52
THE SILESIAN WARS, 1740-5unreliable militia and civic guards. The Prussian gunners proceeded
to knock a wide breach in the ramparts of the Neustadt. The Austrian
commandant surrendered unconditionally on 16 September.
Weighing up his conduct afterwards, Frederick was certain that
he should now have consolidated himself at Prague by establishing a
sizeable garrison there, and allowing time for his supplies of flour to
be unloaded at the head of the Elbe navigation at Leitmeritz and
transported overland to the army. Frederick believed that once he
was firmly based he should have struck south-west to eliminate the
sole remaining Austrian forces in Bohemia, namely the 18,000 men of
Carl Batthyany, and prevent Prince Charles from re-entering Bohe-
mia from western Germany.
None of these things was done. The French and Bavarians instead
pressed Frederick to make for the wilds of far southern Bohemia and
capture the castles and little walled towns which had figured so
prominently in the campaigning of the French in 1742. This, they
hoped, would open a way to the Danube valley from the north and
threaten Prince Charles's communications with Austria. Frederick
gave way, later admitting: 'It was quite wrong of me to have pushed
my condescension so far' (Oeuvres, III, 76).
The Prussian army assembled just south-west of Prague. On 19
September Lieutenant-General Nassau marched off with a powerful
advance guard, and proceeded to reduce Tabor (23 September),
Budweis (30 September) and the castle of Frauenberg (1 October).
Frederick and the main army left Prague on 21 September, and they
climbed gradually into an almost Scandinavian landscape of steep
hills and tall black pines. At last on the 27th they were rewarded with
the sight of the walls of the old Hussite town of Tabor, crowning a
rocky ridge above a fertile plain. In heavy rains the army skirted the
Tabor Pond and the town, and encamped a short distance to the
south-east. The advance was resumed on 1 October, and took the
Prussians south-west to Moldautheyn, where they crossed the upper
Moldau on a bridge of boats.
Frederick had a total of 62,000 troops under his command, and it
was disconcerting for him to be so ill-informed as to where the enemy
were. On 25 September he learnt that the Saxon army had thrown off
its neutrality and was about to move in support of the Austrians, and
on 2 October came reports that Prince Charles and the main Austrian
army were already well into Bohemia. They were thought to be
advancing on Budweis, but nothing was known for certain.
In his inexperience, Frederick assumed that, once an active cam-
paign had begun, a battle would very shortly follow. On 4 October
and again the next day he rode out to the little settlement of
Zaborsch, passing through a silent countryside of broad meres, mas-