Nor was the late deliverance, even of these few, owing to any sentiment of compassion in the viceroy. He had received intimation that there was a considerable treasure secreted in the fort, and that Mr. Holwell knew the place where it was deposited. That gentleman, who, with his surviving companions, had been seized with a putrid fever immediately upon their release, was dragged in that condition before the inhuman suba, who questioned him about the treasure, which existed nowhere but in his own imagination; and would give no credit to his protestations, when he solemnly declared he knew of no such deposit. Mr. Holwell and three of his friends were loaded with fetters, and conveyed three miles to the Indian camp, where they lay all night exposed to a severe rain; next morning they were brought back to town still manacled, under the scorching beams of a sun intensely hot, and must infallibly have expired, had not nature expelled the fever in large painful boils, that covered almost the whole body. In this piteous condition they were embarked in an open boat for Muxadavad, the capital of Bengal, and underwent such cruel treatment and misery in their passage, as would shock the humane reader should he peruse the particulars. At Maxadavad they were led through the city in chains, as a spectacle to the inhabitants, lodged in an open stable, and treated for some days as the worst of criminals. At length the suba’s grandmother interposed her mediation in their behalf, and as that prince was by this time convinced that there was no treasure concealed at Calcutta, he ordered them to be set at liberty. When some of his sycophants opposed this indulgence, representing that Mr. Holwell had still enough left to pay a considerable ransom, he replied, with some marks of compunction and generosity, “If he has anything left, let him keep it: his sufferings have been great: he shall have his liberty.” Mr. Holwell and his friends were no sooner unfettered, than they took water from the Dutch Tank-sail or mint, in the neighbourhood of that city, where they were received with great tenderness and humanity. The reader, we hope, will excuse us for having thus particularized a transaction so interesting and extraordinary in all its circumstances. The suba having destroyed Calcutta and dispersed the inhabitants, extorted large sums from the French and Dutch factories, that he might display a spirit of impartiality against all the Europeans, even in his oppression, returned to his city of Muxadavad in triumph. By the reduction of Calcutta, the English East India company’s affairs were so much embroiled in that part of the world, that perhaps nothing could have retrieved them but the interposition of a national force, and the good fortune of a Clive, whose enterprises were always crowned with success.
As the English East India Company had, for a whole century, been at a considerable expense in maintaining a marine force at Bombay, to protect their ships from the piracies of the Angrias, who had rendered themselves independent princes, and fortified Geriah in that neighbourhood; many unsuccessful attempts had been made to destroy their naval power, and reduce the fortress, under which they always took shelter. In the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four, the fleet of Tullagree Angria, the reigning prince, attacked three Dutch ships of force, which they either took or destroyed. Elated with this success, he boasted that he should in a little time sweep the seas of the Europeans, and began to build some large ships, to reinforce his grabs and gallivats, which were the vessels on which he had for merely depended. Next year his neighbours, the Malirattas, having signified to the presidency of Bombay, that they were disposed to join in the necessary service of humbling this common enemy, so formidable to the whole Malabar coast, commodore James was detached with some ships of force to attack Angria, in conjunction with those allies. They accordingly joined him with seven grabs and sixty gallivats. They proceeded to the harbour of Severndroog, where Angria’s fleet lay at anchor; but they no sooner received intelligence of his approach, than they slipped their cables and stood out to sea. He chased them with all the canvass he could carry, but their vessels being lighter than his they escaped; and he returned to Severndroog, which is a fortress situated on an island within musket shot of the main land, strongly but irregularly fortified, and mounted with fifty-four pieces of cannon. There were three other small forts on the continent, the largest of which was called Goa. On the second day of April the commodore began to batter and bombard the island, fort, and fort Goa, at the same time. That of Severndroog was set on fire; one of the magazines blew up; a general conflagration ensued; the garrison was overwhelmed with fire and confusion; the English seamen landed un der cover of the fire from the ships, and took the place by storm, with very little loss. The other forts were immediately surrendered, and all of these, by treaty, delivered to the Mahrattas. On the eighth of April the commodore anchored off Bancote, now called fort Victoria, one of the most northern parts of Angria’s dominions, which surrendered without opposition, and still remains in the hands of the English East India company, by the consent of the Mahrattas. The harbour is good, and here is great trade for salt and other commodities sent hither from Bombay.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
