Cassell's History of England, Vol. 4 (of 8): From the Fall of Marlborough to the Peninsular WarAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 4 (of 8): From the Fall of Marlborough to the Peninsular War
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
The war in Germany grew more and more bloody. Russia and Austria came
down upon Frederick this year with great forces. Daun entered Saxony;
Laudohn and Soltikow, Silesia. Laudohn defeated Fouqué at Landshut,
and took the fortress of Glatz, and compelled Frederick, though hard
pressed by Daun, to march for Silesia. The month was July, the weather
so hot that upwards of a hundred of his soldiers fell dead on the
march. Daun followed him, watching his opportunity to fall upon him
when engaged with other troops, but on the way Frederick heard of the
defeat of Fouqué and the fall of Glatz, and suddenly turned back to
reach Dresden before Daun, and take the city by storm; but as Daun was
too expeditious for him, and Maguire, the governor, an Irishman, paid
no heed to his demands for surrender, Frederick, who had lately been so
beautifully philosophising on the inhumanities of men, commenced a most
ferocious bombardment, not of the fortress but of the town. He burnt
and laid waste the suburbs, fired red-hot balls into the city to burn
it all down, demolished the finest churches and houses, and crushed
the innocent inhabitants in their flaming and falling dwellings, till
crowds rushed from the place in desperation, rather facing his ruthless
soldiers than the horrors of his bombardment.
Prevented by the arrival of Daun from utterly destroying Dresden,
though he had done enough to require thirty years of peace to restore
it, Frederick marched for Silesia. Laudohn, who was besieging Breslau,
quitted it at his approach; but the Prussian king, who found himself
surrounded by three armies, cut his way, on the 15th of August, at
Liegnitz, through Laudohn's division, which he denominated merely
"a scratch." He was instantly, however, called away to defend his
own capital from a combined army of Russians under Todleben, and of
Austrians under Lacy, another Irishman; but before he could reach them
they had forced an entrance, on the 9th of October. The Russians,
departing from their usual custom of plunder, touched nothing, but
levied a contribution of one million seven hundred thousand dollars on
the city. At Frederick's approach they withdrew.
But there was no rest for Frederick. Daun was overrunning Saxony; had
reduced Leipsic, Wittenberg, and Torgau. Frederick marched against him,
retook Leipsic, and came up with Daun at Torgau on the 3rd of November.
There a most sanguinary battle took place, which lasted all day and
late into the night. Within half an hour five thousand of Frederick's
grenadiers, the pride of his army, were killed by Daun's batteries of
four hundred cannon. Frederick was himself disabled and carried into
the rear, and altogether fourteen thousand Prussians were killed or
wounded, and twenty thousand of the Austrians. This scene of savage
slaughter closed the campaign. The Austrians evacuated Saxony, with the
exception of Dresden; the Russians re-passed the Oder, and Frederick
took up his winter quarters at Leipsic.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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