History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 18Carlyle, Thomas
History
History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 18
Carlyle, Thomas
Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786; Prussia (Germany) -- History -- Frederick II, 1740-1786; Social problems
Winterfeld, the ardent enterprising man, King's other self, is thought
to be the mainspring of affairs here (small thanks to him privately
from Bevern, add some): and is stationed in the extreme van, as we see;
Winterfeld is engaged in many things besides the care of this post; and
indeed where a critical thing is to be done, we can imagine Winterfeld
goes upon it. "We must try to stay here till the King has finished in
Saxony!" says Winterfeld always. To which Bevern replies, "Excellent,
truly; but how?" Bevern has his provender at Dresden, sadly far off;
has to hold Bautzen garrisoned, and gets much trouble with his convoys.
Better in Silesia, with our magazines at hand, thinks Bevern, less
mindful of other considerations.
Tuesday, September 6th, Prince Karl sends Nadasti to the right bank of
the River, forward upon Moys, to do the Jakelsberg before day to-morrow:
only some 2,000 grenadiers on it; Nadasti has with him 15,000, some
count 20,000 of all arms, artillery in plenty; surely sufficient for the
Jakelsberg; and Daun advances, with the main body, on the other side
of the River, to be within reach, should Moys lead to more serious
consequences. Nadasti diligently marches all day; posts himself at night
within few miles of Moys; gets his cannon to the proper Hills (GALLOWS
Hill and others), his Croats to the proper Woods; and, before daylight
on the morrow, means to begin upon the Moys Hill and its 2,000
grenadiers.
Wednesday morning, at the set hour, Nadasti, with artillery bursting
out and quivering battle-lines, is at work accordingly; hurls up 1,000
Croats for one item, and regulars to the amount of "forty companies in
three lines." The grenadiers, somewhat astonished, for the morning
was misty and their hussar-posts had come hastily in, stood upon their
guard, like Prussian men; hurled back the 1,000 Croats fast enough;
stubbornly repulsed the regulars too, and tumbled them down hill with
bullet-storm for accompaniment; gallantly foiling this first attempt of
Nadasti's. Of course Nadasti will make another, will make ever others;
capture of the Jakelsberg can hardly be doubtful to Nadasti.
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