It is added on the testimony of a young gentleman named Leubelfing, the
son of Colonel Leubelfing, of Nuremberg, and page to the Lord Marshal
Crailsham, that being near when the King fell, and seeing that his
charger, wounded in the neck, had galloped away, he dismounted and
offered him his own horse. Gustavus stretched out his hands to accept
the offer; and the page attempted to lift him from the ground, but was
unable. In the mean time some cuirassiers, attracted to the spot,
demanded who the wounded man was. Leubelfing evaded the question or
refused to answer; but the King himself exclaimed, "I am the King of
Sweden," when he received four gunshot wounds and two stabs, which
quickly released him from the agony of his broken arm, the bone of which
had pierced the flesh and protruded. The Imperialist soldiers about the
King, each anxious to possess some trophy, had stripped the body to the
shirt, and were about to carry it off when a body of Swedish cavalry,
charging toward the spot, dispersed them.
His death was immediately communicated, by one of the few who were about
his person when he fell, to the Swedish generals. His charger, galloping
loose and bloody about the field, announced to many more that some
disaster had befallen him. The whole extent of the calamity, however,
was not generally known; but a burning desire ran through the ranks to
rescue him, if living; to avenge him, if dead. The noble Bernhard of
Saxe-Weimar sustained and animated the enthusiasm. Having whispered to
Kniphausen that Gustavus was dead, he asked him what was to be done?
Kniphausen answered that his troops were in good order, and that retreat
was practicable; to which the fiery Duke answered that it was not a
question of retreat, but of vengeance in victory. This said, he assumed
the command, and, upon Stenbock's lieutenant-colonel hesitating to
advance when he ordered him, passed his sword through his body, and led
on to the attack three other regiments, after a few words which gave
fresh fuel to their ardor. Again the lost ground is won, the lost
batteries are recovered. Wallenstein's ammunition explodes, and seven of
his guns are captured.
Stalhanske rallies his Finlanders, drives back the Imperial cuirassiers,
and bears away the King's body--easily distinguished from the rest of
the slain by its heroic stature. But many still are the vicissitudes of
that memorable day. Pappenheim brings fresh masses and fresh courage
into the field. He is slain; content to die, since Gustavus, the foe of
the Emperor and of his faith, breathes no longer; but Piccolomini and
Tershy have inherited his spirit. The Swedes are beaten back; several
standards and royal banners are won by the Imperialists. Count Brahé is
mortally wounded; and of his division--the flower of all the army, the
brave veterans "who have been so long accustomed to conquer that they
knew not how to yield"--there remains but an inconsiderable fraction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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