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13 - With Frederick The Great - A Story of the Seven Years' War by G A Henty · With Frederick The Great: A Story of the Seven Years' War

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter twelve, another step, the Russian infantry being involved in
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: the toym oil and confusion caused by the charge of
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: sedlets and the defeat of their cavalry, The Prussian infantry
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: again pressed forward, pouring in a heavy fire and charging
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: with the bayonet. Three battalions had been drawn from this
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: very country, and maddened by the tales they had heard
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: of Cossack cruelty, were not to be denied. The Russians, however,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: keeping their ranks, filling up the gaps as they were formed,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: and returning as best they could. The fire of the
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Prussians held together with a sullen obstinacy. By this time
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the ammunition on both sides was exhausted, and now the
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: struggle became hand to hand, bayonet against bayonet, butt end
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: of musket to butt end. Seldom has so terrible a
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: struggle ever been witnessed. Nightfall was approaching. Foot by foot,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: the inert Russian mass was pushed backwards. One of their generals,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the meetof collected some two thousand foot and a thousand
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: horse and took possession of a knoll, and Frederick ordered
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: them to be dispersed again. Fourcade was ordered to attack
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: them with two battalions and General Ruder to bring up
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the Dohanna men again and take them in flank. But
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: the latter had not recovered from their state of demoralization,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: and that the first cannon shot turned and ran, continued
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: their flight even further than before, and taking refuge in
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: the woods. Frederic instantly dismissed Ruder from the service. Then,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: as night had completely fallen, the terrible conflict ceased. Furmo
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: by this time, finding that there was no crossing the
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: river had returned, no regiment or battalion of his army
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: remained in order. There was but a confused crowd, which
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: the officers did their best to form into some sort
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: of order. Regardless of regiment or battalion. The Cossacks scoured
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: the field under the cover of night, plundering the dead
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: and murdering the wounded, flames marking their path. Four hundred
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: of them were caught at their work by the Prussian
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Hussars and everyone killed. Frederick sent for his tents and
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: the army pinched its camp facing the Russians. But during
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: the night that latter, having got into a sort of water,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: moved away to the westward and bivouacked on druids. Facing
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: the battleground. Furmore had some twenty eight thousand men still
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: with him, while Frederic at eighteen thousand. The former's loss
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: had been twenty one thousand, five hundred and twenty nine killed,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: wounded or missing, of whom eight thousand were killed. That
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: of the Prussians was eleven thousand, three hundred ninety, of
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: whom three thousand, six hundred and eighty killed. Thus each
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: side lost a third of its number in this terrible struggle.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: The next morning, the Russians got into better order and
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: drew up in order of battle. A candidate was for
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: some time kept up on both sides, but the armies
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: were beyond range of artillery. Neither party had any real
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: thoughts of fighting. Furmore, beaten on his own ground the
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: day before, could not dream of attacking the Prussians. The
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: latter were worn out by the fatigues of the previous day. Moreover,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: on each side the musketry ammunition was used up. The
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Husshas pursuing the Cossacks, had in the night come upon
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: the Russian wagon train and climb and carried off a
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: good deal of portable plunder. The next morning, under cover
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: of a fog. The Russians retreated, reached their baggage, and
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: then moved slowly away, and, harassed by Donor sullenly, continued
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: their retreat to the Russian frontier. If Frederic could oppress them,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: he would probably have won another victory, But he had
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: news which called him to hasten way west to join
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: PRIs Henry, as his presence there was urgently required for
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: the defense of Saxony. Fergus had been with the king
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: when Donna regiments gave way before the impetuous charge of
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: the Russians, the rest of the staff having been sent
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: away one after the other, either to bring up settlets
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: or to order a fresh movement among the infantry, and
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: as the king rode down to endeavor to restore order,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: he followed closely behind him. The confusion was terrible. The
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Russian horse, mixed up with the infantry, was sabering and
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: tramping them down. Suddenly three of them dashed at the king.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: Fergus set he dispers to his horse. Interposed between them
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: and Frederick. One of the Russians was ridden over horse
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: and man by the impudence of the rush. The other
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: two attacked him furiously and for a moment, he was
