his own defence.

21

uted in Aulic ncil, and to the of the

pire.

No sooner had the king entered Saxony, in the manner already related, than a process was commenced against him in the emperor's Aulic council, and before

22

The Prodigious

tions a

the diet of the empire, where he was soon condemned Prussia. for contumacy, and put to the ban of the empire.— The various circles of the empire were ordered to furnish their contingents of men and money to put this sentence in execution; but these came in so slowly, that, had it not been for the assistance of the French under the prince de Soubise, the army would probably have never been in a condition to act. Austrians, in the mean time, made great preparations, preparaand raised 100,000 men in Bohemia, whom they committed to the care of Prince Charles of Lorrain, assist-gainst him. ed by M. Brown. The Czarina sent a body of 60,oco men under M. Apraxin, to invade the Ducal Prussia; whilst a strong fleet was equipped in the Baltic, in order to co-operate with that army. The king of Sweden also acceded to the confederacy, in hopes of recovering the possessions in Pomerania which his ancestors had enjoyed; and the duke of Mecklenburg took the same party, promising to join the Swedish army with 6000 men as soon as it should be necessary. On the king of Prussia's side appeared nobody excepting an army of between 30,000 and 40,000 Hanoverians commanded by the duke of Cumberland; and these were outnumbered and forced to yield to a superior army of French commanded by M.

d'Etrees.

23

and totally

In the mean time, his Prussian majesty, finding He invades that he must depend for assistance solely on his own Bohemia, abilities, resolved to make the best use of his time. defeats the Accordingly, in the spring 1757, his armies poured in- Austrian to Bohemia from two different quarters, while the army. king himself prepared to enter it from a third. M. Schwerin entered from Silesia; the prince of Bevern from Lusatia, where he defeated an army of 28,000 Austrians that opposed his passage. As the intentions of the king himself were not known, the Austrians detached a body of 20,000 men from their main army to observe his motions. This was no sooner done than the king cut off all communication between the detachment and the main body and having joined his two generals with incredible celerity, he engaged the Austrians near Prague, totally defeated them, took their camp, military chest, and cannon; but lost the brave General Schwerin, who was killed at the age of 82, with a colonel's standard in his hand. On the Austrian side, M. Brown was wounded, and died in a short time, though it is supposed more from the chagrin he suffered, than from the dangerous nature of the wound itself.

24

bards Prague.

About 40,000 of the Austrian army took refuge in Besieges Prague, while the rest fled different ways. The city and bomwas instantly invested by the king, and all succours were cut off. The great number of troops which it contained rendered an attack unadvisable, but seemed to render the reduction of it by famine inevitable; however, the king, to accomplish his purpose the more speedily, prepared to bombard the town. On the 29th of May, after a most dreadful storm of thunder and lightning, four batteries began to play on the city. From these were thrown, every 24 hours, 288 bombs, besides a vast number of red-hot balls, so that it was soon on fire in every quarter. The garrison made a vigorous defence, and one well-conducted sally; but had the misfortune to be repulsed with great loss. The magistrates, burghers, and clergy, seeing their city on the point of being 302

reduced

king's communication with Silesia.

Prussia, reduced to an heap of rubbish, supplicated the commander in the most earnest manner to capitulate; but he was deaf to their intreaties, and drove 12,000 of the most useless mouths out of town, who were quickly driven in again by the Prussians.

25 Count

the comnand of the Au

my.

Thus the affairs of the empress queen seemed verDaun takes ging to destruction, when Leopold count Daun took upon him the command of the remains of M. Brown's army. This general had arrived within a few miles of strian ar- Prague the day after the great battle. He immediately collected the scattered fugitives with the greatest diligence, and retired with them to a strong post in the neighbourhood, from whence he gave the troops in Prague hopes of a speedy relief. It was now the king of Prussia's business, either to have attempted to make himself master of the city by one desperate effort, or entirely to have abandoned the enterprise, and driven Count Daun from his post before his troops had recovered from the terror of their late defeat; but, by attempting to do both, he rendered himself incapable Defeats the of doing either. Though the army of Count Daun Prassians at already amounted to 65,000 men, and though they were strongly entrenched, and defended by a vast train of artillery, his majesty thought proper to send no more than 32,000 men. This body made the arduous attempt on the 18th of June; but though they did all that human courage and conduct could do, and though the king himself at last charged at the head of his cavalry, the Prussians were driven out of the field with great loss. This engagement was named the battle of Colin.

