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21 - 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: Twenty Targu. After many marches and quick blows at the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Confederate armies and driving them beyond the borders of Saxony,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Fredrick moved towards Tourgu, where Dawn had established himself in
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: a position that he deemed impregnable. It had been Prince
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Henry's camp during the previous autumn, and Dawn had in
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: vain beleaguered it. Halsen had made it his headquarters during
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: the summer. Tourgu was an old fashioned town, surrounded by
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: tracks of pinewood, with pleasant villages and much well cultivated land.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: The town rose above the Elbe on the shoulder of
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  Speaker 1: a broad eminence called Siptits. This height stands nearly a
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  Speaker 1: mile from the river. On the western and southern side
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: of the town are a series of lakes and quagmires,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: the remains of an old course of the elb. Set
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  Speaker 1: on Siptit's heights was Dawn's camp, girt about by entrenchments,
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  Speaker 1: the hill mostly covered with vineyards. Its height was some
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  Speaker 1: two hundred feet above the general level of the country,
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  Speaker 1: and its areas some five or six square miles, covered
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  Speaker 1: as its flanks were by heights, woods, ponds, and morasses.
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  Speaker 1: The position was an extremely strong one, so much so
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  Speaker 1: that Dawn had not ventured to attack Prince Henry, though
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  Speaker 1: in vastly superior force. And still more difficult was it
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  Speaker 1: for Frederick to do so when held by an army
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  Speaker 1: generally superior to his own. For the Austrian force numbered
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  Speaker 1: sixty five thousand, while the king, after being joined by
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: all its detachments, had but forty nine thousand. Nothing, indeed,
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  Speaker 1: but the most urgent necessity could have driven the King
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  Speaker 1: to attempt so difficult an enterprise. His plan was to
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  Speaker 1: attack it simultaneously in front and rear, and to do
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  Speaker 1: this he decided that half the force under Zeithan should
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: attack the Siptitz Hill on the south side, while he himself,
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  Speaker 1: with the other half, was to make a long detour
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: and assaulted at the same moment on the north. Frederick's
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: march was some fifteen miles in length, whilst Zeithan had
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  Speaker 1: but six to traverse, and as the route was through forests,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: the difficulties in the way of the two columns arriving
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  Speaker 1: at their point of attack simultaneously was great, indeed, and
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  Speaker 1: were increased by the fact that the weather was wet,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: the ground heavy, and the streams swollen. The Kink's force
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  Speaker 1: marched in three columns by roads through the forest. There
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  Speaker 1: were no villages here, no one to question as to
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: the turns and branching of roads, thus adding to the
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  Speaker 1: chances that even Frederick's force would not arrive together at
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  Speaker 1: the point of attack. Frederick's own column contained eight thousand
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  Speaker 1: grenadiers and foot guards, would a force of cavalry, and
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  Speaker 1: his line of march was by the road nearest to
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  Speaker 1: Dawn's position. Two other columns, Holson's composed principally of inventory
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  Speaker 1: and Holstein's chiefly of cavalry, marched on parallel roads on
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  Speaker 1: a wider circle, and the baggage in a column by
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: itself outside all Dawn had news of Frederick's approach and
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: had strong detachments watching in the woods. The scouts of
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: one of these parties brought in news of the king's march.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: A signal cannon was fired immediately, and Dawn learned thereby
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  Speaker 1: of the movement to attack him from the north. Dawn
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: at once wheeled round a portion of his force to
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: receive Vedrick's attack. Lacey, which twenty thousand men had been
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  Speaker 1: placed as an advanced guard, and now shifted his position
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  Speaker 1: westward to guard what had become Dawn's rear, while two
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  Speaker 1: hundred fresh cannon were added to the two hundred already
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: placed to defend the faith threatened by Frederick. For an
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  Speaker 1: hour before the king arrived at his point of attack,
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  Speaker 1: a heavy artillery fire had been heard from Zeithe's side,
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  Speaker 1: and it was supposed that he had already delivered his attack. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 1: he had not done so. He had calculated his pace accurately,
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  Speaker 1: but had come upon a small Austrian force, like those
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  Speaker 1: Frederick had encountered. It had for a time held its
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  Speaker 1: ground and had replied to his fire with cannon. Zeithe had,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: not knowing how small the force was, drew up in
