[43] Id.
[44] Military Instructions, p. 171.
[45] The army with which Frederick invaded Silesia consisted of a general force of 28,000 men, which was followed by a rear-guard of 12,000. He had, in all, about 12,000 cavalry. The remainder were foot soldiers. The artillery consisted of 20 three-pounders, 4 twelve-pounders, 4 howitzers, and 4 large mortars of fifty-pounds calibre. His artillerymen numbered 166.
Straverunt alii nobis, nos posteritati:
Omnibus at Christus stravit ad astra viam.
[47] Charles Etienne Jordan was thirty-six years of age. He was the son of wealthy parents in Berlin, and had been a preacher. The death of a beloved wife, leaving him with an only daughter, had plunged him into the profoundest melancholy. Frederick, when Crown Prince, took a great fancy to him, making him nominally his reader, giving him charge of his library. He is represented as a man of small figure, genial, and affectionate, of remarkable vivacity, very courteous, and one who was ever careful never, by word or action, to give pain to others.
[48] His next younger brother, Augustus William, who had accompanied him on the expedition.
[49] Colonel Keyserling was a Courlander of good family. He had been officially named as “Companion” of the Crown Prince in his youthful days. Frederick entitled him Cæsarion, and ever regarded him as one of the choicest of his friends. He was a man of very eccentric manners, but warm-hearted and exceedingly companionable.
[50] Algarotti was a Venetian gentleman of much elegance of manners and dress. He was very fervent in his utterance, and could talk fluently upon every subject. He was just of the age of Frederick. Being the son of wealthy parents, he had enjoyed great advantages of study and travel, had already published several works, and was quite distinguished as a universal genius, a logician, a poet, a philosopher, and a connoisseur in all the arts. He was a great favorite of Frederick, and accompanied him to Strasbourg and on this expedition to Silesia. Wilhelmina describes him as “one of the first beaux esprits of the age,” and “as one who does the expenses of the conversation.”
[51] Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau was one of the most extraordinary men of any age. His life was but a constant whirlwind of battle, almost from his birth in 1676, to his death in 1747. His face was of the “color of gunpowder,” and his fearless, tumultuous soul was in conformity with the rugged body in which it was incased. The whole character of the man may be inferred from the following prayer, which it is said he was accustomed to offer before entering battle: “O God! assist our side. At least, avoid assisting the enemy, and leave the result to me.” Leopold, called the Old Dessauer, and his son, the Young Leopold, were of essential service to Frederick in his wars. Pages might be filled illustrative of the character of this eccentric man.