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Article THE LIFE OF PRINCE POTEMKIN. ← Page 3 of 8 →
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The Life Of Prince Potemkin.
put it in execution ? Did not they know that Potemkin had , not far from thence , an army of i ^ 3 , 000 men ? His knowledge of military tactics was extensive , and he gave a proof of this when , on her Majesty ' s return from the Krimea , he conducted her to Pultawa . Two-armies soon discovered themselves . They approached ; they engaged ; and gave Catharine an exact representation of the famous battle in which Peter the Great
vanquished Charles XII . This spectacle was worthy of Potemkin , and of the two Sovereign ' s before whom it was represented . Joseph II . on whom the very name of a warrior made a lively impression , could not refrain from deploring . the unha ipy fate of the Swedish Monarch : he felt , howeverextremeldelihted with all that Potemkin and the Empress
, y g did . Catharine had so captivated his mind , that he resolved on assisting her Majesty to raise her grandson to the crown of Constant !? nople . Potemkin fed the ambition of Catharine , and instigated her to an enterprizs which , had she lived , she might perhaps have
accomplished . This was nothing less than the possession of the capital of the Grand Seignior . He implicated the Tuiks -in a ruinous war , in which was spilled the blood of thousands . A subject to him of very little concern . He had now ( 17 S 9 ) for sometime laid siege to OczakofF . Fortify cations apparently impregnable , ammunition in great abundance , a numerous garrisonand the rigour of the seasonseemed to baffle
, , every attempt upon this place . The besiegers suffered so much from cold . ' that they were necessitated to dig subterraneous huts in order to shelter themselves from its severity : reduced to a want of provisions , each night brought upon them great desolation . But the frost , which they had resisted with so much perseverance and troubleaided them in taking the town . It was observed to lie open
, to attack on the side of the Liman , where the works appeared less formidable , and to which the ice facilitated success . Potemkin on a sudden issued orders to carry it by assault ; and , while he remained in camp with Iiis mistresses , his lieutenants , at the head of a detachment of troops , penetrated the town , and spread carnage and desolation . We must not . however , attribute this conduit in Potemkiii
to a princip le of cowardice ; for several preceding days he was seen to walk with the utmost composure under the very cannon of the ramparts ;* because he had learnt that some dared to suspect his courage . He absented himself from the assault of Oczakoff merely because he did not think it presented him with an opportunity of distinguishing himself in an extraordinary manner Prince Anhalt-Bernburg did not imitate Potemidn ' s conduct . H ?
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Life Of Prince Potemkin.
put it in execution ? Did not they know that Potemkin had , not far from thence , an army of i ^ 3 , 000 men ? His knowledge of military tactics was extensive , and he gave a proof of this when , on her Majesty ' s return from the Krimea , he conducted her to Pultawa . Two-armies soon discovered themselves . They approached ; they engaged ; and gave Catharine an exact representation of the famous battle in which Peter the Great
vanquished Charles XII . This spectacle was worthy of Potemkin , and of the two Sovereign ' s before whom it was represented . Joseph II . on whom the very name of a warrior made a lively impression , could not refrain from deploring . the unha ipy fate of the Swedish Monarch : he felt , howeverextremeldelihted with all that Potemkin and the Empress
, y g did . Catharine had so captivated his mind , that he resolved on assisting her Majesty to raise her grandson to the crown of Constant !? nople . Potemkin fed the ambition of Catharine , and instigated her to an enterprizs which , had she lived , she might perhaps have
accomplished . This was nothing less than the possession of the capital of the Grand Seignior . He implicated the Tuiks -in a ruinous war , in which was spilled the blood of thousands . A subject to him of very little concern . He had now ( 17 S 9 ) for sometime laid siege to OczakofF . Fortify cations apparently impregnable , ammunition in great abundance , a numerous garrisonand the rigour of the seasonseemed to baffle
, , every attempt upon this place . The besiegers suffered so much from cold . ' that they were necessitated to dig subterraneous huts in order to shelter themselves from its severity : reduced to a want of provisions , each night brought upon them great desolation . But the frost , which they had resisted with so much perseverance and troubleaided them in taking the town . It was observed to lie open
, to attack on the side of the Liman , where the works appeared less formidable , and to which the ice facilitated success . Potemkin on a sudden issued orders to carry it by assault ; and , while he remained in camp with Iiis mistresses , his lieutenants , at the head of a detachment of troops , penetrated the town , and spread carnage and desolation . We must not . however , attribute this conduit in Potemkiii
to a princip le of cowardice ; for several preceding days he was seen to walk with the utmost composure under the very cannon of the ramparts ;* because he had learnt that some dared to suspect his courage . He absented himself from the assault of Oczakoff merely because he did not think it presented him with an opportunity of distinguishing himself in an extraordinary manner Prince Anhalt-Bernburg did not imitate Potemidn ' s conduct . H ?