,
and giving battle upon terms nearly equal. But the king, elated with
success, impetuous in his valour, and confident of the superiority of
his own troops in point of discipline, thought all resistance must sink
under the weight of his victorious arm, and yield to that courage which
had already surmounted such difficulties, disregarded the mareschal's
sage counsel, and inarched up to the attack undaunted, and even assured
of success. By the eighteenth the two armies were in sight, and his
majesty found that count Daun had not only fortified his camp with all
the heavy cannon of Olmutz, but was strongly reinforced with troops from
Moravia and Austria, which had joined him after the king's departure
from Prague. He found the Austrians drawn up in three lines upon the
high grounds between Gen-litz, and St. John the Baptist. Difficult as it
was to approach their situation, the Prussian infantry marched up with
firmness, while shot was poured like hail from the enemy's batteries,
and began the attack about three in the afternoon. They drove the
Austrians with irresistible intrepidity from two eminences secured with
heavy cannon, and two villages defended by several battalions; but, in
attacking the third eminence, were flanked by the Austrian cavalry, by
grape-shot poured from the batteries; and, after a violent conflict, and
prodigious loss of men, thrown into disorder. Animated with the king's
presence, they rallied, and returned with double ardour to the charge,
but were a second time repulsed. Seven times successively did prince
Ferdinand renew the attack, performing every duty of a great general and
valiant soldier, though always with the same fortune. The inferiority
of the Prussian infantry, the disadvantages of ground, where the cavalry
could not act, the advantageous situation of the enemy, their numerous
artillery, their intrenchments, numbers, and obstinacy, joined to the
skill and conduct of their general, all conspired to defeat the hopes of
the Prussians, to surmount their valour, and oblige them to retreat. The
king then made a last and furious effort, at the head of the cavalry,
on the enemy's left wing, but with as little success as all the former
attacks. Every effort was made, and every attempt was productive only
of greater losses and misfortunes. At last, after exposing his person in
the most perilous situations, his Prussian majesty drew off his forces
from the field of battle, retiring in such good orde