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  Speaker 1: order of battle, and drove it back on Lacy, far
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  Speaker 1: to the east of his proper place of attack. Here
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: here he became engaged with Lacey, and a cannonade was
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  Speaker 1: kept up for some hours, precious time that should have
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  Speaker 1: been spent in ascending the hills and giving aid to
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  Speaker 1: the king. When Frederick's column emerged from the woods, there
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  Speaker 1: was no sign of either Hults Holstein's divisions. The king
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: sent out a staff to hurry them up, and himself
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  Speaker 1: reconnoitered the ground and questioned the peasants. The ground proved
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  Speaker 1: so bargee as to be impassable, and Frederick withdrew into
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  Speaker 1: the wood again in order to attack the Austrian left.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: This had in Prince Henry's time been defended by a
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  Speaker 1: strong nobatis, but since the cold weather said in, much
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  Speaker 1: of this had been used by the Austrians's firewood, and
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  Speaker 1: it could therefore be penetrated. Frederick waited impatiently. He could
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  Speaker 1: hear the heavy candidate on Zithen, and feared that the
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  Speaker 1: general would be christ before he could perform his part
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  Speaker 1: of the plan arranged. His staff was unable to find
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  Speaker 1: Holstein's cavalry, which had taken the wrong turning at some
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  Speaker 1: point and were completely lost. Hulsen was still far away. Nevertheless,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: in his desire to give support to Zethan, the king
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  Speaker 1: decided upon an attack with his own corm alone. The
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: grenadiers were placed in the front line, the rest of
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  Speaker 1: the infantry in the center. The cavalry, eight hundred strong,
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  Speaker 1: followed to do any service that chance might afford them.
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  Speaker 1: It took some time to bring the troops into their
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  Speaker 1: new position, and while this was being done, Dawn opened
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  Speaker 1: fire with his four hundred cannon upon the forest through
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  Speaker 1: which they were marching, with a din that Frederick declared
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  Speaker 1: exceeded anything that he had ever heard before. The small
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: force of artillery took its place outside the wood to
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  Speaker 1: cover the attack, but as soon as a few shots
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  Speaker 1: were fired, the Austrian guns opened upon them and they
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  Speaker 1: were silenced. Frederick's place was between the two lines of
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  Speaker 1: his grenadiers, and they issued from the wood within an
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  Speaker 1: eight hundred yards of Prince Henry's about us, and with
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  Speaker 1: marvelous bravery, ran forward. Mowed down in law lines by
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: the storm of cannon shot, they suffered terribly. One regiment
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  Speaker 1: was almost entirely destroyed. The other pressed forward as far
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  Speaker 1: as the Abatis, fighting so desperately that Dawn was obliged
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  Speaker 1: to bring up large reinforcements before he could drive the
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  Speaker 1: survivor's back. The Austrians, believing that victory was one, charged
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  Speaker 1: down in pursuit, but the second line met them firmly,
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  Speaker 1: drove them back, and following hotly, again reached the Abatis,
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  Speaker 1: and only retreated slowly before the overwhelming forces which the
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  Speaker 1: Austrians then brought up. The battle had lasted only an hour,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: but half Frederick's column were already killed or wounded. Shortly
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: after they had retired, Holsen's column came up. The four
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  Speaker 1: hundred guns had never ceased pouring their iron rain into
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  Speaker 1: the forest, but the newcomers arrived in splendid art. The
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: remnants of Frederick's column joined them, furious at defeat and
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  Speaker 1: burning to meet the enemy again. So sterring and resolute
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  Speaker 1: was the attack that for a time it carried all
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  Speaker 1: before it. Don's line of defense was broken, most of
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  Speaker 1: his cannon's silence, and for a time the Prussians advanced,
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  Speaker 1: carrying all before them. Had Zethan been doing his part
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: instead of idly cannonading Lacy, the battle would have been won.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: But his inactivity enabled Dawn to bring up all his
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: forces against the king. These he hurled at the Prussians,
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  Speaker 1: and foot by foot, drove them back and pushed them
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  Speaker 1: down the hill again. Frederic himself had been struck from
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  Speaker 1: his horse by a piece of case shut and fortunately
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  Speaker 1: almost spent, which failed to penetrate his thick policy. He
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  Speaker 1: was badly contused and for a short time insensible, but
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: he quickly sprung to his feet again, mounted his horse
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  Speaker 1: and maintained his place in the fight as if nothing
