Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' War

by Herbert J. Redman

  2. Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 41–42.

  3. Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 42; 207.

  4. Jany, II, 406–407; Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 53–54; Waddington, I, 331–333.

  5. Horace St. Paul, 1757 Prague, 149.

  6. Few in the army could see the rosy optimism. With good reason, we might add (Schaefer, I, 325).

  7. Tuttle, IV, 91. With the possible exception of Laudon, who did not reach high command until later in the war, this was a reasonable statement. For certain, Daun, unlike his much more aggressive opponent, preferred to entrench or march, rather than fight.

  8. Daun also believed that the king was leading 60,000 men (Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 64..

  9. However, Tempelhof states, “The Prussian army… [in this battle] was 32 battalions of infantry and 118 squadrons.” As for Daun, “the army under Field Marshal Daun… was of 42 battalions, 38 grenadier companies, and 103 squadrons” (I, 225).

  10. Thadden, 255–256. It was obvious to many on the Austrian side, like Major Veltesz, what was up (Waddington, I, 339).

  Chapter 9

  1. Jomini, Treatise, I, 117–130; Retzow, I, 111–148; Huschberg, 156–163; Reihe von Vorlesungen, I, 247–270; Waddington, I, 334–344; Dobson, 18.

  2. Schaefer, I, 325–327; König, IV, 99–100.

  3. Some accounts have Frederick as using the Slatis-Slunz Inn; but that was called the U Slunce Inn in 1757, and was an additional mile due east from Novomiesto (Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 68. Pages 210 to 211 really go into detail on this point).

  4. Campbell, Frederick and His Court, II, 60–61.

  5. Christopher Duffy, The Army of Frederick the Great, first edition (New York: Hippocrene Books, 1974), 146.

  6. Ibid., 146.

  7. Jomini, Treatise, I, 123.

  8. Maximilian Wolfgang Duncker, Aus der Zeit Friedrichs des Grossen und Friedrich Wilhelms III (Leipzig: 1876), 89–90.

  9. Ibid., 89–90.

  10. Frederick II, Seven Years’ War, I, 140.

  11. Ibid., 143–144.

  12. Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 72–73.

  13. Duffy, A Military Life, 126.

  14. The unit would suffer grievous losses for all of its efforts. It was involved in seven attacks during the battle, losing “23 officers and 908 men” (Dorn, Infantry Regiments, 88; König, II, 72–75).

  15. Maximilian Hoen, “Die Schlacht bei Kolin am 18. Juni 1757,” Streffleurs Militarische Zeitschrift I (Vienna: 1911), 64.

  16. This was brought to him by one of the king’s aides, Captain the Marquis de Varenne. So Manstein had some basis for believing his unit would be called on for more than a stand-by rôle.

  17. Fraser, 352.

  18. Friedrich Wilhelm Prittwitz und Gaffron, Unter der Fahne des Herzogs von Bevern Jugenderinnerungen (Breslau: Korn, 1935), 131. Possibly the 42nd of Gaisrück.

  19. Tuttle indicates the confusion between the two was in the nature of violent scenes and that the king “drew his sword upon the prince” (Tuttle, IV, 95). It is more likely, though, that Frederick drew the sword for effect, to emphasize the importance of the moment. To assume otherwise would be to attribute motives to the king he probably did not have.

  20. With the haunting declaration, “the battle is lost!” (Duncker, 76).

  21. Frederick II, Seven Years War, I, 143.

  22. Showalter, 164.

  23. A reserve that could have been much larger.

  24. Pauli, II, 125; König, III, 214–221.

  25. Duffy, A Military Life, 128.

  26. Philip Haythornwaite, Frederick the Great’s Army: 2 Infantry (London: Osprey Books, 1991), 18.

  27. Dorn, Infantry Regiments, 66.

  28. Ibid., 58.

  29. Duffy, Army of Frederick the Great, First Edition, 172.

  30. Blumenthal, II, 329.

  31. Jany, II, 419–420; Charles-Joseph, Prince de Ligne, The Prince de Ligne: His Memoirs, Letters, and Miscellaneous Papers. selected and translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley, two volumes (Boston: Hardy, Pratt & Company, 1902), I, 69–71. A far more detailed, but less readily accessible title, is the monumental Mélanges militaires littéraires et sentimentaires, 34 volumes, published in Dresden, 1795–1811.

