cahn | Historical Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 43

Still going! Still clearing Fritz's valet/chamberlain Fredersdorf's name from the calumny enshrined in wikipedia that he was dismissed for financial irregularities!

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From:

selenak

Good morning, and here we go!

If it can be done, and if there's no other method available, though, I'm intending to advise His Majesty to let the remaining lease of Kienberg be paid by the remaining horse fodder money of 1027XX8XX. True, the sum has been intended to redeem the old debts on a monthly basis; but there are cases when it can't be used only to this purpose without getting divided, as for example happened earlier this month, when His Majesty had to had to supply rations out of this remaining money for 71 horses of the Rosenburg and Preus stud farm. If you, mon tres cher compare, would provide a presentation addressed to His Majesty to me immediately which demonstrates to him that you want the remaining lease to be paid out of this foundation, I'll swear that it won't have a bad result. I've already told Horsemaster Korack to report to me why the Kienberg lease and the Xahren service money haven't been properly redeemed in time, and how he wants to make up for this failure?

As soon as I get a reply, I'll share it with you. Could you also be so kind as to tell me whether Roseno is really serious about taking over the Kienberg lease, and at which conditions he wants to do so? Whatever my poor self can accomplish so we can escape from this embarrassment, I'll joyfully do.

As regards to news, I don't have any to share except that our Zieten and the Czekel Hussars have fiercely engaged the Austrian Hussars on the day of our arrival at our current headquarters. A Captain was killed, a Lieutenant and 31 common soldiers and horses were captured. Now, we've encircled Prague. Braun has retreated into the city and across the Moldau and has entrenched himself there. What will happen further, only time will tell. Despite all the exhaustion, His Royal Majesty is cheerful and healthy. I recccommend myself in steadfast friendship and remain with sincere respect, Monsieur et tres chere compere, etc.

Getting enough money for horse fodder soon will be but one of many problems, Leining. But first, Heinrich will distinguish himself in the battle for Prague for the first but not the last time in this war, causing Fritz to say that he "accomplished miracles" (not to Heinrich, of course, to their sisters in his letter), and then Fritz will realise Prague wasn't his Pharsalos after all.

I've said so before, but Leining reassuring Fredersdorf that Fritz is fine and upbeat despite all the war stress is very touching indeed.

cahn, Zieten, sometimes also spelled Ziethen, is the somewhat older general famous not just for his victories but for NOT following the Old Dessaur/FW school of drilling your soldiers brutally, and also for not allowing his soldiers to abuse civilians. Heinrich honored him on the Rheinsberg Obelisk with a plaque specifically praising his humanity. There's a famous anecdote which Fontane uses in a poem about Ziet(h)en of him falling asleep in his later years when invited chez Fritz and that Fritz didn't allow anyone to wake him up or disturb him and said that Ziet(h)hen had remained sleepless in his service long enough.

From:

selenak

Definitely virtual Cirey! And speaking of introductions, I had an odd sense of deja vue recently

cahn will understand. :)

You two really must make it to Europe (well, Germany) so I can play hostess to you and show happy happy I am to have found the both of you!

From:

selenak

:) Given the panic around Algarotti's letter otoh, I think Leining is very aware while gossipping about Glasow/Benda is fun, Glasow/Algarotti might mean a very waspish King and a (former?) friend/favourite of his now with reason to resent you, Leining....

From:

selenak

Well, he did like George Keith, Lord Marischal, for protecting him, but otherwise. :) (There's, of course, the famous story of Rousseau handing over his illegitimate kids to orphanages because he didn't/couldn't want to deal with them, sort of exemplifying this.)

cahn, Guy Endore, who wrote that novel about the Alexandres Dumas, père et fils, which we both read, also wrote one about Voltaire and Rousseau, somewhat less successfully, and in it Rousseau (who's the pov character throughout, Endore never gives us a Voltaire pov) basically is your emo fanboy who is all willing to adore Voltaire only to find Voltaire making cutting quips, with the result that having his fannish love rejected, Rousseau spends the rest of his life feuding with Voltaire in resentful anger, and because he becomes more and more famous, Voltaire, never one to say no to a feud with a rival philosophe, feuds back. In Endore's novel, you get the sense that despite all the anger and hurt, Rousseau if only Voltaire would just acknowledge him as a great writer and be nice would forgive all and love him again, but alas Voltaire just won't, because on Voltaire's part, this isn't a love/hate thing as with Fritz, this is a "god, that emo guy and his fanclub are annoying!" thing.

