by G. A. Henty
Chapter 8: Prague.
The next morning Fergus rode over to see Count Eulenfurst, foundhim quite restored to health, and was received by him, thecountess, and Thirza with great pleasure.
Fergus was received by the count, the countessand Thirza with great pleasure]
"My return in safety is in no small degree due to you, count. Hadit not been for the letter to Count Platurn, with which thecountess furnished me, I doubt whether I should have been able toget through; or at any rate, if I had done so it could only havebeen with many hardships and dangers, and certainly great delay."
"I have no doubt that the help you received from the count was ofconsiderable assistance to you, and lessened your difficultiesmuch, Captain Drummond; but I am sure you would have managed,without it. Had you formed any plans as to what you would havedone, had you found him absent?"
"I had thought of several things, count, but I had settled onnothing. I should have remained but a day in Vienna, and shouldhave exchanged the suit I had got from the innkeeper for someother. My idea was that I had best join one of the convoys ofprovisions going up to Bohemia. I calculated that I should have nodifficulty in obtaining a place as a driver, for of course theservice is not popular, and any of the men would have been gladenough for me to take his place. I might thus have got forward asfar as Prague. After that I must have taken my chance, and I thinkI could, in the same sort of way, have got as far as Leitmeritz;but there I might have been detained for a very long time, untilthere was an opportunity of crossing the defiles. It would havebeen difficult, indeed, for me to have earned my living there; andwhat was left of the money I had, after paying for the landlord'ssuit, would scarce have lasted, with the closest pinching, tillspring."
"You would have managed it somehow, I am sure," Thirza saidconfidently. "After getting out of that strong fortress, it wouldbe nothing to get out of Bohemia into Saxony."
"We have not congratulated you yet," the countess said, "upon yourlast promotion. Lieutenant Lindsay came over to tell us about it,and how you had gained it. Of course we were greatly pleased,although grieved to hear that you had been made prisoner. Wewondered whether, at the time you were captured, you had any of theletters I had written with you, and whether they would come inuseful.
"It did not even occur to me that you would have called upon CountPlaturn, my cousin. I thought that you might be detained at Prague,but Vienna is the last place where we should have pictured you. Hadwe known that you had been sent to Spielberg, I think we shouldhave given up all hope of seeing you again, until you wereexchanged; for I have heard that it is one of the strongest of theAustrian fortresses.
"I do hope, Captain Drummond, we shall see a great deal of you thiswinter. There will not be many gaieties, though no doubt there willbe some state balls; but there will be many little gatherings, asusual, among ourselves, and we shall count upon you to attend themalways, unless you are detained on service. We learn that it isprobable your king will pass the whole of the winter here."
"We will send your horse down to you today," the count said. "Youwill find him in good condition. He has been regularly exercised."
"Thank you very much, count. I wrote to you before I started, but Ihave had no opportunity of thanking you, personally, for thosesplendid animals. Sorry as I was to lose the horse I rode atLobositz, I congratulated myself that I was not riding one ofyours."
"I should have had no difficulty in replacing him, CaptainDrummond," the count said with a smile. "The least we can do is tokeep you in horse flesh while the war lasts; which I hope will notbe very long, for surely your king can never hope to make headagainst the forces that will assail him in the spring, but will beglad to make peace on any terms."
"No doubt he would be glad to, count; but as his enemies propose todivide his dominions among them, it is not very clear what terms hecould make. But though I grant that, on paper, the odds against himis enormous, I think that you will see there will be some hardfighting yet, before Prussia is partitioned."
"Perhaps so," the count replied; "but surely the end must be thesame. You know I have been a strong opponent of the course taken bythe court here. Saxony and Prussia, as Protestant countries, shouldbe natural allies; and I consider it is infamous that the court, orrather Bruhl, who is all powerful, should have joined in acoalition against Frederick, who had given us no cause ofcomplaint, whatever. My sympathies, then, are wholly with him; butI can see no hope, whatever, of his successfully resisting thistremendous combination."
"Various things might happen, count. The Empresses of Russia orAustria or the Pompadour might die, or the allies might quarrelbetween themselves. England may find some capable statesman, whowill once again get an army together and, joined perhaps by theNetherlands, give France so much to do that she will not be able togive much help to her allies."
