The 1757 Battle of Prague was an incredibly bloody and costly affair for Austria and Prussia.
Suffering enormous casualties, Prussia's King Frederick the Great emerged victoriously.
Still, the fleeing Austrians retreated behind the Bohemian capital's walls.
Frederick was convinced he could force the city and its garrison to its knees.
On May 29, he began the bombardment of Prague. With ten twenty-five pounder
guns and twelve heavy mortars, the Prussians fired over 30.000 shells. But the garrison in
Prague evidently enjoyed more provisions and tenacity than Frederick anticipated.
Then, horrifying news reached him. By early June, he learned of Field Marshal Leopold, Count von
Daun assembling a new, large army to the east. Initially, Frederick assumed this was no more than
20.000 troops. Daun probably retreated with them after learning of the Austrian defeat at Prague.
But General Georg Puttkammer, who chased the fleeing Austrian garrison,
relayed to him Daun commanded 55.000 soldiers, including those who fled the Battle of Prague.
This was a serious problem - Frederick did not have enough resources to conduct a siege
and face a massive army simultaneously. Daun was no stranger to Frederick, although the
Prussian King didn't know it. The Austrian Field Marshal made a name for himself a decade earlier,
seeing combat at Chotusitz, Hohenfriedberg and Soor. Whereas Daun had ample opportunity to
study Frederick as a commander, Frederick barely knew anything about him. This was the first time
he faced an army commanded by Daun. Upon learning of Daun's strength,
Frederick's first act was to dispatch the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern in Kolin's direction.
With a 19.000-strong army, he marched east, capturing supply depots along the way.
Meanwhile, the Prussians were slowly grasping the severity and impact the Battle of Prague
caused to their army. The situation was bad. The final figures of Prague were worse than expected.
A surviving account of one of the Prussian officers clearing the battlefield reveals:
"It is dreadful beyond conception to walk in a field of battle after victory,
to see friends and enemies, men and horses, the dead and dying, all heaped together…
and almost floating in blood. The stench of carnage fills the air with infection,
and the groans of those who yet live rise as if in union on every side."
Then, Frederick received news of a new Franco-Austrian treaty, in which France
pledged 120.000 soldiers and to not lay down arms until Austria captured Silesia entirely.
Letters from the Duchy of Prussia revealed a Russian fleet entered the Baltic sea
and an Austrian deserter confirmed Frederick's worst fear:
Prague held enough provisions to last a couple of months at least.
Not knowing what to expect of his adversary, Frederick decided to raise a force and travel
east. He left Field Marshal Keith in charge of the siege of Prague.
A letter he wrote Keith on June 6 reveals he was confident but serious about the situation:
"'Leopold Daun is being reinforced. We must prevent him [interfering with us],
must put together all we can, attack him, and chase him as far away as possible.'"
On June 14, he linked up with Bevern nearby Kolin. Bevern informed him that Daun was commanding a
worrisome large army. Daun camped at Tschaslau and had just received direct orders from Maria Theresa
to relieve Prague's garrison. He ran into Zieten's hussars multiple times, preventing a direct attack
against Bevern's force, but certainly alerting him that the Prussians knew of his whereabouts.
Frederick didn't know about Daun's goal to relieve Prague,
but he suspected battle was imminent. He sent word to Prince Moritz of Anhalt-Dessau
at Prague. Moritz rounded up any and all soldiers he could find, who would not be missed during the
siege. Forty-eight hours later, Moritz arrived at Kolin with reinforcements.
Frederick commanded some 35.000 men. Daun still outnumbered him significantly, by some 20.000.
[Battle Formations]
Daun was well-aware that the Prussians were in the region thanks to the skirmishes. His
scouts informed him of Bevern's army, augmented by Frederick and Moritz. With some characteristic
cautious manoeuvring, Daun marched against the Prussians, reaching their flank. On the evening
of June 16, he deployed his army in two lines, on slight slopes south of the Imperial Road.
They spanned from Blinka all the way north towards Krzeczhorz. Irregulars under General
Beck held Planjan. Nadasdy's irregulars remained south of the main army, able to
move towards whichever flank required them. The Austrian movements did not go unnoticed.
Frederick, camped nearby Kurim, realised Daun attempted to cut them off. He decided to move
his entire army to the north. Meanwhile, Daun received a (false) message that Frederick expected
up to 60.000 reinforcements later that night. So Daun extended his lines with his left to Krichnau
and his right to Radowesnitz. By the morning of June 18, Daun's men were ready. He commanded
between 28- and 35000 infantry, between 14- and 18.630 cavalry and around 150 artillery pieces.
Meanwhile, Frederick decided it was time to move. Surely, he could circumvent Daun's army,
reach the east's lower slopes, and flank the Austrians. When
Beck was quickly expelled from Planian, his confidence grew. Adhering to that strategy,
his commanders ordered their army forward. In total, Frederick commanded between 32 and
34.000 soldiers. 18.000 infantry, 14.000 cavalry and some 88 guns.
Frederick kept part of his cavalry in reserve for a mopping-up operation, or reinforcements
if need be. He had no idea Daun extended his position to Krzeczhorz and Radowesnitz.
[Battle Sequence]
At noon on June 18, an exceptionally dry and hot summer's day, the Prussian columns began their
march from Planian. General Johann Dietrich von Hülsen commanded the vanguard. Lieutenant-General
von Treskow followed with his division. Zieten commanded some 50 squadrons of Hussars to protect
their flank. Manstein commanded the middle and Bevern the right. As the Prussian column marched,
news reached Frederick that it may take longer than anticipated to circumvent the Austrians.