Re: Voltaire vs Frederick Hervey, I think it's also that Voltaire behaving awfully towards people he was in a relationship with, be it familiar or friendship or romance, never went with indifference. For example: telling Émilie he wasn't up for sex anymore while starting an affair with his niece, then getting upset at her affair with Lambert at first? Awful. But a different brand of awful, because he never behaved indifferently towards Émilie, and as history demonstrates, would never have deserted her when she was in a fraught/dangerous situation. Voltaire making shady business deals in Prussia, trying to blame other people for it, firing off anonymous pamphlets directed not just at Maupertuis but also Fritz while lying about it? Also awful (and the later part hilarious), if you're Maupertuis or Fritz. But of course, the moment Fritz is actually in a bad situation, during the 7 Years War, he's there (letter wise).

Re: the specific situation Bess was in with her first husband, now whether John Foster was abusive or was having sex with the maid servant after Bess had extra marital sex first, ore a mixture of all, once Bess was in a "no husband willing to pay alimony, no access to her children, no place to live" situation, Voltaire would of course have been on her side if she'd been his daughter or niece. (Err. Come to think of it, if Bess had been Voltaire's niece, if she'd moved in with him, well, let's not go there.) (Otoh: the idea of Bess instead of Madame Denis, personality wise, has its hilarity, because she had her father's fondness for travelling and so definitely would have gone with Voltaire to Prussia to begin with, instead of only joining him at the tail end of the three years there. And of course she'd have not lived quietly in Potsdam or Berlin, she'd have made a splash in Prussian society and flirted with women and men unabashedly. Bess/Algarotti definitely would have happened. Bess/Barbarina as well, in an AU where Barbarina is still around instead of off with husband Cocceji to Glogau. What Fritz would have made of all this...

From:

selenak

IKR? He must have felt monkeypwed there for a looong moment before Fredersdorf gave all clear. Another potential edifying correspondence? Where's my popcorn. WITH COUNT ALGAROTTI? Oh noes!

From:

selenak

She doubled every joy, and lessened every grief. That's not something you say about someone who you were just using for their money! :P

Yes, and she doesn't say it in public, making a show of her grief. She says it in a private letter to her son.

Now, I can also see where Georgiana's other friends and family were coming from. To them, the situation looked like this: Bess single white femaled her way into Georgiana's life, to the point where she was adding little post scripts to letters to Georgiana's mother (who was INCENSED!), repaid Georgiana's unconditional friendship and support by seducing her husband, and wasn't even faithful to that guy, either, since Bess did have affairs with people neither the Duke nor Georgiana during their years together as well.

When did she have the time? During her solo trips on the continent, mostly. Not during the shared trips with Georgiana, but during her first solo European journey, back when she was still officially the governess of the Duke's illegitimate daughter and travelling across Europe with the girl, she met Axel Fersen (yes, THAT Fersen, Marie Antoinette's Fersen) in Italy and flirted with him . Whether they had sex, we don't know, but there was kissing. Georgiana, hearing about this per letter, must have minded enough that when two years later she encountered Fersen in Paris - this was when Georgiana befriended Marie Antoinette herself - she grumpily remarked she didn't understand what "people" were seeing in Fersen, he had beautiful eyes but that was all, otherwise he wasn't hot, so there. And Georgiana initially did mind about Bess and the Duke, too. At first she was delighted that the Duke seemed to like Bess, because her and the Duke liking same person was a first (otherwise her friends were not his friends and vice versa), and when she began to see it went beyond liking, she wrote a letter to Bess where she gives a strong hint of what she didn't want Bess to do by imagining all of them living together and Bess being "a good sister" to the Duke. Which, well, did not happen.

