by G. A. Henty
Chapter 12: Another Step.
The Russian infantry being involved in the turmoil and confusioncaused by the charge of Seidlitz, and the defeat of their cavalry,the Prussian infantry again pressed forward, pouring in a heavyfire and charging with the bayonet. Three battalions had been drawnfrom this very country and, maddened by the tales they had heard ofCossack cruelty, were not to be denied. The Russians, however,keeping their ranks, filling up the gaps as they were formed, andreturning as best they could the fire of the Prussians, heldtogether with sullen obstinacy. By this time the ammunition on bothsides was exhausted, and now the struggle became hand to hand,bayonet against bayonet, butt end of musket to butt end.
Seldom has so terrible a struggle ever been witnessed. Nightfallwas approaching. Foot by foot the inert Russian mass was pushedbackwards. One of their generals, Demikof, collected some twothousand foot and a thousand horse, and took possession of a knoll;and Frederick ordered them to be dispersed again. Forcade wasordered to attack them with two battalions, and General Rutter tobring up the Dohna men again and take them in flank; but the latterhad not recovered from their state of demoralization, and at thefirst cannon shot turned and ran, continuing their flight evenfurther than before, and taking refuge in the woods. Frederickinstantly dismissed Rutter from the service.
Then, as night had completely fallen, the terrible conflict ceased.Fermor by this time, finding that there was no crossing the rivers,had returned. No regiment or battalion of his army remained inorder. There was but a confused crowd, which the officers did theirbest to form into some sort of order, regardless of regiment orbattalion. The Cossacks scoured the fields under the cover ofnight, plundering the dead and murdering the wounded, flamesmarking their path. Four hundred of them were caught at their workby the Prussian hussars, and every one killed.
Frederick sent for his tents, and the army pitched its camp, facingthe Russians; but during the night the latter, having got into asort of order, moved away to the westward and bivouacked on DrewitzHeath, facing the battle ground.
Fermor had some twenty-eight thousand men still with him, whileFrederick had eighteen thousand. The former's loss had beentwenty-one thousand, five hundred and twenty-nine killed, wounded,or missing; of whom eight thousand were killed. That of thePrussians was eleven thousand, three hundred and ninety, of whomthree thousand six hundred and eighty were killed. Thus each sidelost a third of its number in this terrible struggle.
The next morning the Russians got into better order, and drew up inorder of battle. A cannonade was for some time kept up on bothsides, but the armies were beyond range of artillery.
Neither party had any real thoughts of fighting. Fermor, beaten onhis own ground the day before, could not dream of attacking thePrussians. The latter were worn out by the fatigues of the previousday. Moreover, on each side the musketry ammunition was used up.The hussars, pursuing the Cossacks, had in the night come upon theRussian waggon train at Kleim, and carried off a good deal ofportable plunder.
The next morning, under cover of a fog, the Russians retreated,reached their baggage, and then moved slowly away; and, harassed byDohna, sullenly continued their retreat to the Russian frontier. IfFrederick could have pressed them, he would probably have wonanother victory; but he had news which called him to hasten awaywest to join Prince Henry, as his presence there was urgentlyrequired for the defence of Saxony.
Fergus had been with the king, when the Dohna regiments gave waybefore the impetuous charge of the Russians; the rest of the staffhaving been sent away, one after the other, either to bring upSeidlitz or to order a fresh movement among the infantry; and asthe king rode down to endeavour to restore order, he followedclosely behind him. The confusion was terrible. The Russian horse,mixed up with the infantry, were sabring and trampling them down.
Suddenly three of them dashed at the king. Fergus, setting spurs tohis horse, interposed between them and Frederick. One of theRussians was ridden over, horse and man, by the impetus of hisrush. The other two attacked him furiously, and for a moment he wasvery hard pressed. He kept his horse prancing and curvetting, andmanaged to keep both his assailants on his right; until at last hecut one down and, half a minute later, ran the other through thebody.
