* This letter was written in December, and the Russians, as we observed before, began their march in November.
She further recommended to the republic, to take some salutary measures for frustrating the designs of the king of Prussia, and restoring harmony among themselves, as the most conducive measure to these good purposes. In this, however, the Poles were so far from following her advice, that, though sure of being sacrificed in this contest, which side soever prevailed, they divided into parties with no less zeal than if they had as much to hope from the prevalence of one side, as to fear from that of the other. Some of the Palatines were for denying a passage to the Russians, and others were for affording them the utmost assistance in their power. With this cause of contention, others of a more private nature fatally concurred, by means of a misunderstanding between the prince Czartorinski and count Muisnec. Almost every inhabitant of Warsaw was involved in the quarrel; and the violence of these factions was so great that scarce a night passed without bloodshed, many dead bodies, chiefly Saxons, being found in the streets every morning.
In the meantime, Great Britain, unsettled in her ministry and councils at home, unsuccessful in her attempts abroad, judging peace, if it could be obtained on just and honourable terms, more eligible than a continental war, proposed several expedients to the empress-queen for restoring the tranquillity of Germany; but her answer was, “That whenever she perceived that the expedients proposed would indemnify her for the extraordinary expenses she had incurred in her own defence, repair the heavy losses sustained by her ally the king of Poland, and afford a proper security for their future safety, she would be ready to give the same proofs she had always given of her desire to restore peace; but it could not be expected she should listen to expedients of which the king of Prussia was to reap the whole ad vantage, after having begun the war, and wasted the dominions of a prince, who relied for his security upon the faith of treaties, and the appearance of harmony between them.” Upon the receipt of this answer, the court of London made several proposals to the czarina, to interpose as mediatrix between the courts of Vienna and Berlin, but they were rejected with marks of displeasure and resentment. When sir Charles Hanbury Williams, the British ambassador, continued to urge his solicitations very strongly, and even with some hints of menaces, an answer was delivered to him, by order of the empress, purporting, “That her imperial majesty was astonished at his demand, after he had already been made acquainted with the measures she had taken to effect a reconciliation between the courts of Vienna and Berlin. He might easily conceive, as matters were then situated, that the earnestness with which he now urged the same propositions, must necessarily surprise her imperial majesty, as it showed but little regard to her former declaration. The empress, therefore, commanded his excellency to be told, that as her intentions contained in her first answer remained absolutely invariable, no ulterior propositions for a mediation would be listened to; and that as for the menaces made use of by his excellency, and particularly that the king of Prussia himself would soon attack the Russian army, such threats served only to weaken the ambassador’s proposals; to confirm still more, were it possible, the empress in her resolutions; to justify them to the whole world, and to render the king of Prussia more blameable.”
KING OF PRUSSIA ENTERS BOHEMIA.
The season now drawing on in which the troops of the contending powers would be able to take the field, and the alarming progress of the Russians being happily stopped, his Prussian majesty, whose maxim it has always been to keep the seat of war as far as possible from his own dominions, resolved to carry it into Bohemia, and there to attack the Austrians on all sides. To this end he ordered his armies in Saxony, Misnia, Lusatia, and Silesia, to enter Bohemia in four different and op-opposite places, nearly at the same time. The first of these he commanded in person, assisted by mareschal Keith; the second was led by prince Maurice of Anhault-Dessau, the third by