246 
MAJOR-GENERAL SCHLUND. 
Landau proved a tough nut to crack and Marlborough, who paid, 
frequent visits to the besieger's camp, makes frequent reference in his 
despatches to the siege, the successful issue of which he had greatly at 
heart. As winter drew on, the sufferings of the troops in the trenches 
and batteries were very great. Sixty guns kept up a ceaseless fire on 
the doomed town. It is recorded that “ Schlund constructed and 
commanded a battery of thirty guns at the siege of Landau.* In his 
report of this siege to King Frederick I, Prince Leopold of Dessau, 
who commanded, mentions (t especially Colonel Schlund, who has given 
quite extraordinary proofs ofhthe results of the art of gunnery."f 
Early in December, 1704, Landau capitulated and the Allied troops 
went into winter quarters. 
Whilst these events were transpiring in Germany, Peter the Great 
was carrying on a war of very doubtful issue with Charles XII. 
Peter was still groping in the dark for military knowledge. The little 
band of mathematicians, gunners, skilled mechanics, and engineers 
who were imported into Russia, in 1698, were gradually throwing the 
light of science upon Russian darkness and ignorance. The energetic 
Tsar might have said, like Philip II of Spain : “ Time and I against 
any other two." But with an enemy like Charles XII in the field, 
Peter knew that the Russian army must be re-organized with the 
smallest possible delay. Since the Russian defeat before Narva, in 
1700, the Tsar had set himself the task of overcoming, and crushing, 
the power of Sweden. To a ruler who was only a soldier by necessity 
and had not the making of a General, the task seemed utterly hope¬ 
less ; but an indomitable will, dogged perseverance, the faculty of 
utilising the brains of others, and a certain share of good luck, 
eventually established the ascendancy of Peter over his rival, Charles. 
It is by no means improbable that when the Tsar was in England he 
made the acquaintance of Colonel Schlund. It is also quite probable 
that it was a toss up with Schlund as to whether he entered the 
service of Prussia or Russia. Be this as it may, it is not surprising 
that the Tsar, in his thirst for knowledge, entered into a correspon¬ 
dence, through Prince Menschikoff, with Schlund whose scientific 
gunnery at Landau, and in subsequent sieges, had reached the ears of 
the Russian autocrat, who showed more interest for the Ordnance 
branch of the Service than for any other. J One of Schlund's letters 
to the Russian Court was intercepted by the Swedes and the results of 
the writer's indiscretion are vividly set forth in the following extracts 
from the official correspondence§ of Major-General Lord Raby (Colonel 
of the Royal Dragoons) the British Ambassador to the King of 
Prussia:— 
* Artillery Records, Berlin, 
t Ibid. 
X Peter had his own pet “ Company of Bombardiers ” and served a gun himself in more actions 
than one! H> is also credited by one of his bbgraphers with having first introduced Horse 
Artillery int.. warfare, but this assertion is open to controversy. 
§ Letters from Lord Raby to the Secretary of State. S.P. Prussia, Yol. 12, (1706-1708). 
Public Record Office, London. 
