Hero Tales of the Far NorthRiis, Jacob A. (Jacob August)
History
Hero Tales of the Far North
Riis, Jacob A. (Jacob August)
Scandinavia -- History
The King hoped to crush his enemy utterly, and the whole line
attacked at once with great fury. From the start victory leaned
toward the Swedish army. Then suddenly in the wild tumult of
battle a heavy fog settled upon the field. What followed was all
confusion. No one knows the rights of it to this day. The King led
his famous yellow and blue regiments against the enemy’s left.
“The black fellows there,” he shouted, pointing to the Emperor’s
cuirassiers in their black armor, “attack them!” Just then an
adjutant reported that his infantry was hard-pressed. “Follow me,”
he commanded, and, clapping spurs to his horse, set off at full
speed for the threatened quarter. In the fog he lost his way and
ran into the cuirassiers. His two attendants were shot down and a
bullet crushed the King’s right arm. He tried to hide the fact that
he was wounded, but pain and loss of blood made him faint and he
asked the Duke of Lauenburg who rode with him to help him out of
the crush. At that moment a fresh troop of horsemen bore down upon
them and their leader, Moritz von Falkenberg, shot the King through
the body with the exultant cry, “You I have long sought!” The words
had hardly left his lips when he fell with a bullet through his
head.
The King swayed in the saddle and lost the reins. “Save yourself,”
he whispered to the Duke, “I am done for.” The Duke put his arm
around him to support him, but the cuirassiers surged against them
and tore them apart. The King’s horse was shot in the neck and
threw its rider. Awhile he hung by the stirrup and was dragged
over the trampled field. Then the horse shook itself free and ran
through the lines, spreading the tidings of the King’s fall afar.
A German page, Leubelfing, a lad of eighteen, was alone with the
King. He sprang from his horse and tried to help him into the
saddle but had not the strength to do it. Gustav Adolf was stout
and very heavy. While he was trying to lift him some Croats rode up
and demanded the name of the wounded man. The page held his tongue,
and they ran him through. Gustav Adolf, to save him, said that
he was the King.[12] At that they shot him through the head, and
showered blows upon him. When the body was found in the night it
was naked. They had robbed and stripped him.
The King was dead. Through the Swedish ranks Duke Bernhard shouted
the tidings. “Who now cares to live? Forward, to avenge his death!”
With the blind fury of the Berserkers of old the Swedes cleared
the ditches, stormed the breastworks, and drove the foe in a panic
before them. The Duke’s arm was broken by a bullet. He hardly knew
it. With his regiment he rode down the crew of one of the enemy’s
batteries and swept on. In the midst of it all a cry resounded over
the plain that made the runaways halt and turn back.
“Pappenheim! Pappenheim is here!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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