The 18th century was not known for its rapid communication. During the Seven Years' War,
this was no different. By early September, Frederick the Great was still oblivious to
Field Marshal Hans von Lehwaldt's defeat at Gross Jagersdorf over a week earlier.
In fact, the spirits in the Prussian camp are described as pretty optimistic
during this time. But the war was dragging on, and frankly, Prussia's
position was anything but to be happy about. At this stage of the war, there were roughly
three fronts Prussia had to consider. The Russians were a source for worry in the east.
Although, frankly, after Gross-Jagersdorf they did not follow up their victory and left the Duchy
of Prussia alone. To the south, the Austrians pestered the Silesian and Saxon frontiers. And
to the west, the French and Imperial army were becoming a major worry for the Prussian King.
In July, at Hastenbeck, the Duke of Cumberland suffered a defeat against a French army.
This freed the French and Imperial army to link up and move against Prussia's western border.
As for the Saxon-Silesian front, we left it right after Prussia's defeat at Landeshut in early
August. The door to Silesia was left wide open. The strategic situation roughly was as follows:
Habsburg commanders Nadasdy, Beck and Arenberg roamed the Silesian frontier.
The Duke of Brunswick-Bevern, assisted by General Winterfeldt, held gateways to Silesia with some
40.000 soldiers around Gorlitz. He was to report any severe incursions against
Silesian territory as soon as they happened. To the west, the defeat at Hastenbeck led to
negotiations between France and Hanover. These negotiations would eventually result
in the Convention of Klosterzeven, leading to Hanover's withdrawal from the war and partial
occupation by France. The convention wasn't signed until September 10. But by late August,
the writing was already on the wall. At Dresden, Frederick, Keith and Moritz,
planned accordingly. Since their Hanoverian allies would soon be of no use,
they prepared for a march against the combined French-Imperial army in the west.
If that army linked up with the Austrians, it would all be over. This was their only hope
to save Prussia's western flank and with it, its existence. They commanded some 25.000 soldiers,
a vastly inferior number to the French-Imperial armies.
In Bohemia, to the east, besides the commanders of irregulars, Field-Marshal Daun commanded
around 75.000 soldiers. Being a notoriously cautious and patient commander, he mainly
roamed around in friendly territory, attempting to find an opening into the Silesian heartland.
For weeks, skirmishes continued along the entire frontier. But none of them proved decisive,
nor did any of them seduce the other side to engage in a large scale battle.
Not for lack of trying on Prussia's side, but the Austrian commanders understood they enjoyed
a numerical- and supply superiority. Time was on their side. There was no reason to engage
in a major battle. For example, the Austrian army was firmly entrenched in Zittau. There
was no reason for them to move, and for Prussia it was impossible to mount any type of assault.
As they sustained constant harassment by irregulars, the relationship between
Bevern and Winterfeldt was nothing to write home about. Frederick purposefully left Winterfeldt
together with Bevern, as the ageing Duke did not have the King's complete confidence.
This dynamic caused embarrassment for Bevern, and annoyance for Winterfeldt,
who did not like the fact his superior impeded his autonomy.
The Prussian army was roughly split in two with this dynamic in mind. Bevern commanded 30.000
soldiers, holding the strategically well-fortified Gorlitz. Winterfeldt
commanded some 10.000 soldiers, on the right bank of the Neisse river nearby Moys. They were close
to each other. Very close. But still, separate. In Vienna, the lack of initiative by Prince
Charles and Daun rubbed Maria Theresa the wrong way ever since the war broke out. In late August,
she sent one of her many letters to Prince Charles, goading him into action. He had
to retake Silesia. Especially now that Frederick was pre-occupied in the west. Unbeknownst to her,
recent developments highly played in their favour. It spurred Charles to finally take action.
Nadasdy seized a strategic position near Seidenberg, close to Winterfeldt's encampment.
The time was right not just to enter Silesia, but hopefully seize the entire province, and push
through to Saxony and perhaps even Brandenburg. If done correctly, they could decapitate Prussia.
