What time his Prussian majesty was making these heroic efforts in Silesia, the reputation of his arms was admirably supported in Saxony by general Hulsen, to whom he had committed the command of his troops in that country, and who gained several advantages over the army of the empire. But the state of his affairs in other quarters was very different. The Russians, after they repassed the Oder, pushed a strong detachment into Brandenburgh; and count Czernichew, the Russian commander, being there joined by a large body of Austrians under general Lacy, the united army made itself master of Berlin31. Nor was this mortifying blow the only stroke of ill fortune that fell upon the gallant Frederic.

ост. 9.

The Russians and Austrians, having levied a contribution upon the inhabitants of Berlin, destroyed the magazines, arsenals, and founderies, and pillaged the royal palaces, retired by different routes, on hearing that the king was advancing to the relief of his capital. The city suffered considerably, especially in its ornaments: the adjacent country was ravaged, and his Prussian majesty sustained a prodigious loss in valuable furniture and military stores. But these were not the worst consequences that attended the invasion of Brandenburg, and the taking of the seat of government, of arts, and of elegance.

When Berlin was first threatened, general Hulsen left Saxony, and attempted to oppose the enemy. He found himself unequal to the general purpose, yet continued to hover in the neighbourhood, in order to seize any advantage that might offer. In the meantime the prince of Deuxponts, meeting with no interruption, made rapid progress in Saxony. Leipsic, Torgaw, and Wittemberg, successively surrendered to the Imperialists. And while the illustrious Frederic was thus losing his footing in Saxony, which had been hitherto the great support

31. Lond. Gazette, Oct. 28, 1760.

of

of his armies, a detachment from the French army in Westphalia laid Halberstadt under contribution. One part of Pomerania was ravaged by the Swedes, and another by the Russians, who had invested Colberg both by land and sea. The situation of the king of Prussia again seemed desperate. All his motions, in his march toward Brandenburg, were watched by Daun, whose army had been reinforced; and Laudohn, in his absence, had laid siege to the strong and important fortress of Cosel in Silesia, and threatened the whole province with subjection.

It now became necessary for the warlike monarch, who was still at the head of a strong army, to call up once more the vigour of his genius, and attempt by some bold exertion to extricate himself from all his difficulties. He had determined to make such an exertion. And no sooner did he learn, that the enemy had abandoned Berlin, and evacuated Brandenburg, than he passed the Elbe, OCT. 25. and rushed into Saxony. Mareschal Daun followed him, with an army of eighty thousand men, and encamped in the neighbourhood of Torgaw, his right wing extending to the Elbe, by which it was covered, and his centre and left being secured by ponds, hills, and woods. A stronger position than that seized upon by the Austrian general, could not possibly have been chosen by a small army, as a security against one of the greatest force. Yet did his Prussian majesty, encompassed by dangers, resolve to attack, with only fifty thousand men, that able and experienced commander in his seemingly impregna. ble camp; as he could not hope to draw him from it, and winter was fast approaching.

In consequence of this resolution, the most daring that could be dictated by despair, the king divided his army into three bodies, and made all his dispositions with as much coolness and caution, as if it had been the result of the most guarded prudence. General Hulsen, with one body, was directed to take post in a wood on the left of the Austrian army, and had orders not to

VOL. V.

3 C

move

move until he found the other divisions of the Prussian army were engaged. General Zeithen was instructed to charge on the enemy's right; and the grand attack in front was to be conducted by his Prussian majesty in person. These dispositions being made, the king informed his officers, that he was determined to conquer or die. They unanimously answered, they would die or conquer with him.

