Early in December, feveral perfons who had enjoyed protection at Drefden under the late Queen of Poland, namely, the Count de Loos, M. de Globig, the Countess of Samour, and Father Herman her Majesty's confeffor, were by expreís orders from the King of Pruffia taken into cuftody. It is faid, that the formidable league, dreading his Ma jefty's fuperior virtues, had employed them to take away his life by poison.

Our last left the King of Pruffia marching diligently for Silefia, with a part of his troops which had beat the combined army at Rofbach. He hoped to have relieved Schweidnitz; but our former accounts fhewed he could not but be greatly too late for that. Nay, it was not in his power to be prefent at an important action which happened ten days after its furrender. Gen. Nadafti having made himself master of Schweidnitz, left in it a fufficient garrifon, and marched on the 16th of November, with the reft of the troops under his command, to join the grand Auftrian army near Breslau, and affift in its future operations. A battle foon enfued; of which the two following accounts were published in the London gazette.

Extract of a letter from the Imperial army near Breslau, Nov. 25.

Notwithstanding the different motions of our army for feveral days, the Prince of Bevern did not ftir. On the 20th he had already fent the baggage of his army into Breflau; at last, on the 22d, we attempted to diflodge him by force.

The cannonade, which was one of the most violent that ever was heard, (we having made use of forty twenty-four pounders, befides other pieces of a fmailer bore), began at half an hour paft nine o'clock in the morning, and continued till one; when the fire of the fmall arms began, which was the sharpeft I ever faw. At last we carried our point, by clearing the redoubts, defiles, moraffes, and whatever other oppofition art and nature had thought fit to oppose to us. The refiftance of the enemy was moft obftinate; but at laft they found themselves obliged to yield to numbers,

and to abandon the village of Pilzenitz. Our right did not meet with so much refiftance as the left, where the fire began; for the enemy, at the very beginning, drew the greateft part of their troops towards the right, and there concentered their force. The fire of the small arms lafted till five o'clock in the evening, when the enemy began to retire towards Breflau. One part of the army threw themselves into the city, and the reft pofted themselves under the cannon. Night prevented any further progrefs.

Our

We have loft a great number of men. The enemy rallied three different times, and the defiles prevented our extending ourselves, and caused now and then fome diforder; of which the Pruffians availed themselves. Hitherto I have only feen 22 pieces of cannon, 3 mortars, and 4 colours that we have taken, but it is faid there are more. 1600 prisoners, including deferters, are brought to the head quarters. I do not mention the wounded, because I do not know the number of them; but I believe that, in this article, we have more than they. lofs is by no means inconfiderable. Gen. Wurben is killed; Lt-Gen. Clerici, and Maj. Gen O'Kelli, Mayern, Gemmingen, and Reichel, are wounded; M. Keihl, mafter-general of the ordnance, has had his arm fhattered. The Pruffian deferters fay, that Prince Francis of Brunswick, the Prince of Wurtemberg, and Gen. Schultz, are wounded. The body of the Pruffian general Kleift was found on the field of battle. The next day the enemy paffed the Oder, and are marching towards Glogau, after having left a garrifon at Breflau. On the 24th Te Deum was fung. The fame day the Prince of Bevern, commander in chief of the Pruffian army, having been to reconnoitre us, had the misfortune to fall into the hands of a body of Croats, who were in Gen. Beck's advanced pofts. He is made prifoner of war, and carried to Stablowitz, where M. Daun's quarters formerly were, and is guarded by a lieutenant and 30 men. He is treated with every mark of diftinction that his birth, character, and eminent qualities,

deferve.

deserve. You may eafily imagine, we are not forry for this accident; for he cuts us out a great deal of work. Last night the city of Breflau defired to capitulate. 'The garrifon, which is faid to be 3000 men strong, under the orders of Gen. Lefwitz, governor of Breflau, is to march out this day with all military honours. It is not to serve against the Emprefs or her allies for two years. All the maga zines, chefts, artillery, &c. remain in our hands. This is all I know at prefent of the capitulation of Breflau.

Extract of a letter from Vienna, Nov. 26.

