Battle of Hohenfriedberg
Part of the Second Silesian War of the War of the Austrian Succession
Battle of Hohenfriedberg, Attack of the Prussian Infantry , by Carl Röchling. Oil on canvas.
Date 4 June 1745 Location Striegau, present-day Poland Result Decisive Prussian Victory
Combatants
Austria, Saxony	Prussia
Commanders
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine	Frederick the Great
Strength
58,700[1] 122 guns	58,500 192 guns
Casualties
8,650 dead or wounded, 5,080 captured	4,800

The Battle of Hohenfriedberg or Hohenfriedeberg between Austrians and Prussians in the War of the Austrian Succession (June 4, 1745) was one of the crowning achievements of Frederick the Great. The Silesian Wars were a series of wars between Prussia and Austria (and their changing allies) for control of Silesia. ... Combatants Prussia Spain France Electorate of Bavaria Kingdom of Naples Austria Great Britain Dutch Republic Electorate of Saxony Sardinia Russian Empire Commanders Frederick II Leopold I Leopold II Maurice de Saxe François-Marie de Broglie Charles VII Ludwig Khevenhüller Charles Alexander George II Charles Emmanuel III Empress Maria... Image File history File links Hohenfriedeberg. ... June 4 is the 155th day of the year (156th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events May 11 - War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy - At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army including the Black Watch June 4 – Frederick the Great destroys Austrian army at Hohenfriedberg August 19 - Beginning of the 45 Jacobite Rising at Glenfinnan September 12 - Francis I is elected... Striegau, a town now in Poland (Strzegom), once of the Prussian province of Silesia, on the Striegau Water (Striegauer Wasser), 30 miles by rail south-west of Breslau. ... Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DED Capital Dresden Minister-President Georg Milbradt (CDU) Governing parties CDU / SPD Votes in Bundesrat 4 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  18,416 km² (7,110 sq mi) Population 4,252,000 (11/2006)[1]  - Density 231 /km... Motto Suum cuique Latin: To each his own Prussia at its peak, as leading state of the German Empire Capital Königsberg, later Berlin Government Duke1  - 1525–68 Albert I (first)  - 1688–1701 Frederick III (last) King1  - 1701–13 Frederick I (first)  - 1888–1918 William II (last) Prime Minister1,2... Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (December 12, 1712 – July 4, 1780) was the son of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine. ... Frederick the Great Frederick II of Prussia (Friedrich der Große, Frederick the Great, January 24, 1712 – August 17, 1786) was the Hohenzollern king of Prussia 1740–86. ... Combatants Prussia Spain France Electorate of Bavaria Kingdom of Naples Austria Great Britain Dutch Republic Electorate of Saxony Sardinia Russian Empire Commanders Frederick II Leopold I Leopold II Maurice de Saxe François-Marie de Broglie Charles VII Ludwig Khevenhüller Charles Alexander George II Charles Emmanuel III Empress Maria... The Battle of Mollwitz was a Prussian victory over Austria on April 10, 1741. ... Combatants Austria Prussia Commanders Prince Charles of Lorraine Frederick the Great Strength unknown unknown Casualties 7,000 dead, 18 guns and 12,000 prisoners 7,000 dead, 1,000 prisoners The Battle of Chotusitz (or Chotusice) was fought on May 17, 1742 between the Austrians under Prince Charles of Lorraine... Combatants Britain, Hanover, Austria France Commanders George II duc de Noailles Strength 50,000 70,000 Casualties 750 8,000 The Battle of Dettingen (German: Schlacht bei Dettingen) took place on June 16 (June 27 according to the Gregorian calendar, which the English had not officially adopted), 1743 at Dettingen... The naval Battle of Toulon or Battle of Cape Sicié took place on 22 and 23 February 1744 (New Style) between 1:30 pm and 5:00 pm in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Toulon, France. ... Combatants Britain United Provinces Hanover France Commanders Duke of Cumberland Maurice, comte de Saxe Strength 50,000[1] 101 guns 60,000 70 guns Casualties 9,000 dead or wounded 3,000 captured 5,600 dead or wounded 400 captured The Battle of Fontenoy (May 11, 1745) near Fontenoy in... The Battle of Soor was fought on September 30, 1745 between Prussian and Austro-Saxon forces. ... The Battle of Kesselsdorf was fought on December 14, 1745, between Prussia and the combined forces of Austria and Saxony. ... The Battle of Rocoux was fought in 1746 between France and Austria. ... The First Battle of Cape Finisterre was a naval battle which took place on 14 May 1747 (3 May 1747 in the Julian calendar then in use in Britain) during the War of the Austrian Succession, in the Bay of Biscay off Cape Finisterre in northwest Spain, between a British... The Battle of Lauffeld took place on July 2, 1747 during the French conquest of the Netherlands (part of the War of the Austrian Succession. ... The Second Battle of Cape Finisterre was a naval battle which took place on 25 October 1747 (14 October 1747 in the Julian calendar then in use in Britain) during the War of the Austrian Succession, in the Bay of Biscay off Cape Finisterre in northwest Spain between a well... Combatants Britain Spain Commanders Charles Henry Knowles Andrés Reggio y Brachiforte Strength 7 ships of the line (428 guns) 6 ships of the line 1 frigate (420 guns) Casualties No ships lost 2 ships lost The Battle of Havana was an engagement between the British Caribbean squadron and a... Motto Suum cuique Latin: To each his own Prussia at its peak, as leading state of the German Empire Capital Königsberg, later Berlin Government Duke1  - 1525–68 Albert I (first)  - 1688–1701 Frederick III (last) King1  - 1701–13 Frederick I (first)  - 1888–1918 William II (last) Prime Minister1,2... Combatants Prussia Spain France Electorate of Bavaria Kingdom of Naples Austria Great Britain Dutch Republic Electorate of Saxony Sardinia Russian Empire Commanders Frederick II Leopold I Leopold II Maurice de Saxe François-Marie de Broglie Charles VII Ludwig Khevenhüller Charles Alexander George II Charles Emmanuel III Empress Maria... June 4 is the 155th day of the year (156th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events May 11 - War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy - At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army including the Black Watch June 4 – Frederick the Great destroys Austrian army at Hohenfriedberg August 19 - Beginning of the 45 Jacobite Rising at Glenfinnan September 12 - Francis I is elected... Frederick the Great Frederick II of Prussia (Friedrich der Große, Frederick the Great, January 24, 1712 – August 17, 1786) was the Hohenzollern king of Prussia 1740–86. ...