"Gallantly done, Major Drummond," the king said quietly as,wheeling his horse, Fergus returned back to take his post behindhim. "I shall not forget that you have saved my life."
Then, without further comment, Frederick continued his work tryingto rally the infantry; ordering, entreating, and even laying thecane he always carried across their shoulders.
A minute later there was a thunder of hoofs, and Seidlitz burstdown upon the Russian mass, changing in a moment the fate of thebattle. Excited by the late encounter, Fergus's horse took its bitbetween its teeth, joined Seidlitz's cavalry as they swept pastand, in spite of the efforts of its rider, plunged with him intothe midst of the fight. For the next few minutes Fergus had butslight knowledge of what was going on, he being engaged in a seriesof hand-to-hand fights with both cavalry and infantry. Three timeshe was wounded, and then the pressure ceased, and he was againgalloping across the moors in pursuit of the Russian horse.
It was not until Seidlitz's force drew rein that he recovered thecontrol of his horse. Its flank was bleeding from a bayonet gash,and a bullet had gone through its neck. The first wound was ofcomparatively small consequence, but he feared that the other wasserious; but though the horse panted from its exertion andexcitement, its breath came regularly; and it was evident that theball had not hit the spine, for had it done so it would have fallenat once.
He turned and rode back with the cavalry, who dismounted a shortdistance from the scene of action, in readiness to take their partagain, should they be required; while he pursued his way to thespot where the king had stationed himself, surrounded by several ofhis staff. The king glanced at him, and then said:
"You are relieved from duty, Major Drummond. Let one of thesurgeons see to you, at once."
Fergus rode but a short distance and then, turning suddenly faint,he slid from his horse to the ground. One of the staff, happeningto look round, at once rode back to him.
"You had best let me bandage up your wounds roughly," he said. "Itwill be difficult to find a surgeon, now that they are all up totheir eyes in work, somewhere in the rear."
Fergus had received two severe wounds in the face, and a bayonetthrust through his leg. The officer did his best to stanch thebleeding, and was still occupied in doing so when Karl rode up,jumped from his horse, and ran to his master's side.
"Where have you been, Karl?" Fergus asked, for the soldier had alsoreceived a severe wound in the head.
"I followed you, master, as in duty bound; but I was some distancebehind you, and in that melee I could not get near you; and beingmixed up with one of the squadrons, I did not see you as you cameback, and was in a great state about you until, on riding up to thestaff, one of the officers pointed you out to me."
"I think that you are in good hands now," the officer said. "I willjoin the king again."
Fergus thanked him warmly, but in a weak voice.
"The first thing, master, is for you to get a drink," Karl said;and he took, from the holster of Fergus's saddle, a flask that hehad placed there that morning. "Take a good drink of this," hesaid, "then I will see to your wounds. It is plain enough to seethat that officer knew nothing about them."
Fergus drank half of the contents of the flask, and then handed itto Karl.
"You finish it up," he said. "You want it as much as I do."
"Not so much, master; but I want it badly enough, I own."
Having drank, he proceeded to rebandage his master's wounds, firstlaying on them rolls of lint he took from his own saddlebag.
"I never go on a campaign without lint and a bandage or two," hesaid. "Many a life has been lost that might easily enough have beensaved, had they been at hand."
He laid the lint on the wounds, and then bound them firmly andevenly. He had a bandage left, w
hen he had finished this. With theaid of a man who was limping to the rear, he used it for stanchinghis own wounds.
"Well, master," he said, "you cannot do better than lie here, forthe present. I will look after the horses, and fasten them up tothat bush. The battle is going on as fiercely as ever, and looks asif it would go on until dark. If so, there will be no collectingthe wounded tonight; but as soon as I see where the king bivouacs,I will get you there somehow."
"I shall do very well here--at any rate, for the present, Karl. Inthe meantime, it would be a good thing if you would take the twohorses down to the brook, and give them a good drink. You mayn'tget a chance later on. As my horse Turk is wounded in two places, Ihave no doubt the poor beast is as thirsty as I am."