Several couriers, difpatched by Prince Charles, have brought the news of his R. Highness's having attacked the Prince of Bevern on the 22d inftant; and forced his intrenchments. This news at firft occafioned great joy at court, but was much allayed by the particulars of the action, the moft bloody that hiftory. can furnish an instance of. People whifper each other, that, with fuch another victory, there would be an end of the Auftrian army. It has coft the lives of 20,000 Auftrians. The court endea

vours, in vain, to palliate this lots: for it is easy to be feen, that they repent having given orders to attack the Pruffians; who have made fuch a refiftance as was not expected, notwithstanding the many proofs they have already gi ven of their spirit and bravery. In short, feveral generals of the army have wrote, that the number of the flain was equal to the whole Pruffian army before the battle. This will not be difficult to be believed, when it is known, that the heat of the action lafted from about eleven o'clock, to fix in the evening: and that four inacceffible intrenchments were to be forced, planted thick with cannon, which fired cartridge-fhot from near nine in the morning, till the evening. The Pruffians were never put into con fufion, and retreated in good order. Their lofs is not computed at above 3 or 4000 men, in killed, wounded, and prifoners. These are the only particu lars as yet come to hand of this bloody battle, which does as much honour to the Pruffians as to the Auftrians. Some VOL. XIX.

letters even affure, that the Prince of Be vern only retreated to fpare his men.

"Bre

The following account, among others, was alfo published at Bruffels. flau, Nov. 27. In our account of the lait battle, we fet down the lofs of the` Pruffians at no more than 9000 men ; because we chofe to make it rather lefs than more, as we could not then have an exact knowledge of things. The Pruffian officers themfelves confefs, that the battle of the 22d coft them 10,000 men; and their teftimony, which is not fufpicious, is further confirmed, confi dering that there has been fo great a de fertion among the enemy, that we reckon already 50 odeferters who are come over to our army."

fo

If the Prince of Bevern's army was ftrong before the battle, that it could lofe 15,000, killed, wounded, and deferters, and yet have as many fighting men as afterwards appeared, and the Auftrians will now gladly acknowledge, it must then have been more numerous than the generality of people imagined.

Scarcely any thing in relation to that battle has hitherto appeared in the public papers on the Pruffian fide, but what has been intermixed with relations of other events.- We had the followLondon gazette of Dec. 20. ing articles, of Dec. 2. and 1o. in the

Extract of a letter from a Pruffian officer in Silefia, dated Dec. 2.

You already know, that the Auftrians, having penetrated into Silefi with fuperior forces to thofe of the Prince of Bevern, that prince, who was obliged to weaken his army by the detachments with which he augmented the neighbouring garrifons, had no other courfe to take, than to poft himself in an advantageous camp before Breslau, and there wait for the enemy. But instead of attacking him, they undertook the fiege of Schweidnitz with a part of the army, and the troops of Bavaria and Wurtemberg. The fiege was pushed from the 27th of October, when it be gan, with fo much the more vigour, as the Auftrians carried it on by oreign troops, the prelervation of whom they 5 A

were

were not very anxious about, for which reafon it has coft them about 8000 men. On the 11th of November, they made a general affault; but the garrifon made fo vigorous a refiftance, that the Auftrians loft a great number of men in it, and only carried two redoubts, without making any confiderable breach in the ramparts of the town. The generals who commanded at Schweidnitz judged it proper, however, to capitulate the next day, and to give themfelves up prifoners of war, with the garrison, which confifted of about 4000 men. It must be acknowledged that the Auftrians found in this place a great quantity of provisions, ammunition, and money.

The garrifon, who had feen the capitulation with the greateft difcontent, and who had more than once offered to force their way through the befiegers, learned by chance, while they were conducting them into Bohemia, the great victory which the King had obtained near Rofbach; which news animated them fo far, that the greatest part forced the efcort, which was but weak, and escaped, and rejoined his Majefty's troops; fo that the Auftrians have scarce kept 200 men of the prisoners they made at Schweidnitz.

When that place was taken, the corps which had befieged it, rejoined the main army near Liffa, and the enemy refolved to attack the Prince of Bevern without delay, and before the King (who they knew was marching, and had paffed Lufatia, in fpite of the corps under the Generals Marshal and Had dick) could come to his affiftance. It was on the 22d, at nine o'clock in the morning, that the Auftrians attacked the Prince of Bevern, with a force three times fuperior to his; a fuperiority of which they themselves boasted in their journals, and in all the gazettes which copied them. Gen. Nadafti had even placed himself with a separate body on the flank of our right wing. The attack was not advantageous to the Auftrians. Their right wing was entirely beat, and forced to retire towards Newmarck. Lt-Gen. Zeithen, who commanded our left wing, beat alfo the

corps under Nadafti; and the enemy, who gave the battle up for loft, thought only of a retreat. But fome regiments in our right having fuffered greatly, the Duke of Bevern judged it fit to return to his camp, and to pass the Oder at Breflau the following night. The Austrians not feeing any thing to oppofe them but that city, returned to the field of battle, which we had quitted to their great furprife. Our lofs is fmall; that of the enemy, on the contrary, according to the beft accounts, and by the intercepted letters of their own officers, amount in the whole to 20,000 men.