It was in November following that the squadron under admiral Watson arrived at Bombay, where it was resolved to give Angria the finishing stroke, still in conjunction with the Mahrattas. Meanwhile commodore James was sent to reconnoitre Geriah, the capital of his dominions, and to sound the depth of the harbour, a service which he successfully performed. The admiral being joined by a division of ships, fitted out at the company’s expense, having on board a body of troops commanded by colonel Clive, sailed on the seventeenth day of January, and found in the neighbourhood of Geriah the Mahratta fleet, consisting of four grabs, and forty smaller vessels called gallivats, lying to the northward of the place, in a creek called Rajipore; and a land-army of horse and foot, amounting to seven or eight thousand men, the whole commanded by Rhamagee Punt, who had already taken one small fort, and was actually treating about the surrender of Geriah. Angria himself had quitted the place, but his wife and family remained under the protection of his brother-in-law; who, being summoned to surrender by a message from the admiral, replied, that he would defend the place to the last extremity. In consequence of this refusal, the whole English fleet, in two divisions, sailed on the twelfth day of February into the harbour, and sustained a warm fire from the enemy’s batteries as they passed, as well as from the grabs posted in the harbour for that purpose; this, however, was soon silenced after the ships were brought to their stations, so as to return the salutation. Between the hours of four and five in the afternoon, a shell being thrown into one of Angria’s armed vessels, set her on fire; and the flames communicating to the rest, they were all destroyed: between six and seven the fort was set on fire by another shell; and soon after the firing ceased on both sides. The admiral, suspecting that the governor of the place would surrender it to the Mahrattas, rather than to the English, disembarked all the troops under Mr. Clive, that he might be at hand, in case of emergency, to take possession. In the meantime, the fort was bombarded; the line of battle ships were warped near enough to batter in breach, and then the admiral sent an officer with a flag of truce to the governor, requiring him to surrender. His proposal being again rejected, the English ships renewed their fire next day with redoubled vigour. About one o’clock the magazine of the fort blew up, and at four the garrison hung out a white flag for capitulation. The parley that ensued proving ineffectual, the engagement began again, and continued till fifteen minutes after five; when the white flag was again displayed, and now the governor submitted to the conditions which were imposed. Angria’s flag was immediately hauled down; and two English captains taking possession of the fort with a detachment, forthwith hoisted the British ensign. To these captains, whose names were Buchanan and Forbes, the Mahrattas offered a bribe of fifty thousand rupees, if they would allow them to pass their guards, that they might take possession of the fort for themselves; but this offer was rejected with disdain, and immediately disclosed to colonel Clive, who took effectual measures to frustrate their design. In this place, which was reduced with very inconsiderable loss, the conquerors found above two hundred cannon, six brass mortars, a large quantity of ammunition, with money and effects to the value of one hundred and thirty thousand pounds. The fleet which was destroyed consisted of eight grabs, one ship finished, two upon the stocks, and a good number of gallivats. Among the prisoners, the admiral found Angria’s wife, children, and mother, toward whom he demeaned himself with great humanity.*
* When the admiral entered their apartment, the whole family, shedding floods of tears, fell with their faces to the ground; from which being raised, the mother of Angria told him, in a piteous tone, “the people had no king, she no son, her daughter no husband, their children no father.” The admiral replying, “they must look upon him as their father and their friend,” the youngest boy, about six years of age, seized him by the hand, and sobbing exclaimed, “Then you shall be my father.” Mr. Watson was so affected with this pathetic address, that the tears trickled down his cheeks, while he assured them they might depend upon his protection and friendship.
Three hundred European soldiers, and as-many sepoys, were left to guard the fort; and four of the company’s armed vessels remained in the harbour for the defence of the place, which was extremely well situated for commerce.
The admiral and Mr. Clive sailed back to Madras in triumph, and there another plan was formed for restoring the company’s affairs upon the Ganges, recovering Calcutta, and taking vengeance on the cruel viceroy of Bengal. In October they set sail again for the bottom of the bay; and about the beginning of December arrived at Balasore, in the kingdom of Bengal. Having crossed the Braces, they proceeded up the river Ganges as far as Falta, where they found governor Drake, and the other persons who had escaped on board of the ships when Calcutta was invested. Colonel Clive was disembarked with his forces to attack the fort of Busbudgia by land, while the admiral battered it by sea; but the place being ill provided with cannon, did not hold out above an hour after the firing began. This conquest being achieved at a very easy purchase, two of the great ships anchored between Tanny fort and a battery on the other side of the river, which were abandoned before one shot was discharged against either; thus the passage was laid open to Calcutta, the reduction of which we shall record among the transactions of the ensuing year.
