portant passes, by which he was, in some measure, enabled to surround the little army under Fouquet. The Prussian general did every thing possible, ir such circumstances, to defend himself against a superior enemy. But all his efforts were ineffectual. The Austrians attacked his intrenchments with irresistible fury! and he himself having received two mortal wounds, and four thousand of his troops being slain, the remains of his army, amounting to seven thousand men, threw down their arms on the field, and surrendered prisoners of war. The reduction of Glatz, on which Laudohn fell like a thunderbolt, was the immediate consequence of this decisive victory.(1)

The king of Prussia's defensive plan seemed now to be entirely ruined. One of his three armies was destroyed, and the victorious Laudohn was ready to lay siege to Breslaw, where he expected to be joined by the Russians, and enabled to complete the conquest of Silesia, the great object of the war. His Prussian majesty saw the danger, and while the fortitude of his spirit determined him to meet it without shrinking, his daring genius led him to hope, that the most important advantages might be drawn from the very bosom of misfortune. He accordingly quitted his strong camp on the frontiers of Saxony, and directed his march towards Silesia. Mareschal Daun pursued the same route, and by forced marches got the start of his heroic antagonist, who was more dilatory than usual.

The Austrian general had reached Gorlitz, and was pushing on to Lauban, when the gallant Frederick received the agreeable intelligence of his rapid progress, and, by one of the boldest acts of generalship recorded in the annals of war, wheeled into the opposite direction; repassed the Spree near Bautzen, and threw himself unexpectedly before Dresden. His appearance struck the garrison like the springing of a mine. But Macguire, the governor, being an officer of courage and experience, not only refused to surrender the place, but resolved to defend it to the last extremity; and as it had been strengthened by several additional fortifications, since it had fallen into the hands of the Austrians, it baffled all the desperate assaults of the Prussians, and gloriously held out against every mode of attack, until mareschal Daun returned from Silesia, and obliged the king to relinquish an enterprise which deserved to have been crowned with the most brilliant success.(2)

Chagrined at his disappointment, the Prussian monarch offered battle to Daun; but the cautious commander prudently declined the challenge, and took every measure to render an attack impracticable. In the mean time, general Laudohn, having completed his preparations, laid siege to Breslaw, and attempted to intimidate the governor and the inhabitants into an immediate capitulation, by a pompous display of his strength. He set forth, that his forces consisted of fifty battalions and eighty squadrons; that the Russian army, amounting to seventy-five thousand men, was within three days' march; that it was in vain for the governor to expect succour from the king of Prussia, then on the other side of the Elbe, and still more vain to look for relief from prince Henry, who must sink beneath the sword of the Russians, if he attempted to obstruct their progress. And he declared that the garrison must expect no terms, nor the inhabitants any favour, if they attempted to hold out.

Finding all his threats ineffectual, as the governor's reply was firm and manly, Laudohn endeavoured to put them in execution. He tried to carry the town by assault, while he thundered upon it, from an immense artillery, a shower of bombs and red-hot bullets. But the assault failed; and the awful bombardment affected only the wretched inhabitants, on whom it fell like the vengeance of heaven. At length an army was seen, and tremulous hope and convulsive fear shook, by turns, the hearts of the distracted citizens:but it was not an army of Russians. A deliverer appeared in the person of

(1) Prussian and Austrian Relations compared.

(2) It will detract little from the merit of this enterprise, to suppose, as has been insinuated, that the king of Prussia had an intention to march into Silesia, till he found that Daun had got the start of him. But if such had been really his purpose, there is no reason to suppose he would have permitted Daun to gain upon him a march of two days; as, on every other occasion, he exceeded the Austrians in the celerity of his motions. And his return was infinitely more rapid than his advance.

prince Henry, whose peculiar fortune it was, with a happy conformity to his beneficent disposition, more frequently to save than to destroy. He had marched one hundred and twenty miles in five days, with all his artillery and baggage. The Austrians abandoned the siege on his approach.(1)

But the rapid march of prince Henry, and the relief of Breslaw, seemed only to retard for a moment the final ruin of the king of Prussia's affairs. Laudohn, lately victorious, and still formidable, though obliged to retire before the royal brother, kept Schweidnitz and Neiss under blockade, and anxiously waited the arrival of the Russians; when he hoped, not only to receive the submission of those two places, but to return to the siege of the capital, and complete at one blow the conquest of Silesia.

