With Frederick the Great: A Story of the Seven Years' War by G. A. Henty (best classic romance novels txt) 📗

He galloped on until a flash of fire burst out, a few yards in front. His horse fell dead under him and, before he could extricate himself from it, he was surrounded by Austrians. An officer shouted to him to surrender and, seeing the hopelessness of resistance, he at once did so.

He looked round and, to his satisfaction, saw nothing of Karl. He was placed in the midst of the Austrian regiment, under the charge of a sergeant, and told that he would be shot if he tried to escape.

Frederick, with more battalions that had come up, pushed on; thrusting the Austrians back until he had left Hochkirch on his left. But by this time it was past eight o'clock, the fog was dispersing, and he saw a great body of Austrians on the heights to his right, from Waditz to Meschduitz, as well as on the whole line of heights on the left. His only line of retreat, therefore, was along at the foot of the Dressau heights.

These he ordered to be seized, at once. This was done before the Austrians could reach the spot, they being hindered by furious charges by Ziethen, from the open ground between Kumschutz and Canitz; and Frederick rearranged his front of battle, and waited for Retzow to come up with the left wing.

The Austrians tried several attacks, but with little success. They too had been hindered and confused by the mist, and the force that had been engaged in and round Hochkirch had suffered terribly; and they pushed forward but feebly, now that the Prussian guns on the heights were able to open fire upon them.

Retzow was long in coming, for he too had been attacked by twenty thousand men, who had been told off by Daun for the purpose. The attack, however, was badly managed and feeble; but it delayed Retzow from making a start, when Frederick's urgent messages reached him. During this anxious delay the Austrians captured Frederick's main battery of thirty guns, north of Rodewitz; and were beginning to press forward, when Retzow came onto the ground and took up a position at Belgern, covering Frederick's left flank. Had he been an hour sooner, he might have saved the heavy battery which lay beyond the range of the guns on the Dressau heights, and which Frederick could not have supported without bringing on a general battle.

Then, in a steady and leisurely manner, the king drew off his forces and took up a new position from Krewitz to Puswietz, carrying off the whole of his baggage; Retzow and the troops on the Dressau heights covering the movement, until all had passed; Daun and his great army standing on their circle of hills, watching, but not interfering with the movement.

Frederick's rashness had cost him dear. He had lost eight thousand men; five thousand three hundred and eighty-one of them, and a hundred and nineteen officers, killed or prisoners; the rest wounded. He had also lost a hundred and one guns, and most of his tents.

Of the Austrians, three hundred and twenty-five officers and five thousand six hundred and fourteen rank and file were killed or wounded, and a thousand prisoners lost. Twenty thousand of their men deserted, during their passage through the dark and intricate woods.

Fergus remained with the regiment that had captured him until the battle ceased; after which he was taken, under a guard, to the spot where the Prussian prisoners were gathered. Of these there were fifty-eight officers, the greater part of whom were more or less severely wounded. Two of the officers belonged to the Kannaker battalion, and from them Fergus asked for news of Marshal Keith.

"We fear he is killed," one said. "He led us into the battery, and he was with us after we were driven out again; but after that neither of us saw him. Everything was in confusion. We could not see twenty yards, any way. We know that the battalion had suffered terribly. Just before we were captured, being with a score of men cut off from the rest by a rush of Austrians, a rumour spread that the marshal had been killed; but more than this we cannot tell."

Two hours later an Austrian officer rode up, with orders that the prisoners were to be marched some distance farther to the rear. Fergus went up to him and said:

"Can you tell me, sir, if Marshal Keith is among the killed? I am one of his aides-de-camp and, moreover, a cousin of his."

"Yes," the officer said, "he has fallen. His body was recognized by General Lacy, who commands here. I am on his staff. The general was greatly affected, for he and the marshal were at one time comrades in arms. The marshal was shot through the heart, and had previously received two other wounds. He was a most gallant soldier, and one highly esteemed by us. He will be buried with all military honours at Hochkirch, where he has been carried."

Fergus was deeply moved. Keith had been so uniformly kind that he had come to feel for him almost as a father. He could not speak for a minute, and then said:

"Would you ask General Lacy, sir, to allow me to attend his funeral, both as one of the marshal's staff and as a relation, who loved him very dearly? My name is Major Drummond."

