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SEVEN YEARS' See also:WAR (1756-1763), the name given to the See also:European war which arose from the formation of a See also:coalition between See also:Austria, See also:France, See also:Russia,' See also:Sweden and See also:Saxony against See also:Prussia, with the See also:object of destroying, or at least crippling, the See also:power of See also:Frederick the See also:Great. Prussia was joined by See also:England, and between England and France, as usual, a•maritime and colonial war See also:broke out at the first pretext; this war laid the See also:foundations of the See also:British See also:empire, for ere the seven See also:campaigns had been fought in See also:Europe, the See also:French dominion in See also:Canada and the French See also:influence in See also:India, in spite of See also:Dupleix, See also:Lally and-SEVEN YEARS' WAR 715
Montcalm, had been entirely overthrown by the victories of See also:Clive, See also:Amherst and See also:Wolfe. Great as was the effect of these victories on the See also:history of the See also:world, however, it is at least questionable whether the steadfast resistance of Prussia, almost single-handed as she was—the resistance which laid the solid, if then unseen, foundations of See also:modern See also:Germany—is not as important a phenomenon, and from the technical military standpoint See also:Rossbach and See also:Leuthen, Zorndorf and See also:Kunersdorf possess an See also:interest which it would be possible perhaps to claim for Plassy and for See also:Quebec, but not for border conflicts in Canada and India. It is not only battles, the distinct and tangible military events, that make up the See also:story of Frederick's See also:defence. There are countless See also:marches and manoeuvres, devoid of interest as regards their details; but, as indications of the See also:equilibrium of forces in 18th-See also:century war-fare, indispensable to a study of military history as a whole.
Learning of the existence and intentions of the coalition, Frederick determined to strike first, and to that end, during the months preceding the outbreak of hostilities, he concentrated his 150,000 men as follows:—11,000 men See also:Pima. in See also:Pomerania to See also:watch the Swedes, 26,000 on the See also:Russian frontier, 37,000 men under See also: The See also:battle began in a thick See also:fog, rendering dispositions very difficult, and victory See also:fell to the Prussians, principally owing to the tenacity. displayed by their See also:infantry in a See also:series of disconnected See also:local engagements. The nature of the ground rendered pursuit impossible, and the losses on both sides were approximately equal—viz. 3000 men—but the result sealed the See also:fate of the Saxons, who after a few See also:half-hearted attempts to See also:escape from their entrenchments, surrendered on the 14th of October, and were taken over bodily into the Prussian service: Prussian administrators were appointed to govern the captured See also:country and the troops took up See also:winter quarters.
See also:Campaign of 1757.—The Coalition had undertaken to See also:pro-vide 500,000 men against Prussia, but at the beginning of the See also:year only 132,000 Austrians stood ready for See also:action in See also:northern Bohemia. Against these the king was Battle organizing some 250,000, 45,000 of whom were paid See also:Prague. for by British subsidies and disposed to cover See also:Hanover from a French attack. After leaving detachments to guard his other frontiers, Frederick was able to take the field with nearly 150,000 men, but these also were scattered to guard a frontier some zoo m. in length—the See also:left wing in Silesia under Schwerin and the See also:duke of See also:Brunswick-Bevern, the centre and right under the king. In See also:April the operations began. Schwerin and Bevern crossed the mountains into Bohemia and See also:united at See also:Jung See also:Bunzlau, the Austrians falling back before them and surrendering their magazines. The king marched from Pirna and See also:Prince See also:Maurice of See also:Dessau from See also:Zwickau on Prague, at which point the various See also:Austrian commands were ordered to concentrate. On the morning of the 5th the whole army, except a See also:column under Field Marshal Dann, was united' here under Prince See also: Almost immediately the Prussian infantry became entangled in a series of morasses, the See also:battalion guns had to be left behind and the troops had to correct their See also:alignment under the See also:round shot fired by the Austrians, who had completed their See also:change of front in See also:time and now stood ready to sweep the open See also:glacis before them. Before the See also:storm of bullets and the See also:grape and canister of the heavy and battalion guns the Prussian first See also:line faltered and fell in thousands. Their attempts to prepare the way for the See also:bayonet See also:assault broke down. Schwerin was killed. But the second line carried the survivors on, and in the nick of time Zieten's cavalry drove the Austrian horsemen off the field and broke in on the flank and See also:rear of their infantry. This turned the See also:scale, and the Austrians retreated into Prague in hopeless confusion, leaving some io,000 men (14-8%) on the ground, and 4275 prisoners, out of about 66,000, in their enemy's hands. The Prussians lost 11,740 men killed and wounded and 156o prisoners, and in all 20.8% of their strength. The actual fighting seems only to have lasted about two See also:hours, though firing did not cease
till See also:late at night; 16,000 Austrians managed in the confusion to evade See also:capture and join Daun, who made no See also:movement either on this or succeeding days to come to the assistance of his comrades, but began a leisurely See also:retreat towards See also:Vienna.
