On the early morning of November 20, 1759, Prussian General Finck and his army camped
around the village of Maxen.
The King tasked him with an important, and crucial mission.
He was to cut off the Austrian army from their supply lines.
As dawn set in, several scouts rushed towards his quarters.
Austrian troops were approaching from not one, not two, but three sides.
They were surrounded.
There was no way out.
General Finck had no other option but to fight for survival.
[Text: "The King of Prussia sells his defeats at a dear rate."
Russian General Saltykov to Tsarina Elizabeth]
[Text: "Never have I found myself in such a frightful situation as this" - Frederick
to his minister Finckenstein]
The Battle of Kunersdorf was the worst defeat of the Prussian army in three wars.
Prussia's 48.000-strong army deteriorated into, at best, 3000 soldiers resembling somewhat
of a fighting force.
There was no way the Kingdom would survive this, as the Austrians, Russians, Imperials
and Swedes had the perfect opportunity to converge against it.
Exactly what Frederick the Great had feared all this time.
In the battle's direct aftermath, Frederick was violently ill, exhausted, depressed, and
contemplated suicide or abdication.
The Kingdom was in dire straits.
But despite their victory at Kunersdorf, the Russians also received an enormous blow.
Their losses were not to be underestimated.
Saltykov lost 4700 men at the Battle of Kay, and another 19.000 at Kunersdorf.
His army bore the absolute brunt of the damage.
When General von Laudon urged Saltykov to launch a pursuit, the Russian general did
not want to risk worsening the Pyrrhic victory.
He did not pursue it, and neither did Laudon.
The Prussian army, or what was left of it, was left alone.
It led to a remarkable recovery.
When the Prussians learned their enemies would not pursue them, everything was set in motion
to recover from their losses.
Two weeks after the battle, Frederick wrote a letter to Prince Henry:
"I can announce to you the miracle of the House of Brandenburg: just when the enemy
had crossed the Oder and could have finished the war by risking a [second] battle, he marched
[in opposite direction].
I marched first to cut him off from that part of Lusatia which was being obliged to keep
him supplied."
Officers rounded up those who fled; soldiers returned when they realised a counterattack
was not imminent.
General Finck levied the unscathed small Prussian army in Pomerania, to march them towards Frederick's
camp.
By the end of August, his army numbered 33.000 soldiers.
Frederick was aware he required more luck than he could realistically expect if he were
to beat the Austrians.
He calculated Daun commanded around 90.000.
The quality of Prussian soldiers was nothing to write home about.
Many of them were freebooters and rogues.
[Text: "I fear my troops more than the enemy" - Frederick to his minister Finckenstein]
Frederick was unnerved and impatient.
Understandably so.
Large armies surrounded his Kingdom, and he was entirely in the dark about what plans
its commanders had.
In the east, Daun sent General Lacy to Saltykov to propose an attack against Berlin or seizing
Silesia.
Saltykov was wary, intending to retreat to his winter quarters.
It wasn't until the interference of Vienna and St. Petersburg that Saltykov conceded.
If Daun reinforced him, he agreed to march on Glogau.
Frederick panicked.
He had been shadowing Saltykov, and now he was at risk of facing an Austrian- and Russian
assault.
He did not want to let the Russians seize Glogau, and despite being outnumbered, he
resigned himself to defending it to the death.
Around Saxony, combat began heating up.
The Imperial army under Prince von Zweibrücken captured Halle, Leipzig and Wittenberg.
They marched on Dresden.
A rag-tag bunch of "poor battalions" under Johann von Wunsch was sent to defend the city.
Ferdinand, in the west, could spare no soldiers.
But the old general managed to surprise his enemies, and his King.
His recapture of Wittenberg and Torgau was the first positive news that reached the King
in a long while.
This was fantastic news, be it not that Dresden's commander surrendered to the Imperials one
day before news of Wunsch's approach reached him.
Positive news followed.
Daun failed to reinforce Saltykov with food and artillery.
The Russian commander refused to lay siege to Glogau, and a stalemate developed.
The Prussians and Russians faced each other, neither side engaging in combat.
Frederick finished his monograph on King Charles XII during this period - surprisingly, he
had ample free time.
[Saxony]
Whereas the east was in a lull, action heated up around Saxony.