So if you're looking at all of this from the outside and without the benefit of having read all the letters between Georgiana and Bess and Bess' diary and knowing Bess would keep the medaillon with Georgiana's heir with her to her dying day, in short, that Bess really did love Georgiana, whatever she felt about the Duke, then it's relatively easy to conclude that Bess was just out to milk the Devonshires for what they were worth. In the case of Georgiana's mother, there's also the factor that Bess essentially replaced her as Georgiana's No.1 confidant. Since Georgiana and the Duke didn't have a good marriage, Georgiana's primary attachment during the pre Bess years of her marriage was to her mother, and with Bess, she still loved her mother, of course, but she also as even Amanda Foreman says grew up and no longer told her mother everything or consulted her on everything and made her own decisions.

What I'm baffled by, though, are the people insisting that Bess kept both Georgiana and the Duke enthralled and from seeing through her by the power of manipulation - for years. I mean, they weren't always together, to start with. (Neither the three of them, nor Bess with one of them.) Every time Bess got pregnant by the Duke, it was time for another continental trip, for example. It wasn't as if Bess was able to limit their access to other friends (and lovers - Georgiana had her affair with Charles Grey post Bess, not pre Bess, for example). Whatever emotional power she had, they were the ones with greater social power. And as you noted, there was a time when the Duke was mad at Georgiana and they were in Europe together, instead of Bess deserting Georgiana in favour of cozying up to the Duke on her lonesome.

What I'm getting at: I can buy Bess initially presented herself to Georgiana and the Duke as the fulfillment of the emotional (and sexual) needs they had in their troubled marriage in a conscious way - i.e. that she saw that Georgiana needed someone who was passionate (not just emotionally, also passionate about issues) and determined, while the Duke wanted someone who was calm and submissive, and that she was able to play these very different roles accordingly. But it's not like there's a lack of women willing to be submissive and calm for a rich upper class aristocrat like the Duke, and Georgiana had a wide circle of friends througout her life, a great many of which showed spirit and determination. They both had alternatives, is what I'm saying. The fact that occassional arguments not withstanding, Bess remained the one for them them through two decades therefore seems to me rooted in love rather than Bess having some long term manipulative superpowers. (Sometimes you can really overthink things.) That she still had short term affairs outside of the triangle to me doesn't prove she didn't care for them, especially for Georgiana, but that a) like many a male of the era, she liked sex, and b) she also needed emotional relief. Because as I said earlier, bearing the life of royal mistresses in mind, I bet keeping both Georgiana and the Duke happy was at times hard work, emotionally speaking. By contrast, making out with the likes of Axel Fersen who is emotionally committed elsewhere and thus has no demands must have been just fun.

From:

luzula

End of Justice For Emma interlude, I swear.
No need to excuse yourself, that was the best part of this comment! : D

From:

luzula

Oooh, I enjoyed these bits about Bess and the Devonshires! Thanks for writing that up.

From:

mildred_of_midgard

ROFL.

Speaking of edifying correspondences, for an exchange between the treasurer and his predecessor that should have been boring and bureaucratic, this correspondence has been surprisingly edifying in surprisingly many ways!

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Good morning, and thank you!

Quick notes before I resume deciphering:

"Braun" is Browne, a name you may recognize from your studies of the Seven Years' War. He will be mortally wounded in the battle two days after Leining writes this letter, and die soon after.

Braun has retreated into the city and across the Moldau

I see why you translated "hinter" as "into", i.e. behind the city walls, but in this case I think it's "behind the city": Browne has passed the city, crossed the river, and entrenched himself in the heights outside the city, while an Austrian garrison holds the city itself. Or so my sources tell me (that's part of why I chose that decipherment.) (You can see the Royal Detective now has time to make occasional appearances again, at least on weekends. ;) )

I've said so before, but Leining reassuring Fredersdorf that Fritz is fine and upbeat despite all the war stress is very touching indeed.

Yeah, especially given Showalter's description of his state of mind:

Frederick for his part was much less sanguine than his rhetoric suggested. The force he left behind at Prague was disproportionally large merely to mask a fortress, and too weak to cut off the westward march of a presumably defeated foe...Another indication of the King’s state of mind was the stomach trouble that plagued him on the night of the 5th and 6th. The constant vomiting suggests that taut nerves played at least a partial role in the royal attack of ‘colic’. The King’s health, moreover, seems to have promptly improved with the news of Schwerin’s arrival.

