ochkirch to rear, and do extensive ruin on the whole
right wing of Friedrich; rendering Friedrich everywhere an easy conquest
to the rest of Daun's people, who stand, far and wide, duly posted and
prepared, waiting only their signal from Hochkirch: much of this, all of
it that had regard to Hochkirch Battery and Village, and the Prussians
stationed there, Daun did execute. And readers, from the data they have
got, must conceive the manner of it,--human description of the next Two
Hours, about Hochkirch, in the thick darkness there, and stormful sudden
inroad, and stormful resistance made, being manifestly an impossible
thing. Nobody was "massacred in his bed" as the sympathetic gazetteers
fancied; nobody was killed, that I hear of, without arms, in his hand:
but plenty of people perished, fierce of humor, on both sides; and from
half-past five till towards eight, there was a general blaze of fiery
chaos pushing out ever and anon, swallowed in the belly of Night again,
such as was seldom seen in this world. Instead of confused details, and
wearisome enumeration of particulars, which nobody would listen to or
understand, we will give one intelligent young gentleman's experience,
our friend Tempelhof's, who stood in this part of the Prussian Line;
experience distinct and indubitable to us; and which was pretty
accurately symbolical, I otherwise see, of what befell on all points
thereabouts. Faithfully copied, and in the essential parts not even
abridged, here it is:--

Tempelhof, at that time a subaltern of artillery, was stationed with a
couple of 24-pounders in attendance on the Battalion Plothow, which
with three others and some cavalry lay to the south side of Hochkirch,
forming a kind of fore-arm or POTENCE there to right of the big Battery,
with their rear to Hochkirch; and keeping vedettes and Free-corps
parties spread out into the woods and Devil's Hills ahead. Tempelhof
had risen about three, as usual; had his guns and gunners ready; and was
standing by the watch-fire, "expecting the customary Pandourade," and
what form it would take this morning. "Close on five o'clock; and not a
mouse stirring! We are not to have our Pandourade, then?" On a sudden,
noise bursts out; noise enough, sharp fire among the Free-corps people;
fire growing ever sharper, noisier, for the next half-hour, but nothing
whatever to be seen. "Battalion Plothow had soon got its clothes on, all
to the spatterdashes; and took rank to right and lef