"Yes, all these things might happen; but Frederick's first campaignhas been, to a great extent, a failure. It is true that he hasestablished Saxony as his base, but the Saxon troops will be of noadvantage to him. He would have acted much more wisely had he, ontheir surrender, allowed them to disband and go to their homes..Many then might have enlisted voluntarily. The country would nothave had a legitimate grievance, and the common religious tie wouldsoon have turned the scale in favour of Prussia; who, as all see,has been driven to this invasion by our court's intrigues withAustria. Had he done this he could have marched straight to Prague,have overrun all Bohemia, established his headquarters there, andmenaced Vienna itself in the spring."
"Looking at it coolly, that might have been the best way, count;but a man who finds that three or four of his neighbours haveentered into a plot to attack his house, and seize all his goods,may be pardoned if he does not at first go the very wisest way towork."
The count laughed.
"I hope that the next campaign will turn out differently; but I ownthat I can scarce see a possibility of Prussia, alone, making headagainst the dangers that surround her."
The winter passed quietly. There were fetes, state balls, and manyprivate entertainments; for while all Europe was indignant, orpretended to be so, at the occupation of Saxony, the people of thatcountry were by no means so angry on their own account. They wereno more heavily taxed by Frederick than they were by their owncourt and, now that the published treaty between the Confederateshad made it evident that the country, without its own consent, hadbeen deeply engaged in a conspiracy hostile to Prussia, none coulddeny that Frederick was amply justified in the step he had taken.
At these parties, only Prussian officers who were personal friendsof the host were invited; but Fergus, who had been introduced byCount Eulenfurst to all his acquaintances, was always asked, andwas requested to bring with him a few of his personal friends.Lindsay, therefore, was generally his companion, and was, indeed,in a short time invited for his own sake; for the Scottish officerswere regarded in a different light to the Prussians, and theirpleasant manners and frank gaiety made them general favourites.
Their duties as aides-de-camp were now light, indeed; although bothwere, two or three times, sent with despatches to Berlin; and evento more distant parts of Prussia, where preparations for the comingcampaign were being made on a great scale.
The whole Prussian population were united. It was a war not forconquest but for existence, and all classes responded cheerfully tothe royal demands. These were confined to orders for drafts of men,for no new tax of any kind was laid on the people; the expenses ofthe war being met entirely from the treasure that had, since thetermination of the Silesian war, been steadily accumulating, afixed sum being laid by every year to meet any emergency that mightarise.
Towards spring both parties were ready to take the field. Theallies had 430,000 men ready for service. Frederick had 150,000well-trained soldiers, while 40,000 newly-raised troops were postedin fortresses, at points most open to invasion. The odds wereindeed sufficient to appall even the steadfast heart of Frederickof Prussia; but no one would have judged, from the calm andtranquil manner in
which the king made his arrangements to meet thestorm, that he had any doubt as to the issue.
Man for man, the Prussian soldier of the time was the finest in theworld. He was splendidly drilled, absolutely obedient to orders,and filled with implicit confidence in his king and his comrades.He had been taught to march with extraordinary rapidity, and at thesame time to manoeuvre with the regularity and perfection of amachine; and could be trusted, in all emergencies, to do everythingthat man was capable of.
The French army, 110,000 strong, was the first to move. Another30,000 men were preparing to march, to join the army that had beengot up by that mixed body, the German Federation. The main forcewas to move through Hanover.
To oppose them was a mixed army, maintained by British money,comprising Hanoverians, Brunswickers, and Hessians, some 50,000strong, commanded by the Duke of Cumberland. With these were some5000 Prussians; who had, by Frederick's orders, evacuated thefrontier fortresses and joined what was called the British army ofobservation. Frederick prepared, for the present, to deal with theAustrians; intending, if successful against them, to send off25,000 men to strengthen Cumberland's army. The proposed Swedishinvasion was altogether disregarded; but thirty thousand men,principally militia, were posted to check the Russian invasion.
So quiet had been the preparations, that none of their enemiesdreamt that the Prussians would assume the offensive, butconsidered that they would confine their efforts to defending thedefiles into Saxony and Silesia. But this was not Frederick's idea.As spring approached, he had been busy redistributing his troopsfrom their winter cantonment, and preparing three armies for theinvasion of Bohemia. April had been a busy month for the staff, andthe aides-de-camp had passed their days, and even their nights, onhorseback.
At last all was in readiness for the delivery of the stroke, and onthe 20th the king started from Lockwitch, facing the old Saxon campat Pirna; the Duke of Bevern from Lousitz; and Marshal Schwerinfrom Schlesien; and without the slightest warning, the three greatcolumns poured down into Bohemia.