They could at least sever its limbs. On the morning of September 7, Prince
Charles ordered Nadasdy to move into Silesia along the right bank of the Neisse. Daun,
commanding the main Austrian army, moved close behind Nadasdy in case something went wrong.
[Battle formations]
To the west of the Neisse lay Gorlitz, where most of the Prussian army, some
30.000 soldiers, camped. A wooden bridge over the Neisse connected Gorlitz and Moys. At Moys,
Winterfeldt's 10.000-strong corps camped. On the morning of September 7, Nadasdy reached
the vicinity of Moys. He commanded between 20- and 26.000 soldiers, including artillery. Five
thousand of them were cavalry, and a few thousand were irregulars. Mainly Croats and Hungarians.
Winterfeldt's soldiers were outnumbered at least 2 to 1. The Austrians swiftly expelled
some outposts at Hermsdorf and Leopoldshain. That morning, Winterfeldt was absent. He
likely was in a meeting with Bevern across the Neisse. The commander's absence when
Prussian scouts noticed Nadasdy's numerous army approach from the south-east could have impeded
the deployment stages of many armies with a centralised command structure at the time.
But thanks to Frederick's military reforms, many Prussian units acted autonomously. When
the scouts warned them of the approaching army, they took their positions accordingly.
General von Zieten commanded the left-wing of the Prussian army, consisting of 35 squadrons of
cavalry and eight battalions of Infantry. 2000 Prussian grenadiers stood on the slope of the
Jackelsberg in front of Moys, to the south-east of the main army. The remainder of the army was
positioned on Moys’ outskirts. The Austrians divided their army in two parts. On the right,
they occupied Hermsdorf and Leopoldshain. The left, commanded by Arenberg, preyed on
the Jackelsberg. To the south of Moys, two hussar regiments roamed around looking for an opening.
[Battle sequence]
Nadasdy's order to open artillery fire from the hill north of Thielitz
marked the start of the battle. At 0600 AM an enormous bombardment erupted.
After briefly battering the Prussian lines, the duke of Arenberg
launched his attack. Commanding six companies, they marched uphill, through the plain,
against the Prussians who were hastily taking their positions.
Additionally, some 1000 Croat irregulars joined the advance. They stormed the
Jakelsberg. The Prussians and Austrians heavily clashed on the slopes of the hill.
Despite their numerical inferiority, Prussian tenacity initially showed.
The Austrians, scaling slopes, engaged in heavy close-combat with the Prussians. These managed
to maintain control of the battlefield and halt the Austrian advance. Firing their characteristic
volleys of fire, they tore into the Austrian lines inflicting significant casualties. When
the smoke cleared, the first wave of Austrians retreated. The attack was repelled, for now.
Winterfeldt heard the noise of battle from a distance. Around this time he likely also
learned the Prussian outposts had been expelled by a much larger force. He deduced this wasn't just
a slight skirmish but in fact a major assault. So he rallied as many men as he could, and with some
five battalions, he returned to Moys. Nadasdy ordered a renewed assault. This time
with more soldiers. Significantly outnumbering the Prussians, the Austrians moved forward against the
Prussian vanguard. Duke Arenberg, on the left, again launched an attack against the Jakelsberg.
The remainder of the infantry marched against the Lange Berg in front of Moys.
The Prussians on the Lange Berg launched volley after volley. The artillery tore into the Austrian
lines. But around the Jakelsberg, slowly, the Austrians pushed the Prussians up the mountain.
This continued until Arenberg's vanguard reached the outskirts of Moys.
Around this time Winterfeldt arrived. He found a battlefield where
his troops on the Jakelsberg were pushed back by more numerous Austrians. On the Landberg, savage
hand-to-hand combat erupted. Whereas the Austrians initially enjoyed an advantage, now Winterfeldt's
fresh battalions pushed back the attack. But their advantage was short-lived.