Colin.

26

27

Siege of Prague raised.

The first consequence of the battle of Colin was, that the king of Prussia was obliged to raise the siege of Prague; soon after which, he was obliged to quit Bohemia, and take refuge in Saxony. The Austrians harassed him as much as possible; but, notwithstanding their great superiority, their armies were not in a condition to make any decisive attempt upon him, as the frontiers of Saxony abounded with situations easily defended. In the mean time the Russians, who had hitherto been very dilatory in their motions, began to exert themselves, and entered Ducal Prussia, under M. Apraxin and Fermor, where they committed innumerable cruelties and excesses. A large body of Austrians entered Silesia, and penetrated as far as Breslau. Then they made a turn backwards, and besieged Schweidnitz. Another body entered Lusatia, and made themselves masters of Zittau. Au army of 22,000 Swedes entered Prussian Pomerania, took the towns of Anclam and Demmcin, and laid the whole country under contribution. The French, too, being freed from all restraint by the capitulation of the duke * See BRI- of Cumberland at Closter Seven *, made their way inTAIN, NO to Halberstadt and the Old March of Brandenburg, first exacting contributions, and then plundering the towns. The army of the empire, being reinforced by that of the prince de Soubise, after many delays, was on full march to enter Saxony, which left the Austrians at liberty to exert the greatest part of their force in the reduction of Silesia. General Haddick penetrated through Lusatia, passed by the Prussian armies, and suddenly appeared before the gates of Bertribution. in, which city he laid under contribution.

441.

28

Berlin laid

under con.

He re

tired on the approach of a body of Prussians; yet he still found, means to keep such a post as interrupted the

The destruction Pruss

feated by

of the king of Prussia therefore now seemed inevitable. Every exertion which he had made, though brave and well-conducted, had been unsuccessful. His general Lehwald, who opposed the Russians, had orders to attack them at all events. He obeyed his orders; and with 30,000 men attacked 60,000 of the enemy strongly entrenched at a place called Norkitten. The Lebwada Prussians behaved with the greatest valour; but after Prussian having killed five times more of the enemy than they general themselves lost, they were obliged to retire, though the Rus more formidable after their defeat than the Russians sians after their victory. The king, in the mean time, exerted himself on every side, and his enemies fled everywhere before him; but whilst he pursued one body, another gained upon him in some other part, and the winter came on fast, while his strength decayed, and that of his adversaries seemed to increase on every quarter.

30

Rosbach

The Prussian monarch, however, though distressed, did not abandon himself to despair, or lose that wonderful presence of mind which has so eminently distinguished him in all his military enterprises. He industriously delayed a decisive action till the approach of The king winter; but at last, after various movements, on No-gains a vember 5. 1757, he met at Rosbach with the united great vie army of his enemies commanded by the prince of Saxe d Hilburghausen and the prince de Soubise. The allied army amounted to 50,000 men complete; but most of the troops of the Circles were new raised, and many of them not well atlected to the cause. The Prussians did not exceed 25,000 men; but they were superior to any troops in the world, and were inspired, by the presence of their king, with the most enthusiastic valour. The Austrians were defeated with the loss of 3000 killed, eight generals, 250 officers of different ranks, and 6000 private soldiers, taken prisoners, while night alone prevented the total destruction of the army.

strians.

By this battle the king was set free on one side; but this only gave him an opportunity of renewing his labours on another. The Austrians had a great force, and now began to make a proportionable pro. gress in Silesia. After a siege of 16 days, they had reduced the strong fortress of Schweidnitz, and obliged Schwed the Prussian garrison of 4000 men to surrender pri- nitz taken soners of war. Hearing then of the victory at Ros-by the Abach, and that the king of Prussia was in full march to relieve Silesia, they resolved to attack the prince of Bevern in his strong camp under the walls of Breslau. They attacked the prince's army on November Battle with 22d; but their attack was sustained with the greatest the prince resolution. The slaughter of the Austrians was prodigious. A great part of the enemy had retired from the field of battle, and the rest were preparing to retire, when all at once the Prussian generals took the same resolution. Their army had suffered much in the engagement, and they became apprehensive of a total defeat in case their intrenchments should be forced in any part; for which reason they quitted their strong post, and retired behind the Oder. Two days after, the prince of Bevern, going to reconnoitre without escort, attended only by a groom, was taken prisoner by au advanced party of Croats, a small body of whom had crossed the Oder.