prince Ferdinand of Brunswick-Bevern, and the fourth by mareschal Schwerin. In consequence of this plan, mareschal Schwerin’s army entered Bohemia on the eighteenth of April, in five columns, at as many different places. The design was so well concerted, that the Austrians had not the least suspicion of their approach until they were past the frontiers, and then they filled the dangerous defile of Guelder-Oesle with pandours, to dispute that passage; but they were no sooner discovered than two battalions of Prussian grenadiers attacked them with their bayonets fixed, and routed them. The prince of Anhault passed the frontiers from Misnia, and penetrated into Bohemia on the twenty-first of April, without any resistance. The prince of Bevern, on the twentieth of the same month, having marched at the head of a body of the army, which was in Lusatia, from the quarters of cantonment near Zittau, possessed himself immediately of the first post on the frontier of Bohemia, at Krouttau and Grasenstein, without the loss of a single man; drove away the enemy the same day from Kratzen, and proceeded to Machendorf, near Reichenberg. The same morning Putkammer’s hussars, who formed part of a corps, commanded by a colonel and major, routed some hundreds of the enemy’s cuirassiers, posted before Kolin, under the conduct of prince Lichenstein, took three officers and upwards of sixty horse prisoners, and so dispersed the rest, that they were scarcely able to rally near Kratzen. Night coming on obliged the troops to remain in the open air till the next morning, when, at break of day, the Prussians marched in two columns by Habendorf, towards the enemy’s army, amounting to twenty-eight thousand men, commanded by count Konigsegg, and posted near Roichenberg. As soon as the troops were formed, they advanced towards the enemy’s cavalry, drawn up in three lines of about thirty squadrons. The two wings were sustained by the infantry, which was posted among felled trees and intrenchments. The Prussians immediately cannonaded the enemy’s cavalry, who received it with resolution, having on their right hand a village, and on their left a wood whore they had intrenched themselves. But the prince of Bevern having caused fifteen squadrons of dragoons of the second line to advance, and the wood on his right to be attacked at the same time by the battalions of grenadiers of Kahlden and of Moellendorf, and by the regiment of the prince of Prussia, his dragoons, who, by clearing the ground and possessing the intrenchment, had their flanks covered, entirely routed the enemy’s cavalry. In the meantime colonel Putkammer and major Schenfield, with their hussars, though flanked by the enemy’s artillery, gave the Austrian horse grenadiers a very warm reception, whilst general Lestewitz, with the left wing of the Prussians, attacked the redoubts that covered Reichenberg. Though there were many defiles and rising grounds to pass, all occupied by the Austrians, yet the regiment of Darmstadt forced the redoubt, and put to flight and pursued the enemy, after some discharge of their artillery and small arms, from one eminence to another, for the distance of a mile, when they left off the pursuit. The action began at half an hour after six, and continued till eleven. About one thousand of the Austrians were killed and wounded; among the former were general Porporati and count Hohenfelds, and among the latter prince Lichtenstein and count Mansfeld. Twenty of their officers, and four hundred soldiers, were taken prisoners, and they also lost three standards. On the side of the Prussians seven subalterns and about an hundred men were killed, and sixteen officers and an hundred and fifty men wounded. After this battle mareschal Schwerin joined the prince of Bevern, made himself master of the greatest part of the circle of Buntzlau, and took a considerable magazine from the Austrians, whom he dislodged. The prince Anhault-Dessau, with his corps, drew near the king of Prussia’s army; then the latter advanced as far as Budin, from whence the Austrians who had an advantageous camp there, retired to Westwarn, half way between Budin and Prague; and his Prussian majesty having passed the Egra, his army, and that of mareschal Schwerin, were so situated, as to be able to act jointly.
