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005 - Part 5 · History of the Thirty Years War

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Speaker 1: Part five of the History of the Thirty Years War,
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Speaker 1: Volume three by Friedrich Schilder, translated by Reverend A. J. W. Morrison.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recurting is in the public domain. Wallenstein, less
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Speaker 1: occupied with the interests of his master than with the
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Speaker 1: furtherance of his own plans, now proposed to carry the
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Speaker 1: war into Saxony, and, by ravaging his territories, compelled the
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Speaker 1: Elector to enter into a private treaty with the Emperor,
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Speaker 1: or rather with himself. But however little accustomed he was
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Speaker 1: to make his will bend to circumstances, he now perceived
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Speaker 1: the necessity of postponing his favorite scheme for a time
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Speaker 1: to a more pressing emergency. While he was driving the
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Speaker 1: Saxons from Bohemia, Gustavis Adolphus had been gaining the victories
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Speaker 1: already detailed on the Rhine and the Danube, and carried
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Speaker 1: the war through Franconia and Swabia to the frontiers of Bavaria. Maximilian,
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Speaker 1: defeated on the Lech and deprived by death of Count
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Speaker 1: Tilly his best support, urgently solicited the Emperor to send
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Speaker 1: with all speed the Duke of Friedland to his assistance
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Speaker 1: from Bohemia. And by the defense of Bavaria to avert
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Speaker 1: the danger from Austria itself. He also made the same
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Speaker 1: request to Wallenstein and entreated him till he could come
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Speaker 1: himself with the main force to dispatch. In the meantime
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Speaker 1: a few regiments to his aid. Ferdinand seconded the request
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Speaker 1: with all his influence, and one messenger after another was
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Speaker 1: sent to Wallenstein urging him to move toward the Danube.
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Speaker 1: It now appeared how completely the Emperor had sacrificed his
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Speaker 1: authority in surrendering to another the supreme command of his troops.
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Speaker 1: Indifferent to Maximilian's entreaties and deaf to the Emperor's repeated commands,
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Speaker 1: Wallenstein remained inactive in Bohemia and abandoned the Elector to
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Speaker 1: his fate. The remembrance of the evil service which Maximilian
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Speaker 1: had rendered him with the Emperor at the diet at
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Speaker 1: Ratisbon was deeply engraved on the implacable mind of the Duke,
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Speaker 1: and the Elector's laid attempts to prevent his reinstatement were
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Speaker 1: no secret to him. The moment of revenging this affront
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Speaker 1: had now arrived, and Maximilian was doomed to pay dearly
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Speaker 1: for his folly in provoking the most revengeful of men.
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Speaker 1: Wallenstein maintained that Bohemia ought not to be left exposed,
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Speaker 1: and that Austria could not be better protected than by
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Speaker 1: allowing the Swedish army to waste its strength before the
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Speaker 1: Bavarian fortress. Thus, by the arm of the Swedes he
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Speaker 1: chastised his enemy, and while one place after another fell
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Speaker 1: into their hands, he allowed the Elector vainly to await
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Speaker 1: his arrival in Ratisbon. It was only when the complete
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Speaker 1: subjugation of Bohemia left him without excuse, and the conquests
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Speaker 1: of Gustavus Adolfus in Bavaria threatened Austra itself that he
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Speaker 1: yielded to depressing entreaties of the Elector and the Emperor,
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Speaker 1: and determined to effect the long expected union with the former,
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Speaker 1: an event which, according to the general anticipation of the
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Speaker 1: Roman Catholics, would decide the fate of the campaign. Gustavus Adolphus,
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Speaker 1: too weak in numbers to cope even with Wallenstein's force alone,
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Speaker 1: naturally dreaded the juncture of such powerful armies, and the
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Speaker 1: little energy he used to prevent it. Was the occasion
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Speaker 1: of great surprise. Apparently he reckoned too much on the hatred,
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Speaker 1: which alienated the leaders and seemed to render their effectual
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Speaker 1: cooperation improbable. When the event contradicted his views, it was
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Speaker 1: too late to repair this error. On the first certain
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Speaker 1: intelligence he received of their designs, he hastened to the
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Speaker 1: Upper Palatinate for the purpose of intercepting the elector, But
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Speaker 1: the latter had already arrived there, and the juncture had
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Speaker 1: been affected at Egra. This frontier town had been chosen
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Speaker 1: by Wallenstein for the scene of his triumph over his
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Speaker 1: proud rival. Not content with having seen him, as it were,
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Speaker 1: a suppliant at his feet, he imposed upon him the
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Speaker 1: hard condition of leaving his territories in the rear exposed
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Speaker 1: to the enemy, and declaring by this long march to
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Speaker 1: meet him. The necessity and distress to which he was reduced.