The movement took the Austrians absolutely by surprise. Notdreaming of such a step on Frederick's part, they had prepared,near the frontier, vast magazines for the supply of their advancingarmy. These had to be abandoned in the greatest haste, and asufficient amount of food to supply the entire army, for threemonths, fell into the hands of the Prussians. Marshal Browne andGeneral Konigseck, who commanded the Austrian armies in Bohemia,fell back to Prague with the greatest speed that they could make.
The light irregular corps, that Frederick had raised during thewinter and placed under experienced and energetic officers,pervaded the whole country, capturing magazines and towns, puttingsome to ransom, dispersing small bodies of the enemy, and spreadingterror far and wide. Browne succeeded in reaching Prague before theking could come up to him. Bevern, however, overtook Konigseck, andgreatly hastened his retreat; killing a thousand men and takingfive hundred prisoners, after which Konigseck reached Praguewithout further molestation, the Duke of Bevern joining Schwerin'scolumn.
The Austrians retired through Prague and encamped on high ground onthe south side of the city, Prince Karl being now in command of thewhole. Had this prince been possessed of military talents, orlistened to Marshal Browne's advice, instead of taking up adefensive position he would have marched with his whole armyagainst the king, whose force he would very greatly haveoutnumbered; but instead of doing so, he remained inactive.
On the 2nd of May, twelve days after moving from Saxony, Frederickarrived within sight of Prague. So closely had he followed theretreating Austrians that he occupied, that evening, a monastery atwhich Prince Karl and Marshal Browne had slept the night before.Thirty thousand men, who were under the command of Marshal Keith,were left to watch Prague and its garrison; while Frederick, onTuesday, searched for a spot where he could cross the river andeffect a junction with Schwerin. He knew his position, and hadarranged that three cannon shots were to be the signal that theriver had been crossed.
A pontoon bridge was rapidly thrown over, the signal was given, andthe Prussians poured across it; and before the whole were overSchwerin's light cavalry came up, and an arrangement was made thatthe two forces should meet, at six o'clock next morning, at a spotwithin two miles of the Austrian camp on the Lisca hills.
[Map: Battle of Prague]
All this time the Austrians stood inactive, and permitted thePrussian columns to join hands without the slightest attempt tointerfere with them. Had Browne been in command, very differentsteps would have been taken; but Prince Karl was indolent, selfconfident, and opinionated, and had set his army to work tostrengthen its position in every possible manner. This wasnaturally extremely strong, its right flank being covered by swampyground formed by a chain of ponds; from which the water was let offin the winter, and the ground sown with oats. These were now abrilliant green, and to the eyes of Frederick and his generals,surveying them from the distance, had the aspect of ordinarymeadows. The whole ground was commanded by redoubts and batterieson the hill, which rose precipitately seven or eight hundred feetbehind the position. In the batteries were sixty heavy cannon;while there were, in addition, one hundred and fifty field guns.
Well might Prince Karl think his position altogether unassailable,and believe that, if the Prussians were mad enough to attack, theywould be destroyed. Frederick and Schwerin spent much time insurveying the position, and agreed that on two sides the Austrianposition was absolutely impregnable; but that on the right flank,attack was possible. Schwerin would fain have waited until the nextmorning, since his troops were fatigued by their long marches, andhad been on foot since midnight. The Austrians, however, wereexpecting a reinforcement of thirty thousand men, under Daun, tojoin them hourly; and the king therefore decided on an attack, theterrible obstacles presented by the swamps being altogetherunnoticed.
With incredible speed the Prussians moved away to their left, andby eleven o'clock were in readiness to attack the right flank ofthe Austrian position. Browne, however, was in command here and, assoon as the intention of the Prussians was perceived, he swung backthe right wing of the army at right angles to its originalposition, so that he presented a front to the Prussian attack;massing thickly at Sterbold, a village at the edge of the swamps.Rapidly the whole of the artillery and cavalry were formed up onthis face and, quick as had been the advance of the Prussians, theAustrians were perfectly ready to meet them.
Led by General Winterfeld, the Prussians rushed forward; but asthey advanced, a terrific artillery fire was opened upon them.Winterfeld was wounded severely, and the troops fell back.
The main body now advanced, under Schwerin, and the whole againpressed forward. In spite of the incessant rain of grape and caseshot, the Prussians advanced until they reached the pleasant greenmeadows they had seen in the distance. Then the real nature of theground was at once disclosed.
