In the campaign of 1760 he received command of the army destined for service in Silesia. It consisted of 40,000 men, and in all operations he was to be seconded by the Russians, who, according to an agreement made by the two Empresses, were to fight their way along the banks of the Oder, while Daun carried on the war in Saxony. This army was light, and as unencumbered by baggage as a Pandour leader could desire. At its head Loudon left the camp in which he had passed the winter, and after attacking and repulsing General Goltze at the head of his horse, he left Draskowitz with 6000 men at Neustadt, and took the road to Bohemia, after menacing in succession Silesia, into which he penetrated with two corps, the new Marche of Brandenburg, Breslau, even Berlin and Schwiednitz. At last he fixed upon the latter, and General the Baron de la Mothe Fouque (who had weakened his forces by detaching the brigades of the Scottish General Grant and General Zeithen), deceived by an artful feint, marched towards it with all his troops leaving the garrison in Glatz quite unprotected.
The able Loudon at once perceived the success of his feint, or stratagem, and immediately had recourse to another. He took possession of Landshut, and left there a small body of troops, who were immediately assailed and driven out by the Baron de la Mothe. While the latter was thus occupied in recovering this trivial post, Loudon made himself master of several important positions, and passed in triumph through Johannesberg and Wisstengersdorff, and at Schwarzwalde routed the hussars of Malachowski, and thus surrounded the baron's little army of Prussians. The latter did everything requisite to secure their position against the superior force of Loudon, who early in June attacked them with irresistible fury.
On the night of the 23rd he seized two heights on the right, and formed there two batteries, which swept the Prussian front and rear. He then stormed their intrenchments at the head of 28,000 men, and drove out the enemy, who formed solid squares to repel his cavalry, which pushed them in disordered masses on the Balkenhayn-road. Their squares were broken, and 4000 men were slain. Among them fell the gallant baron, pierced by two mortal wounds. Seven thousand men surrendered, and Glatz, the most important place between Silesia and Bohemia, as it stands in a narrow vale between two lofty hills, was the immediate consequence of the victory. The Gersdorff hussars and dragoons of Platen cut a passage to Breslau with 1500 of the infantry.
Pushing on, the victorious Loudon prepared to besiege that place, where he expected to be joined by the Russians, and thus enabled to complete the conquest of Silesia, the great object of the war. Encouraged by his success at Glatz, he assailed the Silesian capital, and bombarded it with great success on the 30th July. He set forth in his summons to surrender, "that his forces consisted of fifty battalions and eighty squadrons, most of which were within three days' march; that it was in vain for the governor to expect succour from the King of Prussia, now on the other side of the Elbe, and still more vain to look for relief from Prince Henry, who must sink beneath the Russian sword if he attempted to obstruct its progress; and that the inhabitants must resign all hope of terms or quarter if they ventured to defend the town."
The reply of the governor was firm and noble. Loudon showered bombs and red-hot balls on one side, while attempting an assault on the other.
Prince Henry, one of the most accomplished of the Prussian generals, advanced to its relief by a forced march of one hundred and twenty English miles in five days, resolving to give the Baron battle before the Russians joined him; and on his approach Loudon prudently raised the siege and retired, though he still kept Neiss and Schwiednitz under blockade. The King of Prussia by this time was on his memorable march to prevent the junction of the Russian and Imperial armies in Silesia; and with this intention had encamped at Lignitz, where, while encompassed by three hostile columns, he gave battle to Loudon. Attacking him at three o'clock, A.M., on the 15th August, near Lignitz, he repulsed him with loss before Daun could come to his assistance; and further secured his own rear effectually by a strong corps de reserve and park of artillery posted on the heights of Paffendorf.
Frederick obtained some information as to Loudon's disposition of force from an Austrian officer, an Irishman, who had deserted. "He was so intoxicated," says Frederick, in his own History, "that he could only stammer out he had a secret to reveal. After making him swallow some basins of warm water to relieve his stomach, he affirmed what had been divined, that Daun meant to attack the king that very day." Loudon made incredible efforts, on foot and on horseback, to maintain his ground. After receiving five consecutive charges of five lines of five battalions each, the confusion of the Austrians became general, and they fled towards Binowitz. The battle of Paffendorf cost Loudon ten thousand men; the field, which sloped like a glacis, was occupied by the Prussians, who took two generals, eighty other officers, six thousand soldiers, twenty-three pairs of colours, and eighty-two pieces of cannon!
We next find the indefatigable Loudon in position at Hohenfriedberg, a small Silesian town, which he had to abandon on the night of the 11th September, finding his flank turned by the Prussian vanguard on their gaining the pass of Kauder. On the 18th he occupied the defiles of Giersdorf, and that night, by a cannonade prevented the enemy from advancing to Wahlenburg. He next laid siege to the strong and important fortress of Kosel, seventy-three miles distant from Breslau, and threatened the whole province with subjection.
The Russians and Austrians now effected their junction again, and together made themselves masters of Berlin on the 4th October; after which the affairs of the great Frederick seemed desperate; but he resolved to retrieve them by some decided effort. Crossing the Elbe, he hurried into Saxony, followed by Daun with eighty thousand men, whom he routed at Toorgau on the 23rd November. By this he recovered all that he had previously lost; the Russians retired into Poland, the Austrians evacuated the desolated province of Silesia, and the Swedes took refuge on the shores of the Baltic. By the defeat of Daun, Loudon was compelled abruptly to raise the siege of Kosel and retire out of the province.
In 1760, Bohemia, Silesia, and other parts of Germany presented a lamentable aspect. Cities were empty, villages desolate, and castles in ruins. The fields were ravaged and destroyed, till a famine was at hand; wives and children had perished; husbands and fathers had been driven into the ranks of adverse armies, to fight for bare subsistence rather than their blackened hearths and rifled homes; trade was neglected; the seats of learning abandoned; the land untilled: and all this curse had fallen upon the people by the mad ambition of their kings and princes.