Battle near Reichenberg

Battle of Reichenberg

date	April 21, 1757
place	Reichenberg
output	Prussian victory

Parties to the conflict
Prussia Kingdom Prussia	Habsburg Monarchy Austria
Commander
Duke of Braunschweig-Bevern	Christian Moritz von Königsegg-Rothenfels
Troop strength
20,000	26,000
losses
181 killed (including 3 officers), 462 wounded (including 25 officers). A total of 643 (28 officers)	876 killed or wounded (including 2 generals, 25 officers) 336 prisoners (including 11 officers). A total of 1212 (including 2 generals, 36 officers) as well as 1 cannon and 3 standards.

The battle near Reichenberg took place on April 21, 1757. In the second year of the Seven Years' War , Frederick II decided to invade Bohemia and conquer Prague . His army was divided into four corps. The 3rd, under the Duke of Bevern , was instructed to advance via Reichenberg and to unite on the Iser with the 4th Corps under Field Marshal Schwerin .

prehistory

The Prussian attack corps under the Duke of Bevern gathered near Zittau in Upper Lusatia . It consisted of 20 battalions and 25 squadrons, altogether about 20,000 men. Bevern left three battalions behind to cover a large train of wagons laden with groceries that was to follow him. He set out from Zittau on April 19 and camped on April 20 at Berzdorf, an hour away from Reichenberg in northern Bohemia . The Austrian armed forces to be attacked amounted to 24 battalions, 29 grenadier companies, 33 squadrons and 5 carbine companies, a total of 26,000 men, including 4,500 horsemen. Of these, 12 battalions and 14 grenadier companies were under General Johann Sigismund Macquire von Inniskillen near Gabel ; 12 battalions, 15 grenadier companies, 20 squadrons and 2 carbine companies, under General Franz Moritz von Lacy near Reichenberg; Thirteen squadrons and three carbine companies were still several miles inland in Bohemia . Due to the troop movement under the Duke of Bevern to Berzdorf, his plan of attack was clear. The Austrian corps at Reichenberg awaited the battle. According to Austrian data it had a number of 14,000 men and 211 cannons, according to Prussian data of 20,000 men and was commanded by Feldzeugmeister Christian Moritz von Königsegg-Rothenfels .

The position of the Austrians

Since the trading place Reichenberg / Liberec had no city wall, the Austrian General Lacy had the place surrounded with palisades and some smaller fortifications during the winter of 1756/1757. In the vicinity of Reichenberg there are mountain heights that form an advantageous line of defense against army units advancing from the north. The Jizera Mountains , which were then densely forested and difficult to access, extended to the east . In the west of the place was a steep slope on which the Neisse formed a swampy bank landscape. This defensive position of the Austrians on the right bank of the Neisse, reinforced by further entrenchments, seemed unassailable. On the left bank of the Neisse up to the Jeschkenberg , about 3000 paces away , the terrain was flat, used for agriculture and suitable for mounted troops. A Prussian attack could be repulsed better on this side than from Berzdorf. General Lacy had therefore erected entrenchments on the left bank of the Neisse and secured them with a battalion, eleven grenadier companies and a few cannons. The Austrian cavalry had been set up in a small wood. The grove itself was locked up and occupied with a battalion and two grenadier companies. A few hundred paces behind the small wood, at the same height as the village of Franzenthal, not far from Reichenberg, a second, larger barricade was built on the edge of the forest and was occupied by two batteries. The Austrian General Macquire had instructions, if the Prussian Duke von Bevern should turn against Reichenberg, he should march his twelve battalions into the rear of the enemy via Machendorf in order to attack the Prussian troops from two sides. Following this instruction, a General Würben, presumably Count Karl Wenzel Anton von Wrbna and Freudenthal, stood ready with two battalions against Kratzau on April 20, 1757 . Since Count Würben found Kratzau already occupied by Prussian troops, he had his troops march in a roundabout way over the mountains to Reichenberg, where he arrived before the start of the battle on April 21, 1757 and was positioned on the far left wing. The appearance of this Austrian division in front of Kratzau prompted the Duke of Bevern to direct two battalions and five squadrons of hussars back to Kratzau on April 21 at daybreak. With the remaining 15 battalions and 20 squadrons, he made the decision to attack the Austrians near Reichenberg.