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: very hard pressed. He kept his horse prancing and curvetting,
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: and managed to keep both the assailants on his right
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: until at last he cut one down, and half a
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: minute later ran the other through the body. Gallantly done,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Major Drummond, the King said quietly, as wheeling his horse,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Fergus returned back to take his post behind him. I
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: shall not forget that you have saved my life. Then,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: without further comment, Frederick continued his work, trying to valley
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the infantry, ordering and treating, and even laying the cane
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: he always carried across his shoulders. A minute later, there
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: was a thunder of hoofs, and settlers burst down upon
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: the Russian mass, changing in a moment the fate of
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: the Battlely Excited by the late encounter, Fergus's horse took
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: its bit between its teeth, joined settles his cavalry as
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: he swept past, and, in spite of the efforts of
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: its rider, plunged with him into the midst of the fight.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: For the next few minutes, Fergus had but slight knowledge
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: of what was going on, he being engaged in a
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: series of hand to hand fights with both cavalry and
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: infantry three times he wounded, and then the PreCure ceased,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: and he was again galloping across the moors in pursuit
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: of the Russian horse. It was not until Sedlet's force
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: drew rein that he recovered the control of his horse.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: His flank was bleeding from a band at gash, and
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: a bullet had gone through its neck. The first wound
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: was of comparatively small consequence, but he feared that the
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: other was serious. But though the horse panted from its
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: exertion and excitement, its breath came regularly, and it was
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: evident that the ball had not hit the spine, for
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: had it done so, it would have fallen. At once,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: he turned and rode back with the cavalry, who dismounted
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: a short distance from the scene of action, in readiness
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: to take this part again should they be required. While
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: he pursued his way to the spot where the king
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: had stationed himself, surrounded by several of his staff, the
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: king glanced at him and then said, you are relieved
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: from duty. Major Drummond. Let one of the surgeons see
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: to you. At once. Fergus rode but a short distance,
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: and then turning suddenly faint he slid from his horse
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: to the ground. One of the staff happened to look
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: round at once rode back to him. You had best
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: let me bandage up your wounds roughly, he said. It
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: would be difficult to find a surgeon now that they
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: are all up to their eyes at work. Somewhere in
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: the rear. Fergus had received two severe wounds in the
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: face and a bayonet thrust through his leg. The officer
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: did his best to staunch the bleeding, and was still
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: occupied in doing so when Carl rode up, jumped from
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: his horse and ran to his master's side. Where have you,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: big call, Fergus asked for the Sojie had also received
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: a severe wound in the head. I followed you, master,
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: as in duty bound, but I was summedstance behind you,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: and in that melee I could not get near you,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: and being mixed up with one of the squadrons, I
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: did not see you as you came back, and was
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: in a great state about you, until on riding up
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: to the staff, one of the officers pointed you out
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: to me. I think that you are in good hands now,
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: the officer said, I will join the king again. Fergus
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: thanked him wanly, but in a weak voice. The first Stigmaster,
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: is for you to get a drink, Carl said, and
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: he took from the host of Fergus's saddle a flask
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: that had been placed there that morning. Take a good
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: drink of this, he said, then I will see to
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: your wounds. It is plain enough to see that that
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: officer knew nothing about them. Fergus drank half the contents
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: of the flask and then handed it to call you.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Finish it up. He said, you want it as much
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: as I do. Not so much, Master, but I want
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: it badly enough I own. Having drank, he proceeded to
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: rebandage his master's wounds, first laying on them rolls of
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: lit he took from his own saddle bed. I never
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: go on a campaign without lint and a bandage or two,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: he said. Many a life had been lost that might
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: have easily enough have been saved had they been at hand.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: He laid the lint on the wounds, and then bound
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: them firmly and evenly. He had a bandage left when
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: he had finished this, with the aid of a man
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: who was limping to the rear, he used it for
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: staunching his own wounds. Well, master, he said, you cannot