  32. Dorn, Infantry Regiments, 26.

  33. Or blancs becs (bare cheeks).

  34. Duffy, A Military Life, 129.

  35. Colin Lindsay, Tempelhoffe, I, 110–111.

  36. Dorn, Infantry Regiments, 60.

  37. Pauli, II, 101–120; König, II, 207–209.

  38. Dorn, Infantry Regiments, 42; König, IV, 79–81.

  39. Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 85; König, II, 65–66.

  Chapter 10

  1. Duffy, A Military Life, 131. For Pannewitz, see König, III, 131.

  2. Archenholtz, I, 67–68.

  3. The etching masterfully captures the mood of the monarch at this one particular moment, one of the lowest points of his entire military career.

  4. Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 87–88; Huschberg, 163–172; Retzow, I, 149–156; Waddington, I, 345–346.

  5. Entick, II, 256.

  6. Frederick II, Seven Years’ War, I, 145.

  7. In spite of the tight financial condition of the realm.

  8. Cogniazzo, II, 380–388.

  9. Easum, 44.

  10. Horace St. Paul claims 200 killed and 160 taken captive, but the numbers are probably exaggerated (1757: From the Elbe, 1).

  11. Helden Geschichte, IV, 368 passim.

  12. Arneth, V, 203–207.

  13. Helden Geschichte, IV, 800 passim.

  PART III

  Chapter 11

  1. Fraser, 355; Complete History of the Present War, 214–216.

  2. Helden Geschichte, IV, 434–435.

  3. Schmitt, I, 35–38; Huschberg, 169–174; Retzow, I, 152–165; Bernhardi, I, 113–140; Stühr, Part I, 254–260; Reihe von Vorlesungen, I, 270–295; Cogniazzo, II, 380–389; Jomini, Traité, I, 115–161.

  4. Gerhard Ritter, Frederick the Great: A Historical Profile, translated by Peter Paret (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1968), 110.

  5. Die Kriege, Part 3, IV: Gross-Jägersdorf und Breslau, 1–46. The Russian army was said to total 318,300 men at the outbreak of the war.

  6. Die Kriege, Part 3, IV, 55–58; Dmitrii Feodorovich Maslovski, Der Siebenjährige Krieg nach Russischer Dartstellung, Translated by A. V. Dryalski, three volumes (Berlin: 1889–1893), I, 158–168; Complete History of the Present War, 221–222.

  7. Lloyd, Part I, 141; Die Kriege, Part 3, IV, 62–65.

  8. A total of 88,400 men according to the General Staff History (Die Kriege, Part 3, IV, 226–229).

  9. Duffy, A Military Life, 134; Helden Geschichte, IV, 355–358.

  10. Lloyd, Part I, 141.

  11. Helden Geschichte, IV, 373–383.

  12. Geschichte des Preussich-Schwedischen Krieges in Pommern, der Mark und Mecklenburg 1757–1762 (Berlin, 1858), 4–18; Waddington, I, 584–586.

  13. Karl von Sulicki, Der Siebenjährige Krieg in Pommern und den benachbarten Marken: Studie des Detaschements-und des kleinen Krieges (Berlin, 1867), 47–53.

  14. Jomini, Treatise, I, 71.

  15. Brabant, 130–147.

  16. Reginald Savory, His Brittanic Majesty’s Army in Germany during the Seven Years’ War (Oxford: At the Clarendon, 1966), 11–23; David Dundas, Principles of Military Movements, Chiefly Applied to Infantry, Illustrated by Manoeuvres of the Prussian Troops, and by an Outline of the British Campaign in Germany, during the War of 1757 (London: 1788), 208–209.

  17. Schaefer, I, 330–334; Jomini, Traité, I, 162–171.

  18. Archenholtz, I, 59; Klutschak, 130–140. This was to try to conserve provisions.

  19. Horace St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 1; Duffy, Feldmarschall Browne, 348; Züverlassige, 148; Huschberg, 165; Arneth, V, 203.

  20. Arneth, V, 201–202. This could not have been a pleasant situation for Marshal Daun at all. The marshal unquestionably felt reasonably confident, after the Battle of
Kolin and subsequent rescue of the men trapped at Prague, the foregoing should assure him of the supreme command of the army.

  21. Colin Lindsay, Tempelhoffe, I, 114.

  22. Pauli, VII, 35–98; König, II, 46–48; for Retzow, König, II, 282–284; for Schmettau, König, III, 401–402.

  23. Jany, II, 421–424.

  24. Malleson, 59–60.

  25. Ibid., 60.

  26. Janko, 35–37; Krsowitz, I., 63–68.

  27. Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 126–144.