Fredersdorf's worries are not without foundation! But we see that Fritz did a good job of presenting a cheerful front to those around him.

Speaking of Browne and Showalter, here are some insights into Browne's personality:

In December Browne had boasted that he was willing to confront the Prussian King at five-to-one odds in a campaign of manoeuvre: ‘I could keep a single march in front of him without fear of being seriously troubled’. This optimism was almost certainly overstated – perhaps it may be attributed to the periodic euphoria that can accompany the later stages of untreated tuberculosis. Browne was not, however, merely seeking to impress. He believed himself a match and better for Frederick in the open field. Browne still saw himself as the professional, Frederick as the amateur – ‘a Prince who may possess some great qualities, but in no way be considered a great captain’.

Based on Lobositz, Browne might even have been justified in his ability to embarrass Frederick. But by the time the Prussian columns actually crossed the border, Browne’s health had reached the breaking point. He proved unable to coordinate the half-hearted efforts of his subordinates to check the Prussian advance. Frederick and Moritz joined forces on 25 April. The same day Browne made contact with Schwerin’s advance guards. The Austrians fell back.

Okay, off to letter 9, written a few days after the battle! We shall see what it holds.

From:

mildred_of_midgard

I agree! It is only the travesty of a pandemic that has kept me out of Germany this long through the glory that is our salon.

But the pandemic seems to be slowly dying down, and my boss is still trying to get me to take a solid month off work, so...maybe next year! Part of my handwriting push, which I intend to follow up with a French-and-German reading proficiency push, is in hopes of hitting some archives on my next visit. (Not just in Aurich.) I need to be able to read more than 2 or 3 pages a day!

From:

mildred_of_midgard

YEP. I'm glad you came up with a more sensible solution. :) (Though since Algarotti's salary apparently stopped being paid in 1754, if our other sources are correct, I think it may have been less routine money-handling that meant Glasow was involved, and more what you said about Glasow being just a convenient person to send the correspondence to, and then he could forward it on.)

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Monsieur et tres cher compere!

Gest[ern] habe dero [geehrtes] vom 29 m.p. richtig erhalten. Den
brief aüs America habe sogleich weiter besorget, den von dem
Herrn Stadt-Richter Schmid aüs Bremen gesandten [Lach]s bin ich
noch erwartend, weil die Posten von Dresden aüs bis hierher noch
nicht reguliret w[erden] können ünd sonst keine Gelegenheit aüßer
denen gewöhnlichen Estaffeten vorfället. Inzwischen werde dafür
sorgen, daß selbiger dürch den Herrn Geheime[n]-Rath Zinnow
je eher je lieber anhero über[ma]cht werde.

Mit denen hiesigen vorfallen[den] merckwürdigen Neuigkeiten
werde allemahl mit Vergnügen aüfwarten; zu Erschonüng der
Zeit aber werde die Nachrichten [nür] an meine Frau senden, die
denn keine Zeit verlieren wird, sie Ihnen zu communiciren.
Ein solches wird verhoffentlich mit der letzten relation von der
am 6te hujus vorgefallenen Bataille gestehen s[eyn].

Gestern haben wir den Zisca-Berg glücklich erobert, und vermüthlich
wird es nun mehro mit allem Ernst aus Prag los gehen; dürch diese
glückliche Eroberung werden wir eine oestereichsche Armee von einigen
50000 Mann, den feldmarschall Braune, den Printz Carl von Lotth[e]rin-
gen, die bey den Sächsischen Printzen, den Prinzen Louis von Wurtenberg,
die alle in der Stadt sind, in unser hande bek[omm]en. Gott gebe
dazu seinen Seegen! Ich zerharre ohne Ausnehme
Monsieur et tres cher compere,
votre tres humble
et obeisant Serviteur
Leining

A postscript crammed into the bottom of the page, in noticeably worse handwriting:

XXX Brautigam Gentze macht
sein großes [Co?]mpX [u]ndt
[er] ist [bereit?] dero befehle
nach zu Leben woran ich ihn ge[we]iß
[nicht?] XX[h|f]e[r|n] will er Xi[h|b][e?]t nihts vor d[er] Campaigne.

