、,་ upon sweden. in war and in dipromacy, wherever there was doubt and danger, Stedingk for forty years was ever sumVOL. IV.-23 is ihatuie iBuã009y ཅིས་༦སཞུམཔསཔ པ ཙ པ ན པ ༔ and his weeping sovereign came to lay upon his tomb a wreath of oak and laurel. PUTNAM'S MONTHLY. A Magazine of Literature, Science, and Art. VOL. IV.-OCT. 1854.-NO. XXII. COUNT STEDINGK. CONTENTS. PREFACE-Early Legend of the Family of Stedingk-Parentage and Birth-Ensign at Stralsund-Arrival at Stockholm-Education at Upsula-State of Sweden-Enters French Army-Baron Trenck-Stedingk at Versailles-Marie Antoinette-Personal Appearance of Stedingk-Letter to Gustavus III. describing Birth and Baptism of the Dauphin-Character of Gustavus-Voltaire and Charles XII.-American Campaign-Newport-Granada-Stedingk's Letter to Gustavus III. describing Assault upon Savannah-Reflections-Return to France-Efforts to be re-employed in America—Disappointment-Honors conferred upon Stedingk-Forbidden to wear the Cincinnati-Consequent Correspondence with Gustavus-Reflections upon the Conduct of Gustavus-His Disingenuousness-The Cincinnati worn in Stockholm at the present day. PREFACE. THE story of a great soldier and states man, whose blood was shed in the cause of American Independence, should be better known to those who to-day reap the harvest of the stormy seedtime. A Swedish hero, who bore the standard of the young Republic through fire and slaughter in the enemy's midst, merits at our hands at least American record. A "bubble," " Reputation," blown at the cannon's mouth in a foreign war for freedom, and soaring in after years high in the Swedish sun, reflects prismatic beauty from a long career of warlike chivalry, patriotism, and everready wisdom in council. No one of the gallant foreigners who came to our aid attained in after life dignity and honor more elevated at home than Field-Marshal Count von Stedingk. He was a general-in-chief of the armies of his country. He led them in the field to victory and honor, and won in his long career the affection of four successive kings. For a quarter of a centary he was their ambassador at courts whose policy and empire pressed hardest upon Sweden. In war and in diplomacy, wherever there was doubt and danger, Stedingk for forty years was ever sum VOL. IV.-23 moned to the lead. When the fortunes of Sweden had sunk in shadow, tottering, it seemed to ruin, Stedingk was named to a Regency, guiding the helm of State. At another time, a soldier again, we find him upholding the fortune of Swedish arms throughout a campaign, disastrous, it seems, everywhere where he was not; and when later the Northern Nations banded themselves against Napoleon, Stedingk, at the head of thirty thousand Swedes, first of the allied army to force the gates of Leipsic, marched with his crown prince victorious to the Rhine. Selected next to meet the great negotiators of the day, he signed his name to a broad page of history-a memorable peace of Paris. And when at last, surrounded by children and grandchildren, a white-haired patriarch of ninety years lay down to sleep, his heart and conscience reposed in the memories of almost a century. Heart and conscience reflected almost without a pang upon the long retrospect. He had loved his neighbor; he had lived among events whose great history bears his name honorably throughout the page; and his weeping sovereign came to lay upon his tomb a wreath of oak and laurel. |