"The bayonet wound is of no consequence," Karl said, afterexamining the horse's flanks; "except that it has taken a good bitoff its value. I don't think this bullet wound through the neck isserious, either."
In an hour Karl returned, leading the horses.
"I feel all the better for a wash, captain. I wish you could haveone, too. I have filled my water bottle, but you will want thatbefore morning."
By means of the valises and cloaks, Fergus was propped up into ahalf-sitting position; and he remained where he was until, afternightfall, the din of battle ceased. He had eaten a few mouthfulsof bread, and felt stronger; and by the time the tents werepitched, and the bivouac fires lighted, he was able to stand. WithKarl's assistance he mounted in side-saddle fashion and, Karlleading the horses, made for the tents of the king's staff, fivehundred yards away. Captain Diedrich, the officer who shared thetent with Fergus, helped Karl to lift him down and carry him in.
"Do you want a surgeon to see you?"
"No, they must have thousands of serious cases on hand. I merelyfainted from loss of blood. The two wounds in my head cannot bevery serious, and Karl has bandaged them up as well as a surgeoncould do. The worst wound is in my leg. The bayonet went rightthrough it, and for a moment pinned it to the saddle. However, itis but a flesh wound, behind the bone about six inches below theknee. It bled very freely at first, but Karl stanched it, and ithas not burst out since; so it is evident that no great harm isdone."
"I will bring you in some wine and water now," Diedrich said. "Theyare getting supper, and I will send you a bowl of soup, as soon asit is ready."
After Karl had tethered the horses--that of Fergus with the othersbelonging to the staff, and his own with those of the escort andstaff orderlies--he sat down at one of the fires, ate hissupper--for each man carried three days' provisions in hishaversack--and, chatting with his comrades, heard that several ofthe orderlies had been killed in the fight; and that four of theofficers of the royal staff had also fallen under the enemy's fire,as they carried messages through the storm of case shot andbullets. All agreed that never had they seen so terrible a fight,and that well-nigh a third, if not more, of the army had beenkilled or wounded.
"We made a mistake about these Russians," one of the troopers said."They are dirty, and they don't even look like soldiers, but Inever saw such obstinate beggars to fight. From the moment thecavalry made their first charge they were beaten, and ought to havegiven in; but they seemed to know nothing about it, and that secondline of theirs charged as if it was but the beginning of a battle.I was never so surprised in my life as when they poured down on us,horse and foot; but all that was nothing to the way they stood,afterwards. If they had been bags of sawdust they could not havebeen more indifferent to our fire.
"That was a bad business of Dohna's men. I thought, when we joinedthem, they looked too spick and span to be any good; but that theyshould run, almost as fast and far as the men of the Federal armyat Rossbach, is shameful. Neither in the last war nor in this has aPrussian soldier so disgraced himself.
"I don't envy them. I don't suppose a man in the army will speak tothem, and we may be sure that it will be a long time, indeed,before our Fritz gets over it. It will need some hard fighting, andsomething desperate in the way of bravery, before he forgives them.
"How is your master, Karl?"
"He will do. He has got three wounds, and lost a lot of blood; butin a fortnight he will be in the saddle again. Perhaps less, for heis as hard as steel."
"He saved the king's life, Karl. I was twenty yards away, and waswedged in so that there was no moving, except backwards; forDohna's men were half mad with fright, and the Russians werecutting and slashing in the middle of us."
"I saw it," Karl said. "I was close to you at the time. I put spursto my horse and rode over three or four of our own men, and cutdown one who grasped my reins; but I got there too late. I had nogreat fear of the result, though. Why, you know, he killed sixPomeranians who were looting Count Eulenfurst's place, close toDresden; and he made short work of those three Russians. It wasdone beautifully, too. They tried to get one on each side of him,but he kept them on his right, and that made a safe thing of it.