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: do better than lie here. For the present. I will
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: look after the horse and fasten them up to that bush.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: The battle is going on as fiercely as ever, and
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: looks as if it would go on until dark. If so,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: there will be no collecting the wounded tonight. But as
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: soon as I see where the king bivouacs, I will
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: get you there. Somehow. I shall do very well here
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: at any rate, for the present, Carl. In the meantime,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: it would be a good thing if you would take
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: the two horses down to the brook and give them
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: a good drink. You mayn't get a chance later on.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: As my horse turk is wound it in two places,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: I have no doubt the poor beast is as thirsty
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: as I am. The bayonet wound is of no consequence,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: call said as examining the horse's flanks, except that it
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: has taken a good bit of its value. I don't
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: think this bullet wounds through the neck as serious either
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: in and out. Karl returned, leading the horses. I feel
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: all the better for a wash, Captain. I wish you
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: could have one too. I have filled my water bottle,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: but will want that before morning. By means of leases
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: and cloaks, Fergus was propped up into a half sitting position,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: and he remained where he was until after nightfall the
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: din of battle ceased. He had eaten a few mouthfuls
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: of bread and felt stronger, and by the time the
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: tents were pitched and the bivouot fires lighted, he was
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: able to stand. With Call's assistance. He mounted in side
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: saddle fashion, and Call, leading the horses, made for the
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: tents of the King's staff five hundred yards away. Captain Dietrich,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: the officer who shared the tent with Fergus, helped Call
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: to lift him down and carry him in. Do you
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: want a surgeon to see you? No, they must have
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: thousands of serious cases on hand. I merely fainted from
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: loss of blood. The two wounds in my head cannot
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: be very serious, and Carl has bandaged them up as
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: well as the surgeon could do. The worst wound is
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: in my leg. The bayonet went right through it, and
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: from a woman pinned it to the saddle. However, it
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: is but a flesh wound behind the bone, about six
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: inches below the knee. It bled very freely at first,
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: but calls staunched it, and it has not burst out since,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: so it is evident that no great harm is done.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: I will bring him in some wine and water now,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Dietrich said, they are getting supper, and I will send
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: you a bowl of soup as soon as it is ready.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: If the Karl had tethered the horses, that of Fergus
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: with others belonging to the staff, and his own with
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: those of the escort and staff orderlies, he sat down
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: at one of the fires, ate his supper for each
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: man carried three days provisions in his have a sack,
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: and chatting with his comrades, herd that several of the
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: orderlies had been killed in the fight, and that four
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: of the officers of the royal staff had also fallen
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: under the enemy's fire. As they carried messages through the
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: storm of case shot and bullets, all agreed that never
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: had they seen so terrible a fight, and that well
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: nigh a third, if not more, of the army had
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: been killed or wounded. We made a mistake about these Russians.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: One of the troopers said, they are dirty, and they
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: don't even look like soldiers. But I never saw such
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: obstinate beggars to fight. From the moment moment the cavalry
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: made their first charge. They were beaten and ought to
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: have given in, But they seem to know nothing about it,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: and that second line of their charge as if it
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: was but the beginning of a battle. I was never
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: so surprised in my life as when they poured down
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: on us horse and foot. But all that was nothing
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: to the way they stood afterwards. If they had been
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: bags of sawdust, they could not have been more indifferent
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: to our fire. That was a bad business of Dona's men.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: I thought when we joined them they looked too spick
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: and span to be any good. But that they should
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: run almost as fast and far as the men of
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: the Federal Army at Rosback is shameful. Neither in the
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: last war nor in this has a Prussian soldier so
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: disgraced himself. I don't envy of it. I don't suppose
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: a man in the army will speak to them, And
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: we may be sure that it will be a long
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: time indeed, before our Fritz gets over it. It will
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: need some hard fighting and something desperate in the way
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: of bavery before he forgives them. How is your master call?
