Battle of Dresden

“ If a town was considered strong enough to resist the enemy's army, it was always filled with fugitives at the approach of the enemy, the number of whom was so great that the citizens could not think of providing for them. There came to Dresden, for example, in 1637, after the capture of Torgau in the course of three days, from the 7th to the 9th of May, twelve thousand waggons with fugitive country people. The enemy surrounded the over-filled place; round the walls the battle raged, and within, not less voracious, hunger, misery and sickness. ”

“ The French were driven into the river and perished in great numbers.
1813. Battle of Dresden. The citizens beheld a spectacle of an army of 60,000 troops marching through the streets to the field of battle, under Napoleon. An army of 120,000 allies were drawn up around the city.
1813. Theodore Korner, a German poet, killed in battle. Many of his pieces have been set to music, and become national. ”

“ In 1759, after the dreadful battle of Cunersdorf, near Frankfort on the Oder, the King of Prussia being necessitated to repair the slaughter of that day, withdrew the Prussian garrison from Dresden, which then fell into the hands of the Imperialists. But the calamities of this city did not end here; for his Prussian Majesty having deceived Marechal Daun by a very masterly feint, while he seemed to bend his course for Silesia, he wheeled suddenly about, and threatened Dresden, which Marechal Daun had abandoned, in the full conviction, that the King had marched to the relief of Schweidnitz. ”

“ Nothing seems clearer to me, than that a fortified town should have no palaces within it, and no suburbs without. As the city of Dresden has both, it would have been well for the inhabitants, during the last war, that the town had been entirely without fortifications. In the year 1756, when the King of Prussia thought it expedient to invade Saxony, he made himself master of this city, and kept peaceable possession of it till 1758, when Marechal Daun, after the battle of Hochkirchen, threatened to besiege it. The Prussian General Schmettau began his defence by burning part of the suburbs. ”

“ Thus they escaped in a considerable degree the fire of the enemy which could not be pointed against any mass, penetrated the square, took the cannon, made prisoners near 1000 men, and piked or sabred more than 700, not a Frenchman escaping from the field of battle. This skirmish was so successfully managed on Czernicheff's part, that a French force, much superior to his own, came up in time to see the execution done, but not to render assistance to their countrymen.
In the meanwhile, Dresden was the scene of political negotiations, and its neighbourhood resounded with the din of war. ”

“ Still, the left attack may have had a purely tactical object, for in that quarter was the main body of the Prussians and Russians, and Napoleon’s method was always to concentrate the fury of the attack on the heaviest masses of the enemy, i.e. the best target for his own artillery. A very heavy rainstorm during the night seriously affected the movements of troops on the following day, but all to Napoleon’s advantage, for his more mobile artillery, reinforced by every horse available in and about Dresden, was still able to move where the Allied guns sank in mud. ”

“ And his moderation after victory was as marked as his self-reliance after defeat. At this period, he stood out, to the wondering and admiring eyes of the world, as the greatest hero and general of modern times. But, after this, his career was more checkered, and he was still in danger of being overwhelmed by his powerful enemies.
The remainder of the campaign of 1758 was spent in driving the Austrians from Silesia, and in capturing Fall of Dresden. Dresden. No capital in Europe has suffered more in war than this elegant and polished city. ”

“ The fugitives kept coming in, and the enemy neglected to give the finishing stroke. Frederick shook off his despair, and resumed the command of his army. Artillery was ordered up from Berlin, and the troops serving against the Swedes were recalled from Pomerania. Within a week of Kunersdorf he was at the head of 33,000 men, and in a position to send relief to Dresden, which was besieged by an Austrian and Imperialist army. The relief, as it happened, arrived just too late." Dresden was surrendered by its commandant, Schmettau, on the 4th of September, to the great wrath of Frederick. ”

