no withstanding the impetus of the Prussian
charge. They rode right through the disordered cavalry; turned,
formed, and recharged, and four times cut their way through them,
until they broke away in headlong flight; and were pursued by
Seidlitz until out of sight from the hill, when he turned and
waited, to see where he could find an opportunity of striking
another blow.

By this time Frederick, with the infantry, was now pouring over the
crest of the hill, their advance heralded by the fire of
twenty-four guns. Rapidly, in echelon, they approached the enemy.
In vain Soubise endeavoured to face round the column, thus taken in
flank, to meet the coming storm. He was seconded by Broglio and the
commander of the Confederate army, but the two columns were jammed
together, and all were in confusion at this astounding and
unexpected attack. Orders were unheard or disobeyed, and everything
was still in utter disorder, when six battalions of Prussian
infantry hurled themselves upon them.

When forty paces distant, they poured in their first terrible
volley, and then continued their fire as fast as they could load;
creating great havoc among the French troops on whom they had
fallen, while away on each flank the Prussian artillery made deep
gaps in the line. Soon the mass, helpless under this storm of fire,
wavered and shook; and then Seidlitz, who had been concealed with
his cavalry in a hollow a short distance away, hurled himself like
a thunderbolt on their rear, and in a moment they broke up in
headlong flight. In less than half an hour from the first
appearance of the Prussians on the hill, the struggle had ended,
and an army of from fifty to sixty thousand men was a mob of
fugitives; defeated by a force of but twenty-two thousand men, not
above half of whom were engaged.

The loss of the allies was three thousand killed and wounded, five
thousand prisoners, and seventy-two guns; while the Prussians lost
but one hundred and sixty-five killed, and three hundred and
seventy-six wounded. The victory was one of the most remarkable and
surprising ever gained, for these figures by no means represent the
full loss to the defeated.

The German portion of the army, after being chased for many miles,
scattered in all directions; and only one regiment reached Erfurt
in military order, and in two days the whole of the men were on
their way to their homes, in the various states composing the
Confederation. The French were in no