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  Speaker 1: had happened. After this second repulse, he again formed up
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  Speaker 1: his troops, and at that moment he was joined by
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  Speaker 1: Holstein with his cavalry. The sun had already set and
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: the darkness favored the attack. Dawn had not yet recovered
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  Speaker 1: from the terrible confusion into which his troops were thrown
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  Speaker 1: by the attack, and the Prussians again mounted the hill,
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  Speaker 1: Holstein attacking Dawn's right wing. The main body of the
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: cavalry found the morasses and obstacles so impracticable that they
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  Speaker 1: were unable to attack as arranged. But two regiments succeeded
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  Speaker 1: in gaining the plateau. One of these dashed upon the
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  Speaker 1: Austrian infantry they met, broke into fragments, and took two
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  Speaker 1: whole regiments prisoners, and brought them and six guns triumphantly.
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  Speaker 1: The other regiment charged four Austrian battalions, broke them and
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  Speaker 1: brought the greater portion off prisoners. Night fell upon the
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  Speaker 1: scene of general confusion. The two armies were completely mixed up,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: and in some places Austrians were in the rear of
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  Speaker 1: the Prussians, in others Prussians in the rear of Austrians,
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  Speaker 1: nothing more could be done. So far, Frederick had gained
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  Speaker 1: a success, and, thanks to the extraordinary bravery and determination
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  Speaker 1: of his soldiers, had broken up Dawn's line and planted
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  Speaker 1: himself on the plateau. But he had suffered terribly in
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  Speaker 1: doing so, and could hardly hope in the morning to
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  Speaker 1: make head against the vastly superior forces of the Austrians.
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  Speaker 1: Dawn himself had been wounded in the foot and had
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  Speaker 1: gone down to the town to have it dressed. Had
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  Speaker 1: he been able to remain on the field late as
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  Speaker 1: it was, he might have been able to restore order
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  Speaker 1: and to continue the battle. As it was. Gradually the
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  Speaker 1: firing ceased. Exhausted by the long march and the desperate
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  Speaker 1: efforts they had made, the Prussians wrapped themselves in their
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  Speaker 1: cloaks and lay down to sleep where they stood. If
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  Speaker 1: sleep they could. On so bitterly a cold night on
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  Speaker 1: the hilltop, there was no mood to be had, But
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  Speaker 1: in the forest great fires were lighted round These Prussians
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  Speaker 1: and Austrian stragglers alike gathered. In the morning they would
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  Speaker 1: be foes again, but for tonight they were content to
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  Speaker 1: lay their quarrel aside. None knowing who was victor and
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  Speaker 1: who vanquished, and which in the morning would be prisoners
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: to the others. The king, now that the excitement was
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: over felt the pain of his wound, he descended the
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  Speaker 1: hill and took up his quarters in the church at
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  Speaker 1: the little village of Elsnig, where every house was full
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  Speaker 1: of wounded. He had left Haulsen the charge of endeavoring
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  Speaker 1: to reform the scattered troops, but he could do but
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  Speaker 1: little that way. In vain did the generals and officers
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  Speaker 1: move about with orders, expostulations, and threats. For once the
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  Speaker 1: Prussian soldier was deaf to the word of command. He
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  Speaker 1: had done all that he could do, and nature triumphed
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: over long habits of obedience. Even the sound of cannon
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: and musketry on the other side of the hell fell
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  Speaker 1: dead upon his ears. Zithan had been cannonating all day.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing had come of it, and nothing could come of it. Still,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Hulsen did a good deal, and by six o'clock he
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: got some of the cavalry and infantry battalions in fair
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: order on the extreme right, where in the morning Dawn's
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: left flank stood Zithan, ordinarily a brilliant and active man,
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  Speaker 1: had been a strange failure that day. Not even the
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  Speaker 1: terrible din of the King's bad had roused him to
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: take any measure to support him, or even to make
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  Speaker 1: a divosion in his favor in Vain. Molandorff, an active
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  Speaker 1: and enterprising general, had implored him to attempt something, if
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: only to draw off a portion of the Austrian strength
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  Speaker 1: from the king. Saldrn, another general, had fruitlessly added his
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: voice to that of Molndorf. A feeling of deep gloom
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  Speaker 1: spread through the army, a feeling that the king had
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: been deserted and must have been crushed, just as on
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: the other side. All fell certain that some serious misfortune
