The Empire of Austria - John S. C. Abbott (best books to read now TXT) 📗

the only answer I obtained was that his most Christian majesty had contracted engagements which he could not violate. I can prove, by documents now in my possession, that the French endeavored to excite sedition even in the heart of my dominions; that they attempted to overturn the fundamental laws of the empire, and to set all Germany in a flame. I will transmit these proofs to posterity as a warning to the empire."

The ambition of Maria Theresa was now greatly roused. She resolved to retain the whole of Bavaria which she had taken from the elector. The duchy of Lorraine, which had been wrested from her husband, was immediately to be invaded and restored to the empire. The dominions which had been torn from her father in Italy were to be reannexed to the Austrian crown, and Alsace upon the Rhine was to be reclaimed. Thus, far from being now satisfied with the possessions she had inherited from her father, her whole soul was roused, in these hours of triumph, to conquer vast accessions for her domains. She dreamed only of conquest, and in her elation parceled out the dominions of France and Bavaria as liberally and as unscrupulously as they had divided among themselves the domain of the house of Austria.

The French, alarmed, made a great effort to relieve Prague. An army, which on its march was increased to sixty thousand men, was sent six hundred miles to cross rivers, to penetrate defiles of mountains crowded with hostile troops, that they might rescue Prague and its garrison from the besiegers. With consummate skill and energy this critical movement was directed by General Mallebois. The garrison of the city were in a state of great distress. The trenches were open and the siege was pushed with great vigilance. All within the walls of the beleaguered city were reduced to extreme suffering. Horse flesh was considered a delicacy which was reserved for the sick. The French made sally after sally to spike the guns which were battering down the walls. As Mallebois, with his powerful reënforcement, drew near, their courage rose. The Duke of Lorraine became increasingly anxious to secure the capitulation before the arrival of the army of relief, and proposed a conference to decide upon terms, which should be transmitted for approval to the courts of Vienna and of Paris. But the imperious Austrian queen, as soon as she heard of this movement, quite regardless of the feelings of her husband, whom she censured as severely as she would any corporal in the army, issued orders prohibiting, peremptorily, any such conference.

"I will not suffer," she said "any council to be held in the army. From Vienna alone are orders to be received. I disavow and forbid all such proceedings, let the blame fall where it may ."

She knew full well that it was her husband who had proposed this plan; and he knew, and all Austria knew, that it was the Duke of Lorraine who was thus severely and publicly reprimanded. But the husband of Maria Theresa was often reminded that he was but the subject of the queen. So peremptory a mandate admitted of no compromise. The Austrians plied their batteries with new vigor, the wan and skeleton soldiers fought perseveringly at their embrasures; and the battalions of Mallebois, by forced marches, pressed on through the mountains of Bohemia, to the eventful arena. A division of the Austrian army was dispatched to the passes of Satz and Caden, which it would be necessary for the French to thread, in approaching Prague. The troops of Mallebois, when they arrived at these defiles, were so exhausted by their long and forced marches, that they were incapable of forcing their way against the opposition they encountered in the passes of the mountains. After a severe struggle, Mallebois was compelled to relinquish the design of relieving Prague, and storms of snow beginning to incumber his path, he retired across the Danube, and throwing up an intrenched camp, established himself in winter quarters. The Austrian division, thus successful, returned to Prague, and the blockade was resumed. There seemed to be now no hope for the French, and their unconditional surrender was hourly expected. Affairs were in this state, when Europe was astounded by the report that the French general, Belleisle, with a force of eleven thousand foot and three thousand horse, had effected his escape from the battered walls of the city and was in successful retreat.

It was the depth of winter. The ground was covered with snow, and freezing blasts swept the fields. The besiegers were compelled to retreat to the protection of their huts. Taking advantage of a cold and stormy night, Belleisle formed his whole force into a single column, and, leaving behind him his sick and wounded, and every unnecessary incumbrance, marched noiselessly but rapidly from one of the gates of the city. He took with him but thirty cannon and provisions for twelve days. It was a heroic but an awful retreat. The army, already exhausted and emaciate by famine, toiled on over morasses, through forests, over mountains, facing frost and wind and snow, and occasionally fighting their way against their foes, until on the twelfth day they reached Egra on the frontiers of Bavaria, about one hundred and twenty miles east from Prague.

Their sufferings were fearful: They had nothing to eat but frozen bread, and at night they sought repose, tentless, and upon the drifted snow. The whole distance was strewed with the bodies of the dead. Each morning mounds of frozen corpses indicated the places of the night's bivouac. Twelve hundred perished during this dreadful march. Of those who survived, many, at Egra, were obliged to undergo the amputation of their frozen limbs. General Belleisle himself, during the whole retreat, was suffering from such a severe attack of rheumatism, that he was unable either to walk or ride. His mind, however, was full of vigor and his energies unabated. Carried in a sedan chair he reconnoitred the way, pointed out the roads, visited every part of the extended line of march, encouraged the fainting troops, and superintended all the minutest details of the retreat. "Notwithstanding the losses of his army," it is recorded, "he had the satisfaction of preserving the flower of the French forces, of saving every cannon which bore the arms of his master, and of not leaving the smallest trophy to grace the triumph of the enemy."

