of Prague. There were a few exceptions to the well-nigh general cowardice. A small body of Moravian troops, headed by Count Henry Šlik and the younger Count Thurn, retired in the direction of the park known as the "hvězda" (star) where they continued their defence till almost all had been killed.[1] The soldiers of the Palatinate, who formed Frederick's body-guard, died almost to a man in defence of the cause of their unworthy sovereign.[2] These isolated instances of bravery were, of course, unavailing to avert the general disaster, and a battle of a few hours decided the fate of Bohemia.[3]
King Frederick, as already mentioned, had proceeded to the town of Prague as soon as the Bohemian troops arrived at the White Mountain. Weston and Conway, the English ambassadors sent by King James, had arrived at Prague, and the king wished to entertain them at a banquet. It was at this banquet, an eye-witness[4] tells us, that the king received the news that his troops were engaged in battle. He mounted his horse and rode to the neighbouring Strakov gate. By the time he arrived there the Bohemian army was in full flight, and the king, seeing that everything was lost, hastily returned to the palace on the Hradčin, from where, accompanied by the queen and the court officials, he crossed the Vltava, and retired to the
- ↑ Of this isolated and little known heroic defence Dr. Krebs writes eloquently: "The south-eastern wall of the Star park thus became the grave of Bohemian independence. Every Bohemian who passes by this spot should remember: it is sacred ground on which you tread."
- ↑ "Die Leibguardi des Churpfaltzgrafen zu Ross und zu Fuss welche blaue Rüstung gefuhret seien bis auff wenige neben ihrem Rittmeister von Wallesheim geblieben" (Nicolaus Bellus, Osterreichischer Lorberkrantz. Frankfurt, 1625). Bellus differs from most contemporary writers by saying that the battle lasted during the whole day. "Das Treffen hat von morgen biss Abends umb 5 Uhrn gewehrt."
- ↑ It is almost impossible that the battle should have lasted one hour only, as has been often stated. The belief in an almost instantaneous victory may have originated from the circumstance that the Catholics attributed their victory to the intervention of the Virgin Mary.
- ↑ "Castra Bohemica hostem tentare rumor ad Fredericum Regem defertur, interrupto, convivio, equum conscendit propere castra periculo agitata visurus, aderat globus equstris quingentorum capitum; eram et ego in isto comitatu, turbati convivii auctor. Ad portam Strahovensem accedente Rege clausa ista erat, circumspicit infelicem exercitus sui fugam, vidit repentes ad sublime valli Duces, ipsorum equos cum mille aliis per aperta cursitantes, spectaculum sane deplorandum. Clamore mulierum horrendo Rex perterritus arcem repetabat" (Habernfeld).
