The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 03: Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes
General
The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 03: Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes
German literature -- 19th century -- Translations into English; German literature -- 20th century -- Translations into English
The artillery on both sides, as the horses could not be found,
remained all night upon the field, at once the reward and the evidence
of victory to him who should hold it. Wallenstein, in his haste to
leave Leipzic and Saxony, forgot to remove his part. Not long after
the battle was ended, Pappenheim's infantry, who had been unable to
follow the rapid movements of their general and who amounted to six
regiments, marched on the field, but the work was done. A few hours
earlier, so considerable a reinforcement would perhaps have decided
the day in favor of the Imperialists; and, even now, by remaining on
the field, they might have saved the duke's artillery and made a prize
of that of the Swedes. But they had received no orders to act; and,
uncertain as to the issue of the battle, they retired to Leipzic,
where they hoped to join the main body.
The Duke of Friedland had retreated thither, and was followed on the
morrow by the scattered remains of his army, without artillery,
without colors, and almost without arms. The Duke of Weimar, it
appears, after the toils of this bloody day, allowed the Swedish army
some repose, between Lützen and Weissenfels, near enough to the field
of battle to oppose any attempt the enemy might make to recover it. Of
the two armies, more than 9,000 men lay dead; a still greater number
were wounded, and, among the Imperialists, scarcely a man escaped from
the field uninjured. The entire plain from Lützen to the Canal was
strewed with the wounded, the dying, and the dead. Many of the
principal nobility had fallen on both sides. Even the Abbot of Fulda,
who had mingled in the combat as a spectator, paid for his curiosity
and his ill-timed zeal with his life. History says nothing of
prisoners; a further proof of the animosity of the combatants, who
neither gave nor took quarter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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