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: must have happened to Zeithen. At last, as darkness began
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: to set in at four o'clock, Zithan was persuaded to move.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: He marched towards the left, to the point where he
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: should have attacked in the morning, but which he had
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: passed in his hot pursuit of the small Austrian force,
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: but first since Selden, against the village of Siptis. Burning
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: with their repressed impatience, Soldern's infantry went at the enemy
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: with a rush, captured the battery there and drove the
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: Austrians out, but the latter fired the bridge, so that
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: for the present further advance was barred to the Prussians. Fortunately,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: at this moment Mohlandorff, more to the west, came upon
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  Speaker 1: the road by which Zithan should have marched. It was
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: carried firmly over the march ground and by a bridge
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: over a stream between two of the ponds. Sizing this
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: pass over the morasses, Mohlandorff sent to Zithan, who roused
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: at last ordered all his forces to hurry there. The
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Austrians had now taken the alarm and hurried to oppose
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  Speaker 1: the passage, but Mohlandorff had already many troops across the bridge,
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  Speaker 1: and maintained himself till he was sufficiently reinforced to push forward.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: For an hour and a half a desperate fight, rage,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Prussians gained but little ground, while the Austrians were constantly
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: being reinforced from Lacey's command on their left. Holsen, however,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: just as he had got a portion of his infantry
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: and cavalry into some sort of order, had marked the
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: sudden increase of the cannonade on the other side of
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: the hill, and presently seeing the glow of a great fire,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: guessed that he must have come from the village of Siptits.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Then came a furious cannonade and the continuous roar of
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: musketry that spoke of a bottle in earnest. Zeithan then
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: was coming at last, and the old general determined to
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: help him. His own riding horses had all been killed,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: and he had been sorely bruised by the falls. Sending
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: for a cannon, he got astrideed, called up the infantry
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: round him. The brigade of General Lestwitz begged the drummers
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: to strike up the Prussian march, and through the darkness
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: of the night, started for the point where the din
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: of battle was going on unceasingly forgotten now were the
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: fatigues of the day. The Prussians pressed on with their
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: quick strides, their excitement growing higher and higher as they
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: neared the scene of action, and breaking out into a
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: roar of cheering. As sweeping round on the side of
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: the hill, they joined Zitzen's hardly pressed troops and rushed
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: upon the enemy, but through the news of their coming,
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: cheered all the line to fresh exertions. Yeat Yet was
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: the combat finished, the whole of Lacy's command was opposed
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: to them, swelled by reinforcements sent down from above by O'Donnell, who,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: in Dawn's absence, was in command. It was another hour
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: before the foe gave way, and the Prussians pressed steadily
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: up the hill, until at nine o'clock they were planted
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: on top of the Siptits Hill, on the highest point
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: of the plateau, whence their cannon commanded the whole ground
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: down to Torgau. Dawn, conscious of the danger, had, as
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: he heard of Zithen's advance, sent order after order that
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: he must at all courts be driven back, And even
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: when the Prussians gained the position, they had still to
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: struggle fiercely for another hour to hold it. Dawn knew
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: that with Frederick established on one side of the position,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: and with zithin Well planted on the other and commanding
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: the whole of it with his guns, there was nothing
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: for it but to retreat, and already he had sent
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: orders that a strong force should form in order of
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: battles to repel and attack close to the suburbs of Torgau.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: As soon as this disposition was effected, he ordered the
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: retreat to commence. Fortunately, he had four bridges across the river,
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: and he had on the previous day taken the precaution
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: of sending the whole of his baggage wagons over. On
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: occasions of this kind, Dawn's dispositions were always admirable, and
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: he drew off his army across the river in excellent order,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: half Deprussian army knowing nothing of what was going on,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: and the other half being too exhausted to attempt to interfere,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: ignorant it as they were of the position and state
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: of Frederick's division. Had the king known earlier what was
