In spring 1757, the Seven Years' War's first autumn and winter campaign lay behind them.
Europe stood at the brink of an enormous war, which would radically change the course of
history. Frederick the Great launched his spring campaign with a four-way invasion of Bohemia.
In north-eastern Bohemia, the first commander of his army to face combat was the Duke
of Brunswick-Bevern. At Reichenberg, he managed to rout the Habsburg army meant
to push back the Prussians. For Frederick, it was a promising start to the campaign.
The invasion continued with momentum. Two days after Reichenberg, Frederick crossed into Bohemia,
expelled the Austrians from Linay and positioned himself strategically to outflank the large
Austrian army under Field Marshal Browne at Budin. Browne's reinforcements commanded
by Duke Arenberg hadn't arrived yet, so he decided to retreat to the north-west of Prague.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Anhalt-Dessau linked up with Frederick at Linay. To their east,
Bevern captured Jung-Bunzlau, linking up with the 73-year-old Field Marshal Schwerin.
The storehouses nearby ensured the ability to feed their 40.000 soldiers for close to a month.
Thanks to their victory at Reichenberg, they would be able to form the right, to Frederick's
left pincer movement of the Bohemian capital. The Austrians were aware of the danger they faced.
In the Austrian camp, Browne frantically tried to get his men ready for combat.
As these parties all began planning for the inevitable upcoming battle, a well-known commander
arrived in Browne's camp. Prince Charles of Lorraine, commander-in-chief of the Habsburg army,
arrived in Prague in early May. The city was in disarray: fleeing citizens and decaying defences.
He took over command, and despite internal friction, every party understood it was the right
move. Browne suffered from severe tuberculosis but remained in the field despite his condition.
Charles called a council of war. They agreed they should meet Koenigsegg's corps,
retreating and still shaken from Reichenberg, near Prague, on the right bank of the Moldau.
They knew Marshal Daun marched from Moravia towards Koniggratz. Although in danger, for now,
their numbers were rapidly increasing. Charles augmented Prague's garrison with
13.000 troops. The remainder of the army, close to 60.000 soldiers, took their positions
around the eastern part of the city. Meanwhile, the Prussians continued their
advance. Frederick learned of the Austrians taking up their positions to the city's east.
Marshal Keith, commanding 32.000 soldiers, remained on the left bank of the Moldau, while
Frederick linked up with Schwerin to Prague's northeast. He commanded up to 64.000 troops.
On the morning of May 6, Prince Charles wasn't worried about what the day would bring.
His army held strong defensive positions, and even more reinforcements were on their way.
But his confidence that day would be calm was misplaced. At around 5:30 AM Charles received
alarming news from his irregulars. Austrian outposts were pushed back around Prossik.
Thirty minutes later, Charles ordered the battle formations.
It seemed like a full-scale attack was imminent. Charles positioned his army to the north of
Maleschitz, the small village to Prague's east. His left flank rested against the Ziska hill. His
command spanned along the Tabor hill towards Kej. Browne held the command of Austria's right-wing,
sharply bending south along Sterbohol. His right was held by cavalry. In total, up to
62.000 troops were deployed outside Prague. 70 Infantry battalions, 124 cavalry squadrons and
up to 200 guns. Several thousand, including 5000 cavalry, remained inside the city's
walls. The Battle of Prague was a muddled and chaotic affair, even more than usual. As such,
reconstructing certain parts of the battle is challenging and sometimes open to interpretation.
[Battle sequence]
Those first skirmishes at Prossik, alarming Charles,
were conducted by Schwerin and Winterfeldt. They commanded two columns. After taking Prossik,
their army awaited Frederick's arrival. When he arrived, a bit after 6 AM, the Prussian army's
size swole to 64.000. In total, the Prussian King commanded 66 infantry battalions, 123 cavalry
squadrons and around 190 artillery pieces. The Prussians enjoyed a slight numerical superiority.
