Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 9,001
"Hounds, Do You Want To Live Forever...?"
On June 18, 1757, during the seven-year war, near the small Bohemian town of Kolin...
... 35,000 Prussians commanded by King Friedrich II himself and 54,000 Austrians under the command of Field Marshal Count Leopold Joseph Daun...
...opposite to.
Despite poor reconnaissance and numerical inferiority, King Frederick II attacks the Austrians with the courage of desperation...:
But his tactic of the "crooked order of battle" fails bloodily!
Prussian units of the advance guard corps under General of the Infantry Prince Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau let themselves be provoked by skirmishes with the Austrian vanguard to break into the enemy's strong high positions at an early stage.
The first Prussian attempt to roll up the Austrian front from one side and to bind the opposite wing with mock attacks by a few regiments failed.
By keeping the Prussians idle for almost two hours, the Austrian commander Daun gained enough time to take useful countermeasures.
Since he no longer knows that his left, almost unassailable wing under Sergeant General Conde de la Puebla near Preboz is in danger, he moved his reserve lying there under Count von Colloredo and Field Marshal Lieutenant von Wied shortly before 11 a.m. behind the right wing for a third meeting, exactly there where the Prussians would later launch their main thrust.
At around 1 p.m. the Prussian vanguard and the entire cavalry under Lieutenant General von Zieten attacked Kutlitz, the infantry reserve under General von Hulsen attacked Krzezor.
Frederick II lets the divisions under Generals von Manstein and Tresckow advance along the road to Bradlitz in the center and then turn south towards the village of Brzistwi.
The opposing right wing of the Austrians under von Nadasdy and his cavalry retreated north of Krzeczhorz and later to Radowesnitz, but managed to stop the advance of the infantry under General von Hulsen.
In the centre, the Prussian corps under the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern got stuck at the Austrian high position of Przerovsky.
At around 4 p.m., the Saxon Chevauxlegers, allied with the Austrians, attacked...
... and the Austrian dragoon regiment "de Ligne"...
...the left flank of the Prussians, make them give way and then, together with the Austrian cavalry regiments on the right wing, attack the Prussian infantry, which has to give way after heavy fighting...:
Daun's troops begin to flank the increasingly disoriented Prussians....
...and keep pushing back.
According to an anecdote, Frederick II is said to have shouted at the fleeing grenadiers at around 5.30 p.m., when defeat was clearly looming: "Hounds, do you want to live forever?"...:
Covering the retreat, the Prussian cuirassiers under Colonel von Seydlitz stand out...
... who will be promoted to Major General on the same day...
...and in particular the 1st Battalion of the Life Guards under General von Tauentzien, whose courageous resistance saved the king's army from total annihilation.:
Nevertheless, Frederick II lost his first battle of the Seven Years' War!
The Prussian losses in the battle amounted to 13,733 men and 1,667 horses - 45 guns and 22 flags were lost, the seriously wounded Generals von Tresckow and von Pannewitz...
... fall into Austrian captivity.
Austrian losses were 8,114 men and 2,745 horses.
On June 18, 1757, during the seven-year war, near the small Bohemian town of Kolin...
... 35,000 Prussians commanded by King Friedrich II himself and 54,000 Austrians under the command of Field Marshal Count Leopold Joseph Daun...
...opposite to.
Despite poor reconnaissance and numerical inferiority, King Frederick II attacks the Austrians with the courage of desperation...:
But his tactic of the "crooked order of battle" fails bloodily!
Prussian units of the advance guard corps under General of the Infantry Prince Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau let themselves be provoked by skirmishes with the Austrian vanguard to break into the enemy's strong high positions at an early stage.
The first Prussian attempt to roll up the Austrian front from one side and to bind the opposite wing with mock attacks by a few regiments failed.
By keeping the Prussians idle for almost two hours, the Austrian commander Daun gained enough time to take useful countermeasures.
Since he no longer knows that his left, almost unassailable wing under Sergeant General Conde de la Puebla near Preboz is in danger, he moved his reserve lying there under Count von Colloredo and Field Marshal Lieutenant von Wied shortly before 11 a.m. behind the right wing for a third meeting, exactly there where the Prussians would later launch their main thrust.
At around 1 p.m. the Prussian vanguard and the entire cavalry under Lieutenant General von Zieten attacked Kutlitz, the infantry reserve under General von Hulsen attacked Krzezor.
Frederick II lets the divisions under Generals von Manstein and Tresckow advance along the road to Bradlitz in the center and then turn south towards the village of Brzistwi.
The opposing right wing of the Austrians under von Nadasdy and his cavalry retreated north of Krzeczhorz and later to Radowesnitz, but managed to stop the advance of the infantry under General von Hulsen.
In the centre, the Prussian corps under the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern got stuck at the Austrian high position of Przerovsky.
At around 4 p.m., the Saxon Chevauxlegers, allied with the Austrians, attacked...
... and the Austrian dragoon regiment "de Ligne"...
...the left flank of the Prussians, make them give way and then, together with the Austrian cavalry regiments on the right wing, attack the Prussian infantry, which has to give way after heavy fighting...:
Daun's troops begin to flank the increasingly disoriented Prussians....
...and keep pushing back.
According to an anecdote, Frederick II is said to have shouted at the fleeing grenadiers at around 5.30 p.m., when defeat was clearly looming: "Hounds, do you want to live forever?"...:
Covering the retreat, the Prussian cuirassiers under Colonel von Seydlitz stand out...
... who will be promoted to Major General on the same day...
...and in particular the 1st Battalion of the Life Guards under General von Tauentzien, whose courageous resistance saved the king's army from total annihilation.:
Nevertheless, Frederick II lost his first battle of the Seven Years' War!
The Prussian losses in the battle amounted to 13,733 men and 1,667 horses - 45 guns and 22 flags were lost, the seriously wounded Generals von Tresckow and von Pannewitz...
... fall into Austrian captivity.
Austrian losses were 8,114 men and 2,745 horses.