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: taken place, comparatively few of the Austrian army would have
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: got across the river. But it was not until long
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: after the battle was done that Fredericks, sitting depressed and
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: heavy hearted dictating his dispatches in the little church seven
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: or eight miles away, learned that what had seemed likely
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: to terminate in a terrible disaster had ended with a
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: decisive victory. Dawn lost in the battle twelve thousand killed
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: and wounded, eight thousand prisoners, and forty five cannon, while
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: the Prussians lost between thirteen and fourteen thousand of whom
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: four thousand were prisoners. It was not until nearly one
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning that Ziethen learned that the Austrians
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: were already across the river. Then he pushed down into
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: Torgo and crossed the town bridge in time to capture
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: twenty six pontoons. Dawn retreated by the right side of
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: the river, Lacy by the left, and the two forces
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: rejoined the dresident and took up their position as usual
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: in the Plowin stronghold, while Frederick, after finishing the clearance
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: of all Saxony save the capitol, took up his winter
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: quarters and Leipzig on the sixth of December. The result
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: of the Battle of Torgo was not to be measured
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: by the respective losses of the two armies. It had
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: the effect of entirely undoing all. The advantage is that
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: the Austrians had yaned throughout the campaign and had left
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: the king in better position than when it opened in
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: the spring. The Russian army had been attacked and beaten
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: while the Austrians were shut up in their natural stronghold
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: near Dresden. The whole of Saxony had been recovered, and
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Celesia with the exception of one or two fortresses was
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: still in Frederick's hands. How light hearted the king felt
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: after the load of care that had lain upon him
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: had been lifted, may be judged by an extract from
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: a letter written a fortnight after the battle to an
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: elderly lady of the court of Magdeburg. I am exact
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: in answering and eager to satisfy you in that matter
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: of the porcelain. You shall have a breakfast set, my
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: good mama, six coffee cups, very pretty well diapered and
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: tricked out, with all the little embellishments which increased their
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: value on account of some pieces which they are adding
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: to the set. You will have to wait a few days,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: but I flatter myself this delay will contribute to your
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: satisfaction and produce for you a toy that will give
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: you pleasure and make you remember your older Dora. It
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: is curious how old people's habits agree. For four years past,
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: I have given up suppers, as incompatible with the trade
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: am obliged to follow, And on marching days my dinner
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: consists of a cup of chocolate. We hurried off like fools,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: quite inflated with our victory, to try if we could
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: not chase the Austrians out of Dresden, they made a
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: mockery of us from the tops of their mountains. So
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: I have withdrawn like a bad little boy to conceal
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: myself out of spite in one of the wretchest villages
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: in Saxony. And here the first thing will be to
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: drive the circle, gentleman, reisious army out of fryburing into shimmits,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: and get ourselves soon to quarters and something to live upon.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: It is I swear to you a heideus life, the
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: like of which nobody but don Quixote ever led before me.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: All this tumbling and toiling and bother and confusion that
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: never ceases had made me so old that you would
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: scarcely know me again. On the right side of my head,
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: the hair is all gray, my teeth break and fall out.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: I have got my face wrinkled like the foul bloss
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: of a petticoat my back bent like a fiddle bow,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: and spirit sad and cast down like a monk of
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: la Trap. I forewarn you of all this, lest in
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: case we should meet again in flesh and bone, you
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: might feel yourself too violently shocked by my appearance. There
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: remains to me nothing but the which has undergone no change,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: and which will preserve as long as I breathed, its
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: feeling of a steam and of tender friendship for my
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: good Mama ad Do. Fergus knew nothing of the concluding
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: scenes of the Battle of Torgo until some little time afterwards.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: He was not with the king when the Grenadiers first
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: made their attack on the hill, having been dispatched to
