208 



SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 



attacked in the night of October 14, and suffered a 

 total defeat. Soon after, in Silesia, Frederic com- 

 pelled the Austrians to raise the siege of Neisse; 

 he then hastened to Saxony, and drove field-marshal 

 Daun, who wasbi'sifirinir Dresden, back to Bohemia. 

 At the close of the campaign, the king saw all his 

 estates, except the kingdom of Prussia, free from 

 the enemy. In France, there was a general wish 

 for peace; but Louis XV., and his mistress, the 

 marchioness de Pompadour, were bent on continu- 

 ing the war. A new alliance was, therefore, con- 

 cluded with Austria, December 30, 1758, and the 

 same month a treaty was also entered into between 

 Britain and Prussia, in which Frederic was pro- 

 mised a yearly subsidy. Prince Henry marched 

 into Bohemia, notwithstanding the severity of the 

 winter; the hostile troops were dispersed, a corps 

 of 2500 men was taken by general Htilsen, and an 

 immense booty. The inactive imperial forces, in 

 Franconia, prince Henry put to flight. Contribu- 

 tions were levied by the Prussians on Bamberg, 

 Erfurt and Wiirtzburg. Another body of Prussians 

 invaded the duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, which 

 was compelled to furnish large quantities of military 

 stores, besides 16,000 recruits, in the course of the 

 war, and to pay several million dollars, in consequence 

 of the policy of their sovereign, who first gave his vote 

 to have Frederic II. treated as an enemy of the em- 

 pire. The allies under Ferdinand of Brunswick, could 

 effect but little at the beginning of the campaign 

 of 1759. The French had taken Frankfort on the 

 Maine by surprise, during the winter, and the plan 

 for recovering the city was frustrated by the failure 

 of the attack on Bergen, April 13. But, Aug. 1, 

 Ferdinand gained a splendid victory at Minden over 

 the French troops under Contades and Broglio. 

 On the same day, the hereditary prince of Bruns- 

 wick likewise defeated the French at Gohfeld, and 

 they were driven over the Lahn on one side, and 

 over the Rhine on the other. But general Wedel, 

 who undertook to resist the progress of the Rus- 

 sians, was defeated at Kay, near Ziillichau, in the 

 Neumark, by general Soltikoff, and Frederic hast- 

 ened from Silesia to defend his electoral territories 

 from the danger which hung over them. Aug. 12, 

 he attacked the Russians at Kunersdorf (q. v.), 

 not far from Frankfort, and had already defeated 

 them, and even despatched messengers from the 

 field with the news of his victory, when Laudon, 

 who had previously joined the Russians with 18,000 

 Austrians, deprived him of his expected success. 

 The Russians purchased their victory dearly, but 

 they made no use of it. Frederic's position was 

 extremely dangerous; indeed, he began to appre- 

 hend an unfortunate issue of the war. The Rus- 

 sians were victorious in his hereditary states; Daun 

 wa's in Lusatia with a large army, and Saxony was 

 overrun by the imperial troops. The Austrians 

 and Russians wished to unite; but prince Henry 

 deprived the former of their magazines, and thus 

 obliged them to retreat ; and Frederic anticipated 

 the Russians in their march to Silesia, and compel- 

 led them to retire to Poland. In Saxony, the king 

 experienced a new misfortune. General Fink, a 

 brave commander, was forced to surrender, at 

 Maxen, Nov. 21, with 11,000 men and a large num- 

 ber of cannon, to the Austrians. But, notwith- 

 standing all these mishaps, at the close of the cam- 

 paign, the enemy were nearly every where driven 

 back; only Daun remained in Saxony, where he 

 had occupied Dresden. The Swedes, also, who, 

 after the battle of Kunersdorf, when Prussian Po- 



mcrania was destitute of troops, invaded that 

 country, were d/iven by Manteufel and Platen un- 

 der the cnnnon of Stralsund. The campaign of 

 1760 seemed, at first, to forebode ill success to 

 Frederic. The brave general Fouquet was taken 

 at Landshut, with 8000 Prussians; the king was 

 forced to raise, July 30, the seige of Dresden, 

 which he had commenced on the 14th ; Glatz had 

 gone over to the Austrians, and Frederic was 

 obliged to March into Silesia for its protection. 

 With 30,000 Prussians he entrenched himself at 

 Licgnitz; the hostile troops, under Daun and Lau- 

 don, were more than 100,000 strong, and threat- 

 ened an attack. But Laudon was defeated, Aug. 

 15, at Liegnitz, and Daun was unable to afford 

 him any assistance. The Austrians lost 10,000 

 mfen in killed, wounded and prisoners, 23 standards 

 and 82 pieces of cannon. Frederic's loss was 1800 

 killed and wounded. Meanwhile, a corps of Rus- 

 sians and Austrians had advanced to Berlin, and 

 levied contributions on the people. Frederic hast- 

 ened thither to cut off the enemy ; but, not finding 

 them there, he returned to Saxony, where the im- 

 perial forces were stationed, and Daun and Lascy 

 had united. At Torgau he attacked the enemy, 

 Nov. 3, defeated them in a bloody engagement, 

 which was gained chiefly by the sagacity and cour- 

 age of Ziethen and Mollendorf, and then went into 

 winter-quarters in Saxony. Laudon, also, was dri- 

 ven back in Silesia to the county of Glatz, and the 

 Russians were forced to raise the seige of Colberg 

 and to retire to Poland. The allied forces, under 

 Ferdinand of Brunswick, defeated the French,. July 

 31, at Marburg; but the latter remained in Hesse, 

 where they had extensive magazines. February 1 1, 

 1761, Ferdinand attacked the French in their quar- 

 ters ; they fled, and many of their fortifications and 

 magazines fell into the hands of the conquerors. 

 A corps of French and Saxon troops was defeated, 

 February 14, at Langensalza ; but the allies were 

 obliged to raise the siege of Ziegenhain, Marburg 

 and Cassel, with loss, and the French once more 

 became masters of all Hesse, and had an unob- 

 structed passage to Hanover. The people all 

 wished for peace; but not so their rulers, except 

 the king of Prussia. Maria Theresa would not now 

 be satisfied merely with the restoration of Silesia. 

 The empress Elizabeth was desirous of retaining 

 Prussia, and the French minister Choiseul sought 

 to revenge himself for a poetical epistle, in which 

 Frederic had satirised him, by protracting the war. 

 The proposals of peace made by Britain and Prus- 

 sia, were not accepted, and Frederic endeavoured 

 to protect Silesia against the Austrians and Rus- 

 sians, who had united, in August, at Striegau. 

 The king maintained his camp at Schweidnitz 

 against a much superior force, and the greatest part 

 of the Russians were obliged to retire to Poland, 

 for want of provisions. Laudon surprised Schweid- 

 nitz October 1. A garrison of 3700 men, several 

 magazines, and a large quantity of military stores, 

 fell into the hands of the Austrians. Prince Henry, 

 in Saxony, was also reduced to great straits by 

 Daun. In Pomerania, detached bodies of the Prus- 

 sians were defeated by the Russians, and after a 

 brave resistance, December 16, they lost the for- 

 tress of Colberg. The Swedes, on the contrary, 

 were driven back to Stralsund ; and, July 15, Fer- 

 dinand, duke of Brunswick, gained a brilliant vic- 

 tory at Billingshausen over the French; but the 

 triumph was of little importance. Frederic felt 

 himself in a desperate condition, and, in conse. 