The troops sunk to the knee, and in many cases to the waist, in thetreacherous mud. Soldiers less valiant and less disciplined wouldhave shrunk, appalled at the obstacle; but the Prussians struggledon, dragging themselves forward with the greatest difficultythrough mud, through slush, through a rain of grape from upwards oftwo hundred cannon, and through a storm of musketry fire from theinfantry. Regiment after regiment, as it reached the edge of thedismal swamp, plunged in unhesitatingly, crawling and strugglingonward.
Never in the annals of warfare was there a more terrible fight. Forthree hours it continued, without a moment's interval. Thousands ofthe assailants had fallen, and their bodies had been trodden deepinto the swamp, as their comrades pressed after them. Sometimes aregiment struggled back out of the mire, thinking it beyond mortalpower to win victory under such terms; but the next moment theyreformed and flung themselves into the fight again. Schwerin,seeing the regiment named after him recoil, placed himself at theirhead; and shouting, "Follow me, my sons!" led them till he felldead, struck by five grape shot.
The Austrians fought as stoutly, Marshal Browne leading them till acannonball took off his
foot, and he was carried into Prague, todie there six weeks later.
While this terrible struggle was going on, the Prussian cavalry hadmade a very wide circuit round the ponds and lakelets, and chargedthe Austrian horse on Browne's extreme right. The first lines werebroken by it, but so many and strong were they that the Prussianswere brought to a standstill. Then they drew back and charged asecond, and a third time.
The Austrians gave way. Prince Karl himself, brave if incapable,did his best to rally them, but in vain; and at last they fled inheadlong rout, pursued for many miles by Ziethen's horsemen.
Still the infantry struggle was maintained. At last the Prussianright wing, hitherto not engaged, though suffering from theartillery fire on the heights, had their turn. General Mannsteindiscovered that, at the angle where Browne threw back the rightwing of the army to face the Prussians, there was a gap. The troopsthere had gradually pressed more to their right, to take part inthe tremendous conflict; and the elbow was, therefore, defendedonly by a half-moon battery.
Through the fish tanks he led the way, followed by Princes Henryand Ferdinand. The whole division struggled through the mud, droveback the Austrians hastily brought up to oppose them, captured thebattery, and poured into the gap; thereby cutting the Austrian armyin two, and taking both halves in flank.
This was the deciding point of the battle. The Austrian right,already holding its own with difficulty, was crumpled up and forcedto fall back hastily. The other half of the army, isolated by theirruption, threw itself back and endeavoured to make a fresh standat spots defended by batteries and stockades.
But all was in vain. The Prussians pressed forward exultingly, thefresh troops leading the way. In spite of the confusion occasionedby the loss of their commanders, and of the surprise caused by thesudden breakup of their line by the inrush of Mannstein and theprinces, the Austrians fought stoutly. Four times they made astand, but the Prussians were not to be denied. The Austrian gunsthat had been captured were turned against them and, at last givingway they fled for Prague, where some 40,000 of them rushed forshelter, while 15,000 fled up the valley of the Moldau.
Had it not been that an accident upset Frederick's calculations,the greater portion of the Austrians would have been obliged to laydown their arms. Prince Maurice of Dessau had been ordered to movewith the right wing of Keith's army, 15,000 strong, to take up aposition in the Austrian rear. This position he should have reachedhours before, but in his passage down a narrow lane, some of thepontoons for bridging the river were injured. When the bridge wasput together, it proved too short to reach the opposite bank.
The cavalry in vain endeavoured to swim the river. The stream wastoo strong, and Frederick's masterly combination broke down; andthe bulk of the Austrians, instead of being forced to surrender,were simply shut up in Prague with its garrison.
The battle of Prague was one of the fiercest ever fought. TheAustrian army had improved wonderfully, since the Silesian war.Their artillery were specially good, their infantry had adoptedmany of the Prussian improvements and, had Browne been in solecommand, and had he escaped unwounded, the issue of the day mighthave been changed. The Prussians lost 12,500 men, killed andwounded; the Austrians, including prisoners, 13,300. Frederickhimself put the losses higher, estimating that of the Austrians at24,000, of whom 5000 were prisoners, that of the Prussians at18,000, "without counting Marshal Schwerin, who alone was worthabout 10,000."
It is evident that the king's estimate of the loss of the Austriansmust have been excessive. They had the advantage of standing on thedefensive. The Prussian guns did but comparatively little service,while their own strong batteries played with tremendous effect uponthe Prussians, struggling waist deep in the mud. There cantherefore be little doubt that the latter must have suffered, inkilled and wounded, a much heavier loss than the Austrians.