“ We ought not to have terminated our career by common actions.
At that calamitous period, we had more troops abroad than at home: Dresden contained an army: a second army was shut up in Hamburg; a third in Dantzick; and a fourth might have been easily collected by bringing together the immense number of our soldiers, which formed several other intermediate garrisons. All the efforts of our enemies tended only to keep these brave troops separated from France, and to cut off their return. ”

“ Three hundred guns covered the assault, and Dresden was set on fire in places by the cannonade, while the French columns marched unceasingly over the bridges and through the Altstadt. On the right the Russians under Wittgenstein advanced from Striesen, the Prussians under Kleist through the Grosser Garten, whilst Prussians under Prince Augustus and Austrians under Colloredo moved upon the Moczinski redoubt, which was the scene of the most desperate fighting, and was repeatedly taken and retaken. The attack to the westward was carried out by the other Austrian corps ”

“ It is an independent state, except that its army is under the control of the King of Prussia in time of war. Its royal house is one of the oldest in Europe, and in the tenth century gave an Emperor to Germany. The population of Dresden is one hundred and fifty-six thousand. It is in a healthy and pleasant region, and has many attractions, so that it has long been regarded as a desirable residence by Americans. ”

“ Though at bottom our affairs in regard to the enemy here are not desperate, I find I shall not be able to make any detachment for your assistance. Should the Austrians attempt any thing against Dresden, therefore, you will see if there are means of maintaining yourself; failing which, it will behoove you to try and obtain a favorable capitulation—to wit, liberty to withdraw, with the488 whole garrison, moneys, magazines, hospital, and all that we have at Dresden, either to Berlin or elsewhere, so as to join some corps of my troops. ”

“ Three Emperors and a King played one of those fearful games of hazard in the valley of Culm. From the summit of the Schlossberg the royal Eagles of Austria, Russia, and Prussia beheld, with astonishment, if not dismay, the sudden and unexpected descent through a gorge in the Erzebirge [247] mountains, the fierce, the rapacious, and the ferocious Vandamme, at the head of forty thousand Frenchmen, flushed with the victory of Dresden (27th August, 1813) and pouncing on the scattered troops of the allies in the valley, quite unprepared for such an unexpected onslaught! ”

“ Reinforced by the troops who deserted to him from the hostile garrisons, the Saxon General, Arnheim, marched towards Lusatia, which had been overrun by an Imperial General, Rudolph von Tiefenbach, in order to chastise the Elector for embracing the cause of the enemy. He had already commenced in this weakly defended province the usual course of devastation, taken several towns, and terrified Dresden itself by his approach, when his destructive progress was suddenly stopped, by an express mandate from the Emperor to spare the possessions of the King of Saxony. ”

“ He took the field in May 1800, and in June the whole fortune of the war was changed, and Austria driven out of Lombardy by the victory of Marengo. Still the flood of the tide rose higher and higher, and every successive wave of its advance swept away a kingdom. Earthly state has never reached a prouder pinnacle than when Napoleon, in June 1812, gathered his army at Dresden—that mighty host, unequalled in all time, of 450,000, not men merely, but effective soldiers, and there received the homage of subject kings. ”

“ AUSTRIAN REICHS ARMY DOES ITS CROWNING FEAT (August 26th-September 4th) : DIARY OF WHAT IS CALLED THE "SIEGE" OF DRESDEN.
Since the first weeks of, August there have been Austrian detachments, Wehla's Corps, Brentano's Corps, entering Saxony from the northeast or Daun-ward side, and posting themselves in the strong points looking towards Dresden; waiting there till the Reichs Army should capture its Leipzigs, Torgaus, Wittenbergs, and roll forward from northwest. To all which it is easy to fancy what an impetus was given by Kunersdorf and August 12th ”

“ Europe at large, as Friedrich had done, sees "the sky all on fire about Dresden." The fierce big battles done against this man have, one and all of them, become big defeats. The strenuous machinations, high-built plans cunningly devised,—the utmost sum-total of what the Imperial and Royal Potencies can, for the life of them, do: behold, it has all tumbled down here, in loud crash; the final peal of it at Kesselsdorf; and the consummation is flame and smoke, conspicuous over all the Nations. ”