But the King was in quite a sorry state. He suffered severe food poisoning
and could barely ride his horse without throwing up.
After a brief deliberation with his generals, they decided to move fast and concentrate their attack
along the Austrian right flank. The Prussians immediately began their march,
with Lieutenant General Johann Karl Schoinach's dragoons moving far in advance as the vanguard.
When Charles noticed this, he sent units from the centre to augment the right. Some 15 regiments
of cavalry under General Andras Hadik and 40 grenadier companies were concentrated around
Sterbohol. The Austrian cavalry arrived just in time. Schonaich's dragoons launched a frontal
cavalry charge, countered by the freshly arrived Austrians. A prolonged cavalry fight followed,
lasting for the remainder of the battle. Meanwhile in the background, Schwerin and
Winterfeldt led their soldiers past Poczernitz. They faced continuous artillery shelling.
Because the Prussian artillery could not traverse the marshy ground, they all concentrated along one
narrow road. Cluttered with heavy guns, the road became obstructed. Consequently, the infantry had
to walk through the marshy meadows and fields. Frankly, the terrain was quite inhospitable
for the infantry, and men were already tiring. Finally, Schwerin's fourteen infantry regiments
took up their positions, facing the majority of Browne's infantry between Sterbohol and Kej.
Frederick commanded the centre, Schwerin the left, with Winterfeldt commanding the right vanguard.
Realising the delay's danger, Winterfeldt decided not to wait for official orders and ordered his
eight battalions to charge. They moved forward in their characteristic disciplined formation,
like a moving wall, traversing water reaching their waist.
They received orders not to fire until they came close to the Austrian lines.
Frederick was unhappy with the early assault. Old Schwerin disagreed: "Frische Eier, gute Eier"
he said, meaning something like "The early bird gets the worm" before leading his men into battle.
Those were the last words he would ever speak to his King.
The Austrian artillery on the Homolo hill and grenadiers standing on its slopes fired
volley after volley. Not retaliating, the Prussians suffered enormous casualties.
The frontlines received the brunt of the damage, and several units were near-entirely decimated,
if not routed. Moreover, the poor terrain conditions considerably slowed down their advance.
General Winterfeldt was among the frontlines leading by example. During the advance,
an accurate shot hit him in the neck. He was severely wounded as he fell from his horse.
Schwerin and several of his most trusted soldiers moved forward to carry Winterfeldt
back to safety. Schwerin rode in the front as his men carried Winterfeldt away, ready to lead by
example. As he continued the advance, a canister blast mortally struck his head, removing most of
it. He died on impact. Austrian artillery continued to tear through Prussian lines.
The charge had been an absolute disaster so far. The battle had been going on for a while now,
and around 11 AM the Austrian inroads against the Prussian lines showed. Things were not looking
good. Confident he was capitalising on his success, Browne launched what he was confident
would be the last charge against the Prussians. But near the city of Kej, held by Koenigsegg,
the Prussian commanders noticed a gap between Prince Charles' north-facing troops and Browne's
eastern lines. The charge would prove to be a crucial mistake. Bevern commanded
the infantry nearby, although sources indicate regimental commanders acted on their own accord.
They mounted a full charge. Facing little resistance, they managed to
flank Koenigsegg's infantry. Suddenly, the Austrian position did not seem as stable.
Browne's men fiercely resisted the Prussians, and savage combat broke out. This charge nearby Kej
is generally considered the turning point of the battle.
During all this intense fighting, more misfortune struck the Austrians.
A cannonball struck Browne. It shattered his leg, and he had to be carried away from the
battlefield. As the fortunes were changing for Austria, they were left leaderless.
Throughout the battle, General von Zieten had been roaming the rear of the Prussian lines.
All the way to the south, he saw an opening of the Austrian right flank.
He didn't think for too long and ordered his Hussars to launch a charge against Hadik.
