Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 2.djvu/59

 FREDERICK THE GREAT 239 ferred upon him ; but it was the splendor of these actions that brought his other merits to light ; and little enough would have been heard of the " Philosopher of Sans-Souci," had not the victor of so many fields made him known to the world. Frederick, while crown-prince, had not shown any great predilection for military. affairs ; he was rather pacifically disposed ; was even a little taken with the philosophy of Wolf ; and greatly captivated by French literature, and by French poetry in particular. It is probable, therefore, that the high opinion gen- erally entertained of the newly-formed army, and the favorable opportunity that fortune offered on his accession to the throne, were the spurs " that pricked him on " to the field. The Emperor Charles VI., the last male descendant of the house of Haps- burg, died in October, 1741, leaving his daughter, Maria Theresa, to retain, if possible, his extensive dominions against the various claimants who had not acknowledged the Pragmatic Sanction : an act by which the emperor had be- queathed to her all the possessions of his house. Frederick William had not ac- knowledged this deed, so that Frederick was not bound by it ; and having some well-grounded claims on the duchies of Silesia, prepared to make them good ^by force of arms, if necessary the moment the emperor died. The desire " to be spoken of " was, as he himself confesses, one of his principal motives for action on this occasion. The young king resolved to lead the army he had inherited, personally into tne field ; and as the Austrians were totally unprepared for the visit, the princi- palities were occupied without resistance. It was not till April 10, 1741, that an Austrian force, under General Neipperg, came to give him the meeting ; and there was but little wanting to have rendered the battle of Molwitz, the first of Frederick's fields, the last also. The ground was covered with snow. Both parties were of about equal strength, and took up their ground, as the king him- self tells us, in a manner alike unskilful ; but, on the part of the tactician, this very want of skill tended to gain the battle ; for three battalions of the first line, not finding room to form up, were thrown back en potence on the extremity of the right wing, and, as we shall see, repulsed the Austrian cavalry by their fire at the most critical moment of the battle. The Austrians had been very merry at the expense of the Prussian system of tactics, and had promised to beat the pipe- clay out of their jackets at the first meeting ; and now the words of scorn were to be made good. After the usual salutation of artillery, the Imperial cavalry, practised in the Turkish wars, fell at full gallop upon the Prussian cavalry of the right wing, and overthrew them in an instant ; for, like the infantry, they had been taught only to fire. Following up their success, the Austrian horsemen dashed at the flank of the Prussian infantry ; but here the three battalions already mentioned as thrown back en potence, presented a steady front, and by their rapid fire repulsed the assailants, who, having their commander killed, seeing the despised and pipe- clayed warriors standing immovably in their ranks, from which a fire of never- heard rapidity was pouring out in all directions, soon dispersed, leaving their