Frederick ordered Henry and his 20.000 troops to join his generals there.
The Prince was reluctant, but once he went, he was unstoppable.
His army marched 50 miles in two nights.
At Hoyerswerda, he fought a corps of irregulars capturing 1800 prisoners, losing only 44 men.
Henry's advance caused Daun to hurry towards Dresden, reportedly in such a rush that he
lost 3000 soldiers underway due to exhaustion and desertion.
In Saxony, a stalemate developed as well.
Although Henry worried immensely about his chances against Daun, Frederick ordered him
to shadow the Austrians.
On October 15, Saltykov finally broke the stalemate and began his long withdrawal to
his winter quarters at Thorn.
Much to the anger of the Austrians.
Laudon was forced to start the long march through Poland to Moravia for his winter quarters.
This freed up all Prussian soldiers in the east.
The anxious Henry would soon be reinforced, as the King embarked on the trek westward.
His confidence was returning.
[Text: "[General] Finck has filled your mind with black thoughts.
I beg you for the love of God to think differently and with more nerve."
- Frederick to Prince Henry]
Right before Frederick arrived, Henry defeated Arenberg, who tried to outflank him nearby
Torgau.
Surprisingly, and against all odds, things were looking up for the Prussians.
In early November, the brothers met at Torgau.
United, their army numbered around 60.000.
Again, quantity did not mean quality, but things were certainly recovering.
Dresden was still in Austrian hands, but most of the electorate had been reconquered.
Frankly, the situation for Prussia was better than expected.
Daun refused to engage in battle.
Instead, he waited for the Prussians to make a mistake while preparing his retreat.
But Frederick wanted Daun out of Saxony on his terms.
So he ordered General von Finck, together with 15.000 soldiers, to march south.
At Maxen, south of Dresden, he had to cut off the Austrian supply lines, forcing their
abandonment of Dresden.
[Text: "You will have there a very good position."
- Frederick to General Finck before he departed to Maxen]
[Battle Sequence] [PR: 13 INF 6 CAV]
On November 19, Finck's army reached the village of Maxen.
It was one of the first snowy days of the year.
The village stood on a plateau surrounded by the Erzgebirge.
Most pastures were frozen.
He commanded around 4000 cavalry and 11.000 infantry.
Daun was onto the Prussians.
And he knew that once part of the Prussian army was isolated, it was an easy target.
He divided a 32.000-strong army into parts, all converging on Maxen from different sides.
His army approached from the southwest and set up camp at Dippoldiswalde.
An Imperial army guarded the village of Dohna in the northeast, while General Anton Joseph
von Brentano-Cimaroli approached from the northwest.
Both commanders commanded 16.000 troops - Finck was outnumbered at least 2 to 1.
Finck deployed his army in a defensive crescent position on the hills around Maxen towards
Schmorsdorf.
He was well aware his enemies surrounded him, and he did his best to deploy his army strategically.
Besides the central deployment, he deployed Wunsch's small corps between Falkenhain and
Sürßen.
On the morning of November 20, covered by fog, Daun's army departed from Dippoldiswalde,
a 2-hour march away from Maxen.
Among the commanders were Siskovics and Lacy.
Cimaroli also embarked on a march.
The Austrian armies converged on the small village and Finck's defensive positions.
The frozen ground made moving difficult for artillery and cavalry.
The first skirmishes erupted around Rheinhadrtsgrimma, where Daun's vanguard expelled Prussian pickets.
These retreated to Maxen, with Daun's army in pursuit.
By late morning, Daun's infantry scaled the hills to Maxen's south and installed the first
artillery pieces.
These opened fire against Finck's left flank.
Nearly an hour of an artillery duel followed.
The high ground Daun occupied, dominated most, if not all withdrawal routes from the Prussian
position.
They were surrounded - there was no way out.
After the initial artillery duel, Daun ordered his infantry to advance.
Two infantry columns charged ahead, with cavalry flanking each side.
Combat erupted on the hills between Wittgensdorf and Maxen.
Heavily outnumbered, the Prussians quickly gave way.
Before too long, several Austrian battalions pushed into Maxen.
This caused the Prussian left flank to be cut off from the remainder of their army,
including the cavalry.