The Prussians immediately began the See also:siege of the See also:town, and after a See also:month's delay Daun, now at the See also:head of some 6o,000 men, moved forward to the See also:relief of the See also:city. Learning of his approach, the king, taking with him all the men
who could be spared from the investment and uniting all avail-able detachments, moved to meet him with only 34,000 men, and on the 18th of See also:June he found Daun strongly entrenched. He immediately endeavoured to See also: The fighting lasted 51 hours. The Austrian loss was only 8000 out of 53,500, or 15:2 %, of whom.only 1500 were taken prisoners. This disaster entailed raising the siege of Prague, and the Prussians fell back on Leitmeritz. The Austrians, reinforced by the 48,000 troops in Prague, followed them See also:ioo,000 strong, and, falling on Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia, who was retreating eccentrically (for See also:commissariat reasons) on See also:Zittau, inflicted a severe check upon him. The king was compelled to abandon Bohemia, falling back on See also:Bautzen. Having re-formed his men and calling in Keith's 27,000 men from Pirna, Kolla. Meanwhile his enemies had been gathering around him. France had despatched xoo,000 men under d'See also:Estrees against Hanover, where See also:Cumberland with 54,000 stood to Frederick meet him, and another 24,000 men were marching In the See also:west through See also:Franconia to unite with the " Army of the See also:Holy See also:Roman Empire " under the prince of See also:Saxe-See also:Hildburghausen. Fortunately this latter army was not as formidable as its See also:title, and totalled only some 6o,000 most undisciplined and heterogeneous combatants. In the See also:north 100,000 Russians under Apraxin were slowly advancing into See also:East Prussia, where Lehwald with 30,000 was preparing to confront them, and 16,000 Swedes had landed in Pomerania. On the 26th of June Cumberland had been beaten at Hastenbeck by d'Estrees, and the French overran Han-over and Brunswick. The king, leaving Bevern with only 13,600 men in Silesia to watch the Austrians, began to march across Germany to succour Cumber-See also:land. Arrived at See also:Leipzig on the 3rd of September, he heard of Lehwald's defeat at See also:Gross-See also:Jagerndorf on the 3oth of August and immediately afterwards of Cumberland's See also:convention of Kloster Seven, which gave up Hanover to the French. Fearing that the French army now set See also:free in Hanover might unite with the Army of the Empire under Hildburghausen and with 1 so,000 men march See also:direct on See also:Berlin, Frederick, taking with him 23,000 men, marched to join" Prince See also: Aided only by the See also:fire of 18 guns and of 7 battalions of infantry, only two of which fired more than five rounds, the Prussian squadrons swept down upon the marching columns of the See also:Allies and in about 40 minutes the whole 64,000 were in full See also:flight. Never was a victory more timely, for the Prussian army was almost worn out and more bad news was even then on the way. Bevern in Silesia, who had been beaten at Moys near See also:Gorlitz (September 7th) and in the battle of See also:Breslau on the 22nd of October, had been compelled to retire behind the See also:Oder, leaving the fortresses of See also:Schweidnitz and Breslau to their fate, and both had capitulated within a few days. Leaving a small reinforcement for Ferdinand, the king now moved by forced marches to See also:Liegnitz. The distance, about 170 M. through difficult country, was covered again in 12 days, but the numbers were small, only 13,000, which shcws how tremendous had been the drain upon the men of the previous six See also:weeks' exertions. On the night of the 4th of See also:December, having joined the beaten forces of Bevern at Parschwitz, making in all 43,000 men of very unequal fighting value, he decided to attack the 72,000 Austrians who See also:lay across the Breslau road, their centre marked by the See also:village of Leuthen (q.v.). His position appeared so pprissians ® deployment Z' positions Austrians c=t deployment m 2 position Hiles desperate that he sent for all his generals, laid the facts before them, announced his decision to attack and offered to accept any See also:man's resignation without See also:prejudice to his See also:character should he deem the See also:risk too hazardous. Needless to say, not one accepted the offer. Covered by the See also:low See also:rolling