The main body of the Russian army, under count Czernichew, had actually reached the frontiers of that province, and wanted only a few days unobstructed march to form the much-feared and desired junction. Another body of Russians had entered Pomerania, where the Prussian forces did not exceed five thousand horse and foot, and threatened to invest Colberg; while the Swedes resumed their operations in the same country, with an army of twenty thousand men.

A plan of mere defence, in such circumstances, must have proved altogether ineffectual. Silesia was in danger of being instantly subdued, by the junction of the Austrians and Russians. The king of Prussia, therefore, marched thither without delay; and left mareschal Daun, who had the start of him at setting out, considerably behind. He passed five rivers, the Elbe, the Spree, the Neiss, the Quiess, and the Bober, with a numerous army, clogged with its heavy artillery, and above two thousand wagons; and while one body of forces hung on his flank, another in his rear, and a third presented itself in front, he traversed a tract of country near two hundred miles in extent, under all those perils and difficulties, with a celerity that would have rendered memorable the march of a detachment of light troops. But he was not able, with all his activity, to bring Laudohn to action, before that general was joined by the Austrian armies under Daun and Lascy. And by the forces of these three generals, which occupied an immense extent of ground, he was in danger of being surrounded in his camp at Lignitz. In vain did he attempt, by various movements, to divide the enemy's strength, to turn their flanks, or attack them under any other disadvantage: the nature of the ground and the skill of the Austrian generals rendered abortive all the suggestions of ingenuity.

While thus circumstanced, his Prussian majesty received intelligence that the Russian army under count Czernichew was ready to pass the Oder at Auras. As the least of two dangers, he resolved to attack the Austrians before the arrival of a new enemy. Meanwhile, mareschal Daun, having reconnoitred the king's situation at Lignitz, had formed a design of attacking him by surprise, in the night, with the united strength of the three Austrian armies. And he had communicated his design to the two other generals.

Of this design, it is probable, the Prussian monarch was not ignorant; as on the same night that it was to have taken effect, he quitted his camp, with the utmost privacy, and occupied an advantageous post on the heights of Psaffendorff, by which general Laudohn was to advance. Daun, with no less precaution, made his approaches towards the Prussian camp; but, to his astonishment, on his arrival, he found no enemy there. When day broke, however, he could perceive at a distance the rising of a thick smoke, which left him little room to doubt in what business the king was engaged, or for what purpose he had quitted his station.

As Laudohn was eagerly pressing on to Lignitz, and feeding his heart with splendid hopes of the glory which he should acquire, by his distinguished share in the action that was to determine the fate of the illustrious Frederick, he was furiously attacked about three o'clock in the morning, by the Prussian army, drawn up in order of battle; and obliged to retire, after an obstinate

(1) Lond. Gazette, Sept. 9, 1760.

dispute, with the loss of eight thousand men. Nor could mareschal Daun possibly come to his assistance. His Prussian majesty, who exposed his own person in a remarkable manner in order to animate his troops, was unguarded in nothing else. He had secured his rear so effectually with a strong body of reserve, and by a numerous artillery, judiciously planted on the heights of Psaffendorff, as to render an attack altogether impracticable. Daun therefore found himself under the necessity of remaining inactive, and of waiting, in anxious suspense, the issue of the momentous combat. It was finally decided by six o'clock, when the Austrians gave way on all sides, and were pursued as far as the Katsbach, a river that falls into the Oder a little below Lignitz. The king did not choose to push his advantage farther, lest he should afford the wily and watchful Daun an opportunity of disjoining his army.(1)

By this victory, the Prussian monarch not only rescued himself from the most imminent danger, but prevented the long-dreaded junction of the Russian and Austrian armies in Silesia: for count Czernichew was so much intimidated at the defeat of the Austrians, that he immediately repassed the Oder. Having joined his brother Henry at Neumarke, and opened a communication with Breslaw, the king therefore marched against mareschal Daun, who had formed the blockade of Schweidnitz; routed a body of the enemy under general Beck, and obliged the grand Austrian army, under Daun, to forego its purpose, and take refuge in the mountains of Landshut.

