214 THE SEVEN YEARS WAR, 1756-63
will do him no good?' The Prussian infantry made back to the woods.
Frederick's cavalry too was quickly put out of action, once
Holstein emerged from the trees. The Schmettau Cuirassiers (C 4; see
Map 25, p. 374) overcame a regiment of Austrian dragoons, then
together with the Bayreuth and Jung-Platen Dragoons (D 5, D 11)
they veered to their right and crashed into the infantry of the
Austrian left. The Prussian troopers rode down the regiment of
Durlach and engaged the regiment of Kollowrat, but the Austrian
general Lowenstein brought up fresh battalions from the reserve line
and drove the Prussians back.
Most of the remainder of Holstein's cavalry appears to have
inclined to the left, to the east of the Zeitschken-Graben, and it ran
into the main force of the Austrian cavalry, which Daun had concen-
trated on his east wing during the change of front. Here the Austrian
commander General Carl O'Donnell counter-attacked with three of
his regiments and put the Prussians to flight.
To all appearances the effort of the royal army was spent by
about 4.30 p.m. For some minutes it had seemed that the king himself
was numbered among the casualties. Frederick's adjutants had
stayed close to their master during the assaults on the plateau. 'I
looked towards the higher ground', writes Georg Heinrich von Be-
renhorst, 'and saw that the king had let slip his reins and was in the
process of sinking backwards. I hastened up in time to prevent him
falling... Our next priority was to remove ourselves from danger
without the slightest delay. The groom led the horse to the wood,
while I supported the unconscious king in my arms. And so we
brought him back' (Berenhorst, 1845-7, II, 22). The adjutants tore
aside Frederick's coat and shirt and found that a musket ball had
penetrated the clothing but not the royal person. 'At that moment the
king came to himself, and said with perfect composure ce n'est rien!'
(Nicolai, 1788-92, II, 221-2). Frederick explained afterwards that the
bullet had struck him on the breastbone, leaving him completely
stunned, but that most of the force had been absorbed by his coat with
its double layer of velvet, and by a fur vest which he wore beneath.
Berenhorst believed that he had saved the king's life, and he was
affronted that Frederick never showed the slightest recognition of this
service. We may be sure that Frederick only wanted the episode to be
forgotten - he was notoriously unwilling to appear vulnerable, he
disliked being under obligations, and with his marked prudishness he
must have loathed the thought that his shabby underclothing and his
body had been exposed to view.
Many more hours passed before Frederick was aware that he had
gained the bloodiest victory of his career. This unexpected outcome
was due to one last push by the remnants of the royal army to the