In the King's German legion. Memoirs of Baron Ompteda, colonel in the King's German legion during the Napoleonic wars

2 December 1805

Battle of Austerlitz

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 1 85

Diary : — " The position of the Allies, or supposed Allies, was this. The Prussian army under the Duke of Brunswick was moving from Celle, Hanover, and Hildesheim, on Göttingen, and thence by Thuringia to the French frontier. The Russians were approaching the Weser from the Lower Elbe. A small corps under General WerderefiFsky invested the fortress of Hameln, but only on the right bank of the Weser. The English and the Legion were on the right bank of the Lower Weser. The battle of Austerlitz, on December 2nd, with its consequences, upset all our calculations, and though that great struggle be not further mentioned in these notes, it, nevertheless, will be found sufficiently conspicuous to the memory and attention through its effect on subsequent events."

14 October 1806

Battles of Jena and Auerstedt

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. I 7

" We have just now got here the youngest prince of Bruns- wick, William, who is passing through on his way to a tour in the Netherlands. You must know that he is his father's favourite, and according to general opinion seems to deserve it. His demeanour is polite and kind, and his intellect seems naturally good, and not uncultivated. This gave me an opportunity of hearing a moving trait of the Duke " (Charles William Ferdinand, who afterwards died of his wounds, received at the battle of Auerstadt). " You know how imbecile nearly all the other princes are ; well, as he presented this his favourite young son to the King of Prussia, he said, with tears in his eyes, * Sire^ void le dernier des Bronsvics! The prince is major in the regiment of Kalkstein, and has already, as a distinction from the other brothers, the Order of the Black Eagle."

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 245

" Not knowing what the sad and cloudy future may be, we live here with dull, cast-down feelings, and in vain flatter ourselves with hope; we see we are mistaken. We resemble some crew saved from shipwreck, who find themselves placed on a desolate island, unprovided with any necessaries. That is the way I look at our position, and have done so since the unhappy day of Auerstädt. Perhaps I may be wrong, and in that case I will venture to hope, my most respected friend, for your kind and amiable forbearance. After so much misfortune one begins to lose what in other cases generally remains to mankind — hope. Our King and our Queen have come out infinitely greater and more lovable in their present unhappy situation than ever before. The Queen suppresses her sorrow, the King shows himself to be a true philosopher. The Minister Stein has been here for three weeks, and has taken over the Home Department, and with it the executive as well. Bey me is be- come President of the Supreme Court, but stays here till the King goes back to Berlin. Otherwise all our Ministers except Schrotter are dismissed, and a lot of Generals. Most of the officers are put on half-pay, and only complete regiments receive pay on the peace-footing scale; 5,000 cavalry horses are being sold now, the train and artillery horses are given to the country which is devastated, some of the villages in Prussia being so ruined that their places can only be recognised by the scattered stones of the chimneys, while the rest are half depopulated. Hunger and trouble have produced diseases of all sorts ; and that is how we stand.

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 253

" With reference to what I said about a public voice I would request your attention to the last numbers of the excellent Hamburger Correspondenty partly to the disposition of many articles, partly to the sense an educated person can find between the lines, as well as to the matter in books reviewed, and what the criticism expresses. Louder and more im- pressive is the tone of the Hanover Magazine^ of which the audacity is astounding. I could say more about the Jena Literary Gazette than the space of a letter permits. I will only say that I could take more pleasure in the learning, keenness of mind, and the persuasive faculty of Schlegel as a countryman of mine, if so much talent were not in such an unworthy way, I will not say applied, but disfigured with schoolboy tricks. At the same time a return to a better spirit cannot be ignored in the Literary Gazette, I find a proof of that in the list of the personnel of the French universities and public schools, a nomenclature which can have no interest except to set forth the incredible deficiencies which prevail in this principal focus of all intellectual enlightenment. Not for nothing follows the extensive vacation list of the very full half-yearly library catalogue at Jena. Not for nothing is the work mentioned among French books * for sale * : Monumens in^dits et F Antiquity y expliqu^s par Winkelmann^ gravis par Davidy traduits de t Italien,

21–22 May 1809

Battle of Aspern-Essling

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO, 235

" My arrival in England happened exactly at the time when the first intelligence of the successful battle of Aspern (May 2 1st and 22nd) had arrived. The general curiosity as to the further successes of the Austrians was greatly excited. I received at once a practical proof thereof, for when my boat drew near to the shore, a large number of the inhabitants of Aldborough had come down to meet me. The crowd pressed round so closely that I could scarcely find a spot to set my foot on when I jumped ashore. They overwhelmed me with questions, exhausted themselves in admiration and laudation of the Austrians, and received me as the bearer of most important news from the Continent. The whole crowd accom- panied me into the town, where I first had to visit the Custom House in order to have my luggage examined, which was done with strictness, though politely, after which a new and unfore- seen difficulty arose. It was not thought right for me to continue my journey, because in this little town there was no * Alien-office,' a department exercising control over foreigners who might land. In addition to this, it happened a few weeks ago that Prince Starhemberg, who wished as Austrian Ambassador to travel incognito to London, had also landed at Aldborough, and been allowed to pass through, which had brought down a sharp reprimand on the local officials. But this time the mail-bag helped me through. I declared that * I would not let it leave my hands, and that if it arrived late the gentlemen at Aldborough would be responsible.' The permission to continue my journey was then accorded with a bad grace, and I started towards midnight in a postchaise.

