nder of his army on his march to
Saxony.

From Donauworth he marched to Nuremberg, stayed there forty-eight hours
to recover the fortress of Lauf, and, having forced the garrison of that
place to surrender at discretion, pushed on with all possible speed to
Erfurt, which he had fixed upon as the point of junction for his several
corps. The Green Brigade formed a portion of the force which Gustavus
left behind him in Bavaria under the Prince Palatine. So terribly
weakened were the Scottish regiments by the various battles of the
campaign, in all of which they had borne the brunt of the fighting,
that Gustavus determined reluctantly to leave them behind for rest and
reorganization.

Hepburn, Sir James Hamilton, Sir James Ramsay, and the Marquis of
Hamilton, who like Hepburn had quarrelled with Gustavus, left the
Swedish army the day after they arrived at Neustadt, after marching
away from Nuremberg. All the Scottish officers in the Swedish army
accompanied Hepburn and his three companions along the road for a long
German mile from Neustadt, and then parted with great grief from the
gallant cavalier who had led them so often to victory.

Malcolm Graheme did not remain behind in Bavaria with his comrades of
the Green Brigade. Gustavus, who had taken a great fancy to the young
Scotch officer, whose spirit of adventure and daring were in strong
harmony with his own character, appointed him to ride on his own
personal staff. Although he parted with regret from his comrades,
Malcolm was glad to accompany the king on his northward march, for there
was no probability of any very active service in Bavaria, and it was
certain that a desperate battle would be fought when Gustavus and
Wallenstein met face to face in the open field.

At Erfurt Gustavus was joined by Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar with his
force, which raised his army to a strength of 20,000. The news of his
approach had again revived the courage of the Elector of Saxony, who
had occupied the only towns where the Elbe could be crossed, Dresden,
Torgau, and Wittenberg--he himself, with his main army of 15,000 men,
lying at Torgau. From him Gustavus learned that the Imperial army was
divided into three chief corps--that of Wallenstein 12,000 strong, that
of Pappenheim 10,000, those of Gallas and Holk united 16,000, making a
total of 38,000 men.

So great was the speed with which Gustavus had marched to Erfurt that
Wallenstein had received no notice of his approach; a