KING OF PRUSSIA ENTERS BOHEMIA.

The season now drawing on in which the troops of the contending powers would be able to take the field, and the alarming progress of the Russians being happily stopped, his Prussian majesty, whose maxim it has always been to keep the seat of war as far as possible from his own dominions, resolved to carry it into Bohemia, and there to attack the Austrians on all sides. To this end he ordered his armies in Saxony, Misnia, Lusatia, and Silesia, to enter Bohemia in four different and op-opposite places, nearly at the same time. The first of these he commanded in person, assisted by mareschal Keith; the second was led by prince Maurice of Anhault-Dessau, the third by prince Ferdinand of Brunswick-Bevern, and the fourth by mareschal Schwerin. In consequence of this plan, mareschal Schwerin’s army entered Bohemia on the eighteenth of April, in five columns, at as many different places. The design was so well concerted, that the Austrians had not the least suspicion of their approach until they were past the frontiers, and then they filled the dangerous defile of Guelder-Oesle with pandours, to dispute that passage; but they were no sooner discovered than two battalions of Prussian grenadiers attacked them with their bayonets fixed, and routed them. The prince of Anhault passed the frontiers from Misnia, and penetrated into Bohemia on the twenty-first of April, without any resistance. The prince of Bevern, on the twentieth of the same month, having marched at the head of a body of the army, which was in Lusatia, from the quarters of cantonment near Zittau, possessed himself immediately of the first post on the frontier of Bohemia, at Krouttau and Grasenstein, without the loss of a single man; drove away the enemy the same day from Kratzen, and proceeded to Machendorf, near Reichenberg. The same morning Putkammer’s hussars, who formed part of a corps, commanded by a colonel and major, routed some hundreds of the enemy’s cuirassiers, posted before Kolin, under the conduct of prince Lichenstein, took three officers and upwards of sixty horse prisoners, and so dispersed the rest, that they were scarcely able to rally near Kratzen. Night coming on obliged the troops to remain in the open air till the next morning, when, at break of day, the Prussians marched in two columns by Habendorf, towards the enemy’s army, amounting to twenty-eight thousand men, commanded by count Konigsegg, and posted near Roichenberg. As soon as the troops were formed, they advanced towards the enemy’s cavalry, drawn up in three lines of about thirty squadrons. The two wings were sustained by the infantry, which was posted among felled trees and intrenchments. The Prussians immediately cannonaded the enemy’s cavalry, who received it with resolution, having on their right hand a village, and on their left a wood whore they had intrenched themselves. But the prince of Bevern having caused fifteen squadrons of dragoons of the second line to advance, and the wood on his right to be attacked at the same time by the battalions of grenadiers of Kahlden and of Moellendorf, and by the regiment of the prince of Prussia, his dragoons, who, by clearing the ground and possessing the intrenchment, had their flanks covered, entirely routed the enemy’s cavalry. In the meantime colonel Putkammer and major Schenfield, with their hussars, though flanked by the enemy’s artillery, gave the Austrian horse grenadiers a very warm reception, whilst general Lestewitz, with the left wing of the Prussians, attacked the redoubts that covered Reichenberg. Though there were many defiles and rising grounds to pass, all occupied by the Austrians, yet the regiment of Darmstadt forced the redoubt, and put to flight and pursued the enemy, after some discharge of their artillery and small arms, from one eminence to another, for the distance of a mile, when they left off the pursuit. The action began at half an hour after six, and continued till eleven. About one thousand of the Austrians were killed and wounded; among the former were general Porporati and count Hohenfelds, and among the latter prince Lichtenstein and count Mansfeld. Twenty of their officers, and four hundred soldiers, were taken prisoners, and they also lost three standards. On the side of the Prussians seven subalterns and about an hundred men were killed, and sixteen officers and an hundred and fifty men wounded. After this battle mareschal Schwerin joined the prince of Bevern, made himself master of the greatest part of the circle of Buntzlau, and took a considerable magazine from the Austrians, whom he dislodged. The prince Anhault-Dessau, with his corps, drew near the king of Prussia’s army; then the latter advanced as far as Budin, from whence the Austrians who had an advantageous camp there, retired to Westwarn, half way between Budin and Prague; and his Prussian majesty having passed the Egra, his army, and that of mareschal Schwerin, were so situated, as to be able to act jointly.