hillocks of the district, the army now moved off to its right across the Austrian front, the advance Leut6es. led by Zieten and half the cavalry, the rear covered by Driessen with the remaining half—some 40 weak squadrons. The infantry having gained a position sufficiently on the Austrian flank, now wheeled into line and attacked in See also:echelon of battalions from the right. The battle soon became desperate, and the Austrian cavalry on their right wing under Luchesi, unaware of Driessen's presence as a flank guard, issued out of their lines, wheeled to their left and swept down upon the refused flank of the Prussian infantry; but they never reached them, for Driessen, seizing his opportunity, set his squadrons in See also:motion and attacked. The Austrians, completely surprised, were ridden down and driven back on to the front of their own infantry, and the pressure of the fugitives threw the rear of their left wing into confusion and in a See also:short time the ruin of their army was completed. When the news of Driessen's See also:charge was brought to the king his astonishment was expressed in the single phrase, " What, that old See also:fool Driessen? " The fighting, however, had been desperate, and though the Austrians out of their 72,000 lost 37% including 20,000 prisoners, with 116 guns and 51 colours, the Prussians lost 6200 (14%) making with the other battles of the year a See also:total of nearly 75,000 men, and not including losses in See also:minor skirmishes and on the march.
Campaign of 2758.—The See also:raid upon Berlin had accomplished nothing, and the advance of the Russian main body had died out for want of See also:resolution to seize the opportunities offered by Frederick the Great's See also:absence. The Czarina, annoyed by his slowness, recalled Apraxin and appointed Fermor in his See also:place. Utilizing the winter snows, he collected some 31,000 men and crossed the frontiers of East Prussia (See also:January loth, 1758) and attempted to annex the See also:province, See also:driving out all the Prussian officials who refused to swear fealty to See also: But Olmutz lay qo M. from the Prussian frontier, and the Austrian light troops swarmed in the intervening dis- trict. Ultimately a great Prussian See also:convoy was destroyed in the action of Domstadl, and the siege of Olmutz had to be raised (See also:July 1st); but instead of marching back the way he had come Frederick led his troops through Bohemia practically in the rear of Daun's army, and on the 14th of July entered Daun's empty entrenchments at Koniggratz. Fermor's Russians were now again in the field and had reached See also:Posen, burning and plundering horribly. By skilful manoeuvring the king deceived the Austrians till the roads to Silesia by Skalitz and See also:Nachod were open and then by a rapid march passed over into Silesia, reaching Grussau (near See also:Landshut) on the 8th of August. Leaving Keith with half his force to hold this district, he then marched to Frankfurt-on- the-Oder, taking with him only some 15,000 men, to strengthen the wing already engaged against the Russians. Frankfurt was reached on the 20th of August. Fermor was then besieging See also:Custrin with 52,000 men, and hearing of the king's approach he raised the siege and placed himself behind a formidable obstacle facing north, near Zorndorf, from which direction the king was approaching. Seeing that the same obstacle that prevented him from attacking the Russians prevented them equally from attacking him, the king marched right round Fermor's eastern flank—the Russians gradually forming a fresh front to meet him—so that when the Prussian attack began on the morning of the 25th of August they stood in three irregular squares, divided from each other by marshy hollows, and thus unable to render one another support. The king made his first effort against the square on the right—Seydlitz with his squadrons covering the Zorndorf. movement. But the Russian troops fought with far more spirit than the Austrians had ever shown, and things were going very badly with the Prussians when Seydlitz, who in the meanwhile had succeeded in making paths across the Zaberngrund on which the Russian right rested, flung himself upon the great square, and rode over and destroyed the whole See also:mass in a prolonged melee in which quarter was neither given nor asked. Relieved by this well-timed charge, the king now re-formed the infantry already engaged, and concentrated all his efforts on the south-west See also:angle of