BATTLES OF ROSSBACH AND LEUTHEN.

A. D.

263 The two armies met at Rossbach. The number of the French Ch.22 was double that of the Prussians; but the Prussians were better disciplined, and were commanded by an abler general. 1757. The French felt secure of victory; but they were defeated: seven thousand men were taken prisoners, together with their Battle guns, ammunition, parrots, hair powder, and pomatum. The bach. victory of Rossbach won for Frederic a great name, and diffused universal joy among the English and Prussians.

After a brief rest, he turned his face towards Silesia, which had again fallen into the hands of the Austrians. It was for the sake of gaining this province that he had provoked the hostilities of Europe; and pride, as well as interest, induced him to bend all his energies to regain it. Prince Charles of Lorraine commanded the forces of Maria Theresa,

of Ross

num

which numbered eighty thousand men. Frederic could only Dispaarray against him an army of thirty thousand. And yet, in rity of spite of the disparity of forces, and his desperate condition, he bers. resolved to attack the enemy. His generals remonstrated; but the only answer they obtained was full permission to retire, if they pleased. None were found to shun the danger. Frederic knew how to excite the enthusiasm of his troops; he both encouraged and threatened them. He declared that any cavalry regiment which did not, on being ordered, burst impetuously on the foe, should, after the battle, be dismounted, and converted into a garrison regiment. But he had no reason to complain.

then.

On the 5th of December, 1757, the day of the ever-memor- Battle of Leuable battle of Leuthen, he selected an officer with fifty men as his body-guard. "I shall," said he, "expose myself much today; you are not to leave me for an instant; if I fall, cover me quickly with a mantle, place me in a waggon, and tell the fact to no one. The battle cannot be avoided, and must be won." He obtained a glorious victory. According to Napoleon, the battle was a masterpiece on the part of the victor, and placed him in the first rank of generals. Twenty thousand Austrians were either killed or taken. Breslau opened

264

FALL OF DRESDEN.

A. D.

Ch. 22 its gates to the Prussians, and Silesia was reconquered. The King's fame filled the world. Pictures of him were hung 1758. in almost every house. The enthusiasm of Germany was not surpassed by that of England. London was illuminated; and an annual subsidy of seven hundred thousand pounds was granted by the Government. It was now evident that the Germans were really a match for the French, who had hitherto been deemed invincible.

Battle of Zorn

dorff.

Success

eric.

Early in the spring of 1758, Frederic was ready for a new campaign, which was soon signalized by a great victory over the Russians, at Zorndorff. It was as brilliant and decisive as the battles of Rossbach and Leuthen. A force of thirty-two thousand men defeated an army of fifty-two thousand. Twenty-two thousand Russians lay dead on the field. This victory placed Frederic at the zenith of military fame. In less than a year, he had defeated three great armies. In less than a year, and when nearly driven to despair, when his cause seemed hopeless, and his enemies were rejoicing in their strength, he successively triumphed over the French, the Austrians, and the Russians, the three most powerful nations on the continent of Europe. And his moderation after victory was as marked as his self-reliance after defeat. At this period, he stood out, to the wondering and admiring eyes of the world, as the greatest general of modern times.

The remainder of the campaign of 1758 was spent in driving of Fred- the Austrians from Silesia, and in capturing Dresden. No capital in Europe has suffered more from war than this polished city. It has often been besieged and taken, but the victors have always spared its famous picture gallery, the finest collection of the works of the old masters, probably, in existence.

Frederic was now assailed by a new enemy, Pope Benedict XIV., who sent a consecrated sword, a hat of crimson velvet, and a dove of pearls," the mystic symbol of the Divine Comforter,"-to Marshal Daun, the ablest of the Austrian generals, and the conqueror at Kolin and Hockirchen. It was the rarest of the Papal gifts, and had been only bestowed, in

REVERSES OF FREDERIC.

265

the course of six centuries, on Godfrey of Bouillon, by Urban Ch. 22 II., when he took Jerusalem; on Alva, after his massacres in A. D. Holland; and on Sobieski, after his deliverance of Vienna, 1760. when besieged by the Turks. It had never been conferred, except for the defence of the "Holy Catholic Church." But this greatest of papal gifts made no impression on an age which read Montesquieu and Voltaire. A flood of satirical pamphlets inundated Christendom, and the world laughed at the impotent weapons which had once been thunderbolts in the hands of Hildebrand or Innocent III.

verses

of Fred

The fourth year of the war proved disastrous to Frederic. ReHe did not lose military reputation, but he lost his cities and armies. The Austrians invaded Saxony, and menaced Silesia, eric. while the Russians gained a victory over the Prussians at Kunersdorf, and killed eighteen thousand men. This great victory nearly drove Frederic to despair. He rallied, but was again defeated in three disastrous battles. In his distress, he fed his troops on potatoes and rye bread, took from the peasant his last horse, debased his coin, and left his civil functionaries unpaid.

