and by so doing drew to that place the
Swedish army under the command of Duke Bernhard. He then suddenly
marched eastward at full speed, capturing Bamberg, Baireuth, and
Culmbach, and pushed on to Colberg.

The town was captured, but the Swedish Colonel Dubatel, who was really
a Scotchman, by name M'Dougal, a gallant and brilliant officer, threw
himself with his dragoons into the castle, which commanded the town, and
defended it so resolutely against the assaults of Wallenstein that
Duke Bernhard had time to march to within twenty miles of the place.
Wallenstein then raised the siege, marched east to Kronach, and then
north to Weida, on the Elster. Thence he pressed on direct to Leipzig,
which he besieged at once; and while the main body of his troops were
engaged before the city, others took possession of the surrounding towns
and fortresses.

Leipzig held out for only two days, and after its capture Wallenstein
marched to Merseburg, where he was joined by the army under Pappenheim.
Thus reinforced he was in a position to capture the whole of Saxony. The
elector, timid and vacillating, was fully conscious of his danger and
the solicitations of Wallenstein to break off from his alliance with the
King of Sweden and to join the Imperialists were strongly seconded by
Marshal Von Arnheim, his most trusted councillor, who was an intimate
friend of the Imperialist general.

It was indeed a hard decision which Gustavus was called upon to make. On
the one hand Vienna lay almost within his grasp, for Wallenstein was
now too far north to interpose between him and the capital. On the other
hand, should the Elector of Saxony join the Imperialists, his position
after the capture of Vienna would be perilous in the extreme. The
emperor would probably leave his capital before he arrived there, and
the conquest would, therefore, be a barren one. Gustavus reluctantly
determined to abandon his plan, and to march to the assistance of
Saxony.

CHAPTER XVII THE DEATH OF GUSTAVUS

The determination of Gustavus to march to the assistance of Saxony once
taken, he lost not a moment in carrying it into effect. General Banner,
whom he greatly trusted, was unfortunately suffering from a wound, and
until he should recover he appointed the Prince Palatine of Burkenfeldt
to command a corps 12,000 strong which he determined to leave on
the Danube; then strengthening the garrisons of Augsburg, Rain, and
Donauworth, he set out with the remai