Journal of Horace St. Paul
1757: Waiting on Events

August 10, 1757

Translated and Edited With Additional Materials By Neil Cogswell


Desertion amongst the Austrian troops has started to become so serious that, as well as the ordinary guards, we are obliged, each evening, to post picquets from every regiment around the camp.

From Saxony, Colonel Loudon has sent a report of a fine action that he fought at Giesshubel, where 5 battalions from the army of Prince Moritz of Anhalt-Dessau were encamped. He surprised those troops with 3 battalions of Croats, who carried two redoubts in which they found 4 cannon, of which they took possession. Lack of horses prevented them from carrying off other than a single 3-pounder; they contented themselves with nailing up the others, which were 12-pounders. In this engagement, the Croats killed more than 400 men and took prisoner a colonel, a major and 160 men, without taking account of the desertion that this attack occasioned. The Croats also pillaged the greater part of the equipages of this corps. The Prussians would have been entirely defeated had not 6 other battalions come to their aid. This obliged the Austrians to think about their retreat, which they made in good order. The loss of the Croats in this expedition amounted to 70 men, including 5 officers wounded.

After the recent action between the Prussian Dragoon Regiments Bayreuth and Wurttemberg and 15 squadrons of Austrian hussars from the post at Stolpen, where General Kalnoky has the command, we discovered amongst the prisoners a cornet of hussars. This man, Hungarian by birth, was recognized through his having been Father Superior at the Franciscan Monastery at Neustadt in Hungary, which he had left hurriedly. Fearing punishment for his crimes, he defended himself in a most desperate manner and refused to ask for quarter. This course he even persisted in when his horse threw him to the ground. He wounded six men before the Austrians were able finally to subdue him.

More Journal of Horace St. Paul 1757

Back to Seven Years War Asso. Journal Vol. XI No. 4 Table of Contents
Back to Seven Years War Asso. Journal List of Issues
Back to Master Magazine List
© Copyright 2000 by James J. Mitchell

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