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Speaker 1: Even to this humiliation, the haughty prince patiently submitted. It
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Speaker 1: had cost him a severe struggle to ask for protection
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Speaker 1: of the man, who, if his own wishes had been consulted,
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Speaker 1: would never have had the power of granting it. But
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Speaker 1: having once made up his mind to it, he was
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Speaker 1: ready to bear all the annoyances which were inseparable from
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Speaker 1: that resolve, and sufficiently master of himself to put up
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Speaker 1: with petty grievances when an important end was in view.
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Speaker 1: But whatever pains it had cost to effect this junction,
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Speaker 1: it was equally difficult to settle the conditions on which
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Speaker 1: it was to be maintained. The United Army must be
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Speaker 1: placed under the command of one individual if any object
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Speaker 1: was to be gained by the union, and each general
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Speaker 1: was equally averse to yield the superior authority of the other.
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Speaker 1: If Maximilian rested his claim on his electoral dignity, the
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Speaker 1: nobleness of his descent, and his influence in the Empire,
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Speaker 1: Wallenstein's military renown and the unlimited command conferred on him
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Speaker 1: by the Emperor gave an equally strong title to it.
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Speaker 1: If it was deeply humiliating to the pride of the
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Speaker 1: former to serve under an imperial subject, the idea of
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Speaker 1: imposing laws on so imperious a spirit flattered in the
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Speaker 1: same degree the haughtiness of Wallenstein. An obstinate dispute ensued, which, however,
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Speaker 1: terminated in a mutual compromise to Wallenstein's advantage. To him
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Speaker 1: was assigned the unlimited command of both armies, particularly in battle.
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Speaker 1: While the elector was deprived of all power of altering
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Speaker 1: the order of battle or even the rout of the army,
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Speaker 1: he retained only the bare right of punishing and rewarding
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Speaker 1: his own troops, and the free use of these when
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Speaker 1: not acting in conjunction with the imperialists. After these preliminaries
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Speaker 1: were settled, to two generals at last ventured upon an interview,
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Speaker 1: but not until they had mutually promised to bury the
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Speaker 1: past in oblivion and all the outward formalities of a
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Speaker 1: reconciliation had been settled according to agreement. They publicly embraced
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Speaker 1: in the sight of their troops and made mutual professions
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Speaker 1: of friendship, while in reality the hearts of both were
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Speaker 1: overflowing with malice. Maximilian, well versed into simulation, had sufficient
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Speaker 1: command over himself not to betray in a single feature
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Speaker 1: his real feelings. But a malicious triumph sparkled in the
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Speaker 1: eyes of Wallenstein, and the constraint which was visible in
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Speaker 1: all his movements betrayed the violence of the emotion which
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Speaker 1: overpowered his proud soul. The combined Imperial and Bavarian armies
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Speaker 1: amounted to nearly sixty thousand men, chiefly veterans. Before this force.
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Speaker 1: The King of Sweden was not in a condition to
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Speaker 1: keep the field. As his attempts to prevent their junction
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Speaker 1: had failed. He commenced a rapid retreat into Franconia and
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Speaker 1: waited there for some decisive movement on the part of
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Speaker 1: the enemy in order to form his own plans. The
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Speaker 1: position of the combined armies between the frontiers of Saxony
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Speaker 1: and Bavaria left it for some time doubtful whether they
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Speaker 1: would remove the war into the former or endeavor to
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Speaker 1: drive the Swedes from the Danube and deliver Bavaria. Saxony
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Speaker 1: had been stripped of troops by Arnheim, who was pursuing
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Speaker 1: his conquests in Silesia, not without a secret design. It
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Speaker 1: was generally supposed of favoring the entrance of the Duke
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Speaker 1: of Friedland into that electorate, and of thus driving the
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Speaker 1: irresolute John George into peace with the Emperor. Gustavus. Adolphus, himself,
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Speaker 1: fully persuaded that Wallenstein's views were directed against Saxony, hastily
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Speaker 1: dispatched a strong reinforcement to the assistance of his confederate,
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Speaker 1: with the intention as soon as circumstances would allow of
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Speaker 1: following with the main body, but the movements of Wallenstein's
