Page 77 - All About History - Issue 180-19

The Imperial Regiment Rot-
the enemy whose troops were on a low rise a short
distance to the northeast. It was imperative that the
three battalions spearheading the attack drive the
enemy from its position at all costs, he told them.
“It’s a case of do or die!” he said. “You’ve got the
enemy in front, and all our army behind. There is no
space to retreat, and the only way to go forward is to
beat the enemy!”
When Great Britain and France went to war
again in May 1756, the major powers in Europe
quickly took sides. Austria, Russia, Sweden and
Saxony sided with France, while Prussia and
Hanover sided with Great Britain. Austrian Empress
Maria Theresa had a score to settle with Prussia.
Frederick had taken the wealthy province of Silesia
from Austria during the so-called Silesian Wars
of the 1740s. He did so in order to improve the
economy of his largely agrarian realm, which lacked
minerals and industry. The empress desperately
wanted Silesia back.
Frederick invaded Saxony on 29 August 1756 to
secure the region for his forces and deny it to the
Austrians. After a six-week campaign, the Saxons
surrendered. The Austrian-led Holy Roman Empire
declared war on Prussia on 17 January 1757.
Frederick followed up his Saxony campaign by
invading the Austrian province of Bohemia adjacent
to Saxony on the south. Although he defeated an
Austrian army led by Prince Charles of Lorraine, the
empress’ brother-in-law, at Prague on 6 May, Austrian
Marshal Leopold von Daun handed Frederick his
first defeat at Kolin on 18 June.
Frederick then turned his attention to a Franco-
Imperial army approaching from the west. Leaving
Prussian Lt Gen Augustus William, Duke of
Brunswick-Bevern, in Silesia with 41,000 troops to
defend the province against the Austrians, Frederick
marched east to engage the Franco-Imperial army.
He soundly defeated French and Imperial forces on
5 November at Rossbach in Saxony.
The Austrians moved quickly against Bevern
while Frederick was addressing the threat posed
by the Franco-Imperial army. Lorraine and Daun
defeated and captured Bevern on 22 November
on the outskirts of Breslau. Frederick knew that
the Austrians were rampaging through central
Wurzburg fiercely defends the walls
of the Catholic Church in Leuthen © Alamy
Silesia, but he was unable to reach Breslau in time
to stave off disaster. Three days later the Breslau fell
to the Austrians.
The Prussian king wanted revenge for the
defeat of his troops at Breslau. After assimilating
the remnants of Bevern’s army with his own at
the Silesian town of Parchwitz 30 miles north of
Breslau, Frederick marched against the Austrians
on 4 December. The Austrians deployed for battle
the following day in a five-mile line just west of
Breslau. The Austrian line stretched from Nippern in
the north to Sagschutz in the south. The villages of
Frobelwitz and Leuthen fell within the Austrian line.
Frederick was with the Prussian advance guard
when it collided with an Austrian cavalry screen
outside Borne early on 5 December. The Prussians
won the clash, and they captured 600 Saxon
Chevaulegers fighting with the Austrians. The
Prussians had so intimidated the Austrian light
horse that it would not interfere with the Prussian
deployment at midday. In this way, Frederick
deprived Lorraine and Daun of their reconnaissance
arm when they most needed it. As the morning
77