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: find and bring up Holsen's column. Having discovered it, he
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: guided it true de forest at the point where Frederick
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: was so anxiously expecting its rival, and when it advanced
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: with the survivors of the Granadiers to the second attack,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: he took his place behind the king. They were halfway
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: up the ascent when a cannon ball struck him on
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: the left ar, carrying it away just above the elbow.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: As he fell from his horse, Carl, who was riding
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: behind him, leaped from his saddle with a hoarse cry
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: of rage. Then, seeing the nature of the wound, he
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: lifted him in his arms, mounted Fergus's horse, and rode
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: down through an interval between the regiments of the second
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: line and then into the wood to the spot where
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: the surgeons were dressing the wounds of those hurting. The
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: first charge, one who had just finished attending one of
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: the grenadiers. Seeing that the trooper was carrying a colonel
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: of the King's staff, at once helped call to lower
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: up to the ground. You have done well to bring
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: him down at once, my man, he said, it may
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: be the saving of his life. As he spoke, he
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: was cutting off the tunic. There is not much flow
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: of blood. You see. The contusion has closed the main artery.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: If we can keep it from bursting out, he will do.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: He took out from his case some stout tape, passed
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: it round the arm, asked Karl for a rammud out
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: of one of his pistols, and with this twisted the
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: tape until it almost cut into the skin. Then he
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: gave a few more turns to hold the ramrod secure
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: in its place. Than he called a young surgeon to him.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: We had better make a good job of this at once,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: he said. This is Colonel Drummond, one of the King's
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: favorite officers, and a most gallant young man. It will
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: not take us five minutes. The artery was first found
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: and tied up for persians surgery was at that time
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: far ahead of our own. The bruised flesh was pressed
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: up and the bone cut off neatly above the point
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: where it was splintered. The flesh brought down again over
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: it and trimmed. Then several thicknesses of lint put over it,
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: and the hold carefully bandaged up there. He said to Carl,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: as he rose from his work. That is all that
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: I can do for him, and unless it bursts out
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: bleeding again, he is likely to do well. If it does,
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: you must tighten the tape still more. All there is
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: to do is to keep him as quiet as possible.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: Have you any spirits? Yes, doctor, there is a flask
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: in my halter. Mix some with as much water, and
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: pour a little down his throat. From time to time,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: fold his cloak and put it under his head. He
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: will probably recover consciousness in a short time. When he
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: does so, impress upon him the necessity of lying perfectly quiet.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: As soon as the battle is over, we must get
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: him moved into shelter. In half an hour, Fergus opened
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: his eyes. Karl, who was kneeling by him, placed one
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: hand on his chest and the other on the wounded.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: On you must not move, Colonel, he said, you have
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: been hit, but the doctor says you will get over it,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: but you must be perfectly still. Fergus looked round in bewilderment. Then,
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: as the roar of the battle came to his ears,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: he made an instinctive effort to rise. It is going
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: on still, Carl said, repressing the movements. We shall thresh
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: the presently, but you can do nothing more today, and
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: you must do as the doctor bids you, sir. Where
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: am I head? It is on the left arm, Colonel
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: an Austrian canniball did the business. If it had been
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: three or four inches further to the right, it would
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: have finished you. As it is. I hope that you
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: will soon get around again. Then it has taken off
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: my arm, Fergus said, feebly, better than your head, sir.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: The left arm is of no great account except for
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: holding a bridle, and there is a good bit of
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: it left. Drink a little more of this brandy and water.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: How do you feel now, sir? I feel cold, Fergus replied.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: My feet are like ice. Call wrapped Fergus's fur lined
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: police round his feet under his blanket and cloak from
