Though forced step by step to retire, the
Imperialists never lost their formation, never turned their backs
to the foe; and thus the fight went on till the darkness gathered
thicker and thicker, the combatants could no longer see each other,
and the desperate battle came to an end.
In the darkness, Wallenstein drew off his army and fell back to
Leipzig, leaving behind him his colours and all his guns. In thus
doing he threw away the opportunity of turning what his retreat
acknowledged to be a defeat into a victory on the following
morning, for scarcely had he left the field when the six regiments
of Pappenheim's infantry arrived from Halle. Had he held his ground
he could have renewed the battle in the morning, with the best
prospects of success, for the struggle of the preceding day had
been little more than a drawn battle, and the accessions of fresh
troops should have given him a decided advantage over the weary
Swedes. The newcomers, finding the field deserted, and learning from
the wounded lying thickly over it that Wallenstein had retreated,
at once marched away.
In the Swedish camp there was no assurance whatever that a victory
had been gained, for nightfall had fallen on the Imperialists
fighting as stubbornly as ever. The loss of the king, the master
spirit of the war, dispirited and discouraged them, and Duke Bernhard
and Kniphausen held in the darkness an anxious consultation as to
whether the army should not at once retreat to Weissenburg.
Pages:
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299