There's only so much I can do when he won't actually form the letters, and my German-fu is weak! "XX[h|f]e[r|n]" has a tall letter like s/st/f/h followed by a vowel, and then I think an o with an umlaut. Take your best guess, you probably have as much to go on as Fredersdorf did.

Then another postscript written along the left margin, and spilling over across the fold. You may notice the lines are extra long, and that's because he's writing vertically, at a right angle to the main text. The handwriting is better than the last postscript, not as good as the main text. Proper names make it extra hard. Half of the ones you see written confidently are only because they were notable enough to be easily googleable!

P.S. Der H§. von OeXX[ri]X, den S.K.M. den Tag nach der Schlacht zum Obristen er[klär]et, würde an
ebendem Tage [be]ym Recogno[tion]en durch die Brust geschossen, und dazu gefangen nach Prag gefuhret,
all[wo] er den 8te May. gestorben. Der Obrist von [St?]ran[k|tz] [vom] [K|R]XXXX von Preussen ist gestern bey der
Attaque des Zisca* Berges au[s?] ge[b]lieben. Der a[rme?] General von Zastrow hat
am 25te April bey Aussich in einem Defile gleichfalls sein Leben [an] [einen]
[H]in[t]en-Schuss aufgeben mussen. Der General Wartenberg von den
Huseren, ist auf eben [eine] Sch[usse] XXX zu [Tode] gekommen.

§. is the abbreviation squiggle. I decided it's coming up enough that I need a symbol for it, because it's very different from X meaning "I don't know." I'm guessing "H§." is for Hauptmann, not Herr.

So, more war news, Fritz-like optimism about the future that is about to get exploded, and proof Mrs. Leining is back in Berlin/Potsdam and socializing with Mr. and Mrs. Treasurer! Meaning I'm going with "will get fat" for the other letter, and guessing that the Fredersdorfs are having her over for dinner, and that on one or more of these occasions they gifted her with some wine to take home.

Not in disgrace!

ETA: Btw, he doesn't normally squeeze postscripts into margins like this, which makes me think he's having to ration paper right after the battle.

ETA 2: Ugh, my fingers have a bad habit of typing "chere compere", because of the second "ere". I thought I had caught myself every time it happened and fixed it to "cher compere", but apparently not. Anyway, I don't think Leining's ever written that, assume that's just me if you see it.

ETA 3: If you want to see what he's doing with the margins, it's the right-hand sheet of paper in this image (let me know if you can't see it):

Edited Date: 2023-04-23 11:21 pm (UTC)

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Normally I'm doing at least a page at a time, but in this case, I was contractually obliged to let you see the first paragraph as soon as I'd deciphered it:

Monsieur et tres cher compere!

Ich habe dero zwei Schreiben vom 14te und 16te dieses richtig
erhalten. Bey Empfang der ersteren ist die Einlage an der König
sogleich besorget worden. Se. Mayt. haben dieselbe sehr gnädig
dürchgelesen, ünd mir befohlen Ihnen für dero redliche Gesin-
nüngen zü dancken.

Ha. HA! Fredersdorf is still writing to Fritz after the so-called "disgrace", and Fritz is replying very graciously. Died consumed with grief for his lost honor, my foot!

From:

selenak

ZOMG! I can't translate the other letter tonight, no time, but have to share this with

cahn as it alone would justify the entire aquisition from the Prussian State Archive:

Monsieur et tres cher compere!

I received both of your letters from the 14th and the 16th. When I got the former, I immediately handed over the inserted page to the King. His Majesty has read through it very graciously and ordered me to thank you for your honest mindset.

Still working on a better modern equivalent to "redliche Gesinnung" than the literal one, which is a very 18th century expression, but "good intentions" isn't quite it. "Kind thoughts", maybe?

