164 THE SEVEN YEARS WAR, 1756-63
head position. The main army rested on the north bank, and an
additional bridge was built to assure the communications between
the two elements of the army. It was an important gain to Frederick
to establish himself so easily on the far side of the Mietzel,
which was fringed with marshy banks and a rank growth of soggy
woods.
The extensive woodlands prevented Frederick from discovering
much of the Russian positions, and consequently at the evening
parole he could convey little more than the outline of the battle
which he intended to give on the next day. It was unlikely that he
actually commanded that the Russians were to be cut down without
mercy, as has sometimes been alleged, but the army went into battle
believing that such was the royal intention. The same had happened
at Hohenfriedeberg. Frederick retreated for a couple of hours to a tiny
room in the Neudammer Miihle. Catt went there at midnight and
found that the king was already taking coffee. 'I addressed myself to
the attendant who was on duty, and asked him whether His Majesty
had managed to get any rest.' 'Rest, my dear sir? He slept so well it was
difficult to wake him up!" ' (Catt, 1884, 158).
Two forestry officials presented themselves at the mill at the
king's command. One of them was dispatched to show the cavalry the
way across the Mietzel upstream at Kerstenbriick. The other, who
was called Zollner, was told to guide Frederick in person as he led the
army through the woods of the Zicherer-Heide on a wide arc around
the eastern flank of the Russian position. After receiving a final report
from a scout Frederick delayed no longer; 'The king donned his hat,
attached his sword, and left the building to meet the generals and
adjutants who were waiting outside. "Good morning, gentlemen!" he
called out. "My congratulations - we have won the battle!" He
mounted horse, and Zollner guided him along the path which had
been chosen' (Kalisch, 1828, 50-1). Frederick was with the advance
guard, and the columns of the main army came up behind. It was 3
a.m. on 25 August.
Daylight found the columns emerging into the open cultivated
country around Batzlow. Nothing was to be seen of the Russian army,
though the smoke rising from the neighbouring villages told of the
Cossacks' handiwork. Suddenly Frederick caught a view to the left of
the huge supply train of the Russians, standing out against the skyline
at the edge of the sandy bluffs which overlooked the Warthe Marshes
near Klein-Cammin. Retzow was one of the first of the many com-
mentators who have posed the question whether the king should now
have abandoned his intended attack on the Russian army, and
instead snatched a near-bloodless victory by seizing this lightly
defended Wagenburg, which would have made Fermor's position