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: his saddle. And laid them over him. That will be better, sir. Now,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: if you will promise to lie quite quiet, I will
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: fasten your horse up. I don't know what it has
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: become of mine, and go and collect some firewood and
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: get up a good blaze. I am afraid there is
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: no chance of getting you into a shelter tonight. I
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: am afraid we are being driven down a hill again, Carl.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: The roll of musketry is coming nearer. That is so, Colonel.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: But we shall have the cavalry up soon, and that
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: will make all the difference. Just as Carl came back
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: when an armful of fire with a stare officer rode up.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: The King has sent me to inquire how Colonel Drummond is,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: he said. His Majesty has heard that he is badly
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: wounded and has been carried here. This is the colonel, Major,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Carl said, leading him to the side of Fergus. I
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: am sorry to see you here, the officer said. The
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: King has sent me to inquire after you. Well, you
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: thank his Majesty's Major call back and tell him that
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: it is nothing worse than the loss of a left arm,
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: and that the surgeon's opinion is that I should do well.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: How goes the battle, badly, badly, but a whole. Then
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: we'll be up in a quarter of an hour, and
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: then we shall have another try. We broke their line
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: badly last time, and if we had cavalry to launch
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: of them, we should have managed the business. The King
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: is on her day home, not altogether. He was struck
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: from his horse by a piece of case shot, but
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: his police saved him. He was able to mount again
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: in a few minutes, making very light of the affair,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: and was in the middle of the fight as usual.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: I was next to you when you were hit, and
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: I saw your orderly lift you onto your horse before him,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: and as soon as we got down there reported it
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: to the King. Our loss must be terribly heavy, terrible.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: There is no saying how severe it is yet, but
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: not half the granadiers are on their feet. There is
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: nothing I can do for you, nothing at all. My
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: orders ought to lie still, And as I feel too
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: weak to move, and there is no one to carry
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: me away and no way to take me too, I'm
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: not likely to disibay that order. The officer rode off again,
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: calls soon had a fire lighted sufficiently close to Fergus
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: for him to feel its warmth. Wounded men who had
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: made their way down the hill came and sat down
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: on the other side of it. Many other fires were
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: lighted as it grew desk in front. The battle had
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: broken out again as furiously as ever, and hair long
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: wounded men began to come down again. They brought cheering news. However,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: the Prussians were still pressing forward. The cavalry had thrown
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: the Austrian line into terrible confusion. No one knew exactly
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: where any of the Prussian battalions had got to, but
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: all agreed that things were going on well. At five
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: o'clock the roar gradually ceased, and soon all was quiet.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: The wounded now came in fast, but none can say
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: whether the battle was won or lost, for the night
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: was so dark that each could only speak of what
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: had happened to his own core. Presently, the number round
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: the fire was swelled by the arrival of numerous Austrians,
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: wounded and unwounded. Most of these laid their lifeles by saying,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: it is a bitter night, comrade, will let us have
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: a share of the fire? Come in, come in. The
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: Brushians answered, we are all friends for tonight, for we
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: are all at equally bad polight. Can you tell us
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: how matters have gone up there? But these men know
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: no more than the Prussians. They had got separated from
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: their core in the confusion and losing their way altogether,
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: had seeing the glow of the fires in a forest,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: and had come down for warmth and shelter. Presently Major
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: Klback rode up again. How have things gone? Major Fergus
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: asked eagerly. No one knows, he said. The Austrians are
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: broken up, and our battalions and theirs are so mixed
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: there is no saying where they are. How matters will
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: stand in the morning. The king has gone to Elsoning,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: two or three miles away. Is there no news of
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: Zeithan none? They have just begun to fire heavily again
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: in that direction. But what he has been doing all day?