In any case: once you're through with all this, you could contact wikipedia immediately. *g* (And Fahlenkamp, while you're at it. Emmi Wegfraß was already an elderly lady when she wrote her book, she might be dead by now. Oh, and the guy who wrote the essay about Fredersdorf in Frankfurt an der Oder.) Now we have a primary source directly contradicting the slander!

ETA: Considering the letter to Fritz comes with a letter to Leining, it can't have been indiscreetly personal, but still, I'm sure Fredersdorf found a tactful way to convey "You're in my heart, please take care of yourself".

Edited Date: 2023-04-23 05:39 pm (UTC)

From:

mildred_of_midgard

ZOMG! I can't translate the other letter tonight, no time, but have to share this with [personal profile] cahn as it alone would justify the entire aquisition from the Prussian State Archive:

EXACTLY! The Fritz-Fredersdorf correspondence doesn't stop after April, we just don't have it! (I also suspect Wegfraß didn't know about Caroline Daum aka Mrs. Fredersdorf destroying letters.)

It also justifies the bleeding eyeballs and the decision to translate the whole Leining correspondence! Originally, when Kurrent was this super hard thing that I could do nothing with and Prinzsorgenfrei was short on time, I was just going to order the page that the box bills project refers to, but then I asked P if they would maaaaybe have time to browse through the rest and tell us if there's anything relevant to the slander, and they said they might, so I ordered the whole thing. And then it turned out that 1) Kurrent is doable with enough determination, 2) the correspondence wasn't just boring bureaucracy, there was all kinds of interesting news. And the rest is history!

Emmi Wegfraß was already an elderly lady when she wrote her book, she might be dead by now.

Yeah, I've been assuming she's dead, which is why I've referred to her in the past tense. But lol, my plan is to write the essay about Fredersdorf and Pfeiffer, get it published, then update Wikipedia to refer to it (an actual citation!), and def. send a copy to Buwert, with a note that he's welcome to forward it to Fahlenkamp if he likes. (I've never been in direct contact with Fahlenkamp, Buwert wrote to him on my behalf and forwarded me the response.)

ETA: Considering the letter to Fritz comes with a letter to Leining, it can't have been indiscreetly personal, but still, I'm sure Fredersdorf found a tactful way to convey "You're in my heart, please take care of yourself".

When you've been life partners for 25 years, you can say things like this that have meaning just between the two of you! <333

This has been a great triumph for the Justice for Fredersdorf Society. *waves society pom-poms*

Edited Date: 2023-04-23 05:46 pm (UTC)

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Fahlenkamp, if you had bothered to read this you couldn't have justified the idea that the addressee is someone in disgrace!

This! I'm mentally planning out my essay, and coming up with arguments, and it's hard to choose from amongst ALL the counterevidence there is. And we're only halfway through!

Well, the latest finding makes this an order of magnitude easier: rather than compiling an entire picture from the little things, I can just go with:

- Stepped down before the date of April 9 that Wegfraß gives, thus showing that she's inaccurate in that respect too.
- Gives bad health as the reason to his successor.
- Consulted by his successor on many matters, including embezzlement. (You would not consult a convicted embezzler on sorting out someone else's embezzlement.)
- Still writes to Fritz and receives gracious replies, we just don't have them.

With maybe a bonus note that his successor writes to him with respect and personal friendship, encourages his wife to socialize with Fredersdorf and his wife, and shows no signs of knowing about any disgrace.

Woo!

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Emmi Wegfraß was already an elderly lady when she wrote her book, she might be dead by now.

A quick search shows she would be 97 today. Not impossible, but even if she is alive and compos mentis, perhaps we should not bother her. (And I've never been able to track down contact info anyway, back when I wanted to see if I could ask her about that April 9 letter.) But everyone else is going to hear from me! (This is the essay I consider most notable and am most optimistic about finding a publisher for if I can ever finish it; whereas I sometimes wonder if there's enough of interest about Peter Keith's life to motivate anyone else.)

From:

cahn

WELL THEN :DDDDD

Aw, this is great <3

(I actually like both the literal meaning of "redliche Gesinnung" along with the non-literal one, because this whole thing is exonerating Fredersdorf from being dishonest! :D )

From:

mildred_of_midgard

I had the SAME THOUGHT!

