Battle of Hohenfriedberg - Battle

Battle

Frederick's plan soon encountered difficulties. There was not enough space for all of Frederick's troops on the designated route. A bottleneck soon developed at the bridge over the Striegau, so only limited forces were able to make it over.

The first Prussian objective was two hills in front of the Saxon lines. The Saxons had occupied these two hills the previous day with a small force. The Prussian vanguard encountered this force; the resulting clash alerted the Saxons and prevented the complete surprise Frederick hoped for.

De Moulin decided to bypass the hills and strike right at the Saxon camp before the Saxons could deploy. The Prussian attack began at about 7:00 AM.

Some Saxon cavalry got out on the field, but the Prussian cavalry soon charged and routed them. The Prussian infantry then stormed the Saxon camp, defeating the few Saxon infantry that managed to deploy, and also a few Austrians. The easterly wind, blowing smoke and dust into the Saxons' faces, was also advantageous for the Prussians. The entire left (Saxon) half of the Austro-Saxon army was destroyed in the hours of the dawn's light.

By then the Austrians were alerted to the battle. From the their camps further to the south and more protected by the river, Austrian troops moved to the front. The Prussians who had still not crossed the Striegau to the north wheeled to the west and advanced through river crossings wherever they could find them, finding enough fords to accomplish this. A bridge collapse at the small town of Graben forced the cavalry commander, Von Zieten, to find a ford further south through which to funnel cavalry and pack mules carrying supplies.

The Austrian cavalry were the first Austrian troops to get into action, but they were broken and driven off by the charge of the Prussian cavalry.

The Austrian infantry formed two lines of battle facing east, from Hohenfriedberg north. Though the Prussians now had the advantage of numbers, the Austrians resisted stubbornly, with many volleys exchanged at close range.

At this point the Prussian Bayreuth Dragoons, an oversize unit numbering around 1,500 men, entered the battle. A strong gust of wind blew away the powder smoke and the dust and revealed an opening in the Prussian lines through which to charge the vulnerable Austrian infantry. The dragoons deployed into line, and attacked north against the right flank of the first Austrian line. They drove all the way along that line, routing it completely, then turned south to destroy the second Austrian line.

The Austrians, already outnumbered, abandoned by their Saxon allies, without cavalry protection, and now broken by this attack, began to surrender en masse. The Bayreuth Dragoons defeated several thousand Austrian infantry and only suffered 94 casualties. The Dragoons overran twenty battalions, took 2,500 prisoners, capturing 67 flags and standards as well as four cannon in what is considered and celebrated as one of the great cavalry battlefield triumphs. The battle ended with the complete defeat of the Austro-Saxon army.

The Austrians and Saxons lost almost 9,000 killed and wounded, about 5,000 prisoners, including four generals, and 66 guns. The Prussians lost around 5,000.