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: He will do. He has got three wounds, lost a
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: lot of blood, but at a fortnight he will be
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: in the saddle again, perhaps less, for he is as
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: hard as steel. He saved the king's life. Call I
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: was twenty yards away and was wedgeted so that there
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: was no moving except backwards. For Donta's men were half
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: mad with fright, and the Russians were cutting and slashing
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: in the middle of us. I saw it, Carl said,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: I was close to you at that time. I put
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: spurs to my horse and rode over three or four
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: of our own men and cut down one who grasped
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: my reins. But I got there too late. I had
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: no great fear to result, though. Why you know, he
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: killed six Pomeranians who were looting Count Juleen first place,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: close to Dresden, and he made short work of those
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: three Russians. It was done beautifully too. They tried to
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: get one on each side of him, but he kept
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: them on his right, and that made a safe thing
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: of it. He is a quiet, good tempered officer. There
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: is as much fun about him as a boy, and
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: when his spirit is up, there are not many swordsmen
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: in the army that could match him. Why when he
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: first joined nearly three years ago, he was in the
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: third Royal Dragoons, my own regiment, and I heard the
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: sergeant who was in the fencing room say there was
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: not an officer of the regiment who was a match
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: for him with the sword. Now I have finished my
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: pipe and must be going to look after him again.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: The King's surgeon examined Fergus's wounds the next morning and
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: said that although he would not be able to sit
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: a horse until his leg had healed, he would otherwise
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: soon be comevalescent. Soon after he had left him, Sir
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: John Mitchell came in to see him, as the English
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: ambassador had very often during the last two winters, met
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Fergus in the King's apartments, at which he himself was
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: a regular visitor. They were by this time well known
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: to each other. Mitchell indeed regarded Fergus as a valuable
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: assistant in his work of interesting Frederick and turning his
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: mind from his many troubles and anxieties. The surgeon has
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: just given a good account of you to the King, Drummond,
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: he said, and his Majesty expressed must satisfaction at hearing
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: that your wounds are not serious. The youth is not
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: like most of your compatriots, Mitchell, he said to me
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: with a smile, ever ready to fight, but equally ready
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: to join in a drinking bout should opportunity offer. He
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: is always on horseback, and as hearty and as healthy
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: as can be. With one of the hard drinking sort.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: Fever might set in, but there is no risk of
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: it with him. As I told you, he saved my
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: life yesterday. I was nearly compelled to take to my sword,
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: but that would have been of little avail against the
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: three Russians. Save for the sake of Prussia. My life
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: is of no great value to me, for tis one
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: full of care and trouble. But for my country's sake
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: I would fain hold on to it as long as
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: there is hope for her deliverance from enemies. You can
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: congratulate him on his promotion, Mitchell, for I made him
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: a major on a spot. It was a brilliant feat,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: as brilliant as that which he performed in Lobo Sits,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: or that at count Yulenford's house at Dresden, each of
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: which got him a step. 'tis not often that an
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: office he gets thrice promoted for distinguished bravery. Each time
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: the feat was the talk of the whole army, and
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: it will not be less so at the present time, methinks,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: nor will any feel jealous at his rapid rise. The
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: King is too kind, your excellency, I do not think so, Drummond.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: I have marked you a good deal during the last
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: two years, and you have borne yourself well, and as
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: a scotchman, I am proud of you. You have the
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: knack of your kingsman Keith, of entering into the King's humors,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: of being a bright companion when he is in a
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: good temper, and of holding your tongue when he has
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: put out, of expressing your opinion frankly and yet never familiarly,
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: and your freshness and hopefulness. Often I see cheer the King,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: whose pressions cannot, for their lives help being stiff and formal,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: or get to talk with him as if he were
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: a human being like ourselves. Next to Keith and myself,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: I think that there is no one with whom the
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: King can distract his mind so completely as with you.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: To him, it is like getting a whiff of the
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: fresh air from our Scottish hills. He told the surgeon
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: to see that you were sent down with the first
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: batch of wounded officers the next day. Accordingly, while the
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: two armies were watching each other and the cannon were growling,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: Fergus was taken down at Frankfort Zorndorf was fought on
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: the twenty fifth of August, and on a second of September,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Frederick started with the army for Saxony, where Prince Maurice
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: had been solely pressed by Dawn and the newly raised
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: army of the Confederates, and had had to take post
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: on some heights a short distance from Dresden. A bad
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: Job major called brumbled as he brought the news to Fergus,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: who was quartered in a private house. The King is
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: going to have a slap at dawn, and here we
