e lost his cities and armies. The
forces of his enemies were nearly overwhelming. The Austrians invaded
Saxony, and menaced Silesia, while the Russians gained a victory over
the Prussians at Kunersdorf, and killed eighteen thousand men. The
Russians did not improve this great victory over Frederic, which
nearly drove him to despair. But he rallied, and was again defeated in
three disastrous battles. In his distress, he fed his troops on
potatoes and rye bread, took from the peasant his last horse, debased
his coin, and left his civil functionaries unpaid.

The campaign of 1760 was, at first, unfavorable to the Prussians.
Frederic had only ninety thousand men, and his enemies had two hundred
thousand, in the field. He was therefore obliged to maintain the
defensive. But still disasters thickened. General Loudon obtained a
great victory over his general, Fouque, in Silesia. Instead of being
discouraged by this new defeat, he formed the extraordinary resolution
of wresting Dresden from the hands of the Austrians. But he pretended
to retreat from Saxony, and advance to Silesia. General Daun was
deceived, and decoyed from Saxony in pursuit of him. As soon as
Frederic had retired a considerable distance from Dresden, he
returned, and bombarded it. But he did not succeed in taking it, and
was forced to retreat to Silesia. It was there his good fortune to
gain a victory over the Austrians, and prevent their junction with the
Russians. At Torgau, he again defeated an army of sixty-four thousand
of the enemy, with a force of only forty-four thousand. This closed
the campaign, and the position of the parties was nearly the same as
at the commencement of it. The heart of Frederic was now ulcerated
with bitterness in view of the perseverance of his enemies, who were
resolved to crush him. He should, however, have remembered that he had
provoked their implacable resentment, by the commission of a great
crime.

Although Frederic, by rare heroism, had maintained his ground, still
his resources were now nearly exhausted, and he began to look around,
in vain, for a new supply of men, horses, and provisions. The circle
which his enemies had drawn around him was obviously becoming smaller.
In a little while, to all appearance, he would be crushed by
overwhelming forces.

[Sidenote: Continued Disasters.]

Under these circumstances, the campaign in 1761 was opened; but no
event of importance occurred until nearly the close of the year.