1S07.] ' Memoirs of the Utc Duke of Bruusn'ic/c. 



565 



firft time in the courfc of near half a 

 century. He tlien entered Saj;ony, and, 

 having advanced towards its frontier, l)»- 

 gan to menace tlie Itutes of tiie new 

 Conlt(^ration of ttic ilhine. 



On this Bouaparle pre[)art d for war ; 

 or, rather, he ordered tiiofe cokinins, 

 vhich had long anticipated tiiut event, to 

 pufli forward. He himl'clt fudtltnly quit- 

 ted Paris, on the 'Jod of September lUiMJ, 

 and, having advanced by Bamberg and 

 Cronach, repaired to Schleltz, where, on 

 the 8th of October, tie was piefent at 

 the fn-ll battle during this lliort but me- 

 morable campaiiin, and witnelied a fceue 

 that aiVorded liiin but too liatteriiig a 

 Jirefage of the final refult. 



On the lOtli, I'riiife Louis of Prul'fia 

 was defeated at .*^aalfe!d, and he himfelf 

 iiilled; while conlidcrable (laughter took 

 ph^ce among the troo])s. But the Duke 

 of Brunfwick, at tbe licad of the grand 

 arjiiy, was now in prefence of the ene- 

 my, and everv tiling was to be hoped 

 from his IkiU and abilities. He was al- 

 moft the only furviving general of the 

 ohf. fcliuol, and it was to be feen whether 

 the ancient art of war, or the modern 

 fyltem of tactics, was doomed to pre- 

 vail. Unhappily for the independence 

 of Europe, the event was not long du- 

 bious ! 



Ilis Serene Ilighncfs, knowing from 

 experience that the French were only 

 terrible when permitted to be the alVail- 

 ants, determined that he liimi'elf ihould 

 coniinGncc the attack. But Marlhal Lki- 

 vouft, having nnexpectedly arrived at 

 Nanenburg on the l'2th of ()Ctobcr, fell- 

 ed on the magazines of the Pruffians, 

 ayd even obtained polVei'fion of their 

 pontoonri; while their left was moll un- 

 expectedly turned, fo as to render the 

 poiitioa then occupied extremely preca- 

 rious. 



Notvvithftandingthefedifaftrous events, 

 wliich in fonie meafure rendered the 

 IVench niaiters of all the future opera- 

 tions, the Duke of Brnnfwick wilhed 

 to begin the attack; and on the t;;lh lie 

 ilrew up his troops, fuppnfed to amount 

 fi) near 1 jO,OUU men, in battle anay, 

 'l"he two I'.oflile armies lay up.in their 

 iirmb during the night, within half a 

 tannoii Ihot diltauce of each other, and 

 }jy break of day prepared for battle. 

 This was prevented for fomc time by the 

 interventirui of a thick fog ; which, hav- 

 ing' cleared uji, waa lucreoded bv .1 bright 

 f'iiilliiiif, that diklofed about 2Gli,000 

 men armed for the llaughtcr of eacMi 

 wU<erj ii"*i l'ro\idt;d wuh7 or tiOO pieces 



of artillery ready to fcattcr death iu ever/ 

 direction. 



A dreadful confli6t now enfued, and 

 victory fiuidly declared for the French. 

 It is allowed, however, by themfelvcs, 

 " that at (ino moment there was room for 

 a doubt;" and it is fuppofed that the 

 critical arrival of a body of 10,000 men 

 under iNIarihal iS'ey alone decided the 

 fate of the day. By this confelliou it is 

 eafy to perceive, that the I'rulhan troops 

 were well led and ably directed, and that; 

 it was the chance ot war only tliat turned 

 the balance fo decidedly in favour of the 

 victors as to render the battle of Jena 

 fatal to the Prullian monarchy ! 



It is as yet imiioliible to be futficiently 

 correct as to the particulars, but we havo 

 learned that the Duke of Brunfwick, 

 while reconnoitring the enemy at an ad- 

 vanced poft, with a telefcope in his hand, 

 was wounded in the face by a grape Ihot. 

 lie was obliced focjn after to ha\e rc- 

 courfe to a htter, in which he was con- 

 ducted to the capital of his dominions, 

 on the 21 ft of October. But on the a[>- 

 proach of the enemy, he left his little 

 metropolis for the lall time, and retired 

 by eafy journies to Altona, a town ap- 

 pertaining to Denmark, the governor of 

 which is laid to have made fonie diliiculty 

 in refpect to his recejition. There, iu 

 an oblcure lodging, attended by his con- 

 fort, the lifter of the King of England, 

 he heard that the royal family was tied ; 

 that nearly all his troops had been intci- 

 ceptcd in their retreat ; anil that he him- 

 felf was ftripped of his dominions.* In 

 this melancholy condition, bereft of 

 light, overwhelmed with pain, aiul fur- 

 rounded by mifcry, died a Sovereign 

 Prince, who, until eclipfed by a new 

 race of warriors, had been conhdci-ed 

 the greateft conuuander of his day, and 

 to whom, at one critical period, all the 

 Kings of Europe looked up for fafety and 

 protection. 



The Duke of Brunfwick, in confc- 

 quencc of the wouiuls received in the 



* It is evidiziit, /rom the " lixteench bul- 

 letin of the Grand rniy, 



1, That the Empt-ror Napoleon confiJered 

 the Dulie of BrunlVick as one of the chief 

 authors pf the war undertaken on the part ot 

 PrulVu ; 



■2, That he either was, or aft'ecled to be. 

 Frenchman enough to relent tlie threats ot 

 his Serene Higlinefj when at the head of the 

 combined army, after a lapfe of fourteen 

 year4 ; and 



?<, That he intended to ftrip him of his do- 

 ihinipiJS. 



tattle 