Motives of the War in Germany..... Conspiracy in Sweden..... Measures taken by the King of Prussia and Elector of Hanover..... Endeavours of the Court of Vienna to frustrate them..... His Prussian Majesty demands an Explanation from the Empress-Queen..... Her Answer..... The Prussian Army enters Saxony, and publishes a Manifesto..... Prince Ferdinand takes Leipsic..... King of Prussia takes Possession of Dresden, and blocks up the King of Poland at Pirna..... Prussian Army penetrates into Bohemia, and fights the Battle of Lowoschutz..... Saxon Army surrenders..... King of Poland’s Memorial to the States-General..... Imperial Decrees published against the King of Prussia..... Declarations of different Powers..... His Prussian Majesty’s Answer to the Saxon Memorial..... and Justification of his Conduct..... Remarks on both those Pieces...... Disputes between the Parliament of Paris and the Clergy..... Dearth of Corn in England..... Hanoverian Auxiliaries sent back..... Session opened..... Debates on the Address..... Bill passed for prohibiting the Exportation of Corn..... Message to the House concerning Admiral Byng..... Supplies granted..... Reflections on the Continental War...... Message from the King to the Parliament..... Measures taken to remove the Scarcity of Corn..... Militia Bill..... Petitions for and against it..... Altered by the Lords..... Bill for quartering the Foreign Troops, and for regulating the Marines while on Shore..... Bill for the more speedy recruiting the Land-Forces and Marines..... Act relating to Pawnbrokers and Gaming-Houses..... Laws relating to the Wages of Weavers, and to the Improvement of the British Fishery..... Act for importing American Iron Duty free..... Regulations with respect to the Importation of Silk..... Smugglers encouraged to enter into his Majesty’s Service..... Inquiry into the Scarcity of Corn..... Investigation of the Loss of Minorca..... Examination of the American Contract..... Inquiry into the Conduct of Admiral Snowies, as Governor of Jamaica..... Resolutions concerning Milford-Haven..... Session closed..... Trial of Admiral Byng..... Recommended to Mercy..... Message from the King to the Parliament respecting the Sentence..... Bill to release the Members of the Court-Martial from their Oath of Secrecy..... Execution of Admiral Byng..... Paper delivered by him to the Marshal of the Admiralty..... Remarks on his Fate
Having thus, to the best of our power, given a faithful and exact detail of every material event in which Great Britain was concerned, either at home, or in her settlements abroad, during the greatest part of the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, we shall now return to Europe, and endeavour to explain the beginning of a bloody war in Germany, which then seemed to have become the chief object of the British councils. On the eve of a rupture between France and England, it was natural for his Britannic majesty to provide for the safety of his electoral dominions, the only quarter by which he was at all accessible to the efforts of the enemy, who he foresaw would not fail to annoy him through that avenue. He, at that time, stood upon indifferent terms with the king of Prussia, who was considered as a partisan and ally of France; and he knew that the house of Austria alone would not be sufficient to support him against two such powerful antagonists. In this emergency, he had recourse to the empress of Russia, who, in consequence of a large subsidy granted by England, engaged to furnish a strong body of forces for the defence of Hanover. His Prussian majesty, startled at the conditions of this treaty, took an opportunity to declare that he would not suffer foreign forces of any nation to enter the empire, either as principals or auxiliaries; a declaration which probably flowed from a jealousy and aversion he had conceived to the court of Petersburgh, as well as from a resolution he had formed of striking some great stroke in Germany, without any risk of being restricted or controlled. He knew he should give umbrage to the French king, who had already made preparations for penetrating into Westphalia; but he took it for granted he should be able to exchange his connexions with France for the alliance with Great Britain, which would be much less troublesome, and much more productive of advantage: indeed, such an alliance was the necessary consequence of his declaration. Had his Britannic majesty made a requisition of the Russian auxiliaries, he must have exposed himself to the resentment of a warlike monarch, who hovered on the skirts of his electorate at the head of one hundred and forty thousand men, and could have subdued the whole country in one week; and if he forbore to avail himself of the treaty with the czarina, he did not know how soon the king of Prussia might be reconciled to his most christian majesty’s design of invasion. As for the empress-queen, her attention was engrossed by schemes for her interest or preservation; and her hands so full, that she either could not, or would not, fulfil the engagements she had contracted with her former and firmest allies. In these circumstances the king of England sought and obtained the alliance of Prussia, which, to the best of our comprehension, entailed upon Great Britain the enormous burden of extravagant subsidies, together with the intolerable expense of a continental war, without being productive of one advantage, either positive or negative, to England or Hanover. On the contrary, this connexion threw the empress-queen into the arms of France, whose friendship she bought at the expense of the barrier in the Netherlands, acquired with infinite labour, by the blood and treasure of the maritime powers; it gave birth to a confederacy of despotic princes; sufficient, if their joint force was fully exerted, to overthrow the liberties of all the free states in Europe; and, after all, Hanover has been overrun, and subdued by the enemy; and the king of Prussia put to the ban of the empire. All these consequences are, we apprehend, fairly deducible from the resolution which his Prussian majesty took, at this juncture, to precipitate a war with the house of Austria. The apparent motives that prompted him to this measure we shall presently explain. In the meantime, the defensive treaty between the empress-queen and France was no sooner ratified, than the czarina was invited to accede to the alliance, and a private minister sent from Paris to Petersburgh, to negotiate the conditions of this accession, which the empress of Russia accordingly embraced: a circumstance so agreeable to the court of Versailles, that the marquis de l’Hôpital was