158 THE SEVEN YEARS WAR, 1756-63must still be located in Bohemia as much as one hundred miles to the
west, watching the invasion routes from Glatz. On 4 May the army
made the difficult passage of the marshes and multiple channels of
the river Morava, or March, and Frederick established himself on the
far side near Littau. This was an important strategic gain, for he had
interposed himself between Olmiitz and the path of relief from
Bohemia, and the barrier of the Morava now turned to his own
advantage.
On the 5th Frederick had the leisure to reconnoitre the neigh-
bourhood. In appearance it was a Central European Lombardy,
complete with dykes, ditches and rows of poplars, and with the spires
of Olmiitz offering a passable resemblance to Milan or a Parma.
Frederick had passed this way in 1742, but Olmiitz was no longer the
friendly place he had known then. A girdle of permanent fortifica-
tions had been cast around the city, and the sun, which was now
breaking through the murk, was reflected from extensive inundations
which extended to the north and south. The garrison was made up of
8,500 well-found troops, who were commanded by the active old
general Ernst Dietrich von Marschall.
Frederick arranged his army in a number of camps around
Olmiitz, of which the most important were that of Field-Marshal
Keith (covering the siege from the north-west), and the one which
Frederick in person established further to the south at Schmirschitz,
where there was a low ridge that offered wide views over the plain to
the east and south. Here also he could stand guard over the fringe of
the great tract of low, wooded and rocky hills which extended
westwards into Bohemia.
By 20 May the king's old companion Lieutenant-General Fouqu6
had arrived in the neighbourhood of Olmiitz with all the divisions of
the convoy of siege artillery. It was a remarkable technical achieve-
ment, and one which perhaps misled Frederick into believing that it
would be a matter of no great difficulty to maintain his communica-
tions with Upper Silesia. Now the siege could begin in earnest. The
first parallel was dug against the fortress on the night of 27 May, and
on the 31st the Prussians opened fire with forty-three pieces.
Gradually Frederick was overcome by a sensation that things
were slipping beyond his control. Daun had indeed gathered his army
in the forests to the west, but instead of advancing boldly into the
plain and allowing himself to be beaten, he harassed the environs of
the Prussian camps with his hussars and Croats, and infiltrated
messengers and parties of recruits into Olmiitz through the feeble
cordon of the Prussians. 'The troops of the blockading force were so
weak, and the investment was so loose, that many officers of the siege
corps were in the habit of ordering their lunch from the town'
(Kalkreuth, 1840, IV, 132).