181 THE SEVEN YEARS WAR, 1756-63to move against Saltykov, or bring support to Henry in Saxony, or to
Fouqu6, whom he had left behind to guard Landeshut.
The Schmottseiffen camp extended over a luxuriant landscape of
bold grassy bluffs, divided one from another by steep little valleys
where oak, spruce and lime grew in profusion to a great height. It was
admitted to be far more powerful than the position at Hochkirch, and
Frederick later categorised it as one of those camps 'where the enemy
is reduced to attacking one or two points' (Article VII, 'Elements de
Castrametrie et de Tactique' (1770), Oeuvres, XXIX, 13-14). The
general conformation was that of a horseshoe, open to the north-
west, with the salients of the Stein-Berg and the Kalten-Vorwerk
reaching out towards the direction of the enemy approach. 'His
Prussian Majesty is extremely vigilant; he reconnoitres the enemy's
posts every day, attended sometimes with a body of horse and foot,
and sometimes only with a very small escort of hussars, exposing his
person to the greatest hazards, in a country formed by nature for
ambuscades, and in the face of an enemy that abounds in light troops'
(Mitchell, 1850, II, 78-9). The king wrote that he would soon know
his bearings as well as in the garden of Sans Souci.
Between his expeditions, Frederick spent the time in his head-
quarters in the lonely farm of Diirings-Vowerk, which formed an
observation post in front of the centre of the position. He took the
opportunity to correct some of his verse, and read French translations
of Tacitus, Sallust and other classical authors. 'He was fond of saying,
"You will often find me engrossed in reading and writing. I need this
diversion at a time when I am preoccupied with gloomy thoughts. I
see the dark clouds gathering, and before long a frightful storm will be
visiting its destruction on some locality or other" ' (Catt, 1884, 243).
Events moved more quickly in the last ten days of July than over
the previous seven months. Frederick was appalled to learn that
Dohna was retreating in the face of the Russians, with his supply
arrangements in a state of collapse. The king therefore bestowed
dictatorial powers on his favourite young lieutenant-general, Kurt
Heinrich von Wedel, and he sent him to assume command of the
28,000 troops beyond the Oder. Frederick gave him a twelve-point
instruction, of which the most important articles read:
(a) First of all hold the enemy up at a good position
(b) Then attack them after my style [i.e. in the 'Oblique Order'].
(PC 11238)
In the event the Russians were the ones who took up the 'good
position'. Displaying unsuspected adroitness, Saltykov made a rapid
circuit of the Prussian force and planted himself at Paltzig, astride
Wedel's communications with Crossen on the Oder. Wedel knew