the great centre square. Again the Russians more than held their own, issuing forth from their squares and capturing many field-pieces. Some of the Prussian infantry was actually broken and in full flight when Seydlitz, with his ranks re-formed and his horses rested, returned and again threw himself upon the square exactly as on the previous occasion and with the same result—the square, as a formation, was broken, but See also:groups still stood back to back and the most savage butchery ensued. The combatants could not be separated and only darkness. put a stop to the slaughter. Of 36,000 Prussians 12,500 were killed or wounded, See also:row prisoners or missing (37.5%), and of 42,000 Russians about 21,000 had fallen (50%). In the night the survivors gradually rallied, and morning found the Russians in a fresh position a couple of See also:miles to the northward, but Frederick's troops were too weary to renew the attack. Gradually the Russians withdrew towards Landsberg and See also:Konigsberg, and the king, leaving Dohna to follow them up, marched with the See also:remainder of his forces on the 2nd of September for Saxony, covering 22 M. a See also:day. They arrived only in the nick of time, for Daun had united with portions of the Empire Army and was threatening to crush Siege of Oimiitz. Prince Henry under the See also:weight of more than two-See also:fold numbers. The prince had been driven into an entrenched position above Gahmig near Dresden and Daun was about to attack, but the See also:mere name of Frederick was enough, and learning of his arrival Daun fell back to Stolpen on the 12th of September. The Prussian army now lay around See also:Grossenhain, Prince Henry's force covering Dresden and the Elbe See also:bridges. The Empire Army was at Pirna, Daun at Stolpen, and See also:Alma. in these positions they remained until the 26th of September, the Prussians getting the See also:rest they so urgently needed. On that date, however, the See also:state of truce was broken and the king moved towards Bischofswerda, where Daun's subordinate Loudon was posted. The latter retired, opening the road to Bautzen. The king arrived at Bautzen on the 7th of October and had to wait until the loth for provisions from Dresden. He then moved forward to Hochkirch, where he found Daun strongly entrenched across his path at Kittlitz with 9o,000 men, the Prussians having only 37,000. The king determined to attack the Austrian right. So confident had the Prussians become in the belief that Daun would never take the offensive himself that the most elementary precautions of safety were forgotten and only Zieten kept his horses saddled. During the night of the 13th the Austrians, leaving their watch-fires burning and moving silently through the See also:woods, which covered much of the ground, formed up almost all round the Prussian camp. At 5 a.m. the attack was delivered from all quarters simultaneously and a most desperate struggle ensued. Nothing but the superb discipline of the Prussians saved the situation. Zieten with his squadrons managed to keep a way of escape open, and after a most obstinate conflict the See also:wreck of the army succeeded in withdrawing, leaving rot guns and 9450 men on the ground or in their enemies' hands (25.5%). The Austrians, in spite of the See also:advantage of a well-conceived surprise, lost 7590 men and were too shaken for pursuit. They fell back to their old camp, where they remained for a See also:week, thus giving Frederick time to bring up reinforcements from Dresden (6000 men) and, starting on the 23rd, he marched right round the Austrian right and raised the siege of See also:Neisse, the See also:prime object with which he had set out. Daun, learning that the king had gone past him into Silesia, now laid siege to Dresden. On the 15th of November he heard that Frederick was marching to its relief through See also:Lusatia and incontinently gave way, retiring on Pirna. The king was in Dresden again on the loth. Campaign of 1759.