  28. Tuttle, IV, 103–104.

  29. Duffy, Military Life, 133.

  30. Jomini, Treatise, I, 136. A statement which lacked any credence.

  31. Helden Geschichte, IV, 90–118; Waddington, I, 358–365; Dobson, 23.

  32. Huschberg, 170–174.

  33. Arneth, V, 205–207.

  34. Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 138–139; König, II, 442–443.

  35. Horace St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 16–18; König, I, 116–119.

  36. Charles-Joseph, Prince de Ligne, His Memoirs, I, 71–73.

  37. Jany, II, 423; for Peter von Pennavaire, see König, III, 126–127.

  38. For reasons unknown, although he may not have even been informed of the meeting or its purpose. Some said Winterfeldt was asleep after a tiring time in the saddle (Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II, Called Frederick the Great [London: Chapman & Hall, 1958], VI, 206). This is probably true, as the valiant man had never recovered from the severe wound at Prague (Varnhagen von Ense, Winterfeldt, 164–169; 182–187; Mollwo, 222–227).

  39. Horace St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 18.

  40. Horace St. Paul has been charitable to the unfortunate Prince Wilhelm. St. Paul wrote the latter “was probably unaware of the danger to Gabel” (Horace St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 18). A more insightful observation might be that Wilhelm was clearly out of his league.

  41. Helden Geschichte, IV, 508–510; König, I, 358–359.

  42. Frederick, as soon as he heard about Gabel, knew his presence was required in Saxony (Duffy, A Military Life, 133).

  43. Entick, II, 447.

  44. Horace St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 24.

  45. Entick, II, 448. Entick says some 400 citizens perished in the conflagration.

  46. Archenholtz, I, 75.

  47. Duffy, A Military Life, 133.

  48. St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 27.

  49. Die Kriege, Part 3, V: Hastenbeck und Rossbach, 71–117; Savory, 27–37.

  50. Bernhardi, I, 141–144; Huschberg, 333–345; Retzow, I, 172–176; Reihe von Vorlesungen, I, 318–327; Waddington, I, 380–390.

  51. Savory, 28.

  52. Die Kriege, Part 3, V, 97–108; 245–249.

  53. Schaefer, I, 362–363.

  54. Savory, 38.

  55. Showalter, 177.

  56. Huschberg, 174–184; Cogniazzo, II, 389–395.

  57. Without orders, we might add.

  58. Horace St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 31.

  59. It is worth noting here the king, in his History, neither mentioned this meeting nor the ensuing disturbing exchanges between his hapless brother and himself.

  60. Schaefer, I, 336–337.

  61. Cold comfort indeed!

  62. Fraser, 358.

  63. MacDonogh, 258; for Lentulus, see König, II, 391–399.

  64. Frederick II, Seven Years’ War, I, 38.

  65. Which actually shocked Europe in its cruelty, the Austrians using thousands of shells in the shelling/torching of the town.

  66. Duffy, A Military Life, 133–134.

  67. Krsowitz, I, 79. This source details 40 killed, 133 wounded, and four guns taken.

  68. Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 180–194; Seyfart, II, 347–348; Huschberg, 187–188; Retzow, I, 163–165; Helden Geschichte, IV, 526–529. For Finck, see König, I, 412–414; for Itzenplitz, see König, II, 212–215.

  69. Pauli, VIII, 75–108; König, II, 338–339.

  70. Schaefer, I, 345.

  71. Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 180–185.

  72. The “S” meaning former Saxon army units. The men of these particular units often made irreconciliable foes to the Prussians, especially in view of the generally harsh Prussian treatment of their country.

  73. Dorn, Infantry Regiments, 30.

  74. Die Kriege, Part 3, III, 185.

  75. Tempelhof, I, 229–230.

  76. Helden Geschichte, IV, 396–599.

  77. Archenholtz, I, 77.

  78. Ibid., 77–78. For Werner, see König, IV, 205–212.

  79. Cogniazzo, II, 393–394.

  80. Duffy, A Military Life, 134.

  81. Frederick put the Austrian batteries on their left at 60 12-pounders (Frederick II, Seven Years’ War, I, 155).

  82. Tempelhof, I, 245–248, helps detail some of these efforts.

  83. Complete History of the Present War, 223–224; Colin Lindsay, Tempelhoffe, I, 135–138; Helden Geschichte, IV, 518–525; Retzow, I, 165–169; Bernhardi, I, 144–150; Huschberg, 182–185; Cogniazzo, II, 393–395; Entick, II, 449–450.