“ While the Austrians hurried on by forced marches into Silesia, the King attacked Dresden, which was resolutely defended by General Macquire.
Every possible effort was made to reduce this city before Count Daun should return to its relief;—and the wretched citizens [285] were exposed to a continued cannonade and bombardment. ”

“ John George belied not the submission and dependence with which the terror of the imperial name inspired him; nor did he indulge at Prague in a course of conduct which would assuredly have been pursued against himself at Dresden by imperial generals, such as Tilly or Wallenstein. He carefully distinguished between the enemy with whom he was at war, and the head of the Empire, to whom he owed obedience. He did not venture to touch the household furniture of the latter, while, without scruple, he appropriated and transported to Dresden the cannon of the former. ”

“ The thought that he might for a time be cut off from France troubled him not: "400,000 men," he said, "resting on a system of strongholds, on a river like the Elbe, are not to be turned." In truth, he thought little about the Bohemian army. If 40,000 Russians had entered Bohemia, they would not reach Prague till the 25th; so he wrote to St. Cyr On the 17th, the day when hostilities could first begin; and he evidently believed that Dresden would be safe till September. Its defence seemed assured by the skill of that master of defensive warfare, St. ”

“ After having pass'd the Elbe, over a wooden Bridge, going out of Meissen, I came in less than three Hours to Dresden, the Capital of the Electorate of Saxony. The City is pretty large, fortify'd with Art and Regularity; and very lightsome. Its Houses are high and substantial, the Streets broad, strait, well pav'd, neat, and in the Night-time well lighted. There are great Squares in it; and the whole City is so well laid out, that Dresden may be rank'd among the finest in the World. ”

“ Here I beheld some thousand men from the Erzgebirge, mostly miners, well armed and organised, who had rallied to the defence of Dresden. Soon we saw them march up the Altmarkt opposite the Town Hall, and after receiving a joyful welcome, bivouac there to recover from their journey. Reinforcements continued to pour in the whole day long, and the heroic achievement of the previous day now received its reward in the shape of a universal elevation of spirits. A change seemed to have been made in the plan of attack by the Prussian troops. ”

“ Three outraged women were directing the forces of three Empires against him. He had nothing to rely upon but his own country, Britain, and himself. Cognizant of the plot against him, he determined to have the advantage of attack. Like a leopard he sprang upon Dresden. Before the Saxons had well realised that war was impending he was at the throat of the electorate, and had seized the capital, the army, and the compromising papers which justified his action. ”

“ All the same, he considered that he had exposed himself quite sufficiently to make it state of siege and were occupying Dresden. He considered himself lucky as a native of Holstein to be dependent, not on the German, but on the Danish government for a passport, as this had helped him to reach Paris without difficulty. When I expressed my real and heartfelt regret at the turn of affairs which had torn him from a professional undertaking on which he had just started—the completion of the Dresden Museum—he refused to take it too seriously, saying it had given him a great deal of worry. ”

“ There are a large number of foreign residents, notably Austro-Hungarians and Russians, and also a considerable colony of English and Americans, the latter amounting to about 1500. The population of the city on the 1st of December 1905 was 516,996, of whom 358,776 lived on the left bank (Altstadt) and 158,220 on the right (Neustadt) . The royal house belongs to the Roman Catholic confession, but the bulk of the inhabitants are Lutheran Protestants.
Dresden is the residence of the king, the seat of government for the kingdom of Saxony, and the headquarters of the XII. (Saxon) Army Corps. ”

“ He quitted Dresden, apparently in retreat, to deceive his enemies, but with the intention of marching down the Elbe, recrossing that river and throwing his opponents into a false position. Then he would have seized Berlin and reopening his communications with his garrisons both on the Elbe and the Oder have operated between those rivers; and with an army much augmented in power, because he would have recovered many thousand old soldiers cooped up in the garrisons ”