der veil of Pandours.

Meanwhile, in spite of all things, the Siege makes progress; "June
22d, Balbi's sap had got to their glacis, and was pushing forward
there,"--June 22d, day when Daun made momentary appearance, and the
reinforcement stole in:--within a fortnight more, Balbi promises the
thing shall be done. But supplies are indispensable: one other convoy
from Troppau, and let it be a big one, "between 3 and 4,000 wagons,"
meal, money, iron, powder; Friedrich hopes this one, if he can get it
home, will suffice. Colonel Mosel is to bring this Convoy; a resolute
expert Officer, with perhaps 7,000 foot and horse: surely sufficient
escort: but, as Daun is astir, and his Loudons, Ziskowitzes and
light people are gliding about, Friedrich orders Ziethen to meet this
important Convoy, with some thousands of new force, and take charge of
bringing it in. Mosel was to leave Troppau June 26th; Ziethen pushes
out to meet him from the Olmutz end, on the second day after; and, one
hopes, all is now safe on that head.

The driving of 3,000 four-horse wagons, under escort, ninety miles of
road, is such an enterprise as cannot readily be conceived by sedentary
pacific readers;--much more the attack of such! Military science,
constraining chaos into the cosmic state, has nowhere such a problem.
There are twelve thousand horses, for one thing, to be shod, geared,
kept roadworthy and regular; say six thousand country wagoners,
thick-soled peasants: then, hanging to the skirts of these, in
miscellaneous crazy vehicles and weak teams, equine and asinine, are one
or two thousand sutler people, male and female, not of select quality,
though on them, too, we keep a sharp eye. The series covers many miles,
as many as twenty English miles (says Tempelhof), unless in favorable
points you compress them into five, going four wagons abreast for
defence's sake. Defence, or escort, goes in three bulks or brigades;
vanguard, middle, rear-guard, with sparse pickets intervening;--wider
than five miles, you cannot get the parts to support one another. An
enemy breaking in upon you, at some difficult point of road, woody
hollow or the like, and opening cannon, musketry and hussar exercise on
such an object, must make a confused transaction of it! Some commanders,
for the road has hitherto been mainly pacific, divide their train
into parts, say four parts; moving with their partial escorts, with an
interval of one day between each two: this has its obvi