—The drain on Frederick's resources had been prodigious. On the battlefields of the previous three years he had lost at least 75,000 men, not counting the See also:waste of See also:life in his marches and skirmishes; but he still managed to keep 150,000 men in the field, though for want of the old two years' training in loading, firing and manoeuvring the See also:average efficiency had much diminished. In cavalry, too, he was relatively weaker, as there was no time to See also:train the remounts. His enemies See also:felt their losses far less and were beginning to understand his See also:tactics; fortunately they remained incapable of combined action. After minor operations on the frontiers the Russians took the field. Fermor had been superseded by Soltikov, and Dohna with his 18,000 men proved quite inadequate to See also:arrest the Russians' progress. He was superseded by Wedell, who, on the 23rd of July, with 26,000 men boldly attacked the 70,000 Russians whilst on the march near Zullichau. He was defeated with a loss of 6000 and fell back to See also:Crossen See also:bridge, 5 M. below Crossen, which Soltikov occupied next day, thence he moved down the river towards Frankfurt, keeping on the eastern See also:bank. Daun had detached Loudon and Hadik with •35,000 men to join him, and it became vital to Frederick to prevent the See also:combination. Leaving Prince Henry at Schmottseifen to watch Daun, he marched with all available forces and joined Wedell on the 6th of August at Mullrose near Frankfurt, after vainly searching for the Hadik-Loudon force. Here he was joined on the loth by See also:Finck with ro,000 men, bringing his whole force up to 50,000 against the Russian and Austrian 90,000, who lay entrenched in the sandhills about Kunersdorf. On the 11th he crossed his whole force over the Oder at Reitwein and on the 12th marched forward, intending to envelop the Russians on both flanks; but his columns lost their way in the woods and their attacks were delivered successively. In spite of their usual disciplined gallantry, the Prussians were completely beaten, even Seydlitz and his squadrons failed to achieve the impossible, and the night closed down on the greatest calamity Frederick had ever experienced. Of 43,000 men 20,720 (48.2%) were left on the ground and 178 guns and 28 colours fell into the hands of the enemy; and the allied Austro-Russian force only lost 15,700. The battle had only lasted six hours. In the depression following this terrible day he wrote to Schmettau, commanding at Dresden, telling him to expect no help, and on the 4th of September Dresden fell. As usual Frederick was saved by the sluggishness of his enemies, who attempted no pursuit, and being reinforced the day after the battle by 23,000 men, and having ordered up See also:Kleist (who had been watching the Swedes), he was again at `~8Xe1II' the head of an army. Week after week went by, during which he countered all attempts of Daun and Soltikov to combine, and ultimately the Russians, having consumed all the See also:food and See also:forage in the districts they occupied, were compelled to fall back on their own frontiers. Then, uniting with Prince Henry, the king turned to fall upon Daun; but his contempt for his adversary proved his own undoing. Contrary to all his own teaching, he sent a detachment of 12,000 men under Finck to See also:work round the Austrians' flank by Dippoldiswald to Maxen, but the latter, learning of the movement and calling up a wing of the Empire Army to their assistance, fell upon Finck with 42,000 men and compelled him to surrender after two days' hard fighting. The combination having failed, the two armies stood facing one another till far into the winter. But for Prince Ferdinand's glorious victory at See also:Minden on the 1st of August, the year would have been one See also:catalogue of disaster to the Prussian arms, and these operations must now be mentioned. In the See also:early See also:part of 1758 Prince Ferdinand with 30,000 men had advanced from See also:Luneburg and was joined by Prince Henry with 8600 from Halberstadt. The approach of the latter threatened the right wing of the French army under Clermont, which was posted along the Aller, and the whole line gave way and retreated without making any serious stand behind the See also:Rhine. Prince Ferdinand followed and defeated them on the 23rd of June at See also:Crefeld. Clermont was relieved by Contades and at the same time See also:Soubise, who had at last reorganized his command, shattered by the disaster of Rossbach, moved forward through See also:Hesse and compelled Prince Ferdinand to withdraw from his very advanced position. No engagement followed; Soubise fell back upon Frankfurt and Prince Ferdinand held a line through See also:Munster, See also:Paderborn and See also:Cassel during the winter. Fortunately events in Canada and the See also:glory of his victories had made Frederick's cause thoroughly popular in Great See also:Britain, and at last it became possible to detach a considerable force