At the moment when the negotiations for Hélène’s marriage were begun war had just broken out between Austria and Prussia, on the question of the succession in Bavaria, and the two Princes de Ligne were with the Austrian army.
The Elector of Bavaria, Maximilian-Joseph, had died on the 30th of December 1777 without male issue. Notwithstanding the indisputable rights of the Elector-Palatine, several other princes raised pretensions to the succession. The most formidable of these pretenders was the Emperor Joseph II. Barely had the Elector closed his eyes when the Austrian troops marched on the Bavarian frontier.
This caused great uneasiness in Prussia, and the young Duc des Deux-Ponts, urged on and supported by Frederick the Great, protested before the Germanic Diet against Austria’s designs. The Elector of Saxony followed his example, and while this serious discussion was going on Joseph and Frederick went, the one into Silesia, the other into Bohemia, to take command of the large armies they had raised. They remained thus in presence of each other for several months. Marie-Thérèse, who feared war, carried on secret negotiations to stop it. Joseph, on the contrary, anxious for a contest with the great Frederick, urged it on with all his might.[115]
The Austrian army was divided into two corps, the one officially commanded by the Emperor, but in reality by Marshal de Lascy, and the other by Marshal Laudon; it included the Lycanians or Croats, and picked grenadier regiments under the Prince de Ligne. His headquarters were at Bezesnow, in Bohemia. His son was in Marshal de Lascy’s corps, occupying a strong position behind the steep banks of the Elbe; three lines of forts defended the passage of the river. Prince Charles was in fact principally occupied with the construction of these forts, and his father constantly wrote to him. The following letters will show the affectionate terms that existed between them. It would appear that Prince Charles was dissatisfied at the manner in which the fortifications were being made,
From my Headquarters at
Bezesnow, 26th June 1778.
“Well, my engineer, so you are still fortifying your position, but you are not fortifying your esteem for the genius of our engineers? I have much trouble, on my side, to fortify myself against ennui.
“The Emperor came here to make what we may well call a fuss. He said he wished for war, but did not believe in it. ‘Who will take a bet?’ he said to us the other day. ‘Everybody,’ replied Marshal Laudon, who is always in a bad temper. ‘Everybody means nobody!’—‘But I for one will bet,’ said Marshal Lascy. ‘How much?’ said the Emperor, who expected him to propose about twenty ducats. ‘Two hundred thousand florins,’ said the Marshal. The Emperor pulled a long face, and felt he had received a public reprimand.
“He has been very gracious to me. He is in constant fear lest one should play the pedant by him. He was satisfied with my troops, and said many nice things about you, my dear Charles, for he had seen you work marvellously well. He has just left; I can still see him from my windows.
“I laugh at myself and the others when I think that, unappreciated though I be, I value myself so much more than they suppose. I personally superintend every platoon. I make myself hoarse with giving the word of command to six battalions at the same time.
“I personally inspect even the very smallest huts, called in Bohemia kaloups, each containing only four soldiers, and taste their soup, their bread, weigh their meat, in order to see that they are not cheated. There is not one whom I do not talk to, whom I do not supply with something; not an officer I do not feed, and whom I do not rouse to the war. My comrades do nothing of this kind, and they are very wise, as no one cares. Not one of them cares for the war; they utter the most pacific speeches before the young men, whom they expect in the future to be zealous and good generals. This is also very well. They will be made generals before I shall, and that also will be very well.