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Speaker 1: army soon left led him to suspect that he himself
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Speaker 1: was the object of attack, and the Duke's march through
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Speaker 1: the Upper Palatinate placed the matter beyond a doubt. The
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Speaker 1: question now was how to provide for his own security,
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Speaker 1: and the prize was no longer his supremacy, but his
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Speaker 1: very existence. His fertile genius, must now supply the means
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Speaker 1: not of conquest but of preservation. The approach of the
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Speaker 1: enemy had surprised him before he had time to concentrate
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Speaker 1: his troops, which were scattered all over Germany, or to
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Speaker 1: summon his allies to his aid. Too weak to meet
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Speaker 1: the enemy in the field, he had no choice left
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Speaker 1: but either to throw himself into Nuremberg and run the
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Speaker 1: risk of being shut up in its walls, or to
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Speaker 1: sacrifice that city and await a reinforcement under the cannon
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Speaker 1: of the Nahworth. Indifferent to danger or difficulty, while he
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Speaker 1: obeyed the call of humanity or honor, he chose the
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Speaker 1: first without hesitation, firmly resolved to bury himself with his
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Speaker 1: whole army under the ruins of Nuremberg, rather than to
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Speaker 1: purchase his own safety by the sacrifice of his confederates,
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Speaker 1: measures were immediately taken to surround the city and suburbs
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Speaker 1: with redoubts and to form an entrenched camp. Several thousand
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Speaker 1: workmen immediately commenced. This extensive work, and an heroic determination
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Speaker 1: to hazard life and property in the common cause animated
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Speaker 1: the inhabitants of Nuremberg. A trench eight feet deep and
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Speaker 1: twelve broad surrounded the whole fortification. The lines were defended
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Speaker 1: by redoubts and batteries, the gates by half moons. The
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Speaker 1: river Pegnitz, which flows through Nuremberg, divided the whole camp
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Speaker 1: into two semicircles, whose communication was secured by several bridges.
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Speaker 1: About three hundred pieces of cannon defended the town walls
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Speaker 1: and the entrenchments. The peasantry from the neighboring villages and
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Speaker 1: the inhabitants of Nuremberg assisted the Swedish soldiers so zealously
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Speaker 1: that on the seventh day the army was able to
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Speaker 1: entered the camp, and in a fortnight this great work
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Speaker 1: was completed. While these operations were carried on without the walls,
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Speaker 1: the magistrates of Nuremberg were busily occupied in filling the
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Speaker 1: magazines with provisions and ammunition for a long siege. Measures
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Speaker 1: were taken at the same time to secure the health
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Speaker 1: of the inhabitants, which was likely to be endangered by
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Speaker 1: the conflux of so many people. Cleanliness was enforced by
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Speaker 1: the strictest regulations. In order, if necessary, to support the king.
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Speaker 1: The youth of the city were embodied and trained to arms.
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Speaker 1: The militia of the town considerably reinforced, and a new
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Speaker 1: regiment raised, consisting of four and twenty names according to
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Speaker 1: the letters of the Alphabet. Gus Davis had in the
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Speaker 1: meantime called to his assistance his allies, Duke William of
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Speaker 1: Weimar and the Lngrave of Hesqussal, and ordered his generals
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Speaker 1: on the Rhine in Thuringia and Lord Saxony to commence
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Speaker 1: their march immediately and join him with their true to Nuremberg.
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Speaker 1: His army, which was encamped within the lines, did not
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Speaker 1: amount to more than sixteen thousand men, scarcely a third
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Speaker 1: of the enemy. The imperialists had, in the meantime, by
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Speaker 1: slow marches, advanced to Newmark, where Wallenstein made a general review.
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Speaker 1: At the sight of this formidable force, he could not
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Speaker 1: refrain from indulging in a childish boast. In four days,
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Speaker 1: said he, it will be shown whether I or the
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Speaker 1: King of Sweden is to be master of the world. Yet,
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Speaker 1: notwithstanding his superiority, he did nothing to fulfill his promise,
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Speaker 1: and even let slip the opportunity of crushing his enemy
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Speaker 1: when the latter had the hardihood to leave his lines
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Speaker 1: to meet him. Battles enough have been fought, was his
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Speaker 1: answer to those who advised him to attack the king.
