PROGRESS OF THE SWEDES IN POMERANIA.

Having recorded all the transactions of the campaign, except those in which the Swedes were concerned, it now remains that we should particularize the progress which was made in Pomerania by the troops of that nation, under the command of count Hamilton. We have already observed, that in the beginning of the year the Prussian general, Lehwald, had compelled them to evacuate the whole province, except Stralsund, which was likewise invested. This, in all probability, would have been besieged in form, had not Lehwald resigned the command of the Prussians, on account of his great age and infirmities; and his successor, count Dohna, been obliged to withdraw his troops in order to oppose the Russian army on the other side of Pomerania. The blockade of Stralsund being consequently raised, and that part of the country being entirely evacuated by the Prussians, the Swedish troops advanced again from the isle of Rugen, to which, they had retired; but the supplies and reinforcements they expected from Stockholm were delayed in such a manner, either from a deficiency in the subsidies promised by France, or from the management of those who were averse to the war, that great part of the season was elapsed before they undertook any important enterprise. Indeed, while they lay encamped under the cannon of Stralsund, waiting for these supplies, their operations were retarded by the explosion of a whole ship-load of gunpowder intended for their use; an event imputed to the practices of the Prussian party in Sweden, which at this period seemed to gain ground, and even threatened a change in the ministry. At length the reinforcement arrived about the latter end of June, and their general seemed determined to act with vigour. In the beginning of July, his army being put in motion, he sent a detachment to dislodge the few Prussian troops that were left at Anclam, Demmin, and other places, to guard that frontier; and they retreated accordingly. Count Hamilton having nothing further to oppose him in the field, in a very little time recovered all Swedish Pomerania, and even made hot incursions into the Prussian territories. Meanwhile, a combined fleet of thirty-three Russian and seven Swedish ships of war appeared in the Baltic, and anchored between the isles of Dragoe and Amagh; but they neither landed troops nor committed hostilities. The Swedish general advanced as far as Fehrbellin, sent out parties that raised contributions within five and twenty miles of Berlin, and threw the inhabitants of that capital into the utmost consternation. The king of Prussia, alarmed at their progress, despatched general Wedel from Dresden, with a body of troops that were augmented on their march; so that, on the twentieth of September, he found himself at Berlin with eleven thousand effective men, at the head of whom he proceeded against count Hamilton, while the prince of Bevern, with five thousand, advanced on the other side from Stetin. At their approach, the Swedish commander retired, after having left a garrison of fourteen hundred men at Fehrbellin in order to retard the Prussians, and secure the retreat of his army. The place was immediately attacked by general Wedel; and though the Swedes disputed the ground from house to house with uncommon obstinacy, he at last drove them out of the town, with the loss of one half of their number either killed or taken prisoners. The body of the Swedish army, without hazarding any other action, immediately evacuated the Prussian territories, and returned to the neighbourhood of Stralsund, intending to take winter-quarters in the isle of Rugen. Count Hamilton, either disgusted at the restrictions he had been laid under, or finding himself unable to act in such a manner as might redound to the advantage of his reputation, threw up his command, retired from the army, and resigned all his other employments.