Background

When the Austrians again tried to take back the territory of Silesia from the Prussians that they had lost following the Battle of Mollwitz, they sent a large army made up of Saxons and Austrians into Silesia under the command of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (brother in law of Maria Theresa). The Battle of Mollwitz was a Prussian victory over Austria on April 10, 1741. ... Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (December 12, 1712 – July 4, 1780) was the son of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine. ... Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary, Archduchess of Austria, (German: , Hungarian: , Romanian: , Slovak: , Czech: ; May 13, 1717–November 29, 1780) was (reigning) Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. ...

Frederick had a very low opinion of his counterpart, saying about Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine that "there will be some stupid mistakes". In fact, Frederick was counting on the fact that Charles would try to cross the mountains of Riesengebirge, and when he did, Frederick fully intended the pounce on his army and crush it in one decisive blow. His Hussars, under Hans Joachim von Zieten, had been shadowing the enemy army almost daily waiting for the right moment to strike their blow. On June 30 when the Prince finally did cross, Frederick saw his opportunity to attack. Aerial view over Karkonosze Karkonosze ( Polish name, pronounced kár-ko-no-she;  Krkonoše? in Czech; Riesengebirge in German) or Giant Mountains are part of the Sudetes Mountains in Central Europe. ... Polish Hussar Hussar (original Hungarian spelling: huszár, plural huszárok) refers to a number of types of cavalry used throughout Europe since the 15th century. ... Hans Joachim von Zieten Hans Joachim von Zieten (May 14, 1699 – January 26, 1786). ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Map of the Battle

After getting a fix on the enemy forces behind the Striegau River, Frederick's plan was to march his army north during the night in total secrecy with his commander, Richard de Moulin, leading the way. They were going to march right in front of the enemy across the bridge dividing them and attack the Saxon left camp first, rolling the entire Austro-Saxon army up. They left their campfires burning, their tents pitched, and soldiers were not allowed to talk or smoke during the march in order to enable his army to have the advantage of complete surprise. Soldiers started to get bunched up and a bottleneck appeared at the bridge, and so limited forces were able to make it over. Richard de Moulin's first objective was a series of two hills in front of the Saxon lines, but the plan fell apart rather quickly. Image File history File linksMetadata Kärtchen_zur_Schlacht_bei_Hohenfriedeberg_(4. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Kärtchen_zur_Schlacht_bei_Hohenfriedeberg_(4. ...