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: are left behind. If he would have waited another fortnight,
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: we might have been with him. Perhaps we shall get
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: there in time. Yet, Carl, you may be sure that
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: as soon as dawn here as the king is coming,
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: he will as usual begin to fortify himself, and it
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: will need no small amount of marching and countermashing to
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: get him to come out and give battle. He was
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: slow in cautious before, but after Luthen he is likely
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: to be doubly so. However, I will get a tailor
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: here today to measure me for a new uniform. What
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: with blood you're cutting my breeches to get at my leg,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: I must certainly get a new outfit before I rejoin.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: I hope I shall be with the Marshall again. It
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: is a good deal more lively with him than it
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: is with the King's staff, who, although no dial excellent soldiers,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: are certainly not lively companions. I do hope there will
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: be no great battle until we get there. However, I
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: think I might start in a week. The surgeon, however,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: would not hear of this, and it was the end
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: of the third week in September before Vigus road from Fire.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: The news from the south was so far satisfactory that
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: he had fidgeted less than he would otherwise have done.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: Dawn had, in fact retired hastily from Mesen and had
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: taken post in an almost impregnable position at stopin Nissi
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: was being besieged and must be relieved. But Dawn now
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: blocked Frederick's way at Stopin both to that town and
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: to Botsen, cut him off indeed from Celicia, and for
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: the moment the royal army and that of Prince Maurice
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: was lying at Dresden. Fergus therefore was content to follow
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: the doctor's orders and to spend four days on the
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: journey down to Dresden. Keith was there and received him joyfully.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: Lindsey greeted him vociferously. So you have gone up another
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: step above me he left. Never was a fellow with
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: such luck as you have saved the king. I hear
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: tumbled over scores of Russians. Won the victory with your
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: own sword. Not quite as much as that, Lindsey, Fergus laughed.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: The scores of Cossacks come down to three of one.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: My horse tumbled over, and I managed the other two still,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: although the battle was only half finished when I was
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: put out of all further partner, I may be said
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: in one way to have warned, for had the king fallen,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: there is no saying how mus might have gone. It
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: is true that we could not have lost it, for
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: the Russians were past taking the offensive, but it might
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: have been a drawn battle. It was a terrible business,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: Lindsey said, seriously, as bad in its way as Prague.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: That is to say, in proportion to the numbers engaged,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: everyone says they would rather fight three Austrians than one Russian.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: The Marshal has rather scored off the King, for he
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: warned him that, though slow, the Russians were formidable foes.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: But the King scoffed at that idea. He had found
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: out now that he greatly undervalued them, and has owned
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: as much. To Keith. I am sorry to say the
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Marshal is not well. He suffers a good deal, and
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: I fancy that after this campaigion is over, he will
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: ask to be relieved from active duty in the field
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: and will take the command of the army covering Dresden.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: He has led a hard life, you see, and he
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: has done as much as three ordinary men. Still we
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: shall see how he is next spring. It would almost
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: break his heart to have to give up before this
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: war is over. It is difficult to say when that
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: will be, Lindsey. Here we are getting towards the third year,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: and the war is not won, with nearer to the
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: end than it was when we left Berlin. It is
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: true that we have no longer to count France as formidable,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: but Russia has turned out far more so than we expected.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: And having once taken the matter up, the Empress, if
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: she is half as obstinate as her soldiers, is likely
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: to go on at it for a long time. And
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: we are using up our army very fast and cannot
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: replace our losses as Austrian Russia can do. I hope
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: they are not going to make another twenty years war
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: of it, Lindsey said, if you go on in the
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: way that you are doing, Drummond, you will be a
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: film marshal in a third of that time. But must
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: remember about the proverb of the picture and the will. Yes, Lindsey,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: but you must remember that I am having a share
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: of hard knocks. I have been wounded twice now, to
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: say nothing of being stunned and taken prisoner. So you see,
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: I'm having my share of bad luck as well as
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: good now at present you have never had as much
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: as a scratch, And when your bad luck comes, it
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: may come all in a lunge. There is something in
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: that furcus, though I own that I had not thought
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: of it. Well, perhaps it is better to take it
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: in small doses than have it come all at once.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: So you have brought your man back safe. I see,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: though he has had an ugly slash across the cheek.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: By the way, I hope that those two sword cuts
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: are not going to leave bad scars, Drummond, it would
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: be hard to have your beauty spoilt for life, and
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: you are only nineteen, though fortunately everyone thinks you two
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: are three years older. However, they will be honorable scars,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: and women don't mind any disfigurement in a man if
