
Certain enough, NOVEMBER 9th, Daun does come on, regardless of
Schmettau's assurances; so that, "about midnight:" Mayer, who "can
hear the enemy busily building four big batteries" withal, has to
report himself driven to the edge of those high Houses (which are
filled with combustibles), and that some Croats are got into the
upper windows. "Burn them, then!" answers Schmettasu (such the dire
necessity of sieged places): and, "at 3 A.M." (three hours' notice
to the poor inmates), Mayer does so; hideous flames bursting out,
punctually at the stroke of 3: "whole Suburb seemed on blaze [about
a sixth part of it actually so], nay you would have said the whole
Town was environed in flames." Excellency Mitchell climbed a
steeple: "will not describe to your Lordship the horror, the terror
and confusion of this night; wretched inhabitants running with
their furniture [what of it they had got flung out, between 12
o'clock and 3] towards the Great Garden; all Dresden, to
appearance, girt in flames, ruins and smoke." Such a night in
Dresden, especially in the Pirna Suburb, as was never seen before.
[Mitchell, <italic> Memoirs and Papers, <end italic> i. 459.
In <italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> v. 295-302, minute
account (corresponding well with Mitchell's); ib. 303-333, the
certified details of the damage done: "280 houses lost;" "4 human
lives."] This was the sad beginning, or attempt at beginning, of
Dresden Siege; and this also was the end of it, on Daun's part at
present. For four days more, he hung about the place, minatory,
hesitative; but attempted nothing feasible; and on the fifth day,--
"for a certain weighty reason," as the Austrian Gazettes express
it,--he saw good to vanish into the Pirna Rock-Country, and be out
of harm's way in the mean while!

The Truth is, Daun's was an intricate case just now; needing, above
all things, swiftness of treatment; what, of all things, it could
not get from Daun. His denunciations on that burnt Suburb were
again loud; but Schmettau continues deaf to all that,--means "to
defend himself by the known rules of war and of honor;" declares,
he "will dispute from street to street, and only finish in the
middle of Polish Majesty's Royal Palace." Denunciation will do
nothing! Daun had above 100,000 men in those parts. Rushing forward
with sharp shot and bayonet storm, instead of logical denunciation,
it is probable Daun might have settled his Schmettau. But the hour
of tide was rigorous, withal;--and such an ebb, if you missed it in
hesitating! NOVEMBER 15th, Daun withdrew; the ebbing come.
That same day, Friedrich was at Lauban in the Lausitz, within a
hundred miles again; speeding hitherward; behind him a Silesia
brushed clear, before him a Saxony to be brushed. "Reason weighty"
enough, think Daun and the Austrian Gazettes! But such, since you
have missed the tide-hour, is the inexorable fact of ebb,--going at
that frightful rate. Daun never was the man to dispute facts.

November 20th, Friedrich arrived in Dresden; heard, next day, that
Daun had wheeled decisively homeward from Pirna Country; that the
Reichs Army and he are diligently climbing the Metal Mountains;
and that there is not in Saxony, more than in Silesia, an enemy
left. What a Sequel to Hochkirch! "Neisse and Dresden both!" we had
hoped as sequel, if lucky: "Neisse OR Dresden" seemed infallible.
And we are climbing the Metal Mountains, under facts superior
to us.

And Campaign Third has closed in this manner;--leaving things much
as it found them. Essentially a drawn match; Contending Parties
little altered in relative strength;--both of them, it may be
presumed, considerably weaker. Friedrich is not triumphant, or
shining in the light of bonfires, as last Year; but, in the mind
of judges, stands higher than ever (if that could help him much);
--and is not "annihilated" in the least, which is the
surprising circumstance.

Friedrich's marches, especially, have been wonderful, this Year.
In the spring-time, old Marechal de Belleisle, French Minister of
War, consulting officially about future operations, heard it
objected once: "But if the King of Prussia were to burst in upon us
there?" "The King of Prussia is a great soldier," answered M. de
Belleisle; "but his Army is not a shuttle (NAVETTE),"--to be shot
about, in that way, from side to side of the world! No surely;
not altogether. But the King of Prussia has, among other arts, an
art of marching Armies, which by degrees astonishes the old
Marechal. To "come upon us EN NAVETTE," suddenly "like a shuttle"
from the other side of the web, became an established phrase among
the French concerned in these unfortunate matters. [Archenholtz, i.
316; Montalembert, SAEPIUS, for the phrase "EN NAVETTE."]