Battle

The Saxons had already occupied these two hills in front of their camp the previous day with a small force, and so when Richard de Moulin encountered this small force of Saxons, a small battle ensued with shouts and guns being fired, enough to destroy the complete element of surprise that Frederick had been hoping for. De Moulin decided to simply bypass the hills and launch a surprise attack on the Saxon camp at around 7:00AM in the morning at Pilgrimshain. The Duke of Vicenfells, commander of the Saxons, managed to get a small amount of cavalry out on the field, but the Prussian cavalry soon charged and routed them. Afterwards the Prussian infantry then charged the rest of the Saxon camp and quickly routed the entire Saxon force, defeating the small amount of Saxon infantry that managed to be thrown in their way, as well as a small number of Austrians. Easterly wind blowing smoke and dust on the Saxons' eyes was also advantageous for the Prussians, and the entire left and Saxon half of the Austro-Saxon army was soon destroyed in 3 hours in the dawn's light.

By now the Austrians in their camps further to the South and more protected by the river were alerted to the battle and were rushing units to the front. The portions of the Prussian Army that had still not crossed the Striegau River to the north seemed to spontaneously wheel to the west and advance through river crossings wherever they could find them, and found enough fords through the river to accomplish this. A bridge collapse at the small town of Graben forced the cavalry commander, von Ziethen, to immediately find a ford further south through which to funnel cavalry and pack mules carrying supplies. A charge of the Prussian cavalry put the Austrian cavalry to flight, since the Austrian cavalry were the first force that could be mustered up, and then the Austrian infantry mustered from their camp to form a battle line wherever they could. The Austrian infantry fights bravely despite the fact that it is alone and outnumbered, exchanging many volleys of shot at close-range with the Prussian infantry.

It was at this point that the Prussian Bayreuth Dragoons decided to enter the battle. They were an oversize unit of horsemen numbering 1,500. A strong gust of wind blew the smoke of musket-fire and the dust away and revealed an opening between the Prussian lines through which to charge at the vulnerable Austrian infantry. It deployed into line and began to trot, then gallop, then charge at full speed, first turning north to annihilate the first Austrian column, then turning south to annihilate the second Austrian column. The Austrians, outnumbered, having been abandoned by their Saxon allies, and without cavalry protection were smashed by this cavalry charge and began to surrender en-masse. The Bayreuth Dragoons had faced off against thousands of Austrian infantry and only suffered 94 casualties. The last of their forces had given out and it was an absolute disaster and utter defeat for them. Dragoner-Regiment Nr. ...

Legacy

This battle was a great victory for Frederick, and soon he was being called "Frederick the Great" by his contemporaries. The Austrians and Saxons lost 4,000 killed and wounded, 7,000 prisoners, including 4 generals, and 66 guns. The Prussians lost 2,000. The charge of the Bayreuth Dragoons was studied by later Prussian and German officers as a model for aggressiveness, and the entire spirit of aggressiveness that Frederick the Great had instilled in his army as well as the large amount of autonomy given to his officers was likened to the tradition of Auftragstaktik. Also, the encirclement and annihilation of the Austrian infantry and the quick and decisive manner in which this battle played out is also often likened to Bewegungskrieg, or more commonly known as Blitzkrieg. Prince Charles of Lorraine had been defeated again like he had been at Battle of Chotusitz. This battle, however, showed that the Prussians could stand up against a numerically superior or equal enemy and utterly crush them. This battle was toward the end of the Second Silesian War, which was the last part of the war that Prussia would take part in. Later the Prussians would nearly lose at the Battle of Soor against the Austrians, whom were again led by Prince Charles of Lorraine. Soon after, the peace at Dresden was signed, thus ending the Second Silesian War. A Prussian military march, the Hohenfriedberger was allegedly composed by Frederick in honour of this battle. Mission-type tactics (German: Auftragstaktik, also known as directive control in the US), are a central component of the tactics of German armed forces since the 19th century. ... The defining characteristic of what is commonly known as Blitzkrieg is that it is a highly mobile form of mechanized warfare. ... Combatants Austria Prussia Commanders Prince Charles of Lorraine Frederick the Great Strength unknown unknown Casualties 7,000 dead, 18 guns and 12,000 prisoners 7,000 dead, 1,000 prisoners The Battle of Chotusitz (or Chotusice) was fought on May 17, 1742 between the Austrians under Prince Charles of Lorraine... The Silesian Wars were a series of wars between Prussia and Austria (and their changing allies) for control of Silesia. ... The Battle of Soor was fought on September 30, 1745 between Prussian and Austro-Saxon forces. ... Dresden (Sorbian: Drježdźany; etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest, Czech: ) is the capital city of the German Federal Free State of Saxony. ...

Notes

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Battle of Hohenfriedeberg

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References

• Chandler, David: The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough. Spellmount Limited, (1990). ISBN 0-946771-42-1
• Citino, Robert M.: The German Way of War: From the Thirty Years War to the Third Reich. University Press of Kansas, (2005). ISBN 0-7006-1410-9

Robert M. Citino is a history professor, scholar and writer currently teaching at Eastern Michigan University. ...

External links

• wargame about the battle