of British troops to Prince Ferdinand's assistance, whose conduct turned the scale in the See also:critical moment of the campaign. During the winter the French had organized their forces in two columns—based on Frankfurt and See also:Wesel respectively. See also:Broglie was now in command of the former; Contades still led the latter. In April Prince Ferdinand advanced to drive the French out of Hesse and Frankfurt, and actually reached See also:Bergen, a village some so m. to the north, but here he Minden. was defeated by Broglie (13th April) and forced to retreat the way he had come, the French following along their whole front and by sheer weight of numbers manoeuvring him successively out of each position he assumed. On the See also:roth of July Broglie surprised Minden, thus securing a bridge over the See also:Weser and free See also:access into Hanover, and light troops overran the south of the electorate. On the 16th Contades with the left column joined Broglie and the French now had some 6o,000 men against the 45,000 Ferdinand could See also:muster: The latter's position was extremely difficult, for the French had only to continue in See also:possession of the bridges at Minden to ruin the whole country by their exactions, and the position they held was too well protected on the flanks and too strong in front for direct attack. Kunersdort. Nevertheless Prince Ferdinand See also:drew up before it and met the French plundering raids by a See also:threat on their communication with Cassel, and as a further inducement to tempt Contades to attack him, he detached a column under Wangenheim, which entrenched itself across the only outlet by which the right of the French army could debouch from behind the marshes which See also:lie in the angle between the Weser and the Bastau, a small tributary joining the former below Minden. The bait took, and during the early hours of the 1st of August the French army moved out to attack Wangenheim. But Ferdinand's troops had been lying in instant readiness for action, and as soon as the outposts gave the alarm they were in motion in eight columns, i.e. practically deployed for action to meet the French as they emerged from their positions. Unfortunately the outpost reports were delayed by about two hours, owing to the heavy See also:gale and storm that was prevailing, and the French had made far greater progress with their deployment than Ferdinand had reckoned on. An almost front-tofront engagement ensued. Things were going badly with the Prussians when, through a See also:mistake in the delivery of an See also:order, the British See also:brigade (12th, loth, 23rd, 25th, 37th, 51st), followed by some Hanoverian battalions, began to advance straight upon the masses of French cavalry who stood protected by the See also:cross-fire of several batteries. Once launched, neither fire nor See also:shock could check their progress; halting for a moment to pour volleys into the charging squadrons hastily thrown against them, they swiftly resumed their advance. French infantry too were hurled against them, but were swept away by fire and bayonet, and presently they had pierced right through the French line of battle. Now came the moment when cavalry should have been at See also:hand to See also:complete the victory, and this cavalry, the Blues, the 1st and 3rd Dragoons, Scots Greys and loth Dragoons under See also:Lord See also:George (afterwards See also:Viscount) See also:Sackville (q.v.) stood ready, waiting only the order to advance. This Sackville refused to give, though called on three times by the prince; no satisfactory explanation of his conduct has ever been discovered, but he was tried by a See also:general See also:court-See also:martial and cashiered. Nevertheless, so brilliant had been the conduct of all the troops engaged, especially of the infantry brigade that the victory was won even in spite of this failure of the cavalry, and before evening the French were retreating as a demoralized mass towards Cassel, leaving some ro,000 men, 17 colours and 45 guns in the hands of the victors, who on their See also:side out of 43,000 had lost 2600 killed and wounded. Of the six British regiments that went into action 4434 strong, 1330 (30%) had fallen, but their feat is not to be measured only by the losses victoriously See also:borne—these were not unusual in the period—but by the astounding discipline they maintained throughout the advance, resuming their march after beating off cavalry charges with the cool precision of a See also:review in See also:peace-time. Ferdinand followed up his victory by a pursuit which was vigorous for three days and had all but reached the Rhine when his movement was stayed by the See also:necessity of detaching 12,000 men to the king to make See also:good the losses of Kunersdorf. Campaign of r76o.