Yesterday, the Right Wing of the Army had marched to take camp in front of Zittau. Today, the Left Wing went to join them there.

Order of March from Gabel to Zittau

Carabineers - followed the 2nd column as far as the neighborhood of The Pass, where they encamped.

The Reserve Artillery followed the 2nd Column as far as the camp at Grottau.

The Left Wing of the Army marched at first light. It marched by the same route that the Right Wing that taken yesterday.

The 1st Column, composed of the cavalry and infantry of the Second Line, marched by its right - Regiment Browne at the head. It took the route through Jonsdorff, Schönbach and Pankratz, passing in front of the bakery and in front of the cross. It then went towards the game park of Berzdorff and through Kelten into the neighborhood of Graffenstein, where it encamped.

The 2nd Column, comprising the cavalry and infantry of the First Line, marched by its left - Regiment Savoyen leading. This column followed the road from Gabel, passing in front of Lamberg, that it left on its left. It then marched by way of Ringelshain, Spittelgrund and Grottau, where it entered camp.

Under the orders of Count Nikolaus Esterházy, the four regiments of the Reserve Corps - Infantry Regiments Nikolaus Esterházy and Maynz, Batthyány Dragoons and the Saxon Carabineers – followed the 2nd column as far as the neighborhood of The Pass, where they encamped.

The Baggage followed its respective columns.

The seven other regiments of the Reserve Corps, under the command of General Wied, together with the two Cavalry Regiments Pálffy and Porporati, remained at Gabel to protect the lines of communication in Bohemia.

The Headquarters of His Royal Highness are established at Ullersdorff; those of Marshal Daun are at Grottau. The left flank of the army is in front of Grottau. The right extends as far as Reichenau, where the cavalry form a crochet to the main line to cover that flank, which rests on a wood.

We established the suite of the Quartermaster-General of His Royal Highness at Klein-Schönau, but Marshal Daun established his around the Eckartsberg. On arriving before Zittau, we learnt that, at nightfall yesterday, 6,000 men had sortied out from the town and taken the road to Görlitz. Thus, in the town, we suppose that the garrison is, once again, probably 6 battalions - that is to say about 4,000 men.

In the afternoon, we completed the investment of the town of Zittau. As is customary, we placed companies of grenadiers and troops of cavalry on all the avenues of approach; there are also vedettes and advanced sentinels, who are so placed that they can see one another and prevent anyone from entering or leaving the place. To complete this work, a corps under the orders of the Duke of Arenberg crossed the Neisse and completed the investment on the side towards Görlitz. General Macquire commands another corps whose lines occupy the ground between the Alt-Neisse and the Neisse towards Rumburg.

In the morning, Marshal Daun visited the whole of the new camp. During the afternoon, he inspected the positions of the troops investing the town. He made a particular tour of the posts of the Duke of Arenberg, finding them well sited. The Marshal also reconnoitered the town from that side. He found it extraordinary that there are no Prussian advanced posts. He completed his reconnaissance without there being a single cannon shot fired against the Austrians.

Four battalions of the garrison attempted a sortie but, finding the passages well guarded, they judged it proper to re-enter the town.

In his report, General Beck stated that the Prussians are incensed against the peasants. They believe that the country-folk had shown the Croats the roads by which they had intercepted the Prussian retreat. Because of this, the Prussians have burnt four villages along their route. Deserters tell us that, in order to cross the mountains, the Prussian army has burnt a quantity of equipages so that they should not fall into the hands of the Croats.

326 deserters came in today.

More Journal of Horace St. Paul 1757

Part 1: Introduction (June 30-July 14)

Part 2: Introduction and July 15
July 16, 1757
July 17, 1757
July 18, 1757
July 19, 1757
July 20, 1757
July 21, 1757
July 22, 1757
July 23, 1757
July 24, 1757
July 25, 1757

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com