These advantages were but a prelude to a much more decisive victory, which the king himself gained a few days after. Preparing to enter Bohemia, at a distance from any of the corps commanded by his generals, he made a movement as if he had intended to march towards Egra. The enemy, deceived by this feint, and imagining he was going to execute some design, distinct from the object of the other armies, detached a body of twenty thousand men to observe his motions; then he made a sudden and masterly movement to the left, by which he cut off all communication between that detachment and the main army of the Austrians, which, having been reinforced by the army of Moravia, by the remains of the corps lately defeated by the prince of Bevern, and by several regiments of the garrison of Prague, amounted to near a hundred thousand men. They were strongly intrenched on the banks of the Moldaw, to the north of Prague, in a camp so fortified by every advantage of nature, and every contrivance of art, as to be deemed almost impregnable. The left wing of the Austrians, thus situated, was guarded by the mountains of Ziscka, and the right extended as far as Herboholi; prince Charles of Lorraine, and mareschal Brown, who commanded them, seemed determined to maintain this advantageous post; but the king of Prussia overlooked all difficulties. Having thrown several bridges over the Moldaw on the fifth of May, he passed that river in the morning of the sixth, with thirty thousand men, leaving the rest of the army under the command of the prince of Anhault-Dessau; and being immediately joined by the troops under mareschal Schwerin and the prince of Bevern, resolved to attack the enemy on the same day. In consequence of this resolution, his army filed off on the left by Potschernitz; and at the same time count Brown wheeled to the right, to avoid being flanked. The Prussians continued their march to Richwitz, traversing several defiles and morasses, which for a little time separated the infantry from the rest of the army. The foot began the attack too precipitately, and were at first repulsed, but they soon recovered themselves. While the king of Prussia took the enemy in flank, mareschal Schwerin advanced to a marshy ground, which suddenly stopping his army, threatened to disconcert the whole plan of operation. In this emergency, he immediately dismounted, and taking the standard of the regiment in his hand, boldly entered the morass, crying out, “Let all brave Prussians follow me.” Inspired by the example of this great commander, now eighty-two years of age, all the troops pressed forward, and though he was unfortunately killed by the first fire, their ardour abated not till they had totally defeated the enemy. Thus fell mareschal Schwerin, loaded with years and glory, an officer whose superior talents in the military art had been displayed in a long course of faithful service. In the meantime, the Prussian infantry, which had been separated in the march, forming themselves afresh, renewed the attack on the enemy’s right, and entirely broke it, while their cavalry, after three charges, obliged that of the Austrians to retire in great confusion, the centre being at the same time totally routed. The left wing of the Prussians then marched immediately towards Michely, and being there joined by the horse, renewed their attack, while the enemy were retreating hastily towards Saszawar. Meanwhile the troops on the right of the Prussian army attacked the remains of the left wing of the Aus-trians, and made themselves masters of three batteries. But the behaviour of the infantry in the last attack was so successful, as to leave little room for this part of the cavalry to act. Prince Henry of Prussia, and the prince of Bevern, signalized themselves on this occasion in storming two batteries; prince Ferdinand of Brunswick took the left wing of the Austrians in flank, while the king with his left, and a body of cavalry, secured the passage of the Moldaw. In short, after a very long and obstinate engagement, and many signal examples of valour on both sides, the Austrians were forced to abandon the field of battle, leaving behind sixty pieces of cannon, all their tents, baggage, military chest, and, in a word, their whole camp. The weight of the battle fell upon the right wing of the Austrians, the remains of which, to the amount of ten or twelve thousand men, fled towards Beneschau, where they afterwards assembled under M. Pretlach, general of horse. The infantry retired towards Prague, and threw themselves into that city with their commanders, prince Charles of Lorraine, and mareschal Brown; but they were much harassed in their retreat by a detachment of the Prussians under mareschal Keith. The Prussians took, on this occasion, ten standards, and upwards of four thousand prisoners, thirty of whom were officers of rank. Their loss amounted to about two thousand five hundred killed, and about three thousand wounded. Among the former were general d’Amstel, the prince of Holstein-Beck, the colonels Goltze and Manstein, and lieutenant-colonel Boke. Among the latter, the generals Wenterfield, De la Mothe, Feuque, Hautcharmoy, Blankensee and Plettenberg. The number of the killed and wounded on the side of the Austrians was much greater. Among these last was mareschal Brown, who received a wound, which, from the chagrin he suffered, rather than from its own nature, proved mortal. The clay after the battle, colonel Meyer was detached with a battalion of Prussian pandours, and four hundred hussars, to destroy a very considerable and valuable magazine of the Austrians at Pilsen, and this service lie performed. He also completed the destruction of several others of less importance; by the loss of which, however, all possibility of subsistence was cut off from any succours the Austrians might have expected from the empire.
PRAGUE INVESTED.
