History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 21Carlyle, Thomas
History
History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 21
Carlyle, Thomas
Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786; Prussia (Germany) -- History -- Frederick II, 1740-1786; Social problems
He was loath to go; and laid the blame on many things. "Were Prince
Henri now but across the Iser. Had that stupid Anhalt, when he was upon
it [galloping about, to the ruin of his head], only seized Arnau, Arnau
and its Elbe-Bridge; and had it in hand for junction with Prince Henri!"
In fine, just as the last batch of heavy cannon--twenty or thirty
hungered horses to a gun, at the rate of five miles a day in roads
unspeakable--were getting in, he ordered them all to be dragged back,
back to the Trautenau road; whither we must now all go. And, SEPTEMBER
8th, in perfect order, for the Austrians little molested him, and got a
bad bargain when they did, the great Friedrich with his whole Army
got on march homeward, after such a Campaign as we see. Climbed the
Trautenau-Landshut Pass, with nothing of effective loss except from
the rainy elements, the steep miry ways and the starved horses;
draught-horses especially starved,--whom, poor creatures, "you would
see spring at the ropes [draught-harness], thirty of them to a gun, when
started and gee-ho'd to; tug violently with no effect, and fall down in
whole rows."
Prince Henri, forage done, started punctually September 10th, two days
after his Brother; and with little or no pursuit, from the Austrians,
and with horses unstarved, got home in comparatively tolerable
circumstances. Cantoned himself in Dresden neighborhood, and sat
waiting: he had never approved this War; and now, I suppose, would not
want for reflections. Friedrich's cantonments were round Landshut,
and spread out to right and to left, from Glatz Country and the
Upper-Silesian Hills, to Silberberg and Schweidnitz;--his own quarter
is the same region, where he lay so long in Summer, 1759, talking on
learned subjects with the late Quintus Icilius, if readers remember,
and wearily waiting till Cunctator Daun (likewise now deceased) took
his stand, or his seat, at Mark Lissa, and the King could follow him
to Schmottseifen. Friedrich himself on this present occasion stayed at
Schatzlar as rear-guard, to see whether the Austrians would not perhaps
try to make some Winter Campaign of it, and if so, whether they would
attempt on Prince Henri or on him. The Austrians did not attempt on
either; showed no such intention,--though mischievous enough in
other small ways. Friedrich wrote the ELOGE of Voltaire [_OEuvres de
Frederic,_ vii. 50 et seq. ("finished Nov. 26th, 1778").] while he
waited here at Schatzlar, among the rainy Mountains. Later on, as
prospects altered, he was much at Breslau, or running about on civic
errands with Breslau as centre: at Breslau he had many Dialogues with
Professor Garve,--in whose good, but oppressively solemn, little Book,
more a dull-droning Preachment than a Narrative, no reader need look for
them or for him.
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