ORIGINS 15Prince Eugene. At noon he dined with General von Groesfeld, and
during the meal he heard for the first time cannon being fired with
lethal intent. He proposed several healths, and he was delighted
when the raising of glasses coincided with the sound of the French
artillery.
Frederick had reached the German forces at a not-uninteresting
stage of the campaign. The French had clamped a siege on the little
Rhine fortress of Philippsburg. They had 95,000 troops in all, but the
lie of the ground had forced them to split their men into three parts,
leaving only 50,000 men on the 'German' bank of the Rhine. Eugene
had arrived on the scene with a respectable army of relief numbering
74,000. He had overcome much greater odds in his famous old cam-
paigns against the Turks, and the expectation was that he would now
turn his local superiority to good account.
On 8 July, the day after his arrival, Frederick orientated himself
with the progress of operations by repairing to the tower at Wach-
hausel, from where he observed the French camp and batteries. He
returned to carry out an inspection of the Prussian infantry, and he
was halfway through when he encountered Prince Eugene, who
invited him to his headquarters for the first of their t6te-^-tfites.
Frederick now discovered that this ancient, cadaverous warrior was
usually plagued with indigestion after dinner, and that it was worth
catching him before he sat down to table.
The next day, the 9th, was the most exhilarating of Frederick's
expedition. He began by turning back a group of soldiers who were
fleeing under fire, and in the course of a mounted reconnaissance he
and his party became the target of the French artillery as they rode
through a wood. Frederick earned golden opinions for the coolness
with which he kept up the conversation, while the trees about him
w4re splintering under the impact of the cannon shot. In the evening
Eugene and the Duke of Wiirttemberg came to the tent of our young
hero. They talked for a long time, and when the guests were departing
Frederick gave the duke a kiss. Eugene turned about and declared:
' "Well now, doesn't Your Highness think my old cheeks are worthy
of a kiss?" "Oh, with the best will in the world!" answered the crown
prince, and with that he planted several noisy kisses on Prince
Eugene. And so they parted' (Anon., 1787-9, XII, 9).
King Frederick William in person arrived at the army on 13 July
and betook himself at once to Prince Eugene. After a long conversa-
tion the king finally raised the question of whether Frederick would
ever make a good soldier. Eugene replied that he could not only
reassure him on that point, but declare that his son would be a great
general.
To the chagrin of the army, Eugene allowed the French to