On

of Bevera

Prussia

ken by the

them with the utmost impetuosity, and at last became Prussia.. masters of the post; on which the enemy fled on all sides, and a total rout ensued. In this battle the Austrians lost 6000 killed on the spot, 15,000 taken prisoners, and upwards of 200 pieces of cannon.

On this the town of Breslau immediately surrendered; where, as well as at Schweidnitz, the Austrians found 33 great quantities of provisions, ammunition, and money. Breslau ta- All Silesia was on the point of falling into their hands, Austrians, and the Prussian affairs were going into the utmost di straction, when the king himself by a most rapid march passed through Thuringia, Misnia, and Lusatia, in spite of the utmost efforts of the generals Haddick and Marshal, who were placed there to oppose him; and, entering Silesia on the 2d of December, joined the prince of Bevern's corps, who repassed the Oder to meet him. The garrison of Schweidnitz, who, as we have already observed, had been made prisoners of war, also joined the king's army unexpectedly; and their presence contributed not a little, notwithstanding the smallness of their number, to raise the spirits of the Garrison of whole army. They had submitted to the capitulation Schweid- with the greatest reluctance; but as the Austrians nitz reco- were conducting them to prison, they happened to receive intelligence of the victory at Rosbach: on which they immediately rose on the escort that conducted them, and entirely dispersed it; and afterwards marched in such a direction as they thought might most readily lead them to their king, they accidentally fell in with his army.

34

ver their liberty.

35 Count

of Prussia

His Prussian majesty now approached Breslau; on Daun de- which the Austrians, confiding in their superiority, feated by (for they exceeded 70,000, while the Prussians scarce the king amounted to 36,000), abandoned their strong camp, at Leuthen, the same which the prince of Bevern had formerly occupied, and advanced to give him battle. The king did not intend by any means to disappoint them, but advanced on his part with the greatest celerity. The two armies met on December 5th, near the village of Leuthen. Count Daun made the best dispositions possible. The ground occupied by his army was a plain, with small eminences in some parts. These eminences they surrounded with artillery; and as the ground was also interspersed with thickets, they sought to turn these likewise to their advantage. On their right and left were hills, on which they planted batteries of cannon. The ground in their front was intersected by many causeways; and to make the whole more imprac ticable, the Austrians had felled a great number of trees, and scattered them in the way. It was almost impossible at the beginning of the engagement for the Prussian cavalry to act, on account of these impediments; but, by a judicious disposition made by the king himself, all difficulties were overcome. His majesty had placed four battalions behind the cavalry of his right wing; foreseeing that General Nadasti, who was placed on the enemy's left with a corps de reserve, design ed to attack him in flank. It happened as he had foreseen that general's cavalry attacked the Prussian right wing with great fury; but he was received with such a severe fire from the four battalions, that he was obliged to retire in disorder. The king's flank then, well covered and supported, was enabled to act with such order and vigour as repulsed the enemy. The Austrian artillery was also silenced by that of the Prussians; however, the Austrians continued to make a gallant resistance during the whole battle. After having been once thrown into disorder, they rallied all their forces about Leuthen, which was defended on every side by entrenchments and redoubts. The Prussians attacked

36

37

The consequences of this victory were very great. Breslau re Breslau was immediately invested, and surrendered on taken, December 29th; the garrison, amounting to 13,000 men, were made prisoners of war. The blockade of Schweidnitz was formed as closely as the season of the year would permit; while detached Prussian parties overran the whole country of Silesia, and reduced every place of less importance. The Russians, who had ravaged and destroyed the country in such a manner that they could not subsist in it, thought proper to retire out of the Prussian dominions altogether. Thus Ge- Swedes neral Lehwald was left at liberty to act against the driven out Swedes; and them he quickly drove out of Prussian Pomerania, the whole of which country he not only recovered, but also some part of Swedish Pomerania. Thus the duchy of Mecklenburg being left quite exposed, the king took ample vengeance on it by exacting the most severe contributions of men and money. To complete this monarch's good fortune also, the French, who had retired after the battle of Rosbach, were now opposed by the Hanoverians under Prince Ferdinand, who kept them so well employed, that, during the rest of the war, the king of Prussia had no more trouble from them. See BRITAIN, N° 442.

of Pomera

nia.

ken.

