During these transactions, his Prussian majesty made his public entrance into Breslau, and confirmed all the privileges of the inhabitants. One of his generals surprised the town and fortress of Jablunka, on the confines of Hungary; prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, who commanded another army which formed the blockade of Great Glogau, on the Oder, took the place by scalade, made the generals Wallis and Reyski prisoners, with a thousand men that were in garrison; here likewise the victor found the military chest, fifty pieces of brass cannon, and a great quantity of ammunition.
The queen of Hungary had solicited the maritime powers for assistance, but found them fearful and backward. Being obliged, therefore, to exert herself with the more vigour, she ordered count Neuperg to assemble a body of forces, and endeavour to stop the progress of the Prussians in Silesia. The two armies encountered each other in the neighbourhood of Neiss, at a village called Molwitz; and, after an obstinate dispute, the Austrians were obliged to retire with the loss of four thousand men killed, wounded, or taken. The advantage was dearly purchased by the king of Prussia. His kinsman Frederick, margrave of Brandenburgh, and lieutenant-general Schuylemberg, were killed in the engagement, together with a great number of general officers, and about two thousand soldiers. After this action, Brieg was surrendered to the Prussian, and he forced the important pass of Fryewalde, which was defended by four thousand Austrian hussars. The English and Dutch ministers, who accompanied him in his progress, spared no pains to effect an accommodation; but the two sovereigns were too much irritated against each other to acquiesce in any terms that could be proposed. The queen of Hungary was incensed to find herself attacked, in the day of her distress, by a prince to whom she had given no sort of provocation; and his Prussian majesty charged the court of Vienna with a design either to assassinate or carry him off by treachery; a design which was disowned with expressions of indignation and disdain. Count Neuperg being obliged to abandon Silesia, in order to oppose the Bavarian arms in Bohemia, the king of Prussia sent thither a detachment to join the elector, under the command of count Deslau, who, in his route, reduced Glatz and Neiss, almost without opposition; then his master received the homage of the Silesian states at Breslau, and returned to Berlin. In December, the Prussian army was distributed in winter-quarters in Moravia, after having taken Olmutz, the capital of that province; and in March his Prussian majesty formed a camp of observation in the neighbourhood of Magdeburgh.
A TREATY OF NEUTRALITY CONCLUDED WITH FRANCE FOR HANOVER.
The elector of Hanover was alarmed at the success of the king of Prussia, in apprehension that he would become too formidable a neighbour. A scheme was said to have been proposed to the court of Vienna, for attacking that prince’s electoral dominions, and dividing the conquest; but it was never put in execution. Nevertheless, the troops of Hanover were augmented; the auxiliary Danes and Hessians in the pay of Great Britain were ordered to be in readiness to march; and a good number of British forces encamped and prepared for embarkation. The subsidy of three hundred thousand pounds, granted by parliament, was remitted to the queen of Hungary; and every thing seemed to presage the vigorous interposition of his Britannic majesty. But in a little time after his arrival at Hanover, that spirit of action seemed to flag, even while her Hungarian majesty tottered on the verge of ruin. France resolved to seize this opportunity of crushing the house of Austria. In order to intimidate the elector of Hanover, mare-schal Mallebois was sent with a numerous army into Westphalia; and this expedient proved effectual. A treaty of neutrality was concluded; and the king of Great Britain engaged to vote for the elector of Bavaria at the ensuing election of an emperor. The design of the French court was to raise this prince to the Imperial dignity, and furnish him with such succours as should enable him to deprive the queen of Hungary of her hereditary dominions.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
A BODY OF FRENCH FORCES JOIN THE ELECTOR OF BAVARIA.
While the French minister at Vienna endeavoured to amuse the queen with the strongest assurances of his master’s friendship, a body of five-and-thirty thousand men began their march for Germany, in order to join the elector of Bavaria; another French army was assembled upon the Rhine; and the count de Belleisle being provided with large sums of money, was sent to negotiate with different electors. Having thus secured a majority of voices, he proceeded to Munich, where he presented the elector of Bavaria with a commission, appointing him generalissimo of the French troops marching to his assistance; and now the treaty of Nymphen-burgh was concluded. The French king engaged to assist the elector with his whole power, towards raising him to the Imperial throne: the elector promised, that after his elevation he would never attempt to recover any of the towns or provinces of the empire which France had conquered; that he would, in his Imperial capacity, renounce the barrier-treaty; and agree that France should irrevocably retain whatever places she should subdue in the Austrian Netherlands. The next step of Belleisle was to negotiate another treaty between France and Prussia, importing, that the elector of Bavaria should possess Bohemia, Upper Austria, and the Tyrolese; that the king of Poland should be gratified with Moravia and Upper Silesia; and that his Prussian majesty should retain Lower Silesia, with the town of Neiss and the county of Glatz. These precautions being taken, the count do Belleisle repaired to Franck-fort, in quality of ambassador and plenipotentiary from France, at the Imperial diet of election. It was in this city that the French king published a declaration, signifying, that as the king of Great Britain had assembled an army to influence the approaching election of an emperor, his most christain majesty, as guarantee of the treaty of Westphalia, had ordered some troops to advance towards the Rhine, with a view to maintain the tranquillity of the Germanie body, and secure the freedom of the Imperial election.
In July, the elector of Bavaria being joined by the French forces tinder mareschal Broglio, surprised the Imperial city of Passau, upon the Danube; and entering Upper Austria at the head of seventy thousand men, took possession of Lintz, where he received the homage of the states of that country. Understanding that the garrison of Vienna was very numerous, and that count Palfi had assembled thirty thousand Hungarians in the neighbourhood of this capital, he made no farther progress in Austria, but marched into Bohemia, where he was reinforced by a considerable body of Saxons, under the command of count Rutowski, natural son to the late king of Poland. By this time his Polish majesty had acceded to the treaty of Nymphenburgh, and declared war against the queen of Hungary, on the most frivolous pretences. The elector of Bavaria advanced to Prague, which was taken in the night by scalade; an achievement in which Maurice count of Saxe, another natural son of the king of Poland, distinguished himself at the head of the French forces. In December the elector of Bavaria made his public entry into his capital, where he was proclaimed king of Bohemia, and inaugurated with the usual solemnities; then he set out for Franckfort, to be present at the diet of election.