The Prussians, following their blow, immediately invested Prague on both sides of the river, the king commanding on one side, and mareschal Keith on the other. In four days the whole city was surrounded with lines and intrenchments, by which all communication from without was entirely cut off: prince Charles of Lorraine and mareschal Brown, the two princes of Saxony, the prince of Modena, the duke d’Aremberg, count Lascy, and several other persons of great distinction, were shut up within the walls, together with above twenty thousand of the Austrian army, who had taken refuge in Prague after their defeat. Every thing continued quiet on both sides, scarce a cannon-shot being fired by either for some time after this blockade was formed; and in the meanwhile the Prussians made themselves masters of Cziscaberg, an eminence which commands the town, where the Austrians had a strong redoubt, continuing likewise to strengthen their works. Already they had made a sally, and taken some other ineffectual steps to recover this post; but a more decisive stroke was necessary. Accordingly, a design was formed of attacking the Prussian army in the night with a body of twelve thousand men, to be sustained by all the grenadiers, volunteers, pandours, and Hungarian infantry. In case an impression could be made on the king’s lines, it was intended to open a way, sword in hand, through the camp of the besiegers, and to ease Prague of the multitude of forces locked up useless within the walls, serving only to consume the provisions of the garrison, and hasten the surrender of the place. Happily a deserter gave the prince of Prussia intelligence of the enemy’s design about eleven o’clock at night. Proper measures were immediately taken for their reception, and, in less than a quarter of an hour, the whole army was under arms. This design was conducted with so much silence, that though the Prussians were warned of it, they could, discover nothing before the enemy had charged their advanced posts. Their attack was begun on the side of the little town, against mareschal Keith’s camp, and the left wing of the Prussian army encamped on the Moldaw. From hence it is probable the Austrians proposed not only to destroy the batteries that were raising, but to attack the bridges of communication which the Prussians threw over the Moldaw, at about a quarter of a German mile above and below Prague, at Branig and Podbaba. The greatest alarm began about two o’clock, when the enemy hoped to have come silently and unexpectedly upon the miners, but they had left work about a quarter of an hour before. At the report of the first piece which they fired, the piquet of the third battalion of Prussian guards, to the number of an hundred men, who marched out of the camp to sustain the body which covered the works, was thrown into some confusion, from the darkness of the night, which prevented their distinguishing the Austrian troops from their own. Lieutenant Jork, detached with two platoons to reconnoitre the enemy, attempting to discover their disposition by kindling a fire, captain Rodig, by the light of this fire, perceived the enemy’s situation, immediately formed the design of falling upon them in flank, and gave orders to his men to fire in platoons, which they performed, mutually repeating the signal given by their commander. The enemy fled with the greater precipitation, as they were ignorant of the weakness of the piquet, and as the shouting of the Prussian soldiers made them mistake it for a numerous body. Many of them deserted, many took shelter in Prague, and many more were driven into the river and drowned. At the same time this attack began, a regiment of horse-grenadiers fell upon a redoubt which the Prussians had thrown up, supported by the Hungarian infantry: they returned three times to the assault, and were as often beat back by the Prussians, whom they found it impossible to dislodge; though prince Ferdinand of Brunswick’s battalion, which guarded this post, suffered extremely. During this attack the enemy kept an incessant fire with their musquetry upon the whole front of the Prussians, from the convent of St. Margaret to the river. At three in the morning the Prussians quitted their camp to engage the enemy. The battalion of Pannewitz attacked a building called the Red-house, situated at the bottom of a declivity, before Wellastowitz. The pandours who had taken possession of this house, fired upon them incessantly from all the doors and windows until they were dislodged; and the Prussian battalions were obliged to sustain the fire both of cannon and musquetry for above two hours, when the enemy retired to the city, except the pandours, who again took possession of the Red-house, which the Prussians were forced to abandon, because the artillery of Prague kept a continual fire upon it from the moment it was known to be in their hands. The Austrians left behind them many dead and wounded, besides deserters; and the Prussians, notwithstanding the loss of several officers and private men, made some prisoners. Prince Ferdinand, the king of Prussia’s youngest brother, had a horse killed under Mm, and was slightly wounded in the face.