Indeed the passage would have been scarcely possible had the men
of an Imperial regiment of cuirassiers and a battalion of Croats,
who were posted in a village on the further side of the morass,
defended it; but instead of doing so they fell back to an eminence
in the rear of the village, and remained there quietly until, just
as the sun set, the whole Swedish army got across. The cuirassiers
and Croats were at once attacked and put to flight; but as darkness
was now at hand it was impossible for Gustavus to make any further
advance, and the army was ordered to bivouac as it stood. The
state of the roads had defeated the plans of Gustavus. Instead
of taking the enemy by surprise, as he had hoped, and falling upon
them scattered and disunited, the delays which had occurred had
given Wallenstein time to bring up all his forces, and at daybreak
Gustavus would be confronted by a force nearly equal to his own,
and occupying a position very strongly defended by natural obstacles.
Before the day was won, Pappenheim, for whom Wallenstein would
have sent as soon as he heard of the Swedish advance, might be on
the field, and in that case the Imperialists would not only have the
advantage of position but also that of numbers. It was an anxious
night, and Gustavus spent the greater part of it in conversation
with his generals, especially Kniphausen and Duke Bernhard.
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