The campaign of 1760 was, at first, unfavorable to the Prussians. Frederic had only ninety thousand men, and his enemies had two hundred thousand, in the field. He was therefore obliged to maintain the defensive. But still disasters thickened. General Loudon obtained a great victory over his general, Fouqué, in Silesia. Instead, however, of being discouraged by this new defeat, he formed the extraordinary resolution of again wresting Dresden from the hands of the Austrians. He pretended, therefore, to retreat from Saxony, and His to advance towards Silesia. General Daun was deceived, and critical decoyed from Saxony in pursuit of him. As soon as Frederic tion. had retired a considerable distance from Dresden, he returned, and bombarded it. But he did not succeed in taking it, and was forced to retreat to Silesia. It was there his good fortune to gain a victory over the Austrians, and so to prevent their junction with the Russians. At Torgau, he again defeated an

situa

266

A. D.

CONTINUED DISASTERS.

Ch. 22 army of sixty-four thousand of the enemy, with a force of only forty-four thousand. This closed the campaign, and the 1760 position of the parties was nearly the same as at the commencement of it. The heart of Frederic was now full of bitterness; 1762. he saw that his enemies were resolved to crush him. He should have remembered that he had provoked their impla cable resentment, by the commission of a great crime.

to

Impen

ding

ruin.

His resources were now nearly exhausted, and he began to look around, in vain, for a new supply of men, horses, and provisions. The circle which his enemies had drawn around him was obviously becoming smaller. In a little while, to all appearance, he would be overwhelmed by superior forces.

Under these circumstances, the campaign in 1761 was opened; but no event of importance occurred until nearly the close of the year. On the whole it was disastrous to Prussia. Half of Silesia was taken by the Austrians, and the Russian generals were successful in Pomerania. A still greater misfortune happened to Frederic in consequence of the resignation of Pitt, who had always been his firmest ally, and had granted him large subsidies, when he was most in need of them. On the retirement of the English minister, these subsidies were Defec- withdrawn. This defection filled the mind of the King with implacable hatred, and he could not bear to hear the name of England mentioned.

tion of

England.

A great and unexpected change now came over his fortunes. On the 5th of January, 1762, Elizabeth, Empress of Russia, died; and her successor, Peter III., who was an admirer of Frederic, and even a personal friend, returned the Prussian prisoners, withdrew his troops from the Prussian territories, dressed himself in a Prussian uniform, and wore the black eagle of Prussia on his breast. He even sent fifteen thousand troops to reinforce the army of the Prussian King.

England and France had long been wearied of this war, and formed a separate treaty for themselves. Prussia and Austria were therefore left to combat each other. If Austria, assisted by France and Russia, could not regain Silesia and ruin Prus

EXHAUSTION OF PRUSSIA BY THE WAR.

Hu

267

sia, it certainly was not strong enough to conquer Frederic Ch. 22 single-handed. The proud Maria Theresa was therefore com- A. D. pelled to make peace with the man who had seized one of the 1763. finest provinces of the Austrian Empire. In February, 1763, the treaty of Hubertsburg was signed, by which Frederic retained Peace of his spoil. In comparison with the other belligerent parties, he bertswas the gainer. But no acquisition of territory could com- burg. pensate for those seven years of toil, expense, and death. He entered his capital in triumph; but he beheld everywhere the melancholy marks of devastation and suffering. The fields were untilled, the houses had been sacked, the population had declined, and famine and disease had spread a funereal shade over the dwellings of the poor. He had escaped death, but one-sixth of the whole male population of Prussia had been killed, and untold millions of property had been destroyed. In some districts, no laborers but women were seen in the fields. Fifteen thousand houses had been burnt in his own capital.

king

It is very remarkable that no national debt was incurred by Distress the King of Prussia, in spite of all his necessities. In the of the worst of times he always had a year's revenue in advance; dom. and, at the close of the war, to show the world that he was not then impoverished, he built a splendid palace at Potsdam, which nearly equalled the magnificence of Versailles.

But he did all in his power to alleviate the distress which his wars had caused. Silesia received three millions of thalers, and Pomerania two millions. Fourteen thousand houses were rebuilt; treasury notes, which had depreciated, were redeemed; officers who had distinguished themselves were rewarded; and the widows and children of those who had fallen were pensioned.

war.

The possession of Silesia did not, indeed, compensate for the Effects Seven Years' War; but the struggles which the brave Prus- of the sians made for their national independence, when assailed on all sides by powerful enemies, were not made in vain. Had they not been made, Prussia would have fallen in the scale of nations, and her people would have lost self-respect.