30] 
a thousand men, killed and taken. 
The loss of the French, in both 
these engagements, was compara= 4 mand. 
tively small, on a consideration of 
the advantages they obtained. The 
Austrians were now so discouraged 
by their constant defeats, notwith- 
standing their courage, and conduct, 
that they seemed to have come to 
a determination to remain wholly 
on the defensive, and to venture no 
encounters, but for the purpose of 
protecting a retreat. Their present 
position was such, indeed, as left 
them little hope of contending, suc- 
cessfully, with the French. These 
had, in consequence of the late 
action, occupied the strongest places 
in Carinthia. General Spork, an 
Austrian officer of note, was on his 
march along the valley, on the 
southern banks of the Murh, at the 
head of a considerable reinforce- 
ment, for the defeated army: but 
the French posted themselves on his 
passage, in such force, that he found 
it impracticable to advance beyond 
Murau, a town upon the river 
Murh, where his own situation be- 
came dangerous. 
It was now evident, that all ex- 
pectations of an effectual opposi- 
tion to the French were unfounded. 
The fifth army that had been levied 
by Austria, to encounter them, was 
no longer in being. In the short 
lapse of a month, twenty thousand 
men had been made prisoners, and 
the remainder had either failen in 
battle, or taken refuge in a broken 
and shattered condition, among the 
. Mountains, and fastnesses of the 
country. The recruits that were 
raising could not supply the place 
of veterans who had not themselves 
been able to resist the French. The 
archduke, on whom such confidence 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1797. 
had been rested, had proved as un 
fortunate as his predecessors in com- 
The only resource left to 
the house of Austria, was, in all 
appearance, to acquiesce in the 
terms of pacification offered by 
France. 
The consternation at Vienna was 
extreme : but the Austrian nobility, ~ 
warmly attached to the Imperial 
family, with which it participated 
in all the dignities of the German 
empire, expressed a zealous deter- - 
mination to share the fortune-of its — 
sovereign, and to defend his capi- 
tal to the last extremity. The re 
mains of that body of young gentle- 
men, who had served as volunteers, 
in Italy, under Alvinzi, were again 
completed ; and, by admitting the 
youth of all decent classes, were 
augmented to eight thousand. The 
Hungarian nobles, and their vas- 
sals, were called upon to arm, and 
repair to Vienna: and all. able- 
bodied men, in the hereditary states, 
were ordered to form themselves 
into companies in their respective 
districts. Out. of all these a formid- 
able mass of stout and resolute men 
was to be raised. This, added to 
the regulars, assembling .from all 
quarters, would, it was not doubted, 
constitute a,ferce, which, though it 
might not intimidate the victorious 
enemy, still might prove the means 
of inducing him to relax from .the’ 
severity of the terms he would other- 
Wise insist upon. 
But these orders, and prepara- 
tions, did not quiet the alarms of 
the generality. Numbers of the 
opulent, and even of the higher 
ranks, hastened to.withdraw them- 
selves, and their effects, in appre- 
hension of a siege. ‘The emperor, 
himself, signified his intention to 
quit 