38

The beginning of the year 1758 was favourable to Schweidthe arms of his Prussian majesty. On the 3d of April nitz retahe commenced his operations against Schweidnitz, and pushed the siege so vigorously, that the place surrendered in 13 days. He then disposed his forces in such a manner as might best guard his dominions against his numerous enemies. For this purpose Count Dohna commanded a body of troops on the side of Pomerania; another considerable body was posted between Wohlau and Glogau, in order to cover Silesia from the Russians, in case they should make their inroad that way. An army, in a little time after, was formed in Saxony, commanded by the king's brother Prince Henry. This army consisted of 30 battalions and 45 squadrons, and was designed to make head against the army of the empire; which, by great efforts made during the winter, and the junction of a large body of Austrians, was again in a condition to act. Between all these armies a ready communication was kept up by a proper choice of posts. After the reduction of Schweidnitz, the king having made a show of invading Bohemia, suddenly burst into Moravia, where in a short time he made himself master of the whole country, and on the 27th of May laid siege to Olmutz the capital. Of this M. Daun was no sooner 39 informed, than he took his route to Moravia through Bohemia and though he was not in a condition to Ointitz risk a battle, nor indeed would have done so unless he without had had a very considerable advantage; yet, by placing success. himself in a strong situation where he could not be attacked, by harassing the king's troops and cutting off their convoys, he at last obliged him to abandon the enterprise. The king, however, who frequently owed a good part of his success to the impenetrable secrecy with which he covered all his designs, gave not the least hint of bis intention to raise the siege of Olmutz.

On

The king

besieges

Prussia. On the contrary, the very day before the siege was raised, the firing continued as brisk as ever; but in the night (July 1.) the whole army took the road to Bohemia in two columns, and gained an entire march upon the Austrians. Thus, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of his enemies, the Pussian army reached Bohemia with very little molestation. Here he seized upon a large magazine at Lieutomissel; defeated some corps of Austrians who had attempted to interrupt his progress; and arrived at Konigsgratz, of which he took possession, after driving from it 7000 Austrians who were intrenched there. This city and several other districts he laid under contribution: but soon after entered Silesia, and marched with the utmost rapidity to encounter the Russians, who had at that time united their forces under generals Brown and Fermor, entered the New Marche of Brandenburg, and laid siege to Custrin.

40

The Russians besiege Custrin.

41

The king arrived at this city at a very critical period. The Russians had laid siege to it on the 15th of August; and though they were not well skilled in managing artillery, yet, by furious and unremitting discharges at random, they threw in such a number of bombs and red-hot balls, that the town was soon on fire in every quarter. Some of the wretched inhabitants were burned; others buried in the ruins of their houses, or killed by the balls which fell like hail in the streets; while many of the survivors abandoned their habitations, and fled out of the town on that side where it was not invested. The governor did every thing for the defence of the place; but as the walls were built after the old manner, it was impossible that the town could have made a defence for any length of tin:e, especially as the principal magazine of the besieged had been blown up. The avenger of all these injuries, however, was now at hand. The king came in sight of the Russians on the 25th of August, after a march of 56 days, and beheld the country everywhere desolated, and the villages in flames by the depredations of his cruel enemy, who had raised the siege at his approach, and retired towards a neighbouring village naBut are de- med Zorndorff. At nine o'clock in the morning, a most feated at terrible fire of cannon and mortars poured destruction on Zorndorff, the right wing of the Russian army for two hours without intermission. The slaughter was such as might have been expected; but the Russians kept their ground with astonishing resolution, new regiments still pressing forward to supply the places of those that fell. When the first line had fired away all their charges, they rushed forward on the Prussians with their bayonets; and all at once these brave troops, though encouraged by the presence of their king, gave way and fled before an enemy already half defeated. The Russian generals ought now to have attacked with their cavalry the disordered infantry of their enemies, which would have completed the defeat, and in all probability given the finishing stroke to the king of Prussia's affairs. This opportunity, however, they lost: but the king was not so negligent; for, by a very rapid and masterly motion, he brought all the cavalry of his right wing to the centre, and falling on the Russian foot uncovered by their horse, and even disordered by their own success, they pushed them back with most miserable slaughter, at the same time that the repulsed battalions of infantry, returning from the charge, and exasperated at