immediately appointed ambassador-extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the court of Russia. Applications were likewise made to the courts of Madrid and Turin, soliciting their concurrence; but their catholic and Sardinian majesties wisely resolved to observe a neutrality. At the same time, intrigues were begun by the French emissaries in the senate of Sweden, in order to kindle up a war between that nation and Prussia; and their endeavours succeeded in the sequel, even contrary to the inclination of their sovereign. At present, a plot was discovered for altering the form of government, by increasing the power of the crown; and several persons of rank being convicted upon trial, were beheaded as principals in this conspiracy. Although it did not appear that the king or queen were at all concerned in the scheme, his Swedish majesty thought himself so hardly treated by the diet, that he threatened to resign his royalty, and retire into his own hereditary dominions. This design was extremely disagreeable to the people in general, who espoused his cause in opposition to the diet, by whom they conceived themselves more oppressed than they should have been under an unlimited monarchy.
The king of Prussia, alarmed at these formidable alliances, ordered all his forces to be completed, and held in readiness to march at the first notice; and a report was industriously circulated, that by a secret article in the late treaty between France and the house of Austria, these two powers had obliged themselves to destroy the protestant religion, and overturn the freedom of the empire, by a forced election of a king of the Romans. The cry of religion was no impolitic measure; but it no longer produced the same effect as in times past. Religion was made a pretence on both sides; for the partisans of the empress-queen insinuated, on all occasions, that the ruin of the catholic faith in Germany was the principal object of the new alliance between the kings of Great Britain and Prussia. It was in consequence of such suggestions, that his Britannic majesty ordered his electoral minister at the diet, to deliver a memorial to all the ministers at Ratisbon, expressing his surprise to find the treaty he had concluded with the king of Prussia industriously represented as a ground of apprehension and umbrage, especially for religion. He observed, that as France had made open dispositions for invading the electorate of Hanover, and disturbing the peace of the empire; that as he had been denied, by the empress-queen, the succours stipulated in treaties of alliance; and as he was refused assistance by certain states of the empire, who even seemed disposed to favour such a diversion: he had, in order to provide for the security of his own dominions, to establish peace and tranquillity in the empire, and maintain its system and privileges, without any prejudice to religion, concluded a defensive treaty with the king of Prussia; that, by this instance of patriotic zeal for the welfare of Germany, he had done an essential service to the empress-queen, and performed the part which the head of the empire, in dignity and duty, ought to have acted; that time would demonstrate how little it was the interest of the empress-queen to engage in a strict alliance with a foreign power, which, for upwards of two centuries, had ravaged the principal provinces of the empire, maintained repeated wars against the archducal house of Austria, and always endeavoured, as it suited her views, to excite distrust and dissension among the princes and states that compose the Germanic body.
The court of Vienna formed two considerable armies in Bohemia and Moravia; yet pretended that they had nothing in view but self-preservation, and solemnly disclaimed both the secret article, and the design which had been laid to their charge. His most christain majesty declared, by his minister at Berlin, that he had no other intention but to maintain the public tranquillity of Europe; and, this being the sole end of all his measures, he beheld with surprise the preparations and armaments of certain potentates; that, whatever might be the view with which they were made, he was dis posed to make use of the power which God had put into his hands, not only to maintain the public peace of Europe against all who should attempt to disturb it, but also to employ all his forces, agreeably to his engagements, for the assistance of his ally, in case her dominions should be attacked; finally, that he would act in the same manner in behalf of all the other powers with whom he was in alliance. This intimation made very little impression upon the king of Prussia, who had already formed his plan, and was determined to execute his purpose. What his original plan might have been, we shall not pretend to disclose; nor do we believe he imparted it to any confidant or ally. It must be confessed, however, that the intrigues of the court of Vienna furnished him with a specious pretence for drawing the sword, and commencing hostilities. The empress-queen had some reason to be jealous of such a formidable neighbour. She remembered his irruption into Bohemia, in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-four, at a time when she thought that country, and all her other dominions, secure from his invasion by the treaty of Breslau, which she had in no particular contravened. She caballed against him in different courts of Europe; she concluded a treaty with the czarina, which, though seemingly defensive, implied an intention of making conquests upon this monarch; she endeavoured to engage the king of Poland, elector of Saxony, as a contracting power in this confederacy; and, if he had not been afraid of a sudden visit from his neighbour of Prussia, it cannot be supposed but he would have been pleased to contribute to the humiliation of a prince, who had once before, without the least provocation, driven him from his dominions, taken possession of his capital, routed his troops, and obliged him to pay a million of crowns, to indemnify him for the expense of this expedition; but he carefully avoided taking such a step as might expose him to another invasion, and even refused to accede to the treaty of Petersburgh, though it was expressly defensive; the casus fæderus being, his Prussian majesty’s attacking either of the contracting parties. It appears, however, that count de Bruhl, prime minister and favourite of the king of Poland, had, in conjunction with some of the Austrian ministers, carried on certain scandalous intrigues, in order to embroil the king of Prussia with the empress of Russia, between whom a misunderstanding had long subsisted.
