ther must fall. Every soldier in the ranks felt the sublimity of the
hour. For some time there was marching and countermarching--the planting
of batteries, and the gathering of squadrons and solid columns, each one
hesitating to strike the first blow. At last the signal was given by the
discharge of three pieces of cannon from one of the batteries of Tilly.
Instantly a thunder peal rolled along the extended lines from wing to
wing. The awful work of death was begun. Hour after hour the fierce and
bloody fight continued, as the surges of victory and defeat swept to and
fro upon the plain. But the ever uncertain fortune of battle decided in
favor of the Swedes. As the darkness of evening came prematurely on,
deepened by the clouds of smoke which canopied the field, the
imperialists were everywhere flying in dismay. Tilly, having been struck
by three balls, was conveyed from the field in excruciating pain to a
retreat in Halle. Seven thousand of his troops lay dead upon the field.
Five thousand were taken prisoners. All the imperial artillery and
baggage fell into the hands of the conqueror. The rest of the army was
so dispersed that but two thousand could be rallied under the imperial
banners.

Gustavus, thus triumphant, dispatched a portion of his army, under the
Elector of Saxony, to rescue Bohemia from the tyrant grasp of the
emperor. Gustavus himself, with another portion, marched in various
directions to cut off the resources of the enemy and to combine the
scattered parts of the Protestant confederacy. His progress was like the
tranquil march of a sovereign in his own dominions, greeted by the
enthusiasm of his subjects. He descended the Maine to the Rhine, and
then ascending the Rhine, took every fortress from Maine to Strasbourg.
While Gustavus was thus extending his conquests through the very heart
of Germany, the Elector of Saxony reclaimed all of Bohemia from the
imperial arms. Prague itself capitulated to the Saxon troops. Count
Thurn led the Saxon troops in triumph over the same bridge which he, but
a few months before, had traversed a fugitive. He found, impaled upon
the bridge, the shriveled heads of twelve of his companions, which he
enveloped in black satin and buried with funeral honors.

The Protestants of Bohemia rose enthusiastically to greet their
deliverers. Their churches, schools and universities were reestablished.
Their preachers resumed their functions. Many returned from exile and
rejoiced in