5–6 July 1809

Battle of Wagram

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 237

"In this way nearly two months have passed since my arrival in London. In the meantime, owing to the unfortunate result of the battle of Wagram, political conditions on the Continent have entirely changed. I saw there was nothing more to be done in pursuance of the one object of my journey, so it was the more necessary to hasten in order not to fail in the other, the bringing of my brother over to the Continent, so as to enable him to make use of the Carlsbad cure before it was too late. But continual preparation was necessary in order to the possibility of carrying out this plan, which he at first vehemently resisted."

20–21 May 1813

Battle of Bautzen

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 27 1

But Bautzen ! ! I know next to nothing of that except the place of the great struggle. Remember me to all, all. I am * in a hurry ' to get on the march again. Please write to me as explicitly as possible. A thousand greetings to my Nico- demus friend (Gneisenau, thus jocularly referred to because his real sympathies displayed themselves in a secret nocturnal interview). He shall hear from me fully in my next. Greet also heartily him for whom I did the translation (Scharnhorst), and assure him of my hope that his accident, of which I read in the papers, will not have any dangerous consequences. Embrace all yours, as you are embraced by

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 287

" My second step-son, Carl Solms, commanded a company, as First Lieutenant, in one of the battalions of the ist Prussian Regiment of Guards, at the battle of Bautzen (May 21st, 18 13). This battalion had occupied the skirt of a small wood. Oppo- site to it lay another small wood, on the edge of which were posted Wurtembcrg light infantry. The two positions were only separated by a narrow piece of meadowland, but neither detachment ventured to attack the other, although a small-arm fire was kept up continually on both sides. As the position was a very warm corner, orders were given to the Prussian battalion that the companies should relieve one another two at a time, every half hour. My stepson was relieved once with- out mishap, but when he came up again with his company for the second turn, a bullet hit him and stuck in his right shoulder. He retired, had the bullet excised behind a neighbouring barn, and the wound bandaged, and came back to his post. He had scarcely got there when a second bullet took him in the right arm and shoulder. Fortunately it was only a flesh wound, but the bullets had taken such extraordinary directions that he got five wounds from the two shots. He had to be taken to the rear faint from loss of blood. When he visited me at Reichenbach, during the armistice, a good while later, his wounds were not yet healed, though he had already returned to duty.

21 June 1813

Battle of Vitoria

CHAPTER VIL

Once more in Portugal. — ^Victorious Expedition through Spain. — Battle of Vittoria. — Affair at Villafranca.— Storm of Tolosa. — Siege of San Sebastian. — Colonel and Commander of the 5th Line Battalion. — Fighting on the Nive. — Siege of Bayonne, 18 14. — First Peace of Paris. — Back to England. — Charles Solms slain before Paris, March 3 1 St, 181 4. — Winter Quarters again in the Netherlands. — Sad Prospects for the Future of Germany. — Political Testament. 268

CHAPTER VII.

Once more in Portugal. — Victorious Expedition through Spain. — Battle of Vittoria. — Affair at Villafranca. — Storm of Tolosa. — Siege of San Sebastian. — Colone and Commander of the 5th Line Battalion. — Fighting on the Nive. — Siege of Bayonne, 1814. — First Peace of Paris. — Back to England. — Charles Solms slain before Paris, March 31st) 1 8 14. — Winter Quarters again in the Nether- lands. — Sad Prospects for the Future of Germany. — Political Testament

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 273

For the battle of Vittoria Christian received the great golden Vittoria medal, which is preserved as a sacred relic in his family. Alongside it lies a cross of the Legion of Honour, which he, according to the then custom of war, had taken from a French officer whom he took prisoner with his own hand.

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 277

" Since the great day of Vittoria, our brigade, which has for some time occupied the honourable post of advanced guard to the 1st Division under Sir Thomas Graham, has had two lively engagements— on the 24th at Villafranca, and on the 25th at Tolosa. Driving back the enemy, capture of both places, and ultimate retreat beyond the frontier of the French

16 June 1815

Battle of Quatre Bras

CHAPTER VIIL

Napoleon's Return from Elba. — Ompteda made Brigadier. — Death of his Brother Ferdinand. — Quatre-Bras. — Waterloo. — Death and Burial at La Haye Sainte. — Memorials 295

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. I 7

Concerning the future Duke, then Prince Frederick Wjlliam of Brunswick, who remained on the field of Quatre Bras, June i6th, 1815, Christian observes : —

CHAPTER VIII.

Napoleon's Return from Elba. — Ompteda made Brigadier. — Death of his Brother Ferdinand. — Quatre-Bras. — Waterloo. — Death and Burial at La Haye Sainte. — Memorials.

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 3OI

"A short distance beyond Nivelles (near the village of Arguennes, on the road to Mons) the brigade turned to the left from the main road, and took up a position before a cleft in the line of heights separating us from the enemy. At this point the first cannon shots announced the beginning of the battle of Quatre Bras. A division of Dutch troops marched in rear of the brigade, and formed the second line of our detached corps.