"He is a quiet, good-tempered officer. There is as much fun abouthim as a boy, but when his spirit is up, there are not manyswordsmen in the army that could match him. Why, when he firstjoined, nearly three years ago, he was in the 3rd Royal Dragoons,my own regiment; and I heard the sergeant who was in the fencingroom say that there was not an officer in the regiment who was amatch for him with the sword.
"Now I have finished my pipe, and must be going to look after himagain."
The king's surgeon examined Fergus's wounds the next morning, andsaid that, although he would not be able to sit a horse until hisleg had healed, he would otherwise soon be convalescent.
Soon after he had left him, Sir John Mitchell came in to see him.As the English ambassador had very often, during the last twowinters, met Fergus in the king's apartments, at which he himselfwas a regular visitor, they were by this time well known to eachother. Mitchell, indeed, regarded Fergus as a valuable assistant inhis work of interesting Frederick, and turning his mind from hismany troubles and anxieties.
"The surgeon has just given a good account of you to the king,Drummond," he said; "and his majesty expressed much satisfaction athearing that your wounds are not serious.
"'That youth is not like most of your compatriots, Mitchell,' hesaid to me with a smile; 'ever ready to fight, but equally ready tojoin in a drinking bout, should opportunity offer. He is always onhorseback, and as hardy and as healthy as can be. With one of thehard-drinking sort, fever might set in; but there is no risk of itwith him.
"'As I told you, he saved my life yesterday. I was nearly compelledto take to my sword, but that would have been of little availagainst the three Russians. Save for the sake of Prussia, my lifeis of no great value to me, for 'tis one full of care and trouble;but for my country's sake I would fain hold on to it, as long asthere is hope for her deliverance from her enemies.
"'You can congratulate him on his promotion, Mitchell, for I madehim a major on the spot. It was a brilliant feat, as brilliant asthat which he performed at Lobositz, or that at Count Eulenfurst'shouse at Dresden, each of which got him a step. 'Tis not often thatan officer gets thrice promoted for distinguished bravery. Eachtime the feat was the talk of the whole army; and it will not beless so at the present time, methinks, nor will any feel jealous athis rapid rise.'"
"The king is too kind, your excellency."
"I do not think so, Drummond. I have marked you a good deal duringthe last two years, and you have borne yourself well; and as aScotchman I am proud of you. You have the knack of your kinsmanKeith of entering into the king's humours; of being a brightcompanion when he is in a good temper, and of holding your tonguewhen he is put out; of expressing your opinion frankly, and yetnever familiarly; and your freshness and hopefulness often, I see,cheer the king, whose Prussians cannot, for their lives, help beingstiff and formal, or get to talk with him as if he were a humanbeing like themselves.
"Next to Keith and myself, I think that there is no one with whomthe king can distract his mind so completely as with you. To him itis like getting a whiff of the fresh air f
rom our Scottish hills.He told the surgeon to see that you were sent down with the firstbatch of wounded officers."
The next day, accordingly, while the two armies were watching eachother and the cannon were growling, Fergus was taken down toFrankfort.
Zorndorf was fought on the 25th of August; and on the 2nd ofSeptember Frederick started with the army for Saxony, where PrinceMaurice had been sorely pressed by Daun and the newly-raised armyof the Confederates, and had had to take post on some heights ashort distance from Dresden.
"A bad job, major," Karl grumbled as he brought the news to Fergus,who was quartered in a private house. "The king has gone to have aslap at Daun; and here are we, left behind. If he would have waitedanother fortnight, we might have been with him."
"Perhaps we shall get there in time yet, Karl. You may be sure thatas soon as Daun hears that the king is coming he will, as usual,begin to fortify himself; and it will need no small amount ofmarching and counter-marching to get him to come out and givebattle. He was slow and cautious before, but after Leuthen he islikely to be doubly so.
"However, I will get a tailor here today to measure me for a newuniform. What with blood, and your cutting my breeches to get at myleg, I must certainly get a new outfit before I rejoin.
"I hope I shall be with the marshal again. It is a good deal morelively with him than it is with the king's staff; who, although nodoubt excellent soldiers, are certainly not lively companions. I dohope there will be no great battle until we get there. I shouldthink I might start in a week."
