Battle of Chotusitz
date | May 17, 1742 |
---|---|
place | Chotusitz, in today's Czech Republic |
output | Victory for Prussia |
Parties to the conflict | |
---|---|
Commander | |
Troop strength | |
23,500 men and 82 guns |
28,000 men 40 guns |
losses | |
4,778 dead, wounded and missing |
6,332 dead, wounded, missing and prisoners |
European theater of war: Mollwitz * - Chotusitz * - Dettingen - Bergen op Zoom - Maastricht - Toulon - Pfaffenhofen - Fontenoy - Hohenfriedberg ** - Soor ** - Hennersdorf ** - Kesselsdorf ** - Piacenza - Roucourt - Kap Finisterre 1 - Lauffeldt - Kap Finisterre 2
(*) First Silesian War - (**) Second Silesian War
Indian Theater of War: First Carnatic War
American Theater of War: King George's War
(1740–1742 / 1744–1745)
Glogau - Baumgarten - Mollwitz - Lesch - Chotusitz - Teltschitz - Pless - Ratibor - Hohenfriedberg - Thrush - Hennersdorf - Zittau - Kesselsdorf
In the battle of Chotusitz (today Chotusice , Okres Kutná Hora ) in Bohemia on May 17, 1742 23,500 Prussians under Frederick II defeated 28,000 Austrians under Prince Charles of Lorraine . The latter wanted to attack the Prussians, but found them in order of battle and were attacked and defeated by Frederick II on the left flank. The battle led directly to the Peace of Breslau , which temporarily ended the first Silesian War in a way that was advantageous for Prussia.
prehistory
Prince Karl had marched from Moravia to Bohemia with the intention of attacking the Prussian army. Friedrich had marched on Kuttenberg with his vanguard of about 10,000 men . The remaining army of around 15,000 men (including almost the entire cavalry ) followed a day later under the leadership of Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau . Since the two Prussian armies were a day's march apart and thus could not support each other, Karl had the opportunity to defeat one or both parts separately. However, he hesitated too long and gave the Prussians an opportunity to unite.
Leopold reached the village of Chotusitz, east of Kuttenberg, after a night march at 2 a.m. and set up camp a little north of the later battlefield. Karl von Lothringen, who still hoped to be able to intercept Leopold separately from Friedrich, marched north with his 28,000 men. He planned a nightly surprise attack, but the approach to the enemy took more time than expected, so he did not reach the battlefield until after dawn.
Friedrich, alarmed by the impending danger, instructed Leopold to take position around Chotusitz until the rest of the Prussians came up to join his right side. Friedrich marched off with his troops at 4 a.m. Leopold set up his troops with the front facing southeast, the infantry south of Chotusitz. The two wings of the Prussians were each covered by about 35 squadrons of cavalry. Karl marched north from the town of Czaslau (now Čáslav ), difficult terrain slowing his advance and causing his army to swerve slightly to the right, increasing their vulnerability to an attack on their left flank.
Commanding officers of the battle
Officers of the Prussians
- King Friedrich II.
- Lieutenant General Christoph Wilhelm von Kalckstein , center of the first meeting
- Lieutenant-General Wilhelm Dietrich von Buddenbrock , right wing cavalry in the first meeting
- General of the infantry Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau , leadership of the infantry in the second meeting
- Colonel Prince Ferdinand von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , on the king's staff
Officers of the Austrians
- Prince Karl Alexander of Lorraine shares the tour with Count Königsegg
course
At 7 a.m. the Austrians had unfolded and approached within cannon range, while Friedrich appeared on the battlefield with the rest of the Prussian army and joined Leopold's right wing. The king kept 23 battalions of infantry in reserve, hidden from the Austrians by a hill.
At 8 o'clock Karl ordered the attack. Buddenbrock's cavalry on the Prussian right wing attacked the cavalry on the Austrian left and drove them back to their second line. The second line threw the Prussians back in a wild scuffle. Buddenbrock's second cavalry line lost its direction due to the thickly blown dust, stayed too far to the left and got caught in Austrian infantry fire, which drove them back. Buddenbrock's cavalry played no part in the rest of the battle.
On the Prussian left, meanwhile, the cavalry attacked the advancing Austrians and made their way through enemy lines to the rear of the Austrian army, where they were cut off and isolated and could hardly intervene in the battle. The cavalrymen on the Austrian right rallied and proceeded against the Prussian camp behind Chotusitz, which they began to plunder, so that they no longer contributed to the further course of the battle.
In the center, the Austrians shot at Leopold's battalions with artillery and attacked with outnumbered infantry. The Prussians were driven back through the village, which caught fire.
At around 10:30 am, Friedrich had the infantry battalions on the right wing (around 12,000 men) that had been held back to attack the Austrians on their left flank. The Austrians began to retreat in front of the fire of the Prussian infantry that appeared unexpectedly. Karl recognized the danger of being cut off from his line of retreat through Czaslau and around noon ordered a general retreat. This was generally orderly, the Prussian cavalry was unable to pursue.
aftermath
The Prussians lost around 4,000 men dead and wounded and 700 as missing, the Austrians 3,000 men through death and wounding, 2,000 as missing (including many defectors after the battle) and 1,200 prisoners, around 20% of the forces on each side. Friedrich was considered the winner because he had claimed the field. Strategically, Chotusitz gave Friedrich the opportunity to conclude the separate preliminary peace in Breslau at the beginning of June 1742 and to withdraw from the war for the time being.
For his services in leading the first cavalry meeting of the right wing, Friedrich Leopold von Gessler was appointed lieutenant general and was awarded the Order of the Black Eagle . On the afternoon of the battle, the king appointed the Prince of Anhalt-Dessau field marshal in recognition of his services as commander of the infantry in the assembly camp in Czaslau .
Today's access to the battlefield
Visiting the former battlefield is difficult or impossible today, as most of it is located on the grounds of the 21st Air Force Tactical Base ( 21. základna taktického letectva ) - Čáslav of the Air Force of the Czech Republic . In addition, the area around the airfield is guarded by military police. For the reasons mentioned, direct access to the battlefield from Chotusice is not possible. Only the staging areas of the king (west of Chotusice) and the Austrians (east of Čáslav) are clearly visible.
See also
literature
- Hannsjoachim W. Koch: History of Prussia . Pawlak, Herrsching 1986, ISBN 3-88199-309-6 .
- Hanns Joachim Friedrichs: World history. A chronicle . Naturalis, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-88703-814-2 .
- Theodor Fontane : Walks through the Mark Brandenburg , Volume 3: “Havelland” - Etzin . (Report by a contemporary witness).
- Christopher Duffy: Frederick the Great. The biography . Albatros, Düsseldorf 2001, ISBN 3-491-96026-6 .
- Günter Dorn, Joachim Engelmann: Battles of Frederick the Great . Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 3-86047-242-9 .