The clash was enormous, and somewhat unexpected. The impact quickly spread through the Austrian
lines like a shockwave. Suddenly Zieten turned the indecisive cavalry battle. Many infantry regiments
realised the sudden gravity of the situation: they were close to getting stuck in a pincer movement.
All troops between Sterbohol and Hostawitz collapsed. Many retreated towards Prague,
and a significant force retreated to the south. During this, Prince Charles collapsed. It
is unclear what happened, but he likely suffered a seizure leaving him incapacitated.
Austrian commanders rallied some retreating Austrian infantry behind the Tabor hill.
As the Prussians chased the infantry, fierce resistance blocked their passage.
They inflicted heavy casualties. Meanwhile, General Manstein became frustrated with his
lack of combat. He decided to launch a charge of his own accord. To his right stood Prince Henry,
who crossed the Roketnitzer stream to support Manstein in a famous event. The Austrians holding
the northern lines put up fierce resistance, but both commanding generals were quickly killed.
The infantry soon gave way. Prince Henry appeared on the north-west of the Austrian lines; to their
south, von Zieten advanced along Neu Straschnitz. Again, the Austrians risked becoming stuck in a
pincer movement and retreated towards Prague. The Austrian cavalry remained disciplined enough
to continue brief counter-attacks protecting their infantry during the entire retreat. Most soldiers
managed to find refuge in Prague, though a force of around 12.000 fled to the south.
Pursuing them was unthinkable - the battlefield was littered with dead and dying men.
The casualties during the battle mounted to astonishing levels. Contemporary plays and
ballads referring to the battle used it synonymously for slaughter and massacre.
The Prussians suffered 3099 dead, 8208 wounded (with many succumbing to their injuries) and
1657 missing. 400 officers were among the killed - one field marshal, one general, and three other
generals were mortally wounded. These official figures are commonly thought to be underreported,
with the actual figures being even higher. The Austrians suffered a fewer number of
casualties, totalling some 13.400. Again, among them some 400 officers. Many of them
were prisoners of war. Sure, it was a Prussian victory, but an incredibly costly one at that.
[Aftermath]
The death of several senior officers on both sides, and Frederick's incapacitation due to
food poisoning, made the battle quite a muddled affair. Besides Schwerin and Winterfeldt,
Generals Fouque and Kursell were severely injured, while their regiments suffered over
fifty percent casualties. Frederick later wrote to King George he lost Schwerin,
"one of the greatest generals of the century." But admitting his losses wasn't the same as
admitting the battle had been more costly than he anticipated. To his sister, he wrote he had
"totally beaten the Austrian army. They are entirely separated (...) and I hope to take
most of the generals and soldiers [in Prague] as prisoners of war." His mother received a letter in
which he boasted of "being free with 150.000 men, while he dispersed the Austrians in the wind."
This was all window dressing, to put it bluntly. In private, Frederick admitted to the gravity
of the situation. He blamed more or less every subordinate of his, and surviving letters reveal
his generals and brothers blamed him in turn. But he did learn from mistakes made. For example,
firing volleys during marching was a tactic he disavowed, but now reinstated. As a result,
his troops would never again have to hold fire during their advance forward.
As for Austria, the defeat certainly put Vienna on high alert. Their French allies weren't too
impressed with their conduct. The cannonball shattering Browne's leg proved fatal - he died
on June 26. "Austria lost one of her best, if not the best general," Frederick wrote.
The battle's aftermath didn't play in Frederick's favour. Over 46.000 soldiers now defended Prague,
and it soon turned out they were well-provisioned, contrary to what Frederick assumed.
And remember the 12.000-odd troops who didn't flee to Prague but turned south? Well,
in the south-east, Austrian Field Marshal Daun was assembling a 55.000-strong army, welcoming
most of these soldiers. Frederick established siege batteries and briefly bombarded Prague.
But once news reached him of Daun's large Austrian army, he decided he would not be able to continue
the siege of Prague with this danger looming. He began preparing the march towards his next
battle, which would become the famous Battle of Kolin.
Thank you for watching this video.