His Prussian majesty, perceiving the military preparations of the court of Vienna, and having obtained intelligence of their secret negotiations with different powers of Europe, ordered M. de Klingraafe, his minister at the imperial court, to demand whether all those preparations of war, on the frontiers of Silesia, were designed against him, and what were the intentions of her imperial majesty? To this demand the empress replied, that in the present juncture she had found it necessary to make armaments, as well for her own defence as for that of her allies; but that they did not tend to the prejudice of any person or state whatever. The king, far from being satisfied with this general answer, sent fresh orders to Klingraafe, to represent, that after the king had dissembled, as long as he thought consistent with his safety and honour, the bad designs imputed to the empress would not suffer him longer to disguise his sentiments: that he was acquainted with the offensive projects which the two courts had formed at Petersburgh; that he knew they had engaged to attack him suddenly with an army of two hundred thousand men; a design which would have been executed in the spring of the year, had not the Russian forces wanted recruits, their fleet mariners, and Livonia a sufficient quantity of corn for their support; that he constituted the empress arbiter of peace or war: if she desired the former, he required a clear and formal declaration, or positive assurance, that she had no intention to attack him either this year or the next; but he should look upon an ambiguous answer as a declaration of war; and he called heaven to witness, that the empress alone would be guilty of the innocent blood that should be spilt, and all the dismal consequences that would attend the commission of hostilities.
A declaration of this nature might have provoked a less haughty court than that of Vienna, and, indeed, seems to have been calculated on purpose to exasperate the pride of her imperial majesty, whose answer he soon received to this effect: that his majesty the king of Prussia had already been employed, for some time, in all kinds of the most considerable preparations of war, and the most disquieting with regard to the public tranquillity, when he thought fit to demand explanations of her majesty, touching the military dispositions that were making in her dominions; dispositions on which she had not resolved till after the preparations of his Prussian majesty had been made; that though her majesty might have declined explaining herself on those subjects, which required no explanation, she had been pleased to declare, with her own mouth, to M. de Klingraafe, that the critical state of public affairs rendered the measures she was taking absolutely necessary for her own safety, and that of her allies; but that, in other respects, they tended to the prejudice of no person whatsoever; that her imperial majesty had undoubtedly a right to form what judgment she pleased on the circumstances of the times; and likewise that it belonged to none but herself to estimate her own danger; that her declaration was so clear, she never imagined it could be thought otherwise; that being accustomed to receive, as well as to practise, the decorums which sovereigns owe to each other, she could not hear without astonishment and sensibility the contents of the memorial now presented by M. de Klingraafe; so extraordinary, both in the matter and expressions, that she would find herself under a necessity of transgressing the bounds of that moderation which she had prescribed to herself, were she to answer the whole of its contents; nevertheless, she thought proper to declare, that the information communicated to his Prussian majesty, of an offensive alliance against him, subsisting between herself and the empress of Russia, together with the circumstances and pretended stipulations of that alliance, were absolutely false and forged, for no such treaty did exist, or ever had existed. She concluded with observing, that this declaration would enable all Europe to judge of what weight and quality those dreadful events were which Klingraafe’s memorial announced; and to perceive that, in any case, they could not be imputed to her imperial majesty. This answer, though seemingly explicit, was not deemed sufficiently categorical, or, at least, not suitable to the purposes of the king of Prussia, who, by his resident at Vienna, once more declared, that if the empress-queen would sign a positive assurance that she would not attack his Prussian majesty, either this year or the next, he would directly withdraw his troops, and let things be restored to their former footing. This demand was evaded, on pretence that such an assurance could not be more binding than the solemn treaty by which he was already secured; a treaty which the empress-queen had no intention to violate. But, before an answer could be delivered, the king had actually invaded Saxony, and published his declaration against the court of Vienna. The court of Vienna believing that the king of Prussia was bent upon employing his arms somewhere; being piqued at the dictatorial manner in which his demands were conveyed; unwilling to lay themselves under further restrictions; apprehensive of giving umbrage to their allies, and confident of having provided for their own security, resolved to run the risk of his resentment, not without hopes of being indemnified in the course of the war, for that part, of Silesia which the queen had been obliged to cede it in the treaty of Breslau.
