History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 15Carlyle, Thomas
History
History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 15
Carlyle, Thomas
Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786; Prussia (Germany) -- History -- Frederick II, 1740-1786; Social problems
Of course Friedrich now pushes on, double speed; detaches other force,
horse and foot: which was lucky, says my informant; for the Ziethen
Hussars, getting good plunder, had by no means demolished the Saxons;
but had left them time to draw up in firm order, with a hedge in front,
a little west of the Village;--from which post, unassailable by Ziethen,
they would have got safe off to the main body, with little but an
affront and some loss of goods. The new force--a rapid Katzler
with light horse in the van, cuirassiers and foot rapidly following
him--sweeps past the long Village, "through a thin wood and a defile;"
finds the enemy firmly ranked as above said; cavalry their left,
infantry on right, flanked by an impenetrable hedge; and at once strikes
in. At once, Katzler does, on order given; but is far too weak. Charges,
he; but is counter-charged, tumbled back; the Saxons, horse and foot,
showing excellent fight. At length, more Prussian force coming up,
cuirassiers charge them in front, dragoons in flank, hussars in rear;
all attacking at once, and with a will; and the poor Saxon Cavalry is
entirely cut to shreds.
And now there remains only the Infantry, perhaps about 1,000 men (if one
must guess); who form a square; ply vigorously their field-pieces and
their fire-arms; and cannot be broken by horse-charges. In fact, these
Saxons made a fierce resistance;--till, before long, Prussian Infantry
came up; and, with counter field-pieces and musketries, blasted gaps
in them; upon which the Cavalry got admittance, and reduced the gallant
fellows nearly wholly to annihilation either by death or capture. There
are 914 Prisoners in this Action, 4 big guns, and I know not how many
kettle-drums, standards and the like,--all that were there, I suppose.
The number of dead not given. [Orlich, ii. 291; _Feldzuge,_i. 400-413.]
But, in brief, this Saxon Force is utterly cut to pieces; and only
scattered twos and threes of it rush through the dark mist; scattering
terror to this hand and that. The Prussians take their post at and round
Hennersdorf that night;--bivouacking, though only in sack trousers, a
blanket each man:--"We work hard, my men, and suffer all things for a
day or two, that it may save much work afterwards," said the King to
them; and they cheerfully bivouacked.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account