serving as war commission in Lombardy, following the War of Austrian Succession he had served as the garrison commander at Como. Sprecher commanded a mixed force from France, Baden-Baden, Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, some mixed mercenary regiments from the Netherlands, and several regiments from the military frontier. Siege is laid The weather was bitterly cold, with a combination of rain and snow, and both the besiegers and the besieged suffered miserably. By 7 December, the Prussians had isolated the city from all communications and began construction of their batteries. In the following days, they took possession of the moats, dug fortifications and erected batteries; as soon as a battery was constructed, its assaults began. By 12 December, the Prussian troops, commanded by Prince Ferdinand, had control of the St. Moritz church in the city suburbs, and erected a new battery with two cannons and two mortars. Prussians assaulted the walls again and again; the abatis and trenches were close to freezing over. On 14 December, one of the Breslau magazines caught fire during a heavy bombardment; the magazine exploded, destroying several houses. While the Austrians were dealing with the fire, the Prussians expanded their battery south of the city. The weather worsened, and the Prussia siege lines pressed closer to the walls. Sappers began digging under the defenses. On the night of 13–14 December, General Wied zu Neuwied and his Prussian force took the Polnischen Vorstadt adjacent to the Oder river, and captured 51 Pandurs. On the 14th, the Brothers of St. Moritz church fled into the city. At 1500 that afternoon, all communication between the city and the outside world was sealed off, when the Prussians overwhelmed the last outposts outside the walls. On that night, the Prussians had repaired their largest battery, and opened fire on the city again. Within hours it had scored a hit on a second magazine, destroying part of the defending lines with it and killing or wounding about 800 of the defenders. The assault continued, day and night, for the next three days. In the night of the 15–16, the Prussians extended their parallel to 1000 steps, and began construction of a salient; the next day they started the sapping. Sprecher also reported that the Prussians used the so-called ricochet, balls fired into the city at a low angle that would barely clear the parapet and then bounce before exploding. These destroyed several gun emplacements