The surgeon, however, would not hear of this; and it was the end ofthe third week in September before Fergus rode from Frankfort. Thenews from the south was so far satisfactory that he had fidgetedless than he would otherwise have done. Daun had, in fact, retiredhastily from Meissen, and had taken post in an almost impregnableposition at Stolpen. Neisse was being besieged and must berelieved, but Daun now blocked Frederick's way at Stolpen, both tothat town and to Bautzen--cut him off, indeed, from Silesia, andfor the moment the royal army and that of Prince Maurice were lyingat Dresden. Fergus, therefore, was content to follow the doctor'sorders, and to spend four days on the journey down to Dresden.
Keith was there, and received him joyfully. Lindsay greeted himvociferously.
"So you have gone up another step above me," he laughed. "Never wasa fellow with such luck as you have. Saved the king's life, I hear.Tumbled over scores of Russians. Won the victory with your ownsword."
"Not quite as much as that, Lindsay," Fergus laughed. "The scoresof Cossacks come down to three, of whom one my horse tumbled over,and I managed the other two. Still, although the battle was onlyhalf finished when I was put out of all further part in it, I maybe said in one way to have won it; for had the king fallen, thereis no saying how matters might have gone. It is true that we couldnot have lost it, for the Russians were past taking the offensive,but it might have been a drawn battle."
"It was a terrible business," Lindsay said seriously. "As bad inits way as Prague, that is to say in proportion to the numbersengaged. Everyone says they would rather fight three Austrians thanone Russian. The marshal has rather scored off the king; for hewarned him that, though slow, the Russians were formidable foes,but the king scoffed at the idea. He has found out now that hegreatly undervalued them, and has owned as much to Keith.
"I am sorry to say the marshal is not well. He suffers a good deal,and I fancy that, after this campaign is over, he will ask to berelieved from active duty in the field, and will take the commandof the army covering Dresden. He has led a hard life, you see, andhas done as much as three ordinary men.
"Still, we shall see how he is next spring. It would almost breakhis heart to have to give up before this war is over."
"It is difficult to say when that will be, Lindsay. Here we are,getting towards the third year, and the war is not one whit nearerto the end than it was when we left Berlin. It is true that we haveno longer to count France as formidable, but Russia has turned outfar more so than we expected; and having once taken the matter up,the empress, if she is half as obstinate as her soldiers, is likelyto go on at it for a long time. And we are using up our army veryfast, and cannot replace our losses as Austria and Russia can do."
"I hope they are not going to make another twenty years' war ofit," Lindsay said. "If you go on in the way that you are doing,Drummond, you will be a field marshal in a third of that time; butyou must remember about the proverb of the pitcher and the well."
"Yes, Lindsay, but you must remember that I am having a share ofhard knocks. I have been wounded twice now, to say nothing of beingstunned and taken prisoner; so you see I am having my share of badluck, as well as good. Now at present you have never had as much asa scratch, and when your bad luck comes, it may come all in alump."
"There is something in that, Fergus, though I own that I had notthought of it. Well, perhaps it is better to take it in small dosesthan have it come all at once.
"So you have brought your man back safe, I see, though he has hadan ugly slash across the cheek.
"By the way, I hope that those two sword cuts are not going toleave bad scars, Drummond. It would be hard to have your beautyspoilt for life, and you only nineteen; though, fortunately,everyone thinks you two or three years older. However, they will behonourable scars, and women don't mind any disfigurement in a man,if it is got in battle. It is a pity, though, that you did not getthem when defending the king's life, instead of in the cavalrycharge afterwards.
"You brought your horse safe out of the battle, I hope?"
"He has, like myself, honourable scars, Lindsay. He got an uglygash on the flank with a bayonet; and I am afraid, when it heals,white hair will grow on it. He had also a bullet through the neck.Fortunately it missed both spine and windpipe, and is quite healedup now."