These retreated behind Maxen because the horses were getting restless from the continued artillery
bombardment.
The attack had already been underway for a while when Cimaroli's army arrived.
Part of his army faced the Prussian right flank, and part of it lined up to flank them
and attack their rear.
Despite being outnumbered, Finck tried to prevent this from happening by taking the
initiative.
He ordered his cuirassiers to launch a charge against the Austrian position.
But the ground was frozen.
The cavalry charge did not take up speed, and the Austrian volleys easily picked off
the cuirassiers.
When Cimaroli's artillery began firing grapeshot, the cavalry broke.
It was a disaster, and his cavalry retreated.
Finck spent considerable time rallying them.
As this was ongoing, Daun linked up with Cimaroli.
They launched a coordinated general attack against the Prussian centre.
Again, heavily outnumbered, the infantry was easily overwhelmed.
The vanguard retreated, leaving standards, flags and artillery up for grabs.
Some Prussian regiments tried to launch a counterattack.
The Austrian cavalry was close enough to nip this in the bud despite the rugged terrain.
Dragoons launched a counteroffensive, routing the infantry.
It was a disaster.
Finck understood the severity of the situation.
He rounded up whatever troops he could find and marched north towards Wunsch's contingent.
But the Austrians were everywhere, and he didn't get further than Schmorsdorf.
Many soldiers were left behind to be captured by the Austrians, as Finck haphazardly tried
to get his army in battle position at Schmorsdorf.
Meanwhile in the background, a Reichsarmee contingent was advancing from Dohna, Burkhardswalde
and Weesenstein.
Combat continued, but the remaining Prussians managed to keep the advancing Austrians, and
Reichsarmee, back for now.
Because it was a short November day, night fell early.
Under cover of darkness, Finck's army retreated towards Falkenhayn.
Here, they linked up with Wunsch's corps, which had been stationed there since the beginning.
As they left Schmorsdorf, the Austrians immediately seized the village.
The Reichsarmee contingents kept a close eye on their every movement.
Finck tried to get his cavalry to find an escape route.
He was informed there was none, and he could do nothing but request a surrender to Daun.
The Austrian commander told him he would only accept a surrender if this included the cavalry
and Wunsch's corps.
Seeing no reasonable way out, Finck conceded.
Finck was surrounded, cut off and forced to capitulate.
As a result, 2000 Prussians became a casualty, and thirteen thousand were captured.
Sixteen battalions, 36 squadrons.
Among them were nine generals, 500 officers, and 71 artillery pieces, 44 ammunition wagons
and 96 flags.
Besides Kunersdorf, this was one of the most significant numerical losses Prussia suffered
during the war.
Daun lost 934 soldiers, including dead and wounded.
[Aftermath]
[Text: 'Whoever commands under the King loses by it in honour and reputation,' - Prince
Henry writing a critical letter about his brother, Frederick
The losses at Maxen were significant.
Daun simply used his overwhelming numbers to storm the Prussian positions and seize
a relatively easy victory.
Frederick blamed Finck for the disaster, despite the General following his orders.
The General spent the remainder of the war in Austrian captivity, and upon his return
from Austrian captivity, Frederick had him court-martialed and imprisoned.
Even the King's most loyal supporters had to admit Finck was just following orders,
and if anything the operation was Frederick's personal failing.
Things snowballed in the aftermath.
Two weeks after Maxen, a Prussian force was defeated and captured at Meissen.
Another 3500 soldiers were lost.
It was an embarrassing affair.
Because the Austrians knew of their numerical superiority, they refused all prisoner exchanges.
This was an enormous problem for Prussia - they were indeed very short on manpower.
But as became customary, Daun remained cautious.
He returned to his winter quarters in Dresden, and did not engage the Prussians for the remainder
of winter.
That is how the 1759 campaign ended.
Prussia had lost most engagements since Hochkirch the year before.
It was a year of bloody defeats, some surprising reverses, but ultimately the Prussians drew
the shortest end of the stick.
The shortages in manpower, finances and ammunition wore down the army, and the King personally.
He struggled with his health.
He was rarely healthy, had constant bouts of gout and fever.
He barely slept.
As the first snow fell, it appeared that his Kingdom's future was one of imminent defeat
and partition.
Thank you for watching this video.