The battle

On the morning of the same day, the Prussians marched from Berzdorf in two columns under the protection of their cannons, without the Austrians intervening. They crossed a stream on a bridge that had been built in the night and formed in battle order on the plain: 12 battalions in the first, 3 battalions. and 15 squadrons of Dragoons in 2nd line; 5 squadrons of hussars to cover the right flank somewhat covered in a ground. Immediately the Prussian infantry advanced within range of the cannons. Suddenly it opened and through the gaps the 15 dragoon squadrons advanced to attack the Austrian cavalry. The "Liechtenstein" dragoon regiment, which was in their first meeting, and which was brought to a halt by the rapid, superior attack of the Prussians, also carried away the second meeting and was pursued beyond the small wood.

The Austrian battalion commander in charge noticed that the Prussian infantry were still too far away to support their cavalry. He seized the opportunity and placed his grenadiers at the side of the wood in the rear of the pursuing Prussian cavalry. The lively fire of these grenadiers and the gunfire from the opposite entrenchments forced the Prussian cavalry to retreat in great haste to their infantry. In the meantime the Liechtenstein regiment had regained its position, attacked the Prussian dragoons themselves and pursued them right up to their infantry. Only the fire of the latter and a simultaneous attack by the five squadrons of hussars erupting from the bottom against the left flank of the disordered Liechtenstein regiment, which was not supported by its 2nd meeting, gave air to the thrown Prussian cavalry. She straightened up again, attacked the Austrian dragoons again and put them to flight for the second time. General Porporatti , who commanded the Austrian cavalry, fell here at the head of his horsemen. The Austrian infantry standing in the little wood had advanced to support the attack of their dragoons, but had to retreat to their initial position after they were in retreat.

The Duke of Bevern realized that all his attacks against the enemy center would be pointless as long as the Austrians remained in possession of the barriers on their left flank. While his cavalry was pursuing the Austrians, he had the little wood attacked by three battalions. After some resistance, the grenadiers charged with defending it withdrew to the large mess at the rear. At the same time, the Prussian line, which still consisted of twelve battalions, was advancing within range of the Austrian artillery towards the entrenchments that had been thrown up on the left bank of the Neisse. The Austrian occupation had to withdraw in a hurry. because their cavalry had been forced to retreat as far as Franzenthal, partly by the Prussian infantry in possession of the little wood, and partly by the repeated attacks by the Prussian cavalry. As a result, the Prussians had already reached the entrenchments behind them. Now the three Prussian battalions attacked the second bailout. The Austrian infantry standing behind it, which saw their cavalry fleeing and abandoned the entrenchments, gave fire and then withdrew.

The withdrawal of the Austrians threatened to degenerate into a messy escape in the lively pursuit of the enemy. The Feldzeugmeister Königsegg tried to rearrange his defeated troops on the heights between the villages of Franzenthal and Johannisthal, but the Prussians didn't give him time. It was only with difficulty that he managed to gather his center and left wing on the heights behind Röchlitz. General Würben withdrew with his two battalions over the Jeschkenberg to Christdorf, where he stayed the night.

The right wing under General Lacy had to leave its fortified position without being attacked; he pulled himself past Reichenberg also to the heights behind Röchlitz . The battle lasted from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. As soon as Königsegg had united his corps, he continued his retreat via Langenbruck to Liebenau , where he was only weakly pursued by the Prussians. The Duke of Bevern slept on the heights of Röchlitz.

consequences

The Austrians lost more than 1,000 dead, wounded and prisoners. The Liechtenstein dragoon regiment suffered most. Some cannons stopped in Reichenberg. The loss of the Prussians, apparently a little too small, is given as 300 men.

The reasons for the loss of this battle for the Austrians were as follows:

Königsegg's incorrect assessment of the position at Reichenberg, in that he occupied the right wing, which was equally strong through nature and art and on which the least attack was to be made, with a large part of his infantry and artillery, while the weakest and most threatened part of the position, the Middle, was far too weak.
The weakness of the Austrian cavalry, with the exception of the Liechtenstein dragoon regiment.
General Macquire's failure to obey the orders given to him by withdrawing from Kratzau to Gabel with his 10 battalions and 14 grenadier companies in front of 2 Prussian battalions and 5 squadrons instead of operating behind them.

literature

Hans Eggert Willibald von der Lühe: Militair-Conversations-Lexikon. Volume 7, p. 87. (digitized version)
Johann Friedrich Constantin von Lossau: Ideals of warfare, in an analysis of the actions of the greatest generals. Volume 1. – 2. Abth. Frederick the Great. P. 197. (digitized version)
Carl von Decker: The battles and main skirmishes of the Seven Years' War. P. 46. (digitized version)