Impassive as he was, and accustomed to show his feelings butlittle, Frederick was deeply affected at the loss of his trustedgeneral, and of the splendid soldiers who had been so long andcarefully trained; and even had Prague fallen, the victory wouldhave been a disastrous one for him; for, threatened as he was byoverwhelming forces, the loss of 5000 men, to him, was quite asserious as that of 20,000 men to the Confederates.
In Keith's army there had been considerable disappointment, when itbecame known that they were to remain impassive spectators of thestruggle, and that while their comrades were fighting, they hadsimply to blockade the northern side of the city.
"You will have plenty of opportunities," the marshal said quietlyto his aides-de-camp, on seeing their downcast look. "This war isbut beginning. It will be our turn, next time. For it is a greattask the king has set himself, in attempting to carry the strongposition that the Austrians have taken up; and he will not do itwithout very heavy loss. Tomorrow you may have reason tocongratulate yourselves that we have had no share in the business."
Nevertheless, as the day went on, and the tremendous roar of battlerolled down upon them--terrible, continuous, and never ceasing, forthree hours--even Keith walked, in a state of feverish anxiety,backwards and forwards in front of his tent; while the troops stoodin groups, talking in low tones, and trying to pierce with theireyes the dun-coloured cloud of smoke that hung over the combatantson the other side of Prague.
When at last the din of battle went rolling down towards that city, thefeeling of joy was intense. In many, the relief from the tension and thelong excitement was so great that they burst into tears. Some shook handswith each other, others threw their caps into the air, and then a fewvoices burst into the well-known verse of the church hymn:
Nun danket alle Gott,Mit herzen, mund und haenden.Of which our English translation runs:Now thank we all our God,With hands and hearts and voices.
And in a moment it was taken up by 30,000 deep voices, in a solemnchorus, the regimental bands at once joining in the jubilantthanksgiving. Pious men were these honest, Protestant, hard-fightingsoldiers; and very frequently, on their long marches, they beguiledthe way by the stirring hymns of the church. Keith and those aroundhim stood bare-headed, as the hymn was sung, and not a word wasspoken for some time after the strains had subsided.
"That is good to listen to," Keith said, breaking the silence. "Wehave often heard the psalm singing of Cromwell's Ironsides spokenof, with something like contempt; but we can understand, now, howmen who sing like that, with all their hearts, should be almostinvincible."
"It is the grandest thing that I have ever heard, marshal," Fergussaid. "Of course, I have heard them when they were marching, but itdid not sound like this."
"No, Fergus; it was the appropriateness of the occasion, andperhaps the depth of the feelings of the men, and our own sense ofimmense relief, that made it so striking.
"Listen! There is a fresh outburst of firing. The Austrians havefallen back, but they are fighting stoutly."
The chief effect of this great battle was of a moral, rather thanmaterial kind. Prague was not a strong place, but with a garrisonof 50,000 men it was too well defended to assault; and until it wastaken Frederick could not march on, as he had intended, and leaveso great a force in the rear.
The moral effect was, however, enormous. The allies had deemed thatthey had a ridiculously easy task before them, and that Frederickwould have to retreat before their advancing armies, and must atlast see that there was nothing but surrender before him. That heshould have emerged from behind the shelter of the Saxon hills, andhave shattered the most formidable army of those that threatenedhim, on ground of their own choosing, intrenched and fortified,caused a feeling of consternation and dismay. The French army, theRussians, and the united force of the French with the GermanConfederacy were all arrested on their march, and a month elapsedbefore they were again set in motion.
Marshal Daun, who had arrived at Erdwise, fell back at once whenthe news reached him and, taking post at the entrance of thedefile, he made the greatest efforts to increase his army.Reinforcements were sent to him from Vienna and all the adjacentcountry. The Duke of
Bevern was posted with 20,000 men to watchhim; and Frederick sat down, with all his force, to capture Prague.
The siege train was hurried up from Dresden, and on the 9th of Mayhis batteries on the south side of the city, and those of Keith onthe north, opened fire on the city. For a month missiles werepoured into the town. Magazines were blown up, and terribledestruction done, but the garrison held out firmly. At times theymade sorties, but these were always driven in again, with muchloss. But 50,000 men behind fortifications, however weak, were notto be attacked. Every approach to the city was closely guarded, butit became at last evident that, as long as the provisions held out,Prague was not to be taken.
The cannonade became less incessant, and after a month almost diedaway; for Daun had by this time gathered a large army, and it wasevident that another great battle would have to be fought. If thiswas won by the Prussians, Prague would be forced to surrender. Ifnot, the city was saved.