"It is really a pity to take such a horse as that under fire,"Lindsay said regretfully.
"Well, when one risks one's own life, one ought not to mind riskingthat of a horse, however valuable."
"No, I suppose not. Still, it is a pity to ride so valuable ananimal. You are paid so much for risking your own life, you see,Drummond; but it is no part of the bargain that you should riskthat of a horse worth any amount of money."
Fergus, on his arrival, called at once on Count Eulenfurst; who,with his wife and daughter, were delighted to see him, for he hadnow been absent from Dresden since Frederick had marched againstSoubise, thirteen months before.
"We heard from Captain Lindsay," the count said, "when the armyarrived here, some three weeks since, that you were wounded, butnot gravely; also, that for valour shown in defending the king,when he was attacked by three Russians, you had been promoted tothe rank of major, upon which we congratulate you heartily. And nowthat you have come, I suppose your king will soon be dashing awaywith you again.
"What a man he is, and what soldiers! I can assure you thatsometimes, when I read the bulletins, I am inclined to regret thatI was not born two days' journey farther north. And yet, in spiteof his fierce blows at all these enemies, there is no sign of peacebeing any nearer than when you dropped down to our rescue, sometwenty-seven months ago. 'Tis a terrible war."
"It is, indeed, count. Certainly, when I crossed the seas to takeservice here, I little thought how terrible was the struggle thatwas approaching. If we had known it, I am sure that my mother wouldnever have let me leave home."
"She must be terribly uneasy about you," the countess said. "Do youhear from her often?"
"She writes once a month, and so do I. I get her letters inbatches. I know that she must be very anxious, but she says nothingabout it in her letters. She declares that she is proud that I amfighting for a Protestant prince, so hemmed in by his enemies; andthat the thoughts and hopes of all England are with him, and thebells ring as loudly at our victories, through England andScotland, as they do at Berlin."
"If we of Saxony had understood the matter sooner," the count said,"we should be surely fighting now on your side; and indeed, had notFred
erick compelled his Saxon prisoners to serve with him, had hesent them all to their homes, there would have been no animosityand, as Protestants, the people would soon have come to see thatyour cause was their own. Most of them do see it, now; for wheneverthe enemy have entered Saxony, they have plundered and ill treatedthe people, especially the Protestants.
"Are your horses still alive?"
"Yes, count, and well, save that one was wounded at Zorndorf; butfor that he cannot blame me, for it was his own doing. WhenSeidlitz charged into the midst of the Russians, he passed close tous; and Turk, maddened by excitement, seized the bit in his teethand joined him in the melee. I got three wounds and he had two, buthappily he has been cured as rapidly as I have, though with noadvantage to the appearance of either of us."
"Will the scars on your face always show as they do now?" Thirzaasked.
"I am sure I hope not," he said. "At present they are barelyhealed; but in time, no doubt, the redness will fade out, and theywill not show greatly, though I daresay the scars will be alwaysvisible."
"I should be proud of them, Major Drummond," said Thirza,"considering that you got them in so great a battle, and one inwhich you rendered such service to the king."
"You see, I shall not be always able to explain when and how I gotthem," Fergus laughed. "People who do not know me will say:
"'There goes a young student, who has got his face slashed at theuniversity.'"
"They could not say that," she said indignantly. "Even if you werenot in uniform, anyone can see that you are a soldier."
"Whether or not, Countess Thirza, it is a matter that willcertainly trouble me very little. However, I begin to think that Ishall not always be a soldier. Certainly, I should not leave thearmy as long as this war goes on; but I have seen such terriblefighting, such tremendous carnage, that I think that at the end ofit, if I come out at the end, I shall be glad to take to a peacefullife. My cousin, Marshal Keith, has been fighting all his life. Heis a great soldier, and has the honour of being regarded by theking as his friend; but he has no home, no peace and quiet, nochildren growing up to take his place. I should not like to lookforward to such a life, and would rather go back and pass my daysin the Scottish glens where I was brought up."
