cavalry attempted to rally behind the village of Busendorff; but the Prussians pursued their advantage with such ardour that the enemy were again routed and forced to quit the field.

Meanwhile the generals of the combined army endeavoured to form their infantry, though with little success. It was suddenly broken by the Prussian foot, supported by the cavalry and artillery. The prince de Soubise, however, did not yet give up the battle as lost. He ordered the body of reserve, consisting of five regiments of cavalry, to advance and sustain the infantry; in hopes of thus enabling them to form the line. But these fresh regiments were instantly attacked, broken, and driven off the field, like the former; and the infantry, after a vigorous combat, were also obliged to give way. A complete victory remained to his Prussian majesty, who did not lose above three hundred men; whereas the loss of the French and Imperialists amounted to near nine thousand, including killed, wounded, and prisoners. Among the latter were eleven generals, and three hundred officers of inferior rank".

With the battle of Rosbach ended the campaign in Saxony, the combined army being no longer fit for action. But there was yet no rest for the victorious Frederic. A great army of Austrians and Hungarians, under prince Charles of Lorrain, assisted by mareschal Daun and general Nadasti, had entered Silesia, in spite of all the efforts of the prince of Bevern, and threatened an entire conquest of that fine province, which had been the cause of so much bloodshed. The first enterprise was the siege of Schweidnitz; a rich, populous, and strong town, situated in a plain about three miles beyond the mountains which separate Silesia from Bohemia, and garrisoned 'with six thousand men.

The siege of this important place was committed to general Nadasti, who invested it on the 26th of October.

Meantime the prince of Bevern lay encamped in the neighbourhood of Breslaw, in order to cover that capital; while the prince of Lorrain and mareschal Daun took post at no great distance to watch his motions, and prevent his marching to the relief of Schweidnitz. And Nadasti, who was reinforced during the siege by a large body of Bavarians and Wurtemburgers, conducted his operations with so much vigour, that, three redoubts being carried at once by assault, the place was taken, and the garrison made prisoners of war after the trenches had been open only twelve days.

NOV. 11.

Prince Charles, having thus secured a communica tion with Bohemia, by acquiring the command of the defiles, and also a place well stored with provisions, to retire into in case of disaster, was encouraged to attack the prince of Bevern in his camp, though now strongly fortified, as soon as he was joined by Nadasti. The cannonading began at nine in the morning, and NOV. 22. was continued with great fury till noon, when the Prussian entrenchments were stormed in every quarter. Twice were the Austrians repulsed with great slaughter; but their third attack was irresistible. The Prussians were driven from most of their redoubts; and the prince of Bevern, taking advantage of the friendly approach of night, which only prevented his entrenchments being entirely forced, abandoned his lines, and retired behind the Oder. Nor was this his only misfortune. Going to reconnoitre the victorious enemy, two days after the battle, he was made prisoner by a party of Croats, and Breslaw surrendered to the Austrians'.

In this desperate situation were the affairs of his Prussian majesty, notwithstanding his success at Rosbach, At that time anxious for the safety of Silesia, the great bone of contention, he arriv ed at Parchwitz, on the Oder, with his small but victorious army, now consisting only of nineteen, battalions

NOV. 28.

VOL. V.

12. Id. ibid.
૨૧

and

and thirty-three squadrons. Here he was joined by the remains of the army lately commanded by the prince of Bevern; the whole forming a gallant body of thirty-six thousand men, determined to conquer or die with their leader.

The Austrians, thinking the campaign finished, were preparing to go into winter-quarters 3, when they heard of the warlike king's approach. It rather surprised than alarmed them. Prince Charles and mareschal Daun immediately resolved to give him battle. Having left a strong garrison in Breslaw, they accordingly passed the river at Schweidnitz, at the head of eighty thousand good troops, and were advancing toward Glogaw with the fullest assurance of victory, when they were met by the Prussian monarch at the village of Luthen, near Lissa. There a general engagement took place.

DEC. 5.