Both sides being thus prepared, and perhaps equally eager for action, the king of Prussia would no longer suspend his operations, and the storm fell first upon Saxony. He resolved to penetrate through that country into Bohemia; and even to take possession of it as a frontier, as well as for the convenience of ingress and egress to and from the Austrian dominions. Besides, he had reason to believe the king of Poland, elector of Saxony, was connected with the czarina and the empress-queen; therefore, he thought it would be impolitic to leave that prince in any condition to give him the least disturbance. His army entered the Saxon territory towards the latter end of August, when he published a declaration, importing, that the unjust conduct and dangerous views of the court of Vienna against his majesty’s dominions, laid him under the necessity of taking proper measures for protecting his territories and subjects; that for this purpose he could not forbear taking the disagreeable resolution to enter with his troops the hereditary dominions of his majesty the king of Poland, elector of Saxony; but he protested before God and man, that on account of his personal esteem, and friendship for that prince, he would not have proceeded to this extremity, had he not been forced to it by the laws of war, the fatality of the present conjuncture, and the necessity of providing for the defence and security of his subjects. He reminded the public of the tenderness with which he had treated the elector of Saxony, during the campaign of the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-four, and of the bad consequences resulting to that monarch from his engagements with the enemies of Prussia. He declared that the apprehensions of being exposed again to such enterprises, had obliged him to take those precautions which prudence dictated; but he protested in the most solemn manner, that he had no hostile views against his Polish majesty, or his dominions; that his troops did not enter Saxony as enemies, and he had taken care that they should observe the best order, and the most exact discipline; that he desired nothing more ardently than the happy minute that should procure him the satisfaction of restoring to his Polish majesty his hereditary dominions, which he had seized only as a sacred depositum. By his minister at Dresden, he had demanded a free passage for his forces through the Saxon dominions; and this the king of Poland was ready to grant, with reasonable limitations, to be settled by commissaries appointed for that purpose. But these were formalities which did not at all suit with his Prussian majesty’s disposition or design. Even before this requisition was made, a body of his troops, amounting to fifteen thousand, under the command of prince Ferdinand, brother to the duke of Brunswick, took possession of Leipsic on the twentieth day of September. Here he published a declaration, signifying that it was his Prussian majesty’s intention to consider and defend the inhabitants of that electorate as if they were his own subjects; and that he had given precise orders to his troops to observe the most exact discipline. As the first mark of his affection, he ordered them to provide the army with all sorts of provisions, according to a certain rate, on pain of military execution. That same evening notice was given to the corporation of merchants, that their deputies should pay all taxes and customs to the king of Prussia; then he took possession of the custom-house, and excise office, and ordered the magazines of corn and meal to be opened for the use of his soldiers.
The king of Poland, apprehensive of such a visitation, had ordered all the troops of his electorate to leave their quarters, and assemble in a strong camp marked out for them, between Pirna and Konigstein, which was intrenched, and provided with a numerous train of artillery. Thither the king of Poland repaired with his two sons Xaverius and Charles; but the queen and the rest of the royal family remained at Dresden. Of this capital his Prussian majesty, with the bulk of his army, took possession on the eighth day of September, when he was visited by lord Stormont, the English ambassador at that court, accompanied by count Salmour, a Saxon minister, who, in his master’s name, proposed a neutrality. The king of Prussia professed himself extremely well pleased with the proposal; and, as the most convincing proof of his neutrality, desired the king of Poland would separate his army, by ordering his troops to return to their former quarters. His Polish majesty did not like to be so tutored in his own dominions; he depended for his own safety more upon the valour and attachment of his troops thus assembled, than upon the friendship of a prince who had invaded his dominions, and sequestered his revenue, without provocation; and he trusted too much to the situation of his camp at Pirna, which was deemed impregnable. In the meantime, the king of Prussia fixed his headquarters at Seidlitz, about half a German league distant from Pirna, and posted his army in such a manner, as to be able to intercept all convoys of provisions designed for the Saxon camp; his forces extended on the right towards the frontiers of Bohemia, and the vanguard actually seized the passes that lead to the circles of Satzer and Leutmeritz, in that kingdom; while prince Ferdinand of Brunswick marched with a body of troops along the Elbe, and took post at this last place without opposition. At the same time, the king covered his own dominions, by assembling two considerable bodies in Upper and Lower Silesia, which occupied the passes that communicated with the circles of Buntzlau and Koningsgratz. Hostilities were commenced on the thirteenth day of September, by a detachment of Prussian hussars, who attacked an Austrian escort to a convoy of provisions, designed for the Saxon camp; and having routed them, carried off a considerable number of loaded waggons. The magazines at Dresden were filled with an immense quantity of provisions and forage for the Prussian army, and the bakers were ordered to prepare a vast quantity of bread, for which purpose thirty new ovens were erected. When the king of Prussia first arrived at Dresden, he lodged at the house of the countess Moczinska, and gave orders that the queen and royal family of Poland should be treated with all due veneration and respect: 387 [See note 3 C, at the end of this Vol.] even while the Saxon camp was blocked up on every side, he sometimes permitted a waggon, loaded with fresh provisions and game, to pass unmolested, for the use of his Polish majesty.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
During these transactions, the greatest part of the Prussian army advanced into Bohemia, under the command of veldt-maresehal Keith,* who reduced the town and palace of Tetchen, took possession of all the passes, and encamped near Aussig, a small town in Bohemia, at no great distance from the imperial army, amounting to fifty thousand men, commanded by count Brown, an officer of Irish extract, who had often distinguished himself in the field by his courage, vigilance, and conduct.