What time his Prussian majesty was making these heroic efforts in Silesia, the reputation of his arms was admirably supported in Saxony by general Hulsen, to whom he had committed the command of his troops in that country, and who gained several advantages over the army of the empire. But the state of his affairs in other quarters was very different. The Russians, after they repassed the Oder, pushed a strong detachment into Brandenburg; and count Czernichew, the Russian commander, being there joined by a large body of Austrians under general Lascy, the united army made itself master of Berlin. (2) Nor was this mortifying blow the only stroke of ill-fortune that fell upon the gallant Frederick.

The Russians and Austrians, having levied a contribution upon the inhabitants of Berlin, destroyed the magazines, arsenals, and foundries, and pillaged the royal palaces, retired by different routes, on hearing that the king was advancing to the relief of his capital. The city suffered considerably, especially in its ornaments; the adjacent country was ravaged, and his Prussian majesty sustained a prodigious loss in valuable furniture and military stores. But these were not the worst consequences that attended the invasion of Brandenburg, and the taking the seat of government, of arts, and of elegance.

When Berlin was first threatened, general Hulsen left Saxony, and attempted to oppose the enemy. He found himself unequal to the generous purpose, yet continued to hover in the neighbourhood, in order to seize any advantage that might offer. In the mean time, the prince of Deuxponts, meeting with no interruption, made rapid progress in Saxony. Leipsic, Torgau, and Wittemberg successively surrendered to the imperialists. And while the illustrious Frederick was thus losing his footing in Saxony, which had been hitherto the great support of his armies, a detachment from the French army in Westphalia laid Halberstadt under contribution. One part of Pomerania was ravaged by the Swedes, and another by the Russians, who had invested Colberg both by land and sea. The situation of the king of Prussia again seemed desperate. All his motions, in his march towards Brandenburg, were watched by Daun, whose army had been reinforced; and Laudohn, in his absence, had laid siege to the strong and important fortress of Cosel in Silesia, and threatened the whole province with subjection.

It now became necessary for the warlike monarch, who was still at the head of a strong army, to call up once more the vigour of his genius, and

(1) Prussian and Austrian Accounts, in London and foreign Gazettes, compared.
(2) Lond. Gazette, Oct. 28, 1760.

attempt by some bold exertion to extricate himself from all his difficulties. He had determined to make such an exertion. And no sooner did he learn that the enemy had abandoned Berlin, and evacuated Brandenburg, than he passed the Elbe, and rushed into Saxony. Mareschal Daun followed him, with an army of eighty thousand men, and encamped in the neighbourhood of Torgau; his right wing extending to the Elbe, by which it was covered, and his centre and left being secured by ponds, hills, and woods. A stronger position than that seized upon by the Austrian general could not possibly have been chosen by a small army, as a security against one of the greatest force. Yet did his Prussian majesty, encompassed by dangers, resolve to attack, with only fifty thousand men, that able and experienced commander in his seemingly impregnable camp, as he could not hope to draw him from it, and winter was fast approaching.

In consequence of this resolution, the most daring that could be dictated by despair, the king divided his army into three bodies, and made all his dispositions with as much coolness and caution as if it had been the result of the most guarded prudence. General Hulsen, with one body, was directed to take post in a wood on the left of the Austrian army, and had orders not to move until he found the other divisions of the Prussian army were engaged. General Zeithen was instructed to charge on the enemy's right: and the grand attack in front was to be conducted by his Prussian majesty in person. These dispositions being made, the king informed his officers, that he was determined to conquer or die. They unanimously answered, they would die or conquer with him.

Pleased with the ardour of his troops, and convinced that they would not disappoint his hopes, the intrepid monarch, having made his approaches in the morning, began an attack upon the enemy's camp about two in the afternoon. He was received with the fire of two hundred pieces of cannon, disposed along the front of the Austrian line. The Prussian infantry, which were first presented, persevered in their efforts with uncommon resolution. But they were at length broken, and repulsed with great slaughter, after they had been three times led on to the charge, and as often obliged to give ground. The king ordered his cavalry to advance. They broke the Austrian infantry by their impetuous shock, but were soon forced to retire by the pressure of fresh battalions, which poured in on every side. And victory seemed ready to declare for the Austrians, when general Zeithen, with the Prussian left wing, fell upon the enemy's rear; and mareschal Daun, having received a dangerous wound in the thigh, was carried off the field.

