1 gies of valour were now displayed, and this handful of Prussians remained masters of the field, after having repulsed the enemy and made great slaughter. The exasperated hussars refused to give quarter; the greater part of the Croats were killed, and a few only were made prisoners, The The battle had begun at noon, and it lasted till near nine o'clock in the evening. artillery had consumed all their ammunition; and out of sixty cartouches each grenadier had only six remaining. Three of Zieten's squadrons had sustained a continual fire; a hundred of his hussars lay dead on the field, and about seventy were wounded. He availed himself of the night and the retreat of the enemy in order to continue his march, and he encamped at the distance of half a German mile from Tein, upon the highway to Bechin, where the king had his head-quarters. He procured waggons for his wounded soldiers, and they were safely removed to Tabor. As As soon as the king had been informed of this battle, he had detached a body of near twelve thousand men from the main army to hasten to the relief of Zieten. This corps, notwithstanding the diligence of their proceedings, did not join the rear-guard till late in the night of the 10th, after the engagement had been happily terminated; and they could only applaud the success to which they had not the glory to contribute. On the next day Zieten and his troops gathered the fruits of their recent toils. Lieutenant de Belling had been sent to report to the king the advantages obtained over the enemy, and his majesty, in spite of the illhumour into which his disagreeable situation had thrown him, forgot his chagrin for a moment and gave himself up to joy. Delighted at this splendid defence, and charmed at the deliverance of his rear, he instantly mounted his * Since that time one of the best generals of hussars in the Prussian service. his horse, and proceeded to met Zieten and his brave soldiers on their way. He applauded their valour, spoke of their leader in terms of consideration and gratitude, and placing himself at their head, led them in triumph through the whole camp. Every man rushed out of his tent to see them pass by, and the camp resounded with "Long live the "king! Long live Zieten and his troops!" Frederick, indeed, possessed in an uncommon degree the art of rewarding and encouraging the soldier, and this secret alone, without his other accomplishments, had been sufficient to gain and secure the affection of his army. He assumed for a moment the immediate command of Zieten's regiment, and the whole regiment was more than ever devoted to him; and, at the same time, he inspired with new ardour the rest of the army, who, on account of their present critical situation, stood in need of such encouragement. Zieten's care was now to make severe inquiry in order to discover the hussar who His first passed the Muldaw and drew the two squadrons into such a perilous situation. emissaries could not, or rather, with the connivance of the general, would not discover the valiant offender *; and he contented himself with publishing a proclamation, prohibiting such daring feats in future, on pain of death, and rendering the commanders of squadrons responsible, in that respect, for the conduct of their troops. A The royal army by insensible degrees approached the city of Prague, and encamped between Beneschaw and Konopisch, and the Austrians, who followed at some distance, formed their camp on the 15th near Chlumetz. By this movement the Prussian garrisons at Budweis, Frauenburg, Tabor, and Muhl Nothing at the present day can render it improper to Muhlhausen, where the sick and wounded lay, were exposed to the mercy of ten thousand Hungarians, who were scouring the country, and by whom they were all successively made prisoners. The king thus lost three thousand men; the regiment of Zieten thirty troopers at Budweis; and, at Tabor, all the hussars who had been wounded at Tein. The prince of Lorrain, whose aim, it seemed, was to turn the king and cut off all communication with Prague, had encamped at Maschowitz. This alarming situation forced the Prussians to act on the offensive. The king made the necessary preparations on the 20th, and having passed the night under arms, and discovered, the next day, that the position of the enemy was inaccessible, he began to manœuvre in order to draw them from it. For this purpose he passed the Zasawa, and having encamped on the 25th at Pischeli, he continued his march towards Collin. On the abovementioned day Zieten was detached, under general de Nassau, to Kammersbourg for the purpose of dislodging the Austrians and Saxons. The |