The Austrian or Imperial army was very strongly posted. It was drawn up in a plain, behind several little hills, which were all covered with heavy cannon; and its left was farther secured by a mountain and a wood, also planted with artillery. The village of Nypern, on the right wing, and that of Luthen on the left, were likewise fortified, and filled with infantry. But prince Charles and mareschal Daun made less use than might have been expected of so advantageous a position. Deceived by the rapid motions of the king of Prussia toward their right, against which he made violent demonstrations, they drew their chief strength thither; whilst he, concealed by certain heights, which they had neglected to occupy, brought his whole force, by a sublime stroke of generalship, to bear upon their left, against which he had meditated his real attack14. And mareschal

13. Lloyd, ubi sup.

14. The description of this battle is drawn from a diligent comparison of the Prussian and Austrian accounts, published by authority; yet does the author of the historical article, in the Annual Register for 1758,

mareschal Daun, who commanded in person on the right of the Austrians, instead of attacking the thin left wing of the Prussians, which he might certainly have broken, and by that means have divided the king's attention, as well as his force, ordered the Austrian right and centre to sustain the left wing, already in confusion, and retiring so fast as to throw the fresh troops into disorder; whilst the victorious enemy, advancing in order of battle, prevented them from forming. The left wing, therefore, excepted, the whole Austrian army was routed one battalion after another.

Other circumstances contributed to the success of his Prussian majesty. The auxiliary troops, consisting of Bavarians and Wurtemburgers, who had never seen an enemy, being injudiciously placed on the most exposed part of the Austrian left wing, were soon broken by the Prussian infantry. And the sagacious Frederic, whose superior genius alike enabled him to take advantage of the enemy's blunders, and to defeat their best conducted schemes, having foreseen that general Nadasti, with the Austrian body of reserve, would probably advance and attack the cavalry of his right wing, had wisely placed four battalions behind them; so that when this comman der attempted to take the Prussians in flank, and had thrown some regiments of horse into confusion the fire of the four concealed battalions obliged him to retire in disorder.

The Austrians, however, made a vigorous stand at the village of Luthen, which was fortified with redoubts and entrenchments, and defended by the flower of the Imperial army. But after a desperate combat, maintained for more than an hour, during which the fortune of the day seemed still doubtful, the Prussian infantry having been three times repulsed in spite of their most gallant efforts, the village was abandoned, and a com

said to be the late Dr. Campbell, and other English historians, in blind submission to his authority, represent the real attack to have been made on the Austrian right wing,

plete

plete victory left to the king, who pursued the enemy as far as Lissa.

The action lasted from one till four in the afternoon, when the Austrians were defeated in all quarters; and night only prevented the total ruin of the vanquished army. They left about six thousand men dead on the field, with almost an equal number wounded. And the Prussians took, within a week after the battle, twenty thousand prisoners, three thousand waggons, and two hundred pieces of cannon, with a great quantity of military trophies. Their own loss, in killed and wounded, amounted to at least five thousand 5. Few battles have been more obstinately disputed, and none could be more honourable to the victors.

But the consequences of the battle of Lissa are the best proof of the king of Prussia's decisive victory, as well as of the honour with which it was gained. The terror inspired by his arms, every where communicated by the celerity of his motions, was for a time of as much use as his effective force. He immediately invested Breslaw, which surrendered in a few days, though garrisoned with seventeen thousand men, who were all made prisoners of war. And prince Charles, having collected the remains of his broken forces, retired into Bohemia before the close of the year.

DEC. 19.

Nothing now remained to the Austrians in Silesia, but the town of Schweidnitz, which his Prussian majesty was too prudent to invest during the rigour of winter, when his troops required repose; especially as he thought it must necessarily fall in the spring. And he was not deceived in his conjecture.

The same good fortune had attended the king of Prussia's affairs in every quarter. The Russians, by making war like barbarians, had so completely exhausted the country they invaded, that they were obliged to return home, for want of provisions, on the approach of winter, leaving only a garrison in Nemel. In consequence

15. Lloyd, vol. i. p. 134.

16. Id. ibid.

of