done it, that 'an army moves on its stomach' (as the King of
Prussia says), and that we have nothing to live upon in
these parts!

"Such has the unfortunate fact turned out to be, when Britannic
Majesty arrives; and it can now be discovered clearly, by any eyes,
however flat to the head. And a terrible fact it is. Discordant
Generals accuse one another; hungry soldiers cannot be kept from
plundering: for the horses there is unripe rye in quantity;
but what is there for the men? My poor traditionary friends, of the
Grey Dragoons, were wont (I have heard) to be heart-rending on this
point, in after years! Famine being urgent, discipline is not
possible, nor existence itself. For a week longer, George, rather
in obstinate hope than with any reasonable plan or exertion, still
tries it; finds, after repeated Councils of War, that he will have
to give it up, and go back to Hanau where his living is.
Wednesday night, 26th June, 1743, that is the final resolution,
inevitably come upon, without argument: and about one on Thursday
morning, the Army (in two columns, Austrians to vanward well away
from the River, English as rear-guard close on it) gets in motion
to execute said resolution,--if the Army can.

"If the Army can: but that is like to be a formidably difficult
business; with a Noailles watching every step of you, to-day and
for ten days back, in these sad circumstances. Eyes in him like a
lynx, they say; and great skill in war, only too cautious.
Hardly is the Army gone from Aschaffenburg, when Noailles, pushing
across by the Bridge, seizes that post,--no retreat now for us
thitherward. His Majesty, who marches in the rear division, has
happily some artillery with him; repels the assaults from behind,