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Speaker 1: It is now time to try another method. Wallenstein's well
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Speaker 1: found the reputation required not any of those rash enterprises
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Speaker 1: on which younger soldiers rush in the hope of gaining
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Speaker 1: a name. Satisfied that the enemy's despair would dearly sell
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Speaker 1: a victory, while a defeat would irretrievably ruin the emperor's affairs,
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Speaker 1: he resolved to wear out the ardor of his opponent
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Speaker 1: by a tedious blockade, and, by thus depriving him of
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Speaker 1: every opportunity of availing himself of his impetuous bravery, take
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Speaker 1: from him the very advantage with which had hitherto rendered
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Speaker 1: him invincible, without making any attack. Therefore, he erected a
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Speaker 1: strong fortified camp on the other side of the Pegnitz
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Speaker 1: and opposite Nuremberg, and by this well chosen position cut
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Speaker 1: off the city and the camp of Gustavus all supplies
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Speaker 1: from Franconia, Swabia and Thuringia. Thus he held in siege
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Speaker 1: at once the city and the king, and flattered himself
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Speaker 1: with the hope of slowly but surely wearing out, by
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Speaker 1: famine and pestilence the courage of his opponent, whom he
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Speaker 1: had no wish to encounter in the field. Little aware, however,
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Speaker 1: of the resources and the strength of his adversary, Wallenstein
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Speaker 1: had not taken so fish and precautions to advert from
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Speaker 1: himself the fate he was designing for others. From the
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Speaker 1: whole of the neighbouring country, the peasantry had fled with
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Speaker 1: their property, and while little provision remained, must be obstinately
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Speaker 1: contested with the Swedes. The king spared the magazines within
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Speaker 1: the town as long as it was possible to provision
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Speaker 1: his army from without, and these forays produced constant skirmishes
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Speaker 1: between the croats and the Swedish cavalry, of which the
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Speaker 1: surrounding country exhibited the most melancholy traces. The necessaries of
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Speaker 1: life must be obtained sword in hand, and the foraging
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Speaker 1: parties could not venture out without a numerous escort, and
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Speaker 1: when this supply failed, the town opened its magazines to
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Speaker 1: the king, but Wallenstein had to support his troops from
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Speaker 1: a distance. A large convoy from Bavaria was on its
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Speaker 1: way to him, with an escort of one thousand men.
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Speaker 1: Because Stavis Adolphus, having received intelligence of its approach, immediately
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Speaker 1: sent out a regiment of cavalry to intercept it, and
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Speaker 1: the darkness of the night favored the enterprise. The whole convoy,
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Speaker 1: with the town in which it was fell into the
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Speaker 1: hands of the Swedes. The imperial escort was cut to pieces,
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Speaker 1: about twelve hundred cattle carried off, and a thousand wagons
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Speaker 1: loaded with bread which could not be brought away were
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Speaker 1: set on fire. Seven regiments which Wallenstein had sent forward
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Speaker 1: to Altdorp to cover the entrance of the long and
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Speaker 1: anxiously expected convoy, were attacked by the King, who had
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Speaker 1: in like manner advanced to cover the retreat of his
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Speaker 1: cavalry and routed after an obstinate action, being driven back
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Speaker 1: into the imperial camp with a loss of four hundred men,
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Speaker 1: so many checks and difficulties, and so firm and unexpected
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Speaker 1: a resistance on the part of the king made the
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Speaker 1: Duke of Friedland repent that he had declined to hazard
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Speaker 1: a battle. The strength of the Swedish camp rendered an
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Speaker 1: attack impracticable, and the armed youth of Nuremberg served the
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Speaker 1: king as a nursery from which he could supply his
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Speaker 1: life troops. The want of provisions, which began to be
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Speaker 1: felt in the Imperial camp as strongly as in the Swedish,
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Speaker 1: rendered it uncertain which party would be first compelled to
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Speaker 1: give way. Fifteen days had the two armies now remained
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Speaker 1: in view of each other, equally defended by inaccessible entrenchments,
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Speaker 1: without attempting anything more than slight attacks and unimportant skirmishes
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Speaker 1: on both sides. Infectious diseases, the natural consequence of bad
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Speaker 1: food and a crowded population, had occasioned a greater loss
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Speaker 1: than the sword, and this evil daily increased. But at
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Speaker 1: length the long expected succors arrived in the Swedish camp,
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Speaker 1: and by this strong reinforcement the king was now enabled
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Speaker 1: to obey the dictates of his native courage and to
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Speaker 1: break the chains which had hitherto fettered him. In obedience
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Speaker 1: to his requisitions, the Duke of Weimar had hastily drawn
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Speaker 1: together a corps from the garrisons in Lower Saxony and Thuringia, which,
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Speaker 1: at Schweinfert and Franconia was joined by four Saxon regiments,
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Speaker 1: and at Kitzingen by the cores of the Rhine, which
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Speaker 1: the Longrave of Hesse and the Palatine of Berkenfeld dispatched
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Speaker 1: to the relief of the king. The Chancellor Oxenstern undertook
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Speaker 1: to lead this force to its destination. After being joined
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Speaker 1: at Windshine by the Duke of Weimar himself and the
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Speaker 1: Swedish general Banner, he advanced by rapid marches to Brooke
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Speaker 1: and Eltererdorf, where he passed the Red Knits and reached
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Speaker 1: the Swedish camp in safety. This reinforcement amounted to nearly
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Speaker 1: fifty thousand men and was attended by a train of
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Speaker 1: sixty pieces of cannon and four thousand baggage wagons. Gustavis
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Speaker 1: now saw himself at the head of an army of
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Speaker 1: nearly seventy thousand strong, without reckoning the militia of Nuremberg,
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Speaker 1: which in case of necessity could bring into the field
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Speaker 1: about thirty thousand fighting men, a formidable force opposed to
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Speaker 1: another not less formidable. The war seemed at length compressed
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Speaker 1: to the point of a single battle, which was to
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Speaker 1: decide its fearful issue. With divided sympathies, Europe looked with
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Speaker 1: anxiety to this scene, where the whole strength of the
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Speaker 1: two contending parties was fearfully drawn, as it were, to
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Speaker 1: a focus. If before the arrival of the Swedish succors
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Speaker 1: a want of provision had been felt, the evil was
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Speaker 1: now fearfully increased to a dreadful height in both camps.
