The boldest young men of Germany rushed to Lützow; noblemen, students, foresters. His corps of cavalry became the terror of the French army. The enemy could never tell where they would be found.
Among the young volunteers was Körner, the young German poet. He was a slender young man; but he had an heroic soul, and the cavalry corps of the fiery Lützow seemed to him the place for it. He joined the “wild hunters” in 1813.
“Germany rises,” he said. “The Prussian eagle beats her wings; there is hope of freedom.
“I know what happiness can fruit for me in life; I know that the star of fortune shines upon me; but a mighty feeling and conviction animates me: no sacrifice can be too great for my country’s freedom!”
The words glow.
He added,—
“I must forth,—I must oppose my breast to the storm. Can I celebrate the deeds of others in song, and not dare with them the danger?”
Körner’s battle-songs became firebrands. He consecrated himself to his country in the village church near Zobten. He wrote the battle-hymn for the occasion, which was a service for the departing volunteers.
“We swore,” he said, “the oath of fidelity to our cause. I fell upon my knees and implored God’s blessing. The oath was repeated by all, and the officers swore it on their swords. Then Martin Luther’s ‘A Mighty Fortress is our God’ concluded the ceremony.”
He wrote a thrilling war-song on the morning of the battle of Danneberg, May 12, 1813. It ended with these words:—