"The Pitt-and-Ferdinand Campaign of 1758," says a Note, which I
would fain abridge, "is more palpably victorious than Friedrich's,
much more an affair of bonfires than his; though it too has had its
rubs. Loss of honor at Crefeld; loss of Louisburg and Codfishery:
these are serious blows our enemy has had. But then, to temper the
joy over Louisburg, there was, at Ticonderoga, by Abercrombie, on
the small scale (all the extent of scale he had), a melancholy
Platitude committed: that of walking into an enemy without the
least reconnoitring of him, who proves to be chin-deep in abatis
and field-works; and kills, much at his ease, about 2,000 brave
fellows, brought 5,000 miles for that object. And obliges you to
walk away on the instant, and quit Ticonderoga, like a--surely like
a very tragic Dignitary in Cocked-hat! To be cashiered, we will
hope; at least to be laid on the shelf, and replaced by some Wolfe
or some Amherst, fitter for the business! Nor were the Descents on
the French Coast much to speak of: 'Great Guns got at Cherbourg,'
these truly, as exhibited in Hyde-Park, were a comfortable sight,
especially to the simpler sort: but on the other hand, at Morlaix,
on the part of poor old General Bligh and Company, there had been a
Platitude equal or superior to that of Abercrombie, though not so
tragical in loss of men. 'What of that?' said an enthusiastic
Public, striking their balance, and joyfully illuminating.--
Here is a Clipping from Ohio Country, 'LETTER of an Officer
[distilled essence of Two Letters], dated, FORT-DUQUESNE, 28th
NOVEMBER, 1758:--

"'Our small Corps under General Forbes, after much sore scrambling
through the Wildernesses, and contending with enemies wild and
tame, is, since the last four days, in possession of Fort Duquesne
[PITTSBURG henceforth]: Friday, 24th, the French garrison, on our
appearance, made off without fighting; took to boats down the Ohio,
and vanished out of those Countries,'--forever and a day, we will
hope. 'Their Louisiana-Canada communication is lost; and all that
prodigious tract of rich country,'--which Mr. Washington fixed upon
long ago, is ours again, if we can turn it to use. 'This day a
detachment of us goes to Braddock's field of battle [poor
Braddock!], to bury the bones of our slaughtered countrymen;
many of whom the French butchered in cold blood, and, to their own
eternal shame and infamy, have left lying above ground ever since.
As indeed they have done with all those slain round the Fort in
late weeks;'--calling themselves a civilized Nation too!"
[Old Newspapers (in <italic> Gentleman's Magazine <end italic> for
1759, pp. 41, 39).]

LOWER RHINE, JULY-NOVEMBER, 1758. "Ferdinand's manoeuvres, after
Crefeld, on the France-ward side of Rhine, were very pretty:
but, without Wesel, and versus a Belleisle as War-Minister, and a
Contades who was something of a General, it would not do.
Belleisle made uncommon exertions, diligent to get his broken
people drilled again; Contades was wary, and counter-manoeuvred
rather well. Finally, Soubise" (readers recollect him and his 24 or
30,000, who stood in Frankfurt Country, on the hither or north side
of Rhine), famed Rossbach Soubise,--"pushing out, at Belleisle's
bidding, towards Hanover, in a region vacant otherwise of troops,--
became dangerous to Ferdinand. 'Making for Hanover?' thought
Ferdinand: 'Or perhaps meaning to attack my 12,000 English that are
just landed? Nay, perhaps my Rhine-Bridge itself, and the small
Party left there?' Ferdinand found he would have to return, and
look after Soubise. Crossed, accordingly (August 8th), by his old
Bridge at Rees,--which he found safe, in spite of attempts there
had been; ["Fight of Meer" (Chevert, with 10,000, beaten off, and
the Bridge saved, by Imhof, with 3,000;--both clever soldiers;
Imhof in better luck, and favored by the ground: "5th August,
1758"): MAUVILLON, i. 315.]--and never recrossed during this War.
Judges even say his first crossing had never much solidity of
outlook in it; and though so delightful to the public, was his
questionablest step.

"On the 12,000 English, Soubise had attempted nothing.
Ferdinand joined his English at Soest (August 20th); to their great
joy and his; [Duke of Marlborough's heavy-laden LETTER to Pitt,
"Koesfeld, August 15th:" "Nothing but rains and uncertainties;"
"marching, latterly, up to our middles in water;" have come from
Embden, straight south towards Wesel Country, almost 150 miles
(Soest still a good sixty miles to southeast of us).
CHATHAM CORRESPONDENCE (London, 1838), i. 334, 337. The poor Duke
died in two months hence; and the command devolved on Lord George
Sackville, as is too well known.] 10 to 12,000 as a first
instalment:--Grand-looking fellows, said the Germans. And did you
ever see such horses, such splendor of equipment, regardless of
expense? Not to mention those BERGSCHOTTEN (Scotch Highlanders),
with their bagpipes, sporrans, kilts, and exotic costumes and ways;
astonishing to the German mind. [Romantic view of the BERGSCHOTTEN
(2,000 of them, led by the Junior of the Robert Keiths above
mentioned, who is a soldier as yet), in ARCHENHOLTZ, i. 351-353:
IB. and in PREUSS, ii. 136, of the "uniforms with gold and silver
lace," of the superb horses, "one regiment all roan horses, another
all black, another all" &c.] Out of all whom (BERGSCHOTTEN
included), Ferdinand, by management,--and management was needed,--
got a great deal of first-rate fighting, in the next Four Years.