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Speaker 1: For Wallenstein had also received reinforcements from Bavaria. Besides the
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Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty thousand men confronted to each other
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Speaker 1: and more than fifty thousand horses in the two armies,
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Speaker 1: and besides the inhabitants of Nuremberg, whose number far exceeded
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Speaker 1: the Swedish army, there were in the camp of Wallenstein
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Speaker 1: about fifteen thousand women, with as many drivers, and nearly
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Speaker 1: the same number in that of the Swedes. The custom
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Speaker 1: of the time permitted the soldier to carry his family
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Speaker 1: with him to the field. A number of prostitutes followed
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Speaker 1: the imperialists, while with the view of preventing such excesses.
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Speaker 1: Gustavus's care for the morals of his soldiers promoted marriages
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Speaker 1: for the rising generation who had this camp for their
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Speaker 1: home and country. Regular military schools were established, which educated
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Speaker 1: a race of excellent warriors, by which means the army might,
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Speaker 1: in a manner recruit itself in the course of a
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Speaker 1: long campaign. No wonder, then, if these wandering nations exhausted
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Speaker 1: every territory in which they encamped, and by their immense consumption,
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Speaker 1: raised the necessaries of life to an exorbitant price. All
18:27
Speaker 1: the mills of Nuremberg were insufficient to grind the corn
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Speaker 1: required for each day, and fifteen thousand pounds of bread,
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Speaker 1: which were daily delivered by the town into the Swedish
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Speaker 1: camp excited without allaying the hunger of the soldiers. The
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Speaker 1: laudable exertions of the magistrates of Nuremberg could not prevent
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Speaker 1: the greater part of the horses from dying for want
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Speaker 1: of forage, while the increasing mortality in the camp consigned
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Speaker 1: more than one hundred men daily to the grave. To
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Speaker 1: put an end to these distresses, Gustavus Adolphice relying on
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Speaker 1: him his numerical superiority, left his lines on the twenty
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Speaker 1: fifth day, forming before the enemy and order of battle,
19:07
Speaker 1: while he cannonated the Duke's camp from three batteries erected
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Speaker 1: on the side of the Rednits. But the Duke remained
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Speaker 1: immovable in his entrenchments and contented himself with answering this
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Speaker 1: challenge by a distant fire of cannon and musketry. His
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Speaker 1: plan was to wear out the king by his inactivity
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Speaker 1: and by the force of famine, to overcome his resolute determination,
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Speaker 1: and neither the remonstrances of Maximilian and the impatience of
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Speaker 1: his army, nor the ridicule of his opponent, could shake
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Speaker 1: his purpose. Gus Davis, deceived in his hope of forcing
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Speaker 1: a battle, and compelled by his increasing necessaries, now attempted
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Speaker 1: impossibilities and resolved the storm, a position which art and
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Speaker 1: nature had combined to render impregnable, in trusting his own
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Speaker 1: camp to the militia of Nuremberg. On the fifty eighth
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Speaker 1: day of his encampment, the Festival of Saint Bartholomew, he