These advantages were but a prelude to a much more decisive victory, which the king himself gained a few days after. Preparing to enter Bohemia, at a distance from any of the corps commanded by his generals, he made a movement as if he had intended to march towards Egra. The enemy, deceived by this feint, and imagining he wras going to execute some design, distinct from the object of the other armies, detached a body of twenty thousand men to observe his motions; then he made a sudden and masterly movement to the left, by which he cut off all communication between that detachment and the main army of the Austrians, which, having been reinforced by the army of Moravia, by the remains of the corps lately defeated by the prince of Bevern, and by several regiments of the garrison of Prague, amounted to near a hundred thousand men. They were strongly intrenched on the banks of the Moldaw, to the north of Prague, in a camp so fortified by every advantage of nature, and every contrivance of art, as to be deemed almost impregnable. The left wing of the Austrians, thus situated, was guarded by the mountains of Ziscka, and the right extended as far as Herboholi; prince Charles of Lorraine, and mareschal Brown, who commanded them, seemed determined to maintain this advantageous post; but the king of Prussia overlooked all difficulties. Having thrown several bridges over the Moldaw on the fifth of May, he passed that river in the morning of the sixth, with thirty thousand men, leaving the rest of the army under the command of the prince of Anhault-Dessau; and being immediately joined by the troops under mareschal Schwerin and the prince of Bevern, resolved to attack the enemy on the same day. In consequence of this resolution, his army filed off on the left by Potschernitz; and at the same time count Brown wheeled to the right, to avoid being flanked. The Prussians continued their march to Richwitz, traversing several defiles and morasses, which for a little time separated the infantry from the rest of the army. The foot began the attack too precipitately, and were at first repulsed, but they soon recovered themselves. While the king of Prussia took the enemy in flank, mareschal Schwerin advanced to a marshy ground, which suddenly stopping his army, threatened to disconcert the whole plan of operation. In this emergency, he immediately dismounted, and taking the standard of the regiment in his hand, boldly entered the morass, crying out, “Let all brave Prussians follow me.” Inspired by the example of this great commander, now eighty-two years of age, all the troops pressed forward, and though he was unfortunately killed by the first fire, their ardour abated not till they had totally defeated the enemy. Thus fell mareschal Schwerin, loaded with years and glory, an officer whose superior talents in the military art had been displayed in a long course of faithful service. In the meantime, the Prussian infantry, which had been separated in the march, forming themselves afresh, renewed the attack on the enemy’s right, and entirely broke it, while their cavalry, after three charges, obliged that of the Austrians to retire in great confusion, the centre being at the same time totally routed. The left wing of the Prussians then marched immediately towards Michely, and being there joined by the horse, renewed their attack, while the enemy were retreating hastily towards Saszawar. Meanwhile the troops on the right of the Prussian army attacked the remains of the left wing of the Aus-trians, and made themselves masters of three batteries. But the behaviour of the infantry in the last attack was so successful, as to leave little room for this part of the cavalry to act. Prince Henry of Prussia, and the prince of Bevern, signalized themselves on this occasion in storming two batteries; prince Ferdinand of Brunswick took the left wing of the Austrians in flank, while the king with his left, and a body of cavalry, secured the passage of the Moldaw. In short, after a very long and obstinate engagement, and many signal examples of valour on both sides, the Austrians were forced to abandon the field of battle, leaving behind sixty pieces of cannon, all their tents, baggage, military chest, and, in a word, their whole camp. The weight of the battle fell upon the right wing of the Austrians, the remains of which, to the amount of ten or twelve thousand men, fled towards Beneschau, where they afterwards assembled under M. Pretlach, general of horse. The infantry retired towards Prague, and threw themselves into that city with their commanders, prince Charles of Lorraine, and mareschal Brown; but they were much harassed in their retreat by a detachment of the Prussians under mareschal Keith. The Prussians took, on this occasion, ten standards, and upwards of four thousand prisoners, thirty of whom were officers of rank. Their loss amounted to about two thousand five hundred killed, and about three thousand wounded. Among the former were general d’Amstel, the prince of Holstein-Beck, the colonels Goltze and Manstein, and lieutenant-colonel Boke. Among the latter, the generals Wenterfield, De la Mothe, Feuque, Hautcharmoy, Blankensee and Plettenberg. The number of the killed and wounded on the side of the Austrians was much greater. Among these last was mareschal Brown, who received a wound, which, from the chagrin he suffered, rather than from its own nature, proved mortal. The clay after the battle, colonel Meyer was detached with a battalion of Prussian pandours, and four hundred hussars, to destroy a very considerable and valuable magazine of the Austrians at Pilsen, and this service lie performed. He also completed the destruction of several others of less importance; by the loss of which, however, all possibility of subsistence was cut off from any succours the Austrians might have expected from the empire.