  84. Horace St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 40–42.

  85. Arneth, V, 219. Haugwitz and Kaunitz were often at loggerheads over a variety of factors involving the Prussians, most especially how to effectively engage them in combat.

  86. Horace St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 42.

  87. Varnhagen von Ense, Winterfeldt, 205–208; Mollwo, 234–239.

  88. Henry Lloyd, the plainspoken contemporary, drew the conclusion the way into Saxony was much less restricted than that into the heart of Silesia. It was his contention, probably correctly, that, while Winterfeldt could take up one blocking post after another in the rocky terrain leading into Silesia, similar posts could not be found in Saxony. On the other hand, the critic saw the great defiles on the road to Rumburg as the key to covering both Saxony and Silesia (Part I, 89).

  Chapter 12

  1. Die Kriege, Part 3, V, 118–147.

  2. Karl Heinrich Siegfried Rödenbeck, Beiträge zur Bereicherung und Erläuterung der Lebensbeschreibungen Friedrich Wilhelms I und Friedrichs des Grossen, Könige von Preussen: Nebst einem Anhang, enthaltend ein Tagebuch aus Friedrichs des Grossen Regentenleben von 1740–1786, two volumes (Berlin: 1836–1838), I, 316.

  3. Varnhagen von Ense, Seydlitz, 51–52; Arneth, V, 206–209; Bernhardi, I, 144–152; Huschberg, 182–185; Retzow, I, 190–196; Showalter, 177–181; Colin Lindsay, Tempelhoffe, I, 123–133; Cogniazzo, II, 391–395; Helden Geschichte, IV, 525–531; Reihe von Vorlesungen, I, 352–256; König, IV, 2–9.

  4. Heinze, 65–67.

  5. Savory, 38–39; Waddington, I, 445.

  6. Fraser, 359.

  7. Dupuy, 103.

  8. Karl Brodrück, Quellenstücke und Studien über den Feldzug der Reichsarmee von 1757 (Leipzig: 1858), 43.

  9. Jomini, Treatise, I, 174–175; Die Kriege, Part 3, V, 154–157; Entick, II, 259–283; Waddington, I, 458–471.

  10. Asprey, 465; MacDonogh, 259.

  11. Pauli, III, 161–166; Huschberg, 269–271.

  12. Reiners, 172–173.

  13. Or at least best known. With the possible exception of the old hussar Ziethen.

  14. Johann Elieser Theodor Wiltsch, Die Schlacht von nicht bei Roβbach oder die Schlacht auf den Feldern von und bei Reichardtswerben den November 1757 (Halle: 1858), 11–12.

  15. Die Kriege, Part 3, IV, 116–127; J. H. Möller, Gotha Herzogthum und Stadt in den Jahren 1756–1763: Ein Festung zur Zeit des siebenjährigen Kriegs (Gotha: 1854), 11–22.

  16. Entick, II, 440–446; Waddington, I, 527–535.

  17. Showalter, 182.

  18. Jany, II, 427–430.

  19. The king puts the prisoner count at 350 men. This was a great exaggeration (Frederick II, Seven Years’ War, I, 165).

  20. It has been said the latter was bribed by the Prussian king to stay where he was. Frederick would only admit to “make proposals, that the court of Versailles might be induced to entertain milder, pacific sentiments
” (ibid., 169).

  21. Asprey, 466; Reiners, 178–180; Jomini, Traité, I, 172–195.

  22. Savory, 41.

  23. Schaefer, I, 442, 443.

  24. St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 55.

  25. Jomini, Treatise, I, 211–212; Naumann, III, 508–516; Entick, II, 450; Bernhardi, I, 174–176; Retzow, I, 217–220; Tuttle, IV, 112–113; Huschberg, 192–194; Reihe von Vorlesungen, I, 390; Tempelhof, I, 174–175; Montazet’s role was most important (Waddington, I, 355).

  26. Horace St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 57. Perhaps the bluecoats were doing some “underestimating” of their own on this occasion.

  27. Die Kriege, Part 3, IV, 134–141.

  28. He had been absent conferring with Bevern when the Austrian attack commenced (Jany, II, 445).

  29. Mollwo, 241–244; Varnhagen von Ense, Winterfeldt, 210–219; Helden Geschichte, IV, 531–546; Carlyle, VI, 218–223; Retzow, I, 216–221; Reihe von Vorlesungen, I, 389–394; Dobson, 26.

  30. Dorn, Infantry Regiments, 98; König, IV, 216–218.

  31. Friendly fire, perhaps? (Duffy, Army of Frederick the