We encamped about Nuremberg the middle of June. The army, after so
many detachments, was not above 19,000 men. The Imperial army, joined
with the Bavarian, were not so numerous as was reported, but were
really 60,000 men. The king, not strong enough to fight, yet, as he
used to say, was strong enough not to be forced to fight, formed his
camp so under the cannon of Nuremberg that there was no besieging the
town but they must besiege him too; and he fortified his camp in so
formidable a manner that Wallenstein never durst attack him. On the
30th of June Wallenstein's troops appeared, and on the 5th of July
encamped close by the king, and posted themselves not on the Bavarian
side, but between the king and his own friends of Schwaben and
Frankenland, in order to intercept his provisions, and, as they
thought, to starve him out of his camp.
Here they lay to see, as it were, who could subsist longest. The king
was strong in horse, for we had full 8000 horse and dragoons in the
army, and this gave us great advantage in the several skirmishes we
had with the enemy. The enemy had possession of the whole country, and
had taken effectual care to furnish their army with provisions; they
placed their guards in such excellent order, to secure their convoys,
that their waggons went from stage to stage as quiet as in a time of
peace, and were relieved every five miles by parties constantly
posted on the road.
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