their late disgrace, rendered the victory no longer Prussia doubtful. The Russians were now thrown into the most dreadful confusion. The wind blew the dust and smoke into their faces, so that they could not distinguish friends from foes; they fired on each other, plundered their own baggage which stood between the lines, and intoxicated themselves with brandy: the ranks fell in upon one another; and, being thus crammed together into a narrow space, the fire of the Prussians had a full and dreadful effect, while their enemies kept up only a scattered and ineffectual fire, generally quite over their heads. Yet even in this dismal situation the Russians did not fly; but suffered themselves to be slaughtered till seven at night, when their generals having caused an attack to be made on the Prussian right wing, the attention of the enemy was drawn to that quarter, and they had time to retire a little from the field of battle to recover their order.

In this engagement, which was called the battle of Zorndorff, the Russians lost 21,529 men, while that of the Prussians did not exceed 2000. A vast train of artillery was taken, together with the military chest, and many officers of high rank. The consequence was, that the Russian army retreated as far as Landsperg on the frontiers of Poland, and the king was left at liberty to march with his usual expedition to the relief of Prince Henry in Saxony.

42

Daun,

The prince was at this time sorely pressed by M. Operations Daun. As soon as the king had left Bohemia in the of Count manner already related, M. Daun, considering that it would have been to no purpose to follow him, resolved to turn his arms towards Saxony. Towards that country, therefore, he took his route through Lusatia, by Zittau, Gorlitz, and Bautzen. On the 3d of September he invested the strong fortress of Sonnestein; which unaccountably surrendered, after a single day's resistance, to one of his generals named Macguire. He then began to favour the operations of General Laudohn, who had advanced through the Lower Lusatia to the confines of Brandenburg; and, by drawing the attention of the Prussian forces which were left in Silesia to the northward of that duchy, be facilitated the progress of the generals Harsch and De Ville in the southern parts. He then proposed that Prince Henry should be attacked by the army of the empire, while that of the Austrians should pass the Elbe, and falling at the same time on the Prussians, second the attack of the Imperialists, and cut off the retreat of their enemies from Dresden. The sudden appearance of the king ofrendered Prussia, however, put an end to his plan; General Lau- abortive by the king of dohn abandoned all his conquests in Lower Lusatia, and Prussia, retired towards M. Daun, while that general himself retired from the neighbourhood of Dresden as far as Zittau. The army of the empire only kept its ground; possessing itself of the strong post at Pirna, formerly mentioned, but did not undertake any thing. As for the Swedes, who had directed their motions by those of the Russians, they no sooner heard of the victory of Zorndorff, than they retreated with much more expcdition than they had advanced.

Thus the king of Prussia's affairs seemed to be pretty well retrieved, when by one fatal piece of negligence be was brought to the verge of ruin. M. Daun had possessed himself of an advantageous camp at Stolphen, by which he preserved a communication with the army

43

men.

Prussia of the empire. On the other hand, the king of Prussia, having taken possession of an important post at Bautzen, extended his right wing to the village of Hochkirchen, by which he preserved a communication with his brother Prince Henry, protected Brandenburg, and was, better situated than he could be anywhere else for throwing succours into Silesia. The two armies kept a watchful eye on the motions of each other; and as the principal aim of M. Daun was to cut off the king's communication with Silesia, and of the king to cut off M. Daun's communication with Bohemia, a battle seemed inevitable, though great danger seemed to await that party who should begin the attack.

44

Who is sur

Hochkir

chen.