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Speaker 1: advanced in full order of battle, and passing the Rednitz
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Speaker 1: at Firth easily drove the enemy's outposts before him. The
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Speaker 1: main army of the imperialists was posted on the steep
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Speaker 1: heights between the Biber and the Red Knits, called the
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Speaker 1: Old Fortress and Altenburg, while the camp itself, commanded by
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Speaker 1: these eminences, spread out immeasurably along the plain. On these heights,
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Speaker 1: the whole of the artillery was placed deep trenches surrounded
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Speaker 1: inaccessible redoubts, while thick barricados with pointed palisades defended the
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Speaker 1: approaches to the heights from the summits of which Wallenstein
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Speaker 1: calmly and securely discharged the lightnings of his artillery from
20:39
Speaker 1: amid the dark thunderclouds of smoke, A destructive fire of
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Speaker 1: musketry was maintained behind the breastworks, and a hundred pieces
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Speaker 1: of cannon threatened the desperate assailant with certain destruction. Against
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Speaker 1: this dangerous post, Gustavus now directed his attack. Five hundred musketeers,
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Speaker 1: supported by few infantry, for a greater number could not
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Speaker 1: act in the narrow space, enjoyed the unenvied privilege of
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Speaker 1: first throwing themselves into the open jaws of death. The
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Speaker 1: assault was furious, the resistance obstinate, exposed of the whole
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Speaker 1: fire of the enemy's artillery, and infuriate by the prospect
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Speaker 1: of inevitable death, these determined warriors rushed forward to storm
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Speaker 1: the heights, which in an instant converted into a flaming
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Speaker 1: volcano discharged on them a shower of shot. At the
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Speaker 1: same moment, the heavy cavalry rushed forward into the openings
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Speaker 1: which the artillery had made in the close rank of
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Speaker 1: the assailants, and divided them, till the intrepid band, conquered
21:38
Speaker 1: by the strength of nature and of man, took to flight,
21:41
Speaker 1: leaving a hundred dead upon the field to Germans. Had
21:45
Speaker 1: Gustavus yielded this post of honor. Exasperated at their retreat,
21:49
Speaker 1: he now led on his Finlanders to the attack, thinking
21:52
Speaker 1: by their northern courage to shame the cowardice of the Germans.
21:56
Speaker 1: But they, also, after a similar hot reception, yielded to
22:00
Speaker 1: the superiority of the enemy, and a third regiment succeeded
22:04
Speaker 1: them to experience the same fate. This was replaced by
22:07
Speaker 1: a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth, so that during
22:11
Speaker 1: a ten hours action, every regiment was brought to the attack,
22:14
Speaker 1: to retire with a bloody loss. From the contest, a
22:18
Speaker 1: thousand mangled bodies covered the field. The Edgar Stavis undauntedly
22:22
Speaker 1: maintained the attack, and Wallenstein held his position unshaken. In
22:27
Speaker 1: the meantime, a sharp contest had taken place between the
22:31
Speaker 1: Imperial cavalry and the left wing of the Swedes, which
22:34
Speaker 1: was posted in a thicket on the red nets, with
22:36
Speaker 1: varying success, but with equal intrepidity and loss on both sides.
22:41
Speaker 1: The Duke of Friedland and Prince Bernard of Weimar had
22:44
Speaker 1: each a horse shot under them. The King himself had
22:47
Speaker 1: the sole of his boot carried off by a cannonball.
22:51
Speaker 1: The combat was maintained with undiminished obstinacy till the approach
22:55
Speaker 1: of night separated the combatants, but the Swedes had advanced
22:59
Speaker 1: too far to retreat without hazard. While the King was
23:02
Speaker 1: seeking an officer to convey to the regiments to order
23:05
Speaker 1: to retreat, he met Colonel Hepburn, a brave scotchman whose
23:09
Speaker 1: native courage alone had drawn him from the camp to
23:12
Speaker 1: share in the dangers of the day. Offended with the
23:15
Speaker 1: King for having not long before preferred a younger officer
23:19
Speaker 1: for some post of danger, he had rashly vowed never
23:22
Speaker 1: again to draw his sword for the king to him.
