Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

followed him on the next day, in hopes of overtaking, and routing him; but the general was a whole night's march beforehand with his pursuers; having, immediately after his encounter with Zieten, directed his march towards the prince of Lorrain's army, which the battle of Collin had delivered, and which was engaged in pursuing of that of the king. The pursuit of general de Beck enabled the Prussians to drive the enemy from the banks of the Queiss and the Neiss, and to re-esta blish a direct communication with Selisia.

About this time, the king being pressed on all sides, and obliged to encounter several enemies at once, marched into Franconia to attack the French and imperialists who were now threatening Magdebourg, Torgaw, and Dresden. On the 25th of August, he broke up his camp at Bornstädel; and dividing his army into two parts, put himself at the head of one of them, and left the other under the command of the duke of Bevern. The division of the latter consisted of forty-seven battalions and one hundred and ten squadrons;

form

forming together a body of about thirty thouWith these, the duke had an ar

sand men.

my to cope with more than ninety thousand strong, under the command of the prince of Lorrain, with whom marshal Daun had just made a junction,

Hitherto the hussars of Zieten had ever had the honour to accompany the king on his marches, and to form a part of the corps or columns his majesty led in person. They were now, for the first time, deprived of the exercise of a duty which the very name of hussar-lifeguards seems to imply an exclusive title to. Of this innovation M. de Winterfeld was the cause: he had prevailed on the king to allow him to join Zieten and his regiment to the corps he commanded, and which was destined to act in concert with the duke of Bevern, while the king himself was marching into Franconia.

The duke had formed his camp at Görlitz, for the purpose of being at the same time near Silesia and the magazines of Dresden, from

II.

4

which

which latter place he drew his provisions. General de Winterfeld, with fifteen battalions, encamped at Mois, in the face of Nadasty's corps. This position secured such passages to Silesia as lay between the Neiss and the Queiss. His left wing was covered by the village of Holzberg and a hill which bore the same name. The general occupied this eminence with two battalions who entrenched themselves thereon; but having neglected to take the like precaution with regard to another hill, called the Galgenberg; Nadasty, who was desirous of gaining the Holzberg, soon availed himself of the error. Reinforced by the corps of Ahremberg, he began his march on the 7th of September in the midst of a thick fog; and giving a false alarm to Zieten's advanced posts, he turned the Holzberg, occupied the Galgenberg', and erected a battery upon the latter, from whence he began to play upon the former eminence, and to annoy the regiment of Zieten. At eleven o'clock, forty companies of grenadiers attacked the two Prussian battalions, who, after having defended themselves with singular bravery, and repeatedly

tedly driven back the enemy, were obliged to yield to numbers, and make their retreat. The unevenness of the ground, and the swarms of Austrians that covered the country, prevented the hussars from retrieving the day; and all they were able to do, was to impede any pursuit. Major de Möhring, at the head of a few squadrons, threw himself between the dislodged battalions and the Austrians, and repulsed the latter with vigour.

During the engagement, M. de Winterfeld was at the head-quaters at Görlitz. The moment he was apprized of the danger his troops were in, he hastened to the camp, and putting himself at the head of a few battalions, he marched to the Holzberg with a view of recovering it, or at least of avoiding the dishonour of giving it up without making any resistance. He therefore determined to attack the Austrians notwithstanding the superiority of their numbers and the advantageousness of their position.

Zieten strenuously endeavoured to persuade him from it. He not only was aware of the

dan

danger and impracticableness of the enterprise, but he was also sensible of the folly and absurdity of it. He conjured his general not to

sacrifice a crowd of brave warriors to a false point of honour. His remonstrances were vain: Winterfeld still persisted in the resolution he had taken, and Zieten's prediction was unhappily accomplished. The Holzberg, though strewed with thousands of victims, was not retaken, and Winterfeld himself received a mortal wound in the action, of which he died the next day. A great number of officers, among whom were several of the first rank, were either killed or wounded. The number of dead, with which the field of battle was covered, was so great that it was necessary to conclude a truce of forty-eight hours for the purpose of interring them.

Zieten felt deeply for the misfortunes of the day, and for the indiscretion of the man who had occasioned them. He refrained, however, from having recourse to useless reproaches: he refrained even from seeing him, lest his presence should give him pain; and he

« ForrigeFortsett »