In this critical posture of affairs, the Austrian geneprised and ral formed a design of attacking the Prussian camp in defeated at the night. In what manner he came to surprise such a vigilant enemy has never been accounted for ; but that such a surprise was actually accomplished on the 14th of October, is certain. In the dead of the preceding night, the Austrian army began to march in three columns towards the camp of the king of Prussia; and though the night was exceedingly dark, and they had a considerable way to go, they all arrived at the same time, in safety, without being discovered, aud without the least confusion; and at five in the morning began a regular and well-conducted attack. The Prussians were in a moment thrown into confusion; Marshal Keith, one of their best generals, received two musket-balls, and fell dead on the spot. Prince Francis of Brunswick had his head shot off by a cannon-ball as he was mounting his horse; and every thing seemed to announce the total destruction of the army. Still, however, the king preserved his wonderful presence of mind, which indeed he never appears to have lost on any occasion. He ordered some detachments from his left to support his right wing; but the moment that these orders were received, the left itself was furiously attacked. General Ketzow, who commanded in that quarter, repulsed the Austrians with difficulty, and was not able to afford any considerable assistance to the right; which alone was obliged to sustain the weight of the grand attack. The Austrians, in the beginning of the engagement, had driven the Prussians out of the village of Hochkirchen; and as the fate of the day depended on the possession of that post, the hottest dispute was there. The Prussians made three bloody and unsuccessful attacks on the village; on the fourth they carried it; but the Austrians continually pouring in fresh troops, at last drove them out with prodigious slaughter on all sides. The king then ordered a retreat, which was conducted in good order, without being pursued ; however, this bloody action cost him 7000 men, together with a great number of cannon. The Austrians computed their own loss at 5000.

His Prussian majesty, having thus happily escaped such imminent danger, took every possible measure to prevent the enemy from gaining any considerable advantage from his defeat. Perceiving that the only advantage they wished to derive from it was to cover the operations of their armies in Silesia, and that he had now nothing to fear on the side of Saxony, he largely reinforced his own army from that of Prince Henry, and hastened into Silesia, in order to raise the siege of Neiss, which had been completely invested on the 4th of October. On the 24th of that month, therefore, he

quitted his camp, and making a great compass to Prussia. avoid obstructions from the enemy, arrived in the plains of Gorlitz. A body of the Austrians had in vain attempted to secure this post before him, and some who arrived after him were defeated with the loss of 80 From this place the king pursued his march with the utmost diligence; but was followed by General Laudohn, at the head of 24,000 men, who constantly hung on his rear, and harassed his army. The king, however, knowing the importance of his expedition, continued his march without interruption, and suffered his antagonist to obtain many little advantages without molestation. Daun, however, not content with the opposition given by Laudohn, sent a large body of horse and foot by another route to reinforce the generals Karsch and De Ville, who had formed the siege of Neiss and the blockade of Cosel, while he himself passed the Elbe, and advanced towards Dresden.

All these precautions, however, were of little avail. The generals Karsch and De Ville, notwithstanding their reinforcement, no sooner heard of the king of Prussia's approach, than they raised the siege of both places, and retired, leaving behind them a considerable quantity of military stores. The end of the Prussian monarch's march being thus accomplished, he instantly returned by the same way he came, and hastened to the relief of Saxony, the capital of which (Dresden) was in great danger from Marshal Daun. The place was but indiffe rently fortified, and garrisoned only by 12,000 men; so that it could not promise to hold out long against a numerous and well-appointed army. It was besides commanded by a large suburb, of which, if once the enemy got possession, all defence of the city must then be vain. For this reason M. Schmettau, the Prussian 45 Suburbs of governor, determined to set these suburbs on fire, which Dresden was actually done November 10th, with an incredible burnt. loss to the inhabitants, as in the suburbs were carried on most of those valuable manufactures which render the city of Dresden remarkable. This disappointed the designs of M. Daun; but, though the action was agreeable to the laws of war, and had been executed with all the caution and humanity of which such an action was capable, yet the Austrians exclaimed against it as a piece of the most unprovoked and wanton cruelty recorded in history.

46

Prussia,

After the king of Prussia had approached Dresden, Saxony opall the Austrian armies retired into Bohemia, where pressed by the king of they took up their winter-quarters, as the king of Prussia did in Saxony. This unhappy country he said he would now consider as his own by right of conquest. But instead of treating the conquered people as his lawful subjects, he oppressed them in all possible ways, by levying the most severe and exorbitant contributions, surrounding the exchange with soldiers, and confining the merchants in narrow lodgings on straw-beds, till they drew upon their correspondents for such sums as he wanted.

In 1759, as early as the 23d of February, the Prussians commenced their military operations. General Wobersow marched with a body of troops into Poland, where he destroyed several very large magazines belonging to the Russians, and returned into Silesia without any loss on the 18th of April. In the mean time, by some movements of the king of Prussia himself, the greatest part of the Austrian troops had been

drawn