In the citadel of Prague, Belleisle had left six thousand troops, to prevent the eager pursuit of the Austrians. The Prince Sobcuitz, now in command of the besieging force, mortified and irritated by the escape, sent a summons to the garrison demanding its immediate and unconditional surrender. Chevert, the gallant commander, replied to the officer who brought the summons, -

"Tell the prince that if he will not grant me the honors of war, I will set fire to the four corners of Prague, and bury myself under its ruins."

The destruction of Prague, with all its treasures of architecture and art, was too serious a calamity to be hazarded. Chevert was permitted to retire with the honors of war, and with his division he soon rejoined the army at Egra. Maria Theresa was exceedingly chagrined by the escape of the French, and in the seclusion of her palace she gave vent to the bitterness of her anguish. In public, however, she assumed an attitude of triumph and great exultation in view of the recovery of Prague. She celebrated the event by magnificent entertainments. In imitation of the Olympic games, she established chariot races, in which ladies alone were the competitors, and even condescended herself, with her sister, to enter the lists.

All Bohemia, excepting Egra, was now reclaimed. Early in the spring Maria Theresa visited Prague, where, on the 12th of May, 1743, with great splendor she was crowned Queen of Bohemia. General Belleisle, leaving a small garrison at Egra, with the remnant of his force crossed the Rhine and returned to France. He had entered Germany a few months before, a conqueror at the head of forty thousand men. He retired a fugitive with eight thousand men in his train, ragged, emaciate and mutilated.


CHAPTER XXVIII.

MARIA THERESA.

From 1743 to 1748.

Prosperous Aspect of Austrian Affairs. - Capture of Egra. - Vast Extent of Austria. - Dispute with Sardinia. - Marriage of Charles of Lorraine with The Queen's Sister. - Invasion of Alsace. - Frederic Overruns Bohemia. - Bohemia Recovered by Prince Charles. - Death of the Emperor Charles VII. - Venality of the Old Monarchies. - Battle of Hohenfriedberg. - Sir Thomas Robinson's Interview with Maria Theresa. - Hungarian Enthusiasm. - The Duke of Lorraine Elected Emperor. - Continuation of the War. - Treaty of Peace. - Indignation of Maria Theresa.


The cause of Maria Theresa, at the commencement of the year 1743, was triumphant all over her widely extended domains. Russia was cordial in friendship. Holland, in token of hostility to France, sent the queen an efficient loan of six thousand men, thoroughly equipped for the field. The King of Sardinia, grateful for his share in the plunder of the French and Spanish provinces in Italy, and conscious that he could retain those spoils only by the aid of Austria, sent to the queen, in addition to the coöperation of his armies, a gift of a million of dollars. England, also, still anxious to check the growth of France, continued her subsidy of a million and a half, and also with both fleet and army contributed very efficient military aid. The whole force of Austria was now turned against France. The French were speedily driven from Bavaria; and Munich, the capital, fell into the hands of the Austrians. The emperor, in extreme dejection, unable to present any front of resistance, sent to the queen entreating a treaty of neutrality, offering to withdraw all claims to the Austrian succession, and consenting to leave his Bavarian realm in the hands of Maria Theresa until a general peace. The emperor, thus humiliated and stripped of all his territories, retired to Frankfort.

On the 7th of September Egra was captured, and the queen was placed in possession of all her hereditary domains. The wonderful firmness and energy which she had displayed, and the consummate wisdom with which she had conceived and executed her measures, excited the admiration of Europe. In Vienna, and throughout all the States of Austria, her popularity was unbounded. After the battle of Dettingen, in which her troops gained a decisive victory, as the queen was returning to Vienna from a water excursion, she found the banks of the Danube, for nine miles, crowded with her rejoicing subjects. In triumph she was escorted into the capital, greeted by every demonstration of the most enthusiastic joy.

Austria and England were now prepared to mature their plans for the dismemberment of France. The commissioners met at Hanau, a small fortified town, a few miles east of Frankfort. They met, however, only to quarrel fiercely. Austrian and English pride clashed in instant collision. Lord Stair, imperious and irritable, regarded the Austrians as outside barbarians whom England was feeding, clothing and protecting. The Austrian officers regarded the English as remote islanders from whom they had hired money and men. The Austrians were amazed at the impudence of the English in assuming the direction of affairs. The British officers were equally astounded that the Austrians should presume to take the lead. No plan of coöperation could be agreed upon, and the conference broke up in confusion,

The queen, whose heart was still fixed upon the elevation of her husband to the throne of the empire, was anxious to depose the emperor. But England was no more willing to see Austria dominant over Europe than to see France