-The year opened gloomily for Frederick. His embarrassment both for men and See also:money was extreme, and his enemies had at last agreed on a combined See also:plan against him. They purposed to advance in three columns concentrically upon him: Daun with roo,000 men in Saxony, Loudon with 50,000 from Silesia, Soltikov's Russians from East Prussia; and, against whichever column the king turned, the others were to continue towards Berlin. Only in Hanover were the conditions more favourable, for Ferdinand had 70,000 (20,000 British) against the 125,000 of the French. Early in April the king stood with 40,000 men, west of the Elbe near See also:Meissen facing Daun, Prince Henry with 34,000 in Silesia from Crossen to See also:Landeshut, 15,000 under Forcade and Jung-Stutterheim in Pomerania facing the Swedes and Russians. Towards the end of May Loudon moved to besiege See also:Glatz, and See also:Fouque, who commanded at Landeshut, marched with 13,000 to cover Breslau. Loudon at once seized Landeshut, and Fouque, returning in response to urgent orders from the king, was attacked by Loudon with 31,000 men and almost destroyed. Meanwhile, Prince Henry had moved to Landsberg against the Russians, but failed to seize his opportunities and thus Silesia lay open to the Austrians. Frederick decided to march with his main body against Loudon and attack him if unsupported, but, if his movement induced Daun to move to Loudon's support, then to See also:double back and besiege Dresden. For this purpose a siege train was held in readiness at See also:Magdeburg. He marched rapidly on Bautzen, then hearing that Daun was approaching to support Loudon he returned and besieged Dresden (July 12th). The town was bombarded, there being no time for See also:regular siege approaches, but it held out, and by the 28th of July Daun's army returning had almost surrounded Frederick. The siege had to be raised, and during the night of the 29th of July the Prussians slipped away to Meissen. On the same day Frederick learnt that Glatz, the See also: The Austrians, however, had planned a night attack, and Loudon's columns were moving to close this last loophole of escape. Fortunately for the Prussians they arrived just a few minutes too late, and in the combat that ensued 15,000 Prussians inflicted a loss of 1o,00o men and 82 guns upon their assailants, afterwards resuming their march undisturbed. But the danger was not yet over. Czernicheff was known to be in the immediate vicinity; so as to get him out of the way, Frederick gave to a See also:peasant a despatch addressed to Prince Henry containing the words: " Austrians totally defeated to-day, now for the Russians. Do what we agreed upon." The peasant was to take care to be captured by the Russians and only give up the See also:paper to See also:save his life. The plan worked as he had anticipated, the paper duly reached Czernicheff's hands and he immediately evacuated the dangerous neighbourhood. Elated with his success the king now abandoned his retreat on Glogau and determined to See also:press, on at all hazards to Breslau, which in spite of many anxious moments he reached on the 17th of August. The Russians now abandoned the campaign in the open field and besieged Colberg on the Baltic See also:coast. Frederick in Silesia manoeuvred for some weeks between Breslau, Schweidnitz and Glatz, but was suddenly recalled by the news of the capture of Berlin on the 9th of October by See also:Cossacks and portions of the Empire Army and Austrians from Saxony. On the 11th of October the king was in full march, but the news of his approach was enough and the enemy dispersed, the Austrians and Empire Army making for See also:Torgau. Daun, relieved of Frederick's pressure, now also moved to Torgau, leaving Loudon Torgau. in Silesia, and had concentrated over 64,000 men at and around Torgau before Frederick had collected an attacking force of 45,000. The position held by the Austrians was an entrenched camp fronting in all directions, but it was too cramped for their numbers and difficult to leave for a See also:counter-stroke. Frederick determined to attack it both front and rear, and leaving Zieten to See also:act against the former, he marched off at 6.3o of