It was not until the 12th of June that Daun, a cautious and carefulgeneral, in accordance with urgent orders from Vienna prepared toadvance. His force had now grown to 60,000; 40,000 of the garrisonof Prague could be spared, to issue out to help him. Frederick hadunder 70,000, and of these a great portion must remain to guardtheir siege works. Thus, then, all the advantages lay with therelieving army.
Several officers in disguise were despatched, by Daun, to carryinto Prague the news of his advance; and to warn Prince Karl tosally out, with the whole of his force, and fall upon the Prussiansas soon as he attacked them in the rear. So vigilant, however, werethe besiegers that none of these messengers succeeded in enteringPrague.
On the 13th Frederick set out, with 10,000 men--to be followed by4000 more under Prince Maurice, two days later, these being allthat could be spared from the siege works--to join Bevern, who hadfallen back as Daun advanced. The junction effected, Frederickjoined Bevern and approached Daun, who was posted in a strongposition near Kolin, thirty-five miles from Prague. On the 17thPrince Maurice arrived, and after several changes of position thearmies faced each other on the 18th, within a short distance ofKolin.
Daun's new position was also a strong one, and was, in fact, onlyto be assailed on its right; and the Prussian army was moved inthat direction, their order being to pay no attention to theAustrian batteries or musketry fire, but to march steadily to thespot indicated. This was done. Ziethen dashed with his hussars uponthe Austrian cavalry, drawn up to bar the way; defeated them, anddrove them far from the field; while Hulsen's division of infantrycarried the village of Preezer, on the Austrian flank, in spite ofthe Austrian batteries. So far Frederick's combination had workedadmirably.
Hulsen then attacked a wood behind it, strongly held by theAustrians. Here a struggle commenced which lasted the whole day,the wood being several times taken and lost. He was not supported,owing to a mistake that entirely upset Frederick's plan of battle.
While three miles away from the point where the attack was to bedelivered, Mannstein, whose quickness of inspiration had largelycontributed to the victory of Prague, now ruined Frederick's planby his impetuosity. The corn fields, through which his division wasmarching towards the assault of the Austrian left, were full ofCroats; who kept up so galling a fire that, losing all patience, heturned and attacked them.
The regiment to which he gave the order cleared the Croats off; butthese returned, strongly reinforced. The regiments coming behind,supposing that fresh orders had arrived, also turned off; and in ashort time the whole division, whose support was so sorely neededby Hulsen, were assaulting the almost impregnable Austrian positionin front.
Another mistake--this time arising from a misconception of a toobrief and positive order, given by Frederick himself--led PrinceMaurice, who commanded the Prussian centre, to hurl himself in likemanner against the Austrians.
For four hours the battle raged. In spite of their disadvantages,the Prussians fought so desperately that Daun believed the day tobe lost, and sent orders to the troops to retreat to Suchdol; butthe commander of the Saxon cavalry considered the order prematureand, gathering a large body of Austrian infantry, charged with themand his own cavalry so furiously upon Hulsen that the latter wasforced to retreat.
The movement spread, the attack slackened, and the other divisionmoved down the hill. They had all but won. Frederick in vain triedto rally and lead them afresh to the attack. They had done all thatmen could do, and the battle ceased. Daun scarcely attempted topursue, and the Prussians marched away, unmolested even by cavalry;some of the regiments remaining firm in their position untilnightfall, repulsing with great loss the one attempt of theAustrians at pursuit; and Ziethen's cavalry did not draw off untilten at night.
The Austrians had 60,000 men in the field, of whom they lost inkilled and wounded 8114. The Prussians, who began the day 34,000strong, lost 13,773; of whom the prisoners, including all thewounded, amounted to 5380.
The news of the disaster, and with it Frederick's order to prepareto raise the siege of Prague at once, came like a thunderclap uponthe Prussian camp. Frederick himself, and the remnant of his army,arrived there in good order, with all their baggage train, a daylater. The cannon were removed from the batteries, the magazinesemptied; and in good order, and without any attempt on the part ofthe Austrian garrison to molest them, the Prussian army marchedaway and took up their post at Leitmeritz.
The news that an Austrian army had at last beaten Frederick, andthat Prague was saved, caused an exultation and joy, among theallies, equal to the dismay that had been aroused by the defeat atPrague; although there was nothing remarkable, or worth muchcongratulation, in the fact that an army, in an almost impregnableposition, had repulsed the attack of another of little over halfits strength.