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Now the whole first page, including the part already translated that makes the whole acquisition and all this time and effort worth it.

Monsieur et tres cher compere!

Ich habe dero zwei Schreiben vom 14te ünd 16te dieses richtig
erhalten. Bey Empfang der ersteren ist die Einlage an der König
sogleich besorget worden. Se. Mayt. haben dieselbe sehr gnädig
dürchgelesen, ünd mir befohlen, Ihnen für dero redliche Gesin-
nungen zü dancken.

Die Commission an den H§n Obrist von Tauentzien habe ich, wie beilie-
gendes Schreiben von Ihm [mit] [m|w]ehX[e]rn bek[rä]ftigen wird, treülich
aüsgerichtet. Da ich glaübe, daß des Major Lingefeldts Verlassen-
schaft mehr als 1000 rt§. beträgt, und sich nach Anzeige des Herrn
von Tauentzien erst so viel Creditore[s] als diese Post aüstr[äg]et ge-
meldet, so kann es vielleicht geschehen, daß sie insges[am]t, sogleich
aüch mon cher compere, befriediget werden. Was ich dazü in der
folge beytragen kann, soll mit Vergnügen geschehen.

Den brief an den H§n Obrist von Tauentzien von seiner fraü Ge-
mahlin habe gleichfalls richtig besorget. Aüch ist nün endlich de[r]
[gerüchterte] [Bremer]-[L]achs von 5 Tagen angekommen.
Von der Chürmärck§-Cammer habe wegen des be[w]üßte[n] Schreibens
noch keine Antwort. Sobald selbige erfolget, werde keinen
Anstand [nehmen] Ihnen von denem Inhalt pa[rt?] zü geben.

Notes: In much the same way that one does not expect the Spanish Inquisition, I was not expecting the Bremen salmon in this context, and it threw me for a loop both here in and in letter 9. Fortunately, once I realized what was going on and the penny dropped that my two points of confusion were the same point of confusion, I was able to fill in some blanks in letter 9 before Selena got to it! (Yet again, putting too much weight on visual spacing, and therefore treating parts of the same word as separate words, is my Achilles' heel.)

I'm getting increasingly confident about the Kurmärkische Kammer, and also,

selenak, you were right, Leining is the one who wrote that letter!

Tauentzien I'm guessing is the father of "Surely you want to reminisce about your late brother in the most realistic way possible, Heinrich" Tauentzien, but no time to check.

From:

selenak

Good lord, decyphering those postscripts is true heroism on your part.

Monsieur et tres cher compere!

Yesterday I received your appreciated letter from the 29th of the past month. I forwarded the letter from America immediately, and am still waiting for the salmon which the judge from Bremen is sending, because we haven't been able to establish regular mail from Dresden to this place yet, and there's to other opportunity except for the usual fast courier. Meanwhile, I'll take care of having it transported via Secret Councillor Zinnow, the sooner the better.

Regarding local extraordinary news, I'll gladly present them to you; but in order to save time, I'll write the news solely to my wife, who then won't lose a moment to communicate all of it to you. This will hopefully include the last description of the battle which happened on the 6th of this month.

Yesterday, we've happily conquered the Zisca mountain, and now I guess the conquest of Prague will start in earnest; through this happy conquest, we'll get our hands on an Austrian army consisting of 5000 men, Field Marshal Browne, Prince Charles of Lorraine, both of the Saxon princes, Prince Louis of Würtemberg, who are all in the city. May God give us his blessing for this! I remain without exception,
Monsieur et tres chere compere, etc.

P.S. Gentze the bridegroom sends his great compliments, and is ready to direct his life according to your orders, from which I certainly won't stop him; he hasn't seen any campaign action yet.

P.P.S. H. v. OeXX(r)X, the same gentleman whom His Royal Majesty has promoted to Colonel the day after the battle, was shot through his breast on the same day during a scouting expedition, captured and led to Prague, where he died on May 8th. Colonel of (ST?)ran(kitz) of the Royal Prussia (an Army regiment?) hasn't returned yet from the attack on Zisca Mountain yesterday. A shot from behind has cost poor General von Zastrow his life during a skirmish on April 25th. General Wartenberg of the Hussars has also been killed through a shot.