23:25
Speaker 1: Gustavus now addressed himself, praising his courage and requesting him
23:30
Speaker 1: to order the regiments to retreat. Sire replied the brave soldier,
23:35
Speaker 1: it is the only service I cannot refuse to your majesty,
23:38
Speaker 1: for it is a hazardous one, and immediately hastened to
23:41
Speaker 1: carry the command. One of the heights above the old
23:44
Speaker 1: fortress had in the heat of the action, been carried
23:47
Speaker 1: by the Duke of Weimar. It commanded the hills and
23:50
Speaker 1: the whole camp. But the heavy rain which fell during
23:53
Speaker 1: the night rendered it impossible to draw up the cannon,
23:56
Speaker 1: and this post, which had been gained with so much bloodshed,
24:00
Speaker 1: was also voluntarily abandoned. Diffident of fortune which forsook him
24:05
Speaker 1: on this decisive day, the king did not venture the
24:08
Speaker 1: following morning to renew the attack with his exhausted troops,
24:11
Speaker 1: and vanquished for the first time. Even because he was
24:14
Speaker 1: not victor, he led back his troops over the Rednits
24:18
Speaker 1: two thousand dead, which he left behind him on the field,
24:21
Speaker 1: testified of the extent of his loss, and the Duke
24:24
Speaker 1: of Friedland remained unconquered within his lines for fourteen days
24:29
Speaker 1: after this action, the two armies still continued in front
24:32
Speaker 1: of each other, each in the hope that the other
24:34
Speaker 1: would be the first to give way. Every day reduced
24:38
Speaker 1: their provisions, and his scarcity became greater. The excesses of
24:42
Speaker 1: the soldiers rendered furious, exercised the wildest outrages on the peasantry.
24:47
Speaker 1: The increasing distress broke up all discipline and order in
24:50
Speaker 1: the Swedish camp, and the German regiments in particular distinguished
24:55
Speaker 1: themselves for the ravages they practiced indiscriminately on friend and foe.
25:00
Speaker 1: The weak hand of a single individual could not check
25:02
Speaker 1: excesses encouraged by the silence, if not the actual example
25:07
Speaker 1: of the inferior officers. These shameful breaches of discipline, on
25:11
Speaker 1: the maintenance of which he had hitherto justly prided himself,
25:15
Speaker 1: severely pained the King, and the vehemence with which he
25:18
Speaker 1: reproached the German officers for their negligence bespoke the liveliness
25:22
Speaker 1: of his emotion. It is you yourselves, Germans, said he
25:27
Speaker 1: that rob your native land and ruin your own confederates.
25:29
Speaker 1: In the faith. As God is my judge, I abhor you,
25:33
Speaker 1: I loathe you my heart sinks within me whenever I
25:36
Speaker 1: look upon you, Ye break my orders. Ye are the
25:39
Speaker 1: cause that the world curses me, that the tears of
25:42
Speaker 1: poverty follow me, that complaints ring in my ear. The King,
25:46
Speaker 1: our friend, does us more harm than even our worst enemies.
25:50
Speaker 1: On your account, I have stripped my kingdom of his
25:52
Speaker 1: treasures and spent upon you more than forty tons of
25:55
Speaker 1: gold footnote. A ton of gold in Sweden amounts to
26:00
Speaker 1: one hundred thousand ricks dollars end footnote, while from your
26:05
Speaker 1: German empire I have not received the least aid. I
26:08
Speaker 1: gave you a share of all that God had given
26:10
Speaker 1: to me, and had ye regarded my orders, I would
26:13
Speaker 1: have gladly shared with you all my future acquisitions. Your
26:17
Speaker 1: want of discipline convinces me of your evil intentions, whatever
26:20
Speaker 1: cause I might otherwise have to applaud your bravery. Nuremberg
26:25
Speaker 1: had exerted itself almost beyond its power to subsist for
26:29
Speaker 1: eleven weeks the vast crowd, which was compressed within its boundaries,
26:34
Speaker 1: but its means were at length exhausted, and the King's
26:37
Speaker 1: more numerous party was obliged to determine on a retreat
26:41
Speaker 1: by the casualties of war and sickness. Nuremberg had lost
26:45
Speaker 1: more than ten thousand of its inhabitants and Gustavus Adolphus
26:49
Speaker 1: nearly twenty thousand of his soldiers. The fields around the
26:52
Speaker 1: city were trampled down, the villages lay in ashes, The
26:56
Speaker 1: plundered peasantry lay faint and dying on the highways. Foul
27:00
Speaker 1: odours infected the air, and bad food. The exhalations from
27:04
Speaker 1: so dense a population and so many putrefying carcasses, together
27:09
Speaker 1: with the heat of the dog days, produced a desolating
27:12
Speaker 1: pestilence which raged among men and beasts, and long after
27:16
Speaker 1: the retreat of both armies, continued to load the country
27:19
Speaker 1: with misery and distress. Affected by the general distress and
27:24
Speaker 1: despairing of conquering the steady determination of the Duke of Friedland,
27:28
Speaker 1: the king broke up his camp on the eighth September,
27:31
Speaker 1: leaving in Nuremberg a sufficient garrison. He advanced in full
27:35
Speaker 1: order of battle before the enemy, who remained motionless and
27:38
Speaker 1: did not attempt in the least to harass his retreat.
