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The story of battle, stirring as it is, is apt to grow monotonous, and
we have perhaps inflicted too many battle scenes already upon our
readers, though we have selected only such as had some particular
feature of interest to enliven them. Out of Frederick's numerous battles
we may be able to present some examples sufficiently diverse from the
ordinary to render them worthy of classification, under the title of the
romance of history.
Let us go back to the 5th of November, 1757. On that date the army of
Frederick lay in the vicinity of Rossbach, on the Saale, then occupied
by a powerful French army. The Prussian commander, after vainly
endeavoring to bring the Austrians to battle, had turned and marched
against the French, with the hope of driving them out of Saxony.
His hope was not a very promising one. The French army was sixty
thousand strong. He had but little over twenty thousand men. While he
felt hope the French felt assurance. They had their active foe now in
their clutches, they deemed. With his handful of men he could not
possibly stand before their onset.
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