On the 23d we remained behind Breflau.

On the 24th, at four in the morning, the Duke of Bevern going to reconnoitre without efcort, and accompanied only by a groom, was taken by an advanced party of Croats, a small body of which had paffed the Oder under the command of Gen. Beck.

After we had in vain expected the return of the Prince on the 24th, Lt-Gen. Kian took the command, by virtue of his feniority. Lt-Gen. Leftwitz, whom the King had ordered to take, the command at Breslau, not being able to maintain himself in a place fo extenfive, and fo ill fortified, capitulated, on condition that the garrifon and wounded fhould have free leave to march out, but that they should not act against the Emprefs-Queen during the course of this war.

The King, who could not have any news of all these events, as the enemy were between him and the army in Silefia, arrived in this interval on the 24th at Naumburg on the Quiefs, and the 29th at Parchwitz.

Our corps, commanded at present by Lt-Gen. Zeithen, has repaffed the Oder, and happily joined the army of the King at Parchwitz, on the 1ft of this month; and by this junction his Majesty has again affembled a moft refpectable army.

We are but two marches from the enemy, who at prefent occupy the advantageous camp we had before Breflau. Thefe misfortunes, confiderable

tage; but, the next day, it was known, that Bevern's army had been forced in its intrenchments, and had retired to the other fide of the Oder; and, foon after, that the town of Breslau had furrender ed: We made forced marches, and, on the 28th, got to Parchwitz near the Oder; where our vanguard surprised a detachment of 1100 Auftrians, 50 of which were killed, and 150 made prifoners. The Prince of Bevern's army had croffed the Oder at Glogau, and joined us the 2d of December. On the 3d the troops refted, having been greatly fatigued with the toiliome marches they had made. On the 4th we marched to Neumarck, where we made 60 prifoners, most of them pandours or huffars. We heard that Pr. Charles had left Breflau with his army, that he had advanced beyond Liffa, that his right wing was covered by the village of Neipern, and his left by that of Golau, with the rivulet of Schweidnitz in his rear. The army marched on the 5th very early in the morning Our vanguard met the enemy's near the village of Born, confifting of two regiments of huffars, and the Saxon dragoons; attacked them, drove them back to their own camp, and took fix officers and about 500 men pritoners As foon as our army had got to the high grounds, it was refolved to attack the left of the enemy. We extended ourselves to the right as far as the rivulet of Schweidnitz. The attack began in a wood, where the enemy had pofted fome infantry, and which however we foon forced The enemy, who found them. felves turned, were obliged to change their pofition. They had loft the poft that covered them; which put them under the necefficy of taking precipitately the firft pofts that came in their way, in order to prevent our raking their whole army from one wing to the other. They pofted fome brigades of foot on an eminence that lay behind the wood; which was attacked by our right, and carried after an obftinate refiftance. The enemy formed a new line near the village of Leuten, where they defended themfelves with great bravery, but where we

forced them. Then the cavalry of our right charged that of the enemy, and beat them; but were checked by the enemy's cannon firing upon them with cartridge-fhot. Our cavalry, however, recovered themselves prefently, fell upon the enemy's infantry, and made a great number of prifoners. During all thefe different attacks, the right of the Auftrian cavalry and infantry came up. Our left of cavalry charged that of the enemy, and broke them; after which the regiment of Bareu took the Austrian infantry, which was pofted on an emipence, in the rear, at the same time that the left of our infantry attacked them in front. The whole of this corps of the enemy was entirely broke, and the King purfued them as far as Liffa. The action began at one o'clock in the afternoon, and ended at four. If daylight had lafted another hour, their defeat would still have been greater.

On the 6th we pursued the Imperia lifts as far as Breslau.

The 7th we invefted the town, and all the neceffary difpofitions have been made to befiege it. The fame day Gen. Zeithen was detached with a large bo dy of cavalry and infantry in pursuit of the enemy. He foon after took above 3000 waggons of their baggage and provifions, fome cannon, and a prodigious number of prifoners. He is still at their heels. The Auftrians are marching towards Grofburg, without its being yet poffible to know whether they are taking the road to Schweidnitz or to Moravia. We have taken in this battle 291 officers, amongst whom are the Lieutenant-Generals Odonel and Noftitz, the Colonel Count Brown, and others, of which a lift will be given as foon as time permits *.

The number of prisoners taken in the battle, and in the purfuit, amounts to 21,500 men. We have befides taken 116 pieces of cannon, 51 colours and ftandards, and 4000 wag