Thoughts: the "Fuck yeah, we're taking Prague, the war is almost over!" optimism is so very Fritzian (as in, what he told everyone in his letters from the same period, not necessarily what he himself felt.) The mountain business was where Heinrich distinguished himself as far as I recall. Also Henckel von Donnersmarck. Leining giving his wife a description of the battle who will then share it with both Fredersdorfs not only makes sense - Leining is a very busy man - but also often happened with letters in this era which were about other than deeply personal things. And of course it confirms Mrs. Leining to be in social contact with Mr. and Mrs. Treasurer, as you say, Mildred.

Gentze also intending to marry: Presumably Fredersdorf gave him some adivice on that and expressed concern with the war situation, after all, the guy had been his secretary for years. I wonder whether the dead guys Leining lists were people Fredersdorf knew beyond his duties, or whether he just lists the most important dead? In either case, I'm surprised Schwerin did not have make the cut, he was by far the most prominent and high ranking officer killed on the Prussian side in that battle.

cahn, Schwerin was the one who won the battle of Mollwitz, also the one who if Buwert is right is responsible for sending Fredersdorf to Fritz.

Edited Date: 2023-04-24 06:34 am (UTC)

From:

selenak

As you can see, I found another more fluent in English expression for "redliche Gesinnung" that I like better. :)

Monsieur et tres cher compere!

I received both of your letters from the 14th and the 16th. When I got the former, I immediately handed over the inserted page to the King. His Majesty has read through it very graciously and ordered me to thank you for your true heart.

I've faithfully transmitted the commission to Colonel von Tauentzien, as the inclosed letter by him will confirm. As I believe the late Major Lingefeldt's legacy to amount to more than 1000 Reichstaler, and that there will as many creditors making themselves known as the mail will permit after Herr von Tauentzien's announcement, it may happen that they as well as mon chere compere will be satisfied. Whatever I can add to help with this, I'll do so gladly.

I also forwarded the letter to Colonel von Tauentzien by his lady wife. Moreover, the smoked salmon from Bremen has now finally arrived five days ago. Meanwhile, there's no reply to the letter in question yet by the Kurmärkische Kammer. As soon as it arrives, I'll make its content known to you immediately.

Clearly FS isn't the only salmon lover of the era. :) Since Leining considers the salmon worth mentioning twice, I'm guessing Fredersdorf might have given the Bremen guy the hint/request/order to send it?

Tauentzien I'm guessing is the father of "Surely you want to reminisce about your late brother in the most realistic way possible, Heinrich" Tauentzien, but no time to check.

That would be my guess, since I dimly recall Tauentzien the older making his name in the 7 Years War.

Edited Date: 2023-04-24 06:33 am (UTC)

From:

selenak

Definitely add the bonus note. Since Leining is the current Treasurer, he'd have to know about any previous embezzlement (in addition to the Glasow stuff, I mean), in order to get things in order. There's no way he would not know if Fredersdorf had embezzled. And no matter how much sympathy he might have had for Fredersdorf in that situation, there's also no way he'd been allowed to consult Fredersdorf about current affairs in great detail if this had been the case. Not to mention that it would have been career-suicidal on his part to do things like forward letters from Fredersdorf to Fritz if Fredersdorf is a disgraced former favourite.

From:

mildred_of_midgard

Good lord, decyphering those postscripts is true heroism on your part.

You notice the quality has decreased significantly! I'm impressed you were able to make educated guesses to get the sense of it, especially the first one. What German word are you guessing for "XX[h|f]e[r|n]" to mean "stop"? (Usuallly I can tell what you're guessing, but this time I'm stumped.)

Gentze also intending to marry: Presumably Fredersdorf gave him some adivice on that and expressed concern with the war situation, after all, the guy had been his secretary for years.

Ooh, that makes sense!

In either case, I'm surprised Schwerin did not have make the cut, he was by far the most prominent and high ranking officer killed on the Prussian side in that battle.

Yeah, I wonder if he thinks Fredersdorf will find out through some other means, and he's short on space?