"I think that you are right," the count said seriously. "Inordinary times a soldier's life would be a pleasant one, and hecould reckon upon the occasional excitement of war; but such a waras this is beyond all calculation. In these three campaigns, andthe present one is not ended, nigh half of the army which marchedthrough here has been killed or wounded. It is terrible to thinkof. One talks of the chances of war, but this is making deathalmost a certainty; for if the war continues another two or threeyears, how few will be left of those who began it!
"Even now a great battle will probably be fought, in a few days.Two great armies are within as many marches of Dresden. Thesmallest of them outnumbers Frederick. The other is fully twice hisstrength, and so intrenched, as I hear, that the position iswell-nigh impregnable."
"I expect the king will find means to force him out of it, withoutfighting," Fergus said with a smile. "Daun is altogether overcautious, and Leuthen is not likely to have rendered him moreconfident."
Fergus spent the greater part of his time at the count's, forMarshal Keith insisted upon his abstaining from all duty, until themarch began.
"We are off tomorrow morning," he said, when he went up on theevening of the 30th of September. "Where, I know not. Except theking, Marshal Keith, and Prince Maurice, I do not suppose thatanyone knows; but wherever it is, we start at daybreak."
"May you return, ere long, safe and sound!" the count said. "Isthere nothing that we can do for you? You know we regard you as oneof the family, and there is nothing that would give us greaterpleasure than to be able, in some way, to make you comfortable."
"I thank you heartily, count, but I need nothing; and if I did Icould purchase it, for it is but seldom that one has to put one'shand in one's pocket; and as a captain I have saved the greaterpart of my pay for the last two years, and shall pile up my hoardstill faster, now that I am a major.
"I have never had an opportunity, before, of thanking you for thatpurse which you handed to Karl, to be laid out for my benefit incase of need. He holds it still, and I have never had occasion todraw upon it, and hope that I never may have to do so."
The next morning the army, furnished with nine days' provisions,and leaving a force to face the army of the Confederates, strodealong the road at its usual pace. They took the road for Bautzen,drove off Loudon (who commanded Daun's northern outposts) withoutdifficulty, and so passed his flank. The advance guard pushed on toBautzen, drove away the small force there and, leaving there themagazines of the army, occupied Hochkirch, a few miles away. Theking with the main body arrived at Bautzen on the following day,and halted there, to see what Daun was going to do.
The latter was, in fact, obliged to abandon his stronghold; for thePrussians, at Hochkirch, menaced the road by which he drew hisprovisions from his magazines at Zittau. Marching at night, hereached and occupied a line of hills between Hochkirch and Zittau,and within a couple of miles of the former place.
Frederick had been forced to wait, at Bautzen, till another convoyof provisions arrived. When he joined the division at Hochkirch,and saw Daun's army on the opposite hills, busy as usual inintrenching itself, he ordered the army to encamp when they werewithin a mile of Daun's position.
Marwitz, the staff officer to whom he gave the order, argued andremonstrated, and at length refused to be concerned in the markingout of such an encampment. He was at once put under arrest, andanother officer did the work. Frederick, in fact, entertained asovereign contempt for Daun, with his slow marches, his perpetualintrenchings, and his obstinate caution; and had no belief,whatever, that the Austrian marshal would attempt to attack him. Hewas in a very bad humour, too, having discovered that Retzow hadfailed to take possession of the Stromberg, a detached hill whichwould have rendered the position a safe one. He put him underarrest, and ordered the Stromberg to be occupied.
The next morning the force proceeding to do so found, however, thatthe post was already occupied by Austrians; who resisted stoutlyand, being largely reinforced, maintained their position on thehill, on which several batteries were placed. It was now Tuesday,and Frederick determined to march away on the Saturday.
His obstinacy had placed the army in an altogether untenable anddangerous position. All his officers were extremely uneasy, andKeith declared to the king that the Austrians deserved to be hangedif they did not attack; to which Frederick replied:
"We must hope that they are more afraid of us than even of thegallows."