Journal of Horace St. Paul
1757: Disengagement

August 21, 1757

Translated and Edited With Additional Materials By Neil Cogswell


The King has made no changes in the position of his camp; the town of Bernstadt is in front of the center of his line. During the morning, he made a general forage for the whole army around Lobau.

It is not clear if the Corps of General Winterfeldt has re-crossed the Neisse; according to the reports of General Nadasdy, he is seeking to encamp at Rademeritz with the Wittiche in front of him. General Nadasdy followed that corps with his light troops and has made his camp at Konigshayn. From there, he had wished to make a forage towards Marienthal, but, having been interrupted by the Prussians, he was unable to bring back to his camp as much forage as he had intended.

In order to reinforce the Austrian troops in Silesia, His Royal Highness judges it necessary to send there two battalions of Croats and a regiment of hussars under the orders of General Schroger, who formerly commanded at Neustadt.

We inspected the damage caused by the Prussians in the camp that they had recently vacated. Not contenting themselves with scattering the sheaves of unthreshed corn, they had burned what remained in the barns. Their excesses did not stop there: they broke open the trunks and cupboards of the poor peasants and took anything that they found to their liking. The news from Dresden is that Prince Moritz of Anhalt-Dessau, with 6 to 7,000 men, continues in his camp between Sedlitz and Krebs. We do not think that he will stay there long since he has sent back his heavy baggage; this is now in the main streets of the New Town of Dresden. Over the last few days, Colonel Loudon has carried off the magazines that were at Pirna. He has sold part for the sum of 1,200 ecus; the rest he has distributed to the inhabitants. Colonel Loudon has also carried off several of the cavalry horses that the Prussians had been obliged to water at Gottleuba. Few days pass when he does not make life uncomfortable for the Prussians.

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