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: it has got battle. It is a pity, though, that
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: you did not get them when defending the king's life
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: instead of in the cavalry charge. Afterwards, you brought your
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: horse safe out of the battle. I hope he has,
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: like myself, honorable scars. Lindsey, he got an ugly gash
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: on the flank with a bayonet, and I am afraid
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: when it heals white hair will grow on it. He
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: had also a bullet through the neck, fortunately had missed
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: both spine and windpipe, and it is quite healed up now.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: It is really a pity to take such a horse
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: as that on the fire, Lindsey said regretfully. Well, when
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: one risks one's own life, one ought not to mind
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: risking that of a horse. However, valuable no I suppose not. Still,
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: it is a pity to ride so valuable an animal.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: You are paid so much for risking your own life,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: you see, Drummond, But it is no part of the
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: bargain that you should risk that of a horse worth
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: any amount of money. Fergus, on his arrival, called at
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: once on Count Eulen First, who with his wife and daughter,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: were delighted to see it, for he had now been
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: absent from Dresden since Frederick had more watched against Subais
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: thirteen months before. We heard from Captain Lindsey. The Count said,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: when the army arrived here some three weeks since, that
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: you were wounded, but not gravely. Also that for vala
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: shown and defending the king when he was attacked by
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: three Russians, you have been promoted to the rank of major,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: upon which we congratulate you heartily. And now that you
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: have come, I suppose your king will soon be dashing
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: away with you again. What a man he is, and
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: what soldiers. I can assure you that sometimes, when I
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: read the bulletins, I am inclined to regret that I
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: was not born two days journey farther north. And yet
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: in spite of his fierce blows at all those enemies.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: There is no sign of peace being any nearer than
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: when you drop down to our rescue some twenty nine
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: months ago. 'tis a terrible war, it is, indeed, count Certainly,
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: when I crossed the seas to take service here, I
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: little thought how terrible was the struggle that was approaching.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: If we had known it, I am sure that my
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: mother would never have let me leave home. She must
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: be terribly uneasy about you, the Countess said. Do you
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: hear from her often? She writes once a month, and
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: so do I. I get a letters in batches. I know
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: that she must be very anxious, but she says nothing
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: about it. In her letters. She declares that she is
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: proud that I am fighting for a Protestant prince so
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: hemmed in by his enemies, and that the thoughts and
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: hopes of all England are with him, and the bells
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: ring as loudly at our victories through England and Scotland
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: as they do at Berlin. If we of Saxony had
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: understood the matter sooner, the count said, we should be
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: surely fighting now on your side. And indeed had not
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Frederick compelled the Saxon prisoners to serve with him. Had
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: he sent them all to their homes, there would have
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: been no animosity, and as Protestants, the people would soon
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: have come to see that your cause was their own.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Most of em do see it now, for whenever the
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: enemy have entered Saxony, they have plundered and ill treated
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: the people, as specially the Protestants. Are your horses still alive? Yes,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: count and well, save that one is wounded at Zorndorf.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: But for that he cannot blame me, for it was
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: his own doing. When settlers charged into the midst of
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: the Russians, he passed close to us, and Turk, maddened
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: by excitement, seized the bit in his teeth and joined
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: him in the melee. I got three wounds, and he
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: had two. But happily he has been cured as rapidly
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: as I have, though with no advantage to the appearance
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: of either of us. Will the scars in your face
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: always show as they do now? Thirs? Are asked? I
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: am sure, I hope not, he said. At present they
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: are barely healed. But in time, no doubt, the redness
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: will fade out and they will not show greatly. Though
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: I dare say, the scars will be always visible. I
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: shall be proud of them, Major Drummond said, thurs considering
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: that you got them in so great a battle, and
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: one in which you rendered such service to the king.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: You see, I shall not be always able to explain
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: when and how I got them Fergus left. People who
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: do not know me will say, there goes a young
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: student who's got his face slashed at the university. They
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: could not say that, she said, indignantly. Even if you
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: were not uniform, anyone can see that you are a soldier,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: whether or not countest at Thursa. It is a matter
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: that will certainly trouble me very little. However, I begin
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: to think that I shall not always be a soldier.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: Certainly I should not leave the army as long as
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: this war goes on. And I have seen such terrible fighting,
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: such tremendous cornage, that I think that at the end
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: of it, if I come out at the end, I
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: shall be glad to take to a peaceful life. My
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: cousin Marshall Keith has been fighting all his life. He
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: is a great soldier and has the honor of being