27:42
Speaker 1: His route lay by the ash and windshine towards the Neustadt,
27:46
Speaker 1: where he halted five days to refresh his troops, and
27:49
Speaker 1: also to be near to Nuremberg in case the enemy
27:52
Speaker 1: should make an attempt upon the town. But Wallenstein, as
27:56
Speaker 1: exhausted as himself, only awaited the retreat of the Swedes
27:59
Speaker 1: to commit his own. Five days afterwards, he broke up
28:03
Speaker 1: his camp at Zendorf and set it on fire, a
28:06
Speaker 1: hundred columns of smoke rising from all the burning villages
28:09
Speaker 1: in the neighborhood, announced his retreat and showed the city
28:13
Speaker 1: the fate it had escaped. His march, which was directed
28:17
Speaker 1: on Forsheim, was marked by the most frightful ravages, but
28:21
Speaker 1: he was too far advanced to be overtaken by the king.
28:24
Speaker 1: The latter now divided his army, which the exhausted country
28:27
Speaker 1: was unable to support, and leaving one division to protect Franconia.
28:32
Speaker 1: With the other, he prosecuted in person his conquests in Bavaria.
28:37
Speaker 1: In the meantime, the Imperial Bavarian army had marched into
28:40
Speaker 1: the Bishopric of Bamberg, where the Duke of Friedland a
28:43
Speaker 1: second time mustered his troops. He found this force, which
28:47
Speaker 1: so lately had amounted the sixty thousand men, diminished by
28:51
Speaker 1: the sword desertion, and disease to about twenty four thousand,
28:55
Speaker 1: and of these a fourth were Bavarians. Thus, had the
28:58
Speaker 1: encampments before Nuremberg and both parties more than two great battles,
29:02
Speaker 1: would have done, apparently without advancing the termination of the
29:06
Speaker 1: war or satisfying by any decisive result, the expectations of Europe.
29:12
Speaker 1: The King's conquests in Bavaria were, it is true, checked
29:15
Speaker 1: for a time by this diversion before Nuremberg, and Austria
29:19
Speaker 1: itself secured against the danger of immediate invasion. But by
29:23
Speaker 1: the retreat of the King from that city he was
29:25
Speaker 1: again left at full liberty to make Bavaria the seat
29:28
Speaker 1: of war. Indifference were the fate of that country. And
29:32
Speaker 1: weary of the restraint which his union with the Elector
29:34
Speaker 1: imposed upon him, the Duke of Friedland eagerly seized the
29:38
Speaker 1: opportunity of separating from this burdensome associate and prosecuting with
29:43
Speaker 1: renewed earnestness his favorite plans. Still adhering to his purpose
29:48
Speaker 1: of detaching Saxony from its Swedish alliance, he selected that
29:52
Speaker 1: country for his winter quarters, hoping by his destructive presence
29:56
Speaker 1: to force the Elector the more readily into his views.
30:00
Speaker 1: No conjecture could be more favorable for his designs. The
30:03
Speaker 1: Saxons had invaded Silesia, where reinforced by troops from Brandenburg
30:08
Speaker 1: and Sweden, they had gained several advantages over the Emperor's troops.
30:13
Speaker 1: Silesia would be saved by a diversion against the Elector
30:15
Speaker 1: in his own territories, and the attempt was the more easy,
30:19
Speaker 1: as Saxony, left undefended during the war in Silesia, lay
30:23
Speaker 1: open on every side to attack. The pretext of rescuing
30:27
Speaker 1: from the enemy and hereditary dominion of Austria would silence
30:31
Speaker 1: the remonstrances of the Elector of Bavaria, and under the
30:34
Speaker 1: mask of a patriotic zeal for the Emperor's interests, Maximilian
30:39
Speaker 1: might be sacrificed without much difficulty. By giving up the
30:43
Speaker 1: rich country of Bavaria to the Swedes. He hoped to
30:46
Speaker 1: be left unmolested by them in his enterprise against Saxony,
30:50
Speaker 1: while the increasing coldness between Gestavus and the Saxon court
30:54
Speaker 1: gave him little reason to apprehend any extraordinary zeal for
30:58
Speaker 1: the deliverance of John George. Thus, a second time, abandoned
31:02
Speaker 1: by his artful protector. The Elector separated from Wallenstein at
31:06
Speaker 1: Bamberg to protect his defenseless territory with the small remains
31:11
Speaker 1: of his troops, while the Imperial army under Wallenstein directed
31:15
Speaker 1: its march through Bayreuth and Coburg toward the Thuringian Forest.
31:20
Speaker 1: End of Part five.