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: No one has any idea. But little was said around
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: the fires. A short distance away, the surgeons and was
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: still at work with the more serious cases, while the
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: soldiers roughly bandits each other's wounds. But as gradually the
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: distant fires increased in fury that seemed to grow in distinctness.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: Men who had laid down, sat up to listen. There
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: was no longer any talking, and a hush fell upon
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: the forest. It is certainly coming closer, Colonel Carl said.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: At last, it seems that Zephyn has woke up in
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: Earnest may the god grant, and he went his way
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: up on to the heights. If he does, we shall
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: have the Austrians in the morning. If he doesn't, we
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: shall have a poor chance with them. I'm afraid we shan't, Colonel,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: but it certainly sounds as if. And was making way.
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: At nine o'clock a cavalry officer came riding along. He
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: drew rein at the fire. Can anyone tell me where
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: I can find the king? He is at Elsinick, Captain
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: Carl said, rising and saluting, may I ask what is
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: the news, sir? The news is good. Theesen has gained
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: the heights. We can see the flash of fire round
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: the Siptitt's hill. A cheer broke from all the Prussians
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: within the hearing. There was not a man but knew
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: that the fate of Prussia hung on the result of
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: this battle, and for the moment wounds were forgotten. Men
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: shook hands with tears of joy streaming down their rugged cheeks,
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: and as others came running up from the other fires,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: that on what was the news, and then hurried off
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: again to tell their companions. The forest rang with their
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: cheering all was not over yet. For a time the
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: firing was louder and heavier than before. But towards ten
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: o'clock news came that Zethan was firmly established on the
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: Siptitz hill and that the Austrian battalions were drawing off.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: Then all lay down asleep, rejoiced and thankful. Even the Austrians,
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: disconcerted as they were, went out altogether, sorry that they
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: must now consider themselves prisoners and free for a long
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: time to come from further risk of battle. The news
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: in the morning that the Austrian army had already crossed
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: the river and was in full retreat southward afforded the
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: most intense satisfaction. There was now a hope of shelter
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: and rest in Torgo, instead of the prospect of remaining
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: in the forest drenched to the skin by rain that
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: had come down without intermission for the last twenty four hours.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: An hour later Major Kolbach again wrote up, accompanied by
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: four infantry men bearing the stretcher. The King has already
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: go gone on to Torgo, and he has given me
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: orders to see that you are carried there at once.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: There will be no more fighting at present. Dawn has
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: got a long start, and there will be enough to
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: do here for the next twelve hours in collecting the wounded.
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: Lacey has retreated this side of the river, and Ziethen's
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: cavalry started in pursuit some hours ago. Fergus was carefully
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: lifted on to the litter and carried down to Torgo,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: where several large houses had already been assigned for the
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: use of wounded offices, while the soldiers were to be
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: placed in the hospitals, public buildings and churches. Austrians and
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: Prussians being distributed indiscriminately, and by nightfall some twelve thousand
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: wounded were housed in the town. A small body of
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: troops were left there. The inhabitants undertook the charge of
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: the wounded, and the next morning the king marched away
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: south with the army. Soon after Fergus was brought and
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: then Frederick paid a visit to the house where he
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: had been carried and said a few words to each
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: of the wounded officers. So you are down again, Drummond.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: Fortune is not treating you so favorably as she used to.
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: It might have been a good deal worse, your majesty,
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: I think that one who has got off with only
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: the loss of his left arm has no reason to complain. No,
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: it might have been worse, the King replied, I have
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: lost many good friends and thousands of brave soldiers. However,
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: I too must not complain, for it has saved Prussia.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: Don't hurry to rejoin too soon, Drumming. Another month and
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: we shall all be in winter quarters. End of chapter
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: twenty