Rumours of Daun expanding his lines east worried the King. Some woodlands,
the Eichenwald, lay south of Krzeczhorz. When the Austrian bombardment erupted, Frederick figured
passing through the woodlands would achieve the same encirclement effect with fewer casualties.
He told Hulsen to explore the shortcut. Frederick had no idea that this uphill
shortcut marched straight towards General von Wied's hidden division.
Combined with the infantry deployed within the village, the Austrians were about to shoot at the
oblivious Prussians like fish in a barrel. When they turned south, parallel to Krzeczhorz, indeed
the Prussian infantry came under heavy fire. Hearing the noise of battle and volleys,
Frederick deduced the Austrian right flank was much stronger than he anticipated. This
was it - there was no more time for elaborate manoeuvring. As Zieten ran into Nadasdy's cavalry
in the east, Frederick ordered Moritz to launch a frontal charge against the Austrian positions.
Statements survive of Moritz telling Frederick the idea was ridiculous but to no avail. Fraser writes
the infantry marched "forward in a frontal attack, uphill, outnumbered, and with no favourable
circumstance whatsoever." It was a desperate manoeuvre. The Austrian infantry and artillery,
safely positioned on the Krzeczhorz hill, launched volley after volley.
They tore into Moritz's division. The Prince reportedly exclaimed the battle was lost.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Prussian column was still trekking along the Imperial Road
and taking their positions. Croat sharpshooters positioned around Brezan
picked off soldiers on the flank. In an attempt to mitigate the casualties,
Major General von Manstein took part of his army and charged in the village's direction,
scattering the sharpshooters. However, the town enjoyed more defenders than he anticipated,
and as savage fighting erupted, he called in support of his reserves.
As the fighting around Brezan and Chozenitz continued, his soldiers
slowly pushed towards the hill. The advance began extending beyond what Manstein intended,
but the chaos on the ground prevented him from pulling his army back safely. Several detachments
began climbing the Przerovsky Hill. Along most of the Prussian front, the scene was the same:
infantry climbing over their dead or dying comrades, sustaining heavy fire. But
Manstein's attack did ensure the Austrians could not reinforce their right flank.
In utter desperation at his lack of reinforcements,
Frederick ordered 67-year-old General Peter von Penavaire to launch a cavalry charge.
They advanced past Brezan, before being mauled by heavy artillery fire and a cavalry counter-attack.
Despite the casualties, at around 7 PM, Moritz's infantry reached the top of the Krzeczhorz
Hill. The subsequent close combat appeared to favour the Prussians.
Another charge launched by Bevern pushed into the Austrian left flank on top of the Przerovsky.
Then, on the far left of the Prussians, Major General Christian von Krosigk launched
a cavalry charge against Krzeczhorz. The combination of the sudden momentum,
Prussian advance and the Austrians running out of ammunition a nd wavering lines made it seem that
Prussia was about to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It wou ld not have been the first time.
But it just wasn't enough. Krosigk was struck by a cannonball, dying on impact. Fighting continued
for a while, but the brigade began wavering before cracking and scattering. Penavaire's damaged
cavalry retreated to the Imperial Road as well. The Prussian infantry was exhausted and battered.
Whenever they made an opening in the Austrian lines, it was filled with fresh reserves.
Finally, the late Krosigk's cavalry suffered a heavy counter-attack
by the much more numerous Austrian cavalry stationed near the Eichenwald.
Bevern's infantry suffered heavy casualties, battered by the artillery and infantry on the
hill. Some sources indicate Bevern managed to scale the hill and line up his army.
But the flanking of the Netherland Ligne Dragoon Regiment from the left,
crushed his infantry and they retreated to the Imperial Road. On the left, the Austrian cavalry
surrounded the Prussian vanguard. Treskow was wounded and captured, together with his infantry.
At around 8 PM the Prussians retreated. Ziethen and Hulsen maintained Order among their troops,
preventing Daun from following up their victory with a chase.
Kolin's score was gruesome. The Prussian army received an enormous blow.
Of their infantry, 8755 were killed or went missing. 3568 were wounded. Of the cavalry,
1450 men and even more horses were killed. To put it into perspective: over a third of the
troops deployed became a casualty statistic. They lost an additional 5380 men as POWs.
Daun lost 8114 soldiers (most were wounded), totalling about 15 percent of
the troops deployed. The Austrians camped on the field, a classic sign of victory.
[Aftermath]
When news of the victory reached Vienna, the city burst into spontaneous celebration. Maria
Theresa created the eponymous Order, awarding Daun the first Grand Cross.
Allegorical works were written, and the Pope conferred his indescribable jubilation.
As you can imagine, the mood in Berlin stood in stark contrast to these jubilations. After
nearly two decades of incredible success, this defeat served as a cold shower to the Prussians.
Tim Blanning writes: "in just a few hours, Frederick lost more than a battle.
His superhuman reputation had collapsed." Austrian memoirs reveal how their opinion of Prussian
soldiers shifted - it turned out they could be made to flee. In a letter to Marshal Keith,
Frederick conceded he had tried to do "too much with too few." He became depressed
and disillusioned, ordering Prince Henry to prepare to lift the siege of Prague.
His cynic wit shows in one of his letters: "Success breeds overconfidence, and the next
time I will do better. Every man must have his setbacks, and it seems [I] shall have mine."
In his political testament, written 11 years after the battle, Frederick wrote
how if they had won at Kolin "the Austrian army in Prague would have had to capitulate,
a French army would not have crossed the Rhine, the Russians would have stayed at home and
Austria would have had to make peace on Prussian terms." Blanning remarks, very much to the point:
"In the event, the opposites of all those things happened. And with them, the defeat transformed
the very nature of the war." Frederick's war was about to turn into a war of attrition,
and his enemies were more than ready to capitalise on the Austrian success.
Thank you for watching this video.