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: regarded by the King as a friend. But he has
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: no home, no peace and quiet, no children growing up
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: to take his place. I should not like to look
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: forward to such a life, and would rather go back
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: and pass my days in the Scottish glens where I
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: was brought up. I think that you are right, the
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: Count said seriously. In ordinary times a soldier's life would
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: be a pleasant one, and he could reckon upon the
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: occasional excitement of war. But such a war as this
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: is beyond all calculation. In these three campaigns, and the
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: present one has not ended, now half of the army
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: which is marched through here has been killed or wounded.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: It is terrible to think of one talks of the
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: chances of war. But this is making death almost a certainty.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: For if the war continues an the two or three years,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: how few will be left of those who began it.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: Even now, a great battle will probably be fought in
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: a few days. Two great armies are within as many
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: marches of Dresden. The smallest of them outnumbers Frederick. The
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: other is fully twice as strength and so entrenched. As
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: I hear that the position is well nigh impregnable, I
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: expect the King will find means to force him out
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: of it. Without fighting, Fergus said, with a small dawn
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: is altogether overcautious, and Lutheran is not likely to have
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: rendered him more confident. Fergus spent the greater part of
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: his time at the courts, for Marshal Keith insisted upon
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: his abstaining from all duty until the march began. We
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: are off tomorrow morning, he said, when he went up
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: on the evening of the thirtieth of September. Where I
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: know not except the King, Marshal Keith and Prince Maurice.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: I do not supposed that anyone knows. But whereever it is,
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: we started daybreak. May you return our loan safe and sound,
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: the Count said, Is there nothing that we can do
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: for you? You know, we regard you as one of
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: the family, and there is nothing that would give us
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: greater pleasure than to be able in some way to
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: make you comfortable. I thank you heartily, Count, but I
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: need nothing, and if I did, I could purchase it,
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: for it is but seldom that one has to put
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: one's hand in one's pocket. And as a captain, I
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: have saved the greater part of my pay for the
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: last two years, and shall pile up my hoard still
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: faster now than I am a major. I have never
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: had an opportunity before of thanking you for that purse
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: which you handed the call to be laid out for
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: my benefit in case of need. He holds it still,
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: and I have never had a casion to draw upon it,
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: and hope that I never may have to do so.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: The next morning, the army, furnished with nine days provisions,
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: leaving a force to face. The Army of the Confederates
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: strode along the road at its usual base. They took
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: the road for Botzen, drove off Lolden, who commanded Dawn's
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: northern outpost without difficulty, and so passed his flag. The
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: advance guard pushed on to Balsen, drove away the small
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: force there, and leaving there the magazines of the army
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: occupied Hochkirch a few miles away. The king with the
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: main body arrived at Bortsen on the following day and
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: halted there to see what Dawn was going to do.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: The latter was in fact obliged to abandon his stronghold
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: for the Prussians, and Hoshkirch menaced the road by which
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: he drew his provisions from his Magazine and Zittau. Marching
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: at night, he reached and occupied a line of hills
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: between a Hotchkirch and Zittau, and within a couple of
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: miles of the former place. Frederick had been forced to
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: wait at Boltzen till another convoy of provisions arrived. When
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: he joined the division at Hoskirch and saw Dawn's army
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: on the opposite hills, busy as usual in entrenching itself,
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: he ordered the army to encamp where they were within
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: a mile of Dawn's position. More wits, the staff officer
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: to whom he gave the order argued and remonstrated, and
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: at lens refused to be concerned in the marking out
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: of such an encampment. He was at once put under arrest,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: and another officer did the work. Frederick, in fact, entertained
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: a sovereign contempt for Dawn with his slow marches, his
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: perpetual entrenchings, and his obstinate caution, and had no belief
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: whatever that the Austrian marshal would attempt to attack him.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: He was in a very bad humor too, having discovered
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: that Retzel had failed to take position of the Stromberg
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: a detached hill, which would have rendered the position a
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: safe one. He put him under arrest and ordered the
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: Stromberg to be occupied the next morning. The force proceeding
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: to do so, found, however, that the post was already
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: occupied by Austrians, who resisted stoutly, and, being largely reinforced,
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: maintained their position on the hill, on which several batteries
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: were placed. It was now Tuesday, and Frederick determined to
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: march away on the Saturday. His obstinacy had placed the
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: army in an altogether untenable and dangerous position. All his
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: officers were extremely uneasy, and Keith declared to the King
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: that the Austrians deserved to be hanged if they did
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: not attack, to which Frederick replied, we must hope that
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: they are more afraid of us than even of the gallows.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter twelve.