The hour of
dismay, which decides a battle, had come. A scene of awful carnage
ensued as the routed Austrians, fleeing in every direction, were pursued
and massacred. Frederic himself was struck from his horse, and as he
fell, stunned by the blow, he was captured, disarmed and carried to the
presence of his rival Louis.
The spirit of Frederic was crushed by the awful, the irretrievable
defeat, and he appeared before his conqueror speechless in the extremity
of his woe. Louis had the pride of magnanimity and endeavored to console
his captive.
"The battle is not lost by your fault," said he. "The Bavarians have
experienced to their cost that you are a valiant prince; but Providence
has decided the battle. Though I am happy to see you as my guest, I
sympathize with you in your sorrow, and will do what I can to alleviate
it."
For three years the unhappy Frederic remained a prisoner of Louis of
Bavaria, held in close confinement in the castle at Trausnitz. At the
end of that time the emperor, alarmed at the efforts which the friends
of Frederic were making to combine several Powers to take up arms for
his relief, visited his prisoner, and in a personal interview proposed
terms of reconciliation.
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