Encouraged by the confusion occasioned by these fortunate circumstances, the Prussian infantry returned once more to the charge. The cavalry, following their example, threw several bodies of Austrians into irreparable disorder; and if the darkness of night had not prevented the possibility of pursuit, and enabled the routed army to escape over the Elbe, the victory would have been complete, and the carnage immense. As matters terminated, the loss of lives, in the battle of Torgau, was very considerable. About ten thousand men were killed or wounded on each side. And the Prussians took near eight thousand prisoners, among whom were four generals, and two hundred inferior officers.(1)

Of all the king of Prussia's victories, this was, perhaps, the most glorious, as it certainly was the most important. His troops, though very different from those invincible battalions, now no more, which he had formerly led into Bohemia, and which conquered at Lowositz, Prague, Lissa, and Rosbach, animated by his presence and example, behaved with a firmness worthy of the most hardy veterans. In no battle did he ever expose his own person so much; yet, as if invulnerable, a bullet only grazed gently upon his breast. His courage and conduct were alike conspicuous. The Austrians pretended to dispute with him the honour of the action: but its consequences sufficiently proved where the advantage lay.

(1) Prussian and Austrian Gazettes compared.

His Prussian majesty immediately entered Torgau; he recovered all Saxony, except Dresden (in the neighbourhood of which Daun disposed his army), before the close of the campaign; and he put his troops into winter-quarters in that electorate, instead of being obliged to canton them in his own wasted dominions. He attained the object for which he fought, and at the same time added new lustre to his arms. The shock of victory seemed to be felt in every hostile quarter. Laudohn abruptly raised the blockade of Casel, and evacuated Silesia. The Russians abandoned the siege of Colberg in Eastern Pomerania, and retired into Poland; while the Swedes, defeated by the Prussians in Western Pomerania, were forced to take refuge under the cannon of Stralsund.(1)

During these important transactions on the continent of Europe, events of still greater moment took place in other quarters of the globe. While the allies of Great Britain, though supported by her money and troops, with difficulty maintained their ground in Germany, which alone seemed to engage her attention, her own arms, under the direction of British officers, were crowned with signal success in North America and the East Indies

The taking of Quebec, it had been generally supposed, would be followed by the final submission of Canada, without any farther struggle. But this was soon discovered to be a dangerous mistake. Although the possession of that city was necessary to the conquest of the province, much yet remained to be done before it could be subjected to Great Britain.

The main body of the French army, which had retired, after the battle of Quebec, to Montreal, and still consisted of ten battalions of regulars, was there reinforced with six thousand Canadian militia, and a party of Indians. With these forces, M. de Levi, who had succeeded the marquis de Montcalm in the chief command, proposed to attempt the recovery of the capital early in the spring. In that resolution he was encouraged by an oversight of the English admirals, who had not made sufficient provision against his attaining a superiority on the river St. Lawrence. No vessels of any force had been left at Quebec, on a supposition that they could not be useful in winter. The French general had even thoughts of attempting the recovery of the place during the rigour of that season; although a British garrison of five thousand men had been left in it under the command of general Murray. But on reconnoitring, he found the outposts so well secured, and the governor so vigilant and active, that he delayed the enterprise until the month of April. Then his artillery, provisions, ammunition, and heavy baggages fell down the St. Lawrence from Montreal, under the convoy of six stout frigates. This squadron secured to him the undisputed command of the river; a circumstance of the utmost importance to the execution of his whole design. And after a march of ten days, he arrived with his army at Point au Tremble, within a few miles of Quebec.

Meanwhile, general Murray had omitted no step that could be taken by an able and experienced officer for maintaining the important conquest committed to his care. But the garrison had suffered so much from excessive cold in the winter, and by the want of vegetables and fresh provisions, that he had not above three thousand men fit for service, when he received intelligence of the approach of the French army. With this small but gallant body, accustomed to conquer, he intrepidly resolved to meet the enemy in the field, in order to avoid the tedious hardships and the dangers of a siege, in an extensive town, with a sickly garrison, and all the inhabitants secretly hostile to him. He accordingly marched out on the 28th of April to the heights of Abraham, and attacked M. de Levi with great impetuosity, near Sillery. But being out-flanked, and ready to be surrounded by superior numbers, he was obliged to retire, after an obstinate dispute, with the loss of one thousand men.(2)

The French lost about two thousand men in this action, without deriving

(1) Prussian and Austrian Gazettes compared.

(2) Letter from general Murray, in the Lond. Gazette, June 27, 1760. Knox's Campaigns, vol. ii.