Background
In 1757 the Prussian king, Fredrick II, was still active in Saxony. During this time, the duke of Brunswick-Bevern was supposed to cover Silesia with a force of 32,000 troops. This soon turned out to be a difficult task as he had to face the superior Austrian forces, whose main army of 54,000 troops was led by Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine and Count Leopold Joseph von Daun. The corps of 28,000 troops under Franz Leopold von Nádasdy was also able to advance to the front. Despite their overwhelming superiority, the Austrians wanted to initially avoid a battle. The main army's role was supposed to be tying up the Prussians thereby allowing Nádasdy’s forces to take the fortress of Schweidnitz, which was a key position ensuring the flow of supplies Bohemia to Silesia.
After Nádasdy’s corps had been reinforced bringing its size up to 43,000 troops, the Austrians surrounded Schweidnitz on the 14th October. The handover then took place on the 13th November. Until then, Bevern had managed to keep the main Austrian army engaged in battle. However, after joining Nádasdy’s corps it had been considerably strengthened.
As a direct result of the additional reinforcements, the Austrian army command gave up their position and decided to launch an immediate attack on the Prussians; their intention was to take Breslau should before the arrival of the main Prussian forces so that they would be unable to winter in Silesia.
The Prussians had over 40 battalions and 102 squadrons at their disposal (totalling 28,400 troops). The Austrian army, however, consisted of 96 battalions, 93 grenadier companies, 141 squadrons and 228 artillery pieces (totalling 83.606 troops).
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Breslau (1757)
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