Nadasdy urged on the attack, and 22 additional cavalry squadrons and Infantry joined the fight.
Winterfeldt understood he didn't stand a chance against the numerically superior army. Messengers
rushed to’-and-fro' Bevern's camp, requesting reinforcements. But these never arrived.
Combat continued for about an hour, but it was clear the Austrians were pushing
into the Prussian lines. During a counter-attack, Winterfeldt was struck by a bullet in his spine.
Eyewitness accounts reveal Winterfeldt spent his last moments alive giving orders to his
subordinates. He remained conscious until the end. After a few hours of heavy, close-quarter combat,
Nadasdy finally enjoyed part of his vanguard in strategic positions on the rises.
He used his numerical superiority. Part of his army managed to circumvent the Prussians
around the Jakelsberg. They attacked the Prussian lines from the flank. Zieten attempted to mount
a relief effort, but Nadasdy held enough reserves to quickly nip this in the bud.
At around 1:30 PM the Prussians began the retreat over the bridge towards Gorlitz. By this time,
the severity of the situation dawned on the commanders there. Prussian batteries
across the Neisse ensured the Austrians couldn't pursue the retreating Prussians.
Then again, the Austrians didn't want to. They were more than happy with their victory.
The battle of Moys is a footnote of the Seven Years' War. But the casualties and
especially the subsequent events tell another story. The Prussians lost some 2000 men,
with severe losses among several battalions. The 41st Infantry defending the Jakelsberg lost 204
dead and 68 wounded by the end of the battle. The 21st Infantry lost 376 men. Among the casualties
were 51 officers and General Winterfeldt. Meanwhile, the Austrians suffered around 1500
casualties, both killed and wounded. 79 officers, around 1300 wounded and up to 200 dead or missing.
[Aftermath]
It is briefly worth reflecting on why Bevern didn't send any reinforcements to support
Winterfeldt. Redman rightly argues the personal animosity between the commanders is not enough
reason. It indeed isn't. Perhaps Bevern wrongly believed Winterfeldt was winning the battle,
or that the situation wasn't as serious.
Credible primary sources did not survive the test of time, if they even existed at all. All
that is known is that there is no denying more could have been done to save Winterfeldt's army.
Now, bad news quickly followed each other up. Firstly, Frederick learned of Lehwaldt's defeat
at Gross-Jagersdorf. That same day, the convention of Kloster Zevern was signed, confirming Hanover's
withdrawal from the war. That same week, the first Swedish army landed in Pomerania.
But perhaps most importantly, Bevern decided to retreat deeper into Silesia because of the defeat.
During this retreat, irregulars commanded by General Beck harassed them along the way.
Bevern's withdrawal would have far-reaching consequences for the course of the war.
Frederick initially was none the wiser about Winterfeldt's death.
A letter from September 14, 1757 survives. In it, Frederick writes to Winterfeldt:
"'Everything is going splendidly here, but I am very worried by
a rumour which has come to me from Lusatia. I don't know what to
make of it. They write to me from Dresden that you have been killed,
and from Berlin that you received a cut in the shoulder' (PC 9336)."
He did learn the truth shortly after.
Winterfeldt's death impacted Frederick. Much more so than Schwerin's.
Duffy writes that towards the end of his life when discussing Moys, he burst out:
"That was where Winterfeldt was killed! He was a good man - a man of soul - he was my friend!"
His great eyes brimmed with tears as he looked towards the window.
He opened the casement and stood there sometime before he turned back to Reichel and sent him
on his way with a perceptible softening in his voice: "Goodnight, I am obliged to you".
As for Winterfeldt's remains, they were returned to Prussia two days after the battle,
under the flag of truce. The next few weeks, Bevern's army was chased by
90.000 Austrians. And in the west, trouble continued brewing as well.
There was no end in sight for Prussia's war on multiple fronts. The next decisive moment would
be the Battle of Rossbach, where Prussia's future, and its existence, would be decided.
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