"Nor, in regard to Hanover, could Soubise make anything of it;
though he did (owing to a couple of stupid fellows, General Prince
von Ysenburg and General Oberg, detached by Ferdinand on that
service) escape the lively treatment Ferdinand had prepared for
him; and even gave a kind of Beating to each of those stupid
fellows, [1. "Fight of Sandershausen" (Broglio, as Soubise's
vanguard, 12,000; VERSUS Ysenburg, 7,000, who stupidly would not
withdraw TILL beaten: "23d July, 1758," BEFORE Ferdinand had come
across again). 2. Fight of Lutternberg (Soubise, 30,000;
VERSUS Oberg, about 18,000, who stupidly hung back till Soubise was
all gathered, and THEN &c., still more stupidly: "10th October,
1758"). See MAUVILLON, i. 312 (or better, ARCHENHOLTZ, i. 345);
and MAUVILLON, i. 327. Both Lutternberg and Sandershausen are in
the neighborhood of Cassel;--as many of those Ferdinand fights
were.]--one of which, Oberg's one, might have ruined Oberg and his
Detachment altogether, had Soubise been alert, which he by no means
was! 'Paris made such jeering about Rossbach and the Prince de
Soubise,' says Voltaire, [<italic> Histoire de Louis XV. <end
italic>] 'and nobody said a word about these two Victories of his,
next Year!' For which there might be two reasons: one, according to
Tempelhof, that 'the Victories were of the so-so kind (SIC WAREN
AUCH DARNACH);' and another, that they were ascribed to Broglio, on
both occasions,--how justly, nobody will now argue!

"Contades had not failed, in the mean while, to follow with the
main Army; and was now elaborately manoeuvring about; intent to
have Lippstadt, or some Fortress in those Rhine-Weser Countries.
On the tail of that second so-so Victory by Soubise, Contades
thought, Now would be the chance. And did try hard, but without
effect. Ferdinand was himself attending Contades; and mistakes were
not likely. Ferdinand, in the thick of the game (October 21st-
30th), 'made a masterly movement'--that is to say, cut Contades and
his Soubise irretrievably asunder: no junction now possible to
them; the weaker of them liable to ruin,--unless Contades, the
stronger, would give battle; which, though greatly outnumbering
Ferdinand, he was cautious not to do. A melancholic cautious man,
apt to be over-cautious,--nicknamed 'L'APOTHECAIRE' by the
Parisians, from his down looks,--but had good soldier qualities
withal. Soubise and he haggled about, a short while,--not a long,
in these dangerous circumstances; and then had to go home again,
without result, each the way he came; Contades himself repassing
through Wesel, and wintering on his own side of the Rhine."

How Pitt is succeeding, and aiming to succeed, on the French
Foreign Settlements: on the Guinea Coast, on the High Seas
everywhere; in the West Indies; still more in the East,--where
General Lally (that fiery O'MulLALLY, famous since Fontenoy),
missioned with "full-powers," as they call them, is raging up and
down, about Madras and neighborhood, in a violent, impetuous, more
and more bankrupt manner:--Of all this we can say nothing for the
present, little at any time. Here are two facts of the financial
sort, sufficiently illuminative. The much-expending, much-
subsidying Government of France cannot now borrow except at 7 per
cent Interest; and the rate of Marine Insurance has risen to 70 per
cent. [Retzow, ii. 5.] One way and other, here is a Pitt clearly
progressive; and a long-pending JENKINS'S-EAR QUESTION in a fair
way to be settled!

Friedrich stays in Saxony about a month, inspecting and adjusting;
thence to Breslau, for Winter-quarters. His Winter is like to be a
sad and silent one, this time; with none of the gayeties of last
Year; the royal heart heavy enough with many private sorrows, were
there none of public at all! This is a word from him, two days
after finishing Daun for the season:--


FRIEDRICH TO MYLORD MARISCHAL (at Colombier in Neufchatel).

"DRESDEN, 23d November, 1758.

"There is nothing left for us, MON CHER MYLORD, but to mingle and
blend our weeping for the losses we have had. If my head were a
fountain of tears, it would not suffice for the grief I feel.

"Our Campaign is over; and there has nothing come of it, on one
side or the other, but the loss of a great many worthy people, the
misery of a great many poor soldiers crippled forever, the ruin of
some Provinces, the ravage, pillage and conflagration of some
flourishing Towns. Exploits these which make humanity shudder:
sad fruits of the wickedness and ambition of certain People in
Power, who sacrifice everything to their unbridled passions! I wish
you, MON CHER MYLORD, nothing that has the least resemblance to mv
destiny; and everything that is wanting to it. Your old friend,
till death."--F. [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic>
xx. 273.]





End of Project Gutenberg's Etext History of Friedrich II of Prussia V 18