the 3rd of November to attack it as soon as Zieten should have thoroughly attracted the enemy's See also:attention. But for once Zieten failed; he allowed himself to be See also:drawn off by the Austrian light troops, and Frederick, in See also:ignorance of the real state of affairs, launched his grenadiers against a thoroughly intact enemy, strongly entrenched, with, it is said, 400 guns in position to sweep the approaches. The grenadiers were simply swept away by grape and See also:case—only 600 out of 6000 remained, and Prussian batteries hurrying up to their support were destroyed before they had time to load. The attack was, however, renewed U4 uz 3/4 1 Mile by fresh brigades as they came to hand, and the Prussian See also:artillery did something to diminish the intensity of the Austrian case fire. The action began at 2 p.m. At 4.30, as the See also:sun was setting, the king's last reserve of See also:horse and See also:foot at last succeeded in breaking the Austrian line and in the darkness there ensued a confused slaughter as at Zorndorf. The result was still in the See also:balance when at length Zieten reached the field and attacked at once. For an See also:hour or so the struggle still raged, but the Austrians were by now completely spent and withdrew gradually into tie fortress and then across the river. Out of 44,000 the Prussia-is had lost 13,120 men (30%), out of 65,000 the Austrians only 11,260 (17.3°'o), but of these over 7000 were prisoners. Both sides, however, were completely paralysed by the struggle, and the year ended without further effort on either side. On the western See also:theatre of war Prince Ferdinand after the victory of Warburg had pressed the French back to the Rhine and besieged Wesel, but was compelled to raise the siege after suffering the defeat of Kloster-Kamp (16th Oct.) and to withdraw to See also:Lippstadt and Warburg. Campaign of 1761.—Torgau proved to be Frederick's last great battle. All parties were now so completely exhausted that they no longer were able to See also:face the risks of a decision on the field. In the west Prince Ferdinand was first in the field, and in See also:February and March he drove the French southward as far as See also:Fulda, but an See also:attempt to capture See also:Marburg failed and the See also:gradual pressure of French numerical superiority, togetherwith the reduction of the British contingent on the See also:death of George II., compelled him to retreat gradually until by the beginning of October both Brunswick and See also:Wolfenbuttel fell into their hands. In the east the king had barely roo,000 men against 300,000 Austrians and Russians. Leaving Prince Henry to observe Daun in Saxony he marched to join von der See also:Goltz, who with 23,000 stood about Schweidnitz. The Russians (50,000) under Buturlin were approaching from Posen, and Loudon with 72,000 men starting from Glatz manceuvred to join them. After two months' skirmishing and marching the Allies effected their junction between Liegnitz and Jauer, having completely severed Frederick's communications with Prussia. But Frederick depended for his food and immediate supplies on Southern Silesia, and not caring to risk a battle with odds of three to one against him he withdrew into the entrenched camp of Bunzelwitz, where the Allies did not dare to attack him. Ultimately, as usual, the Russian commissariat broke down, and in September Buturlin withdrew the way he had come. Relieved of this antagonist, Frederick manceuvred to draw _Loudon out of his positions and compel him to fight in the open, but Loudon refused the See also:challenge and after an attempt to surprise Schweidnitz, which failed, withdrew into winter quarters. Prince Henry in Saxony held his own against Daun. England now threatened to withdraw her subsidies, and as the Prussian armies had dwindled to 6o,000 men the end seemed very near. But a turn of See also:fortune was already at hand. On the 5th of January 1762 the tsarina died, and her successor, See also:Peter III., at once offered peace. On the 16th of March an See also:armistice was agreed to, and shortly afterwards the treaty of St See also:Petersburg was signed, by which Pomerania was given back to Prussia and a contingent of 18,000 men placed at Frederick's disposal. The withdrawal of the Russians led in turn to the withdrawal of the Swedes, and thus only France and Austria remained-the former bled See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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