LIFE AND ADVENTURE OF BARON TRENCK - VOLUME 1




TRANSLATED BY THOMAS HOLCROFT




INTRODUCTION.



There were two cousins Von der Trenck, who were barons descended
from an ancient house in East Prussia, and were adventurous
soldiers, to whom, as to the adventurous, there were adventures that
lost nothing in the telling, for they were told by the authors' most
admiring friends--themselves. Franz, the elder, was born in 1711,
the son of an Austrian general; and Frederick, whose adventures are
here told, was the son of a Prussian major-general. Franz, at the
age of seventeen, fought duels, and cut off the head of a man who
refused to lend him money. He stood six feet three inches in his
shoes, knocked down his commanding officer, was put under arrest,
offered to pay for his release by bringing in three Turks' heads
within an hour, was released on that condition, and actually brought
in four Turks' heads. When afterwards cashiered, he settled on his
estates in Croatia, and drilled a thousand of his tenantry to act as
"Pandours" against the banditti. In 1740, he served with his
Pandours under Maria Theresa, and behaved himself as one of the more