"I will certainly ask him, sir, and have no doubt that he will grant the request."

He thereupon gave orders that a young officer should remain with Fergus, until an answer was received. He then rode off, and in a few minutes the rest of the prisoners were marched away. In half an hour the officer returned.

"General Lacy will be glad if you will accompany me to his quarters. He gladly accedes to your request."

Lacy occupied one of the houses at Hochkirch which had been spared by the flames. The aide-de-camp conducted Fergus to an empty room.

"The general is away at present," he said, "but will see you, as soon as he returns."

When alone, Fergus burst into tears. It was indeed a heavy loss to him. Even before he came out, he had come to regard Keith with deep respect and admiration. He had heard so much of him, from his mother, that it seemed to him that their relationship was far closer than it really was, and that Keith stood in the position of an uncle rather than of his mother's cousin. Since he had been in Germany he had been constantly with him, save when he was away with the king; and the genial kindness, the absence of all formality, and the affectionate interest he had shown in him had been almost of a fatherly nature. It was but a poor consolation to know that it was the death Keith would, of all others, have chosen; and that, had he survived the campaign, he would probably have been obliged to retire from active service; or to take some quiet command, where his inactivity would speedily have chafed him beyond bearing, after so active and stirring a life.

Two hours later the officer entered the room, and said that General Lacy had returned, and would see him. The general was alone when he was shown into his room, and his face evinced a momentary surprise when his eyes fell on Fergus. Promotion was not very rapid in the Prussian army, and he had expected to see a man of between thirty and forty. The sight of this young officer, with the rank and insignia of major, and wearing on his breast the Prussian order, surprised him.

"I am sorry indeed for your loss, Major Drummond," he said in English. "Sorry for my own, too; though it may well be that, in any case, Keith and I should never have met again. But we were comrades once and, like everyone else, I loved him. What relation was he to you?"

"He was my mother's first cousin, general; but they were always dear friends, and have for years written regularly to each other; and it was settled that I should come out to him, as soon as I was old enough. 'Tis upwards of two years since I did so, and he has been more like a father than a cousin to me, during that time."

"You have gone up the tree fast," General Lacy said.

"Very fast, sir; but I owe it to good fortune, and not to his influence. I was, in each case, promoted by the king himself."

"A good judge of men, and not accustomed to give promotion easily. Will you tell me how it happened?"

"There is not much to tell, sir. On the first occasion, I freed Count Eulenfurst of some rascals who were maltreating him and his family."

"I remember the circumstance," Lacy said warmly. "I heard it from a Saxon officer, who joined us at the end of the first campaign, after the Saxon army was disbanded and the officers were allowed to go free. He was at Dresden for a time, and heard the story. It was a gallant business. I think you killed six of them. And what was the next occasion?"

"The next followed very quickly, general; and was given for carrying an order to the Prussian horse, which enabled them to get back to our lines before the Austrian cavalry fell upon them."

"I was there," Lacy said. "So you were the officer who charged through a squadron of our cavalry, accompanied by a single orderly! You certainly won your promotion fairly there. And where did you get your last step?"

"At Zorndorf where, in the melee, when the Russians broke our ranks, I was fortunate enough to intercept three Russian dragoons who were making for the king, who was hemmed in among the infantry he was trying to rally."

"A good reason, again, for promotion. Well, if you go on, you are likely to rise as high as your cousin. But it is a poor life. As I looked down upon Keith's face today, I thought how empty is any honour that adventurers like ourselves can gain. I myself have risen too; but what does it bring? Responsibility, toil, the consciousness that a solitary mistake may bring you into disgrace; and that, in any case, the end may be like this: death on a battlefield, fighting in a quarrel in which you have no concern, and of which you may disapprove; a grave soon forgotten; a name scarce known to one's countrymen. It is not worth it."

The general spoke in a tone of deep feeling.

"I have made up my mind not to continue in the service, after the war is over," Fergus said, after a short pause; "although the king has personally been very kind to me and, when the marshal remained in Bohemia, he took me on his