Berlin meanwhile fell into the hands of the Russians, who, on this
occasion, behaved with humanity. General Todleben even ordered his men
to fire upon the allied troop, consisting of fifteen thousand Austrians,
under Lacy and Brentano, for attempting to infringe the terms of
capitulation by plundering the city. The Saxons destroyed the château of
Charlottenburg and the superb collection of antiques contained in it, an
irreparable loss to art, in revenge for the destruction of the palaces
of Bruhl by Frederick. No other treasures of art were carried away or
destroyed either by Frederick in Dresden or by his opponents in Berlin.
This campaign offered but a single pleasing feature: the unexpected
relief of Kolberg, who was hard pushed by the Russians in Pomerania, by
the Prussian hussars under General Werner.
Misfortune continued to pursue the King throughout the campaign of 1760.
Fouquet, one of his favorites, was, with eight thousand men, surprised
and taken prisoner by Laudon in the Giant Mountains near Landshut; the
mountain country was cruelly laid waste. The important fortress of Glatz
fell, and Breslau was besieged. This city was defended by General
Tauenzien, a man of great intrepidity. The celebrated Lessing was at
that time his secretary. With merely three thousand Prussians he
undertook the defence of the extensive city, within whose walls were
nineteen thousand Austrian prisoners.
He maintained himself until relieved by Frederick. The King hastened to
defend Silesia, for which Soltikoff's procrastination allowed him ample
opportunity. Daun had, it is true, succeeded in forming a junction with
Laudon at Liegnitz, but their camps were separate, and the two generals
were on bad terms. Frederick advanced close in their vicinity. An
attempt made by Laudon, during the night of August 15th, to repeat the
disaster of Hochkirch, was frustrated by the secret advance of the King
to his rencounter, and a brilliant victory was gained by the Prussians
over their most dangerous antagonist. The sound of the artillery being
carried by the wind in a contrary direction, the news of the action and
of its disastrous termination reached Daun simultaneously; at all
events, he put this circumstance forward as an excuse, on being, not
groundlessly, suspected of having betrayed Laudon from a motive of
jealousy. He retreated into Saxony. The regiment of Bernburg had greatly
distinguished itself in this engagement, and on its termination an old
subaltern officer stepped forward and demanded from the King the
restoration of its military badges, to which Frederick gratefully
acceded.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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