Pleased with the ardour of his troops, and convinced that they would not disappoint his hopes, the intrepid monarch, having made his approaches in the mornNOV. 23. ing, began an attack upon the enemy's camp about two in the afternoon. He was received with the fire of two hundred pieces of cannon, disposed along the front of the Austrian line. The Prussian infantry, which were first presented, persevered in their efforts with uncommon resolution. But they were at length broken, and repulsed with great slaughter, after they had been three times led on to the charge, and as often obliged to give ground. The king ordered his cavalry to advance. They broke the Austrian infantry, by their impetuous shock, but were soon forced to retire by the pressure of fresh battalions, which poured in on every side. And victory seemed ready to declare for the Austrians, when general Zeithen, with the Prussian left wing, fell upon the enemy's rear: and mareschal Daun, having received a dangerous wound in the thigh, was carried off the field.

Encouraged by the confusion occasioned by these fortunate circumstances, the Prussian infantry returned once more to the charge. The cavalry, following their example, threw several bodies of Austrians into irrepara ble disorder; and if the darkness of the night had not prevented the possiblity of pursuit, and enabled the routed army to escape over the Elbe, the victory would have been complete, and the carnage immense. As matters terminated, the loss of lives, in the battle of Torgaw, was very considerable. About ten thousand

men

men were killed or wounded on each side. And the Prussians took near eight thousand prisoners, among whom were four generals, and two hundred inferior officers32.

Of all the king of Prussia's victories, this was perhaps the most glorious, as it certainly was the most important. His troops, though very different from those invincible battalions, now no more, which he had formerly led into Bohemia, and which conquered at Lowositz, Prague, Lissa, and Rosbach, animated by his presence and example, behaved with a firmness worthy of the most hardy veterans. In no battle did he ever expose his own person so much; yet, as if invulnerable, a bullet only grazed gently upon his breast. His courage and conduct were alike conspicuous. The Austrians pretended to dispute with him the honour of the action; but its consequences sufficiently prove where the advantage lay.

His Prussian majesty immediately entered Torgaw; he recovered all Saxony, except Dresden, (in the neighbourhood of which Daun disposed his army) before the close of the campaign; and he put his troops into winterquarters in that electorate, instead of being obliged to canton them in his own wasted dominions. He attained the object for which he fought, and at the same time added new lustre to his arms. The shock of victory seemed to be felt in every hostile quarter. Laudohn abruptly raised the blockade of Cosel, and evacuated Silesia. The Russians abandoned the siege of Colberg, in Eastern Pomerania, and retired into Poland; while the Swedes, defeated by the Prussians in Western Pomerania, were forced to take refuge under the cannon of Stralsund 33.

During these important transactions on the continent of Europe, events of still greater moment took place in other quarters of the globe. While the allies of GreatBritain, though supported by her money and troops, with

32. Prussian and Austrian Gazettes compared.

33. Id. ibid.

difficulty

difficulty maintained their ground in Germany, which alone seemed to engage her attention, her own arms, under the direction of British officers, were crowned with signal success in North-America and the East Indies.

The taking of Quebec, it had been generally supposed, would be followed by the final submission of Canada, without any farther struggle. But this was soon discovered to be a dangerous mistake. Although the possession of that city was necessary to the conquest of the province, much yet remained to be done before it could be subjected to Great-Britain.

The main body of the French army, which had retired, after the battle of Quebec, to Montreal, and still consisted of ten battalions of regulars, was there reinforced with six thousand Canadian militia, and a party of Indians. With these forces, M. de Levi, who had succeeded the marquis de Montcalm in the chief command, proposed to attempt the recovery of the capital early in the spring. In that resolution he was encouraged by an oversight of the English admirals, who had not made sufficient provision against his attaining a su periority on the river St. Lawrence. No vessels of any force had been left at Quebec, on a supposition that they could not be useful in winter.

The French general had even thoughts of attempting the recovery of the place, during the rigour of that season; although a British garrison of five thousand men had been left in it under the command of general Murray. But on reconnoitring, he found the out-posts so well secured, and the governor so vigilant and active, that he delayed the enterprise until the month of April. Then his artillery, provisions, ammunition, and heavy baggage, fell down the St. Lawrence from Montreal, under the convoy of six stout frigates. This squadron secured to him the undisputed command of the river; a circumstance of the utmost importance to the execution of his

whole