* Brother to the earl mareschal of Scotland, a gentleman who had signalized himself as a general in the Russian army, and was accounted one of the best officers of his time; not more admired for his warlike genius, than amiable in his disposition.
His Prussian majesty having left a considerable body of troops for the blockade of Pirna, assumed in person the command of mareschal Keith’s corps, and advanced to give battle to the enemy. On the twenty-ninth day of September he formed his troops in two columns, and in the evening arrived with his van at Welmina, from whence he saw the Austrian army posted with his right at Lowoschutz, and its left towards the Egra. Having occupied with six battalions a hollow way, and some rising grounds which commanded the town of Lowoschutz, he remained all night under arms at Welmina; and on the first day of October, early in the morning, formed his whole army in order of battle; the first line, consisting of the infantry, occupying two hills, and a bottom betwixt them; the second line being formed of some battalions, and the third composed of the whole cavalry. The Austrian general had taken possession of Lowoschutz, with a great body of infantry, and placed a battery of cannon in front of the town; he had formed his cavalry chequerwise, in a line between Lowoschutz and the village of Sanschitz; and posted about two thousand Croats and irregulars in the vineyards and avenues on his right. The morning was darkened with a thick fog, which vanished about seven: then the Prussian cavalry advanced to attack the enemy’s horse; but received such a fire from the irregulars, posted in vineyards and ditches, as well as from a numerous artillery, that they were obliged to retire for protection to the rear of the Prussian infantry and cannon. There, being formed, and led back to the charge, they made an impression on the Austrian cavalry, and drove the irregulars, and other bodies of infantry, from the ditches, defiles, and vineyards which they possessed; but they suffered so severely in this dangerous service, that the king ordered them to reascend the hill, and take post again behind the infantry, from whence they no more advanced. In the meantime, a furious cannonading was maintained on both sides with considerable effect. At length the left of the Prussian infantry was ordered to attack the town of Lowoschutz in flank; but met with a very warm reception, and in all likelihood would have miscarried, had not veldt-mareschal Keith headed them in person: when he drew his sword, and told them he would lead them on, he was given to understand that all their powder and shot were exhausted: he turned immediately to them with a cheerful countenance, said he was very glad they had no more ammunition, being well assured the enemy could not withstand them at push of bayonet; so saying, he advanced at their head, and driving the Austrians from Lowoschutz, set the suburbs on fire. The infantry had been already obliged to quit the eminence on the right; and now their whole army retired to Budin, on the other side of the Egra. Some prisoners, colours, and pieces of cannon, were taken on both sides; and the loss of each might amount to two thousand five hundred killed and wounded; so that, on the whole, it was a drawn battle, though both generals claimed the victory. The detail of the action, published at Berlin, declares, that the king of Prussia not only gained the battle, but that same day established his head quarters at Lowoschutz; whereas the Austrian gazette affirms, that the mareschal count Brown obliged his Prussian majesty to retire, and remained all night on the field of battle; but next day, finding his troops in want of water, he repaired to the camp of Budin. If the battle was at all decisive, the advantage certainly fell to the Austrians; for his Prussian majesty, who in all probability had hoped to winter at Prague, was obliged by the opposition he met with, to resign his plan, and retreat before winter into the electorate of Saxony.
The Prussian army having rejoined that body which had been left to block up the Saxons at Pirna, his Polish majesty and his troops were reduced to such extremity of want, that it became indispensably necessary either to attempt an escape, or surrender to the king of Prussia. The former part of the alternative was chosen, and the plan concerted with count Brown, the Austrian general, who, in order to facilitate the execution, advanced privately with a body of troops to Lichtendorf, near Schandeau; but the junction could not be effected. On the fourteenth day of October the Saxons threw a bridge of boats over the Elbe, near Konigstein, to which castle they removed all their artillery; then striking their tents in the night, passed the river undiscovered by the enemy. They continued to retreat with all possible expedition; but the roads were so bad, they made little progress. Next day, when part of them had advanced about half way up a hill opposite to Konigstein, and the rest were entangled in a narrow plain, where there was no room to act, they perceived that the Prussians were in possession of all the passes, and found themselves surrounded on every side, fainting with hunger and fatigue, and destitute of every convenience. In this deplorable condition they remained, when the king of Poland, from the fortress of Konigstein, sent a letter to his general, the veldt-mareschal count Rutow-ski, vesting him with full and discretionary power to surrender, or take such other measures as he should judge most conducive to the preservation of the officers and soldiers. 388 [See note 3 D, at the end of this Vol.] By this time count Brown had retired to Budin, so that there was no choice left. A capitulation was demanded; but, in effect, the whole Saxon army was obliged to surrender at discretion; and the soldiers were afterwards, by compulsion, incorporated with the troops of Prussia. The king of Poland being thus deprived of his electoral dominions, his troops, arms, artillery, and ammunition, thought it high time to provide for his own safety, and retired with all expedition to Poland. His Prussian majesty cantoned his forces in the neighbourhood of Seidlitz, and along the Elbe towards Dresden. His other army, which had entered Bohemia, under the command of the count de Ichwerin, retired to the confines of the county of Glatz, where they were distributed in quarters of cantonment; so that this short campaign was finished by the beginning of November.
The king of Poland, in his distress, did not fail to implore the assistance and mediation of neutral powers. His minister at the Hague presented a memorial to the states-general, complaining that the invasion of Saxony was one of those attacks against the law of nations, which from the great respect due to this law, demanded the assistance of every power interested in the preservation of its own liberty and independency. He observed, that from the first glimpse of misunderstanding between the courts of Vienna and Berlin, he had expressly enjoined his ministers at all the courts of Europe to declare, that it was his firm resolution, in the present conjuncture of affairs, to observe the strictest neutrality. He represented that a free and neutral state had been, in the midst of peace, invaded by an enemy, who disguised himself under the mask of friendship, without alleging the least complaint, or any pretension whatsoever; but founding himself solely on his own convenience, made himself master, by armed force, of all the cities and towns of the electorate, dismantling some and fortifying others; that he had disarmed the burghers; carried off the magistrates as hostages for the payment of unjust and enormous contributions of provisions and forage; seized the coffers; confiscated the revenues of the electorate; broke open the arsenals, and transported the arms and artillery to his own town of Magdeburgh; abolished the privy-council, and, instead of the lawful government, established a directory, which acknowledged no other law but his own arbitrary will. He gave them to understand, that all these proceedings were no other than preliminaries to the unheard of treatment which was reserved for a queen, whose virtues ought to have commanded respect, even from her enemies; that, from the hands of that august princess, the archives of the state were forced away by menaces and violences, notwithstanding the security which her majesty had promised herself under the protection of all laws, human and divine; and notwithstanding the repeated assurances given by the king of Prussia, that not only her person, but the place of her residence, should be absolutely safe, and that even the Prussian garrison should be under her direction. He observed, that a prince who declared himself protector of the protestant religion, had begun the war by crushing the very state to which that religion owes its establishment, and the preservation of its most invaluable rights; that he had broken through the most respectable laws which constitute the union of the Germanic body, under colour of a defence which the empire stood in no need of except against himself; that the king of Prussia, while he insists on having entered Saxony as a friend, demands his army, the administration of his dominions, and, in a word, the sacrifice of his whole electorate; and that the Prussian directory, in the declaration of motives, published under the nose of a prince to whom friendship was pretended, thought it superfluous to allege even any pretext, to colour the usurpation of his territories and revenues.—Though this was certainly the case, in his Prussian majesty’s first exposition of motives, the omission was afterwards supplied, in a subsequent memorial to the states-general; in which he charged the king of Poland as an accomplice in, if not an accessary to, the treaty of Petersburgh; and even taxed him with having agreed to a partition of some Prussian territories, when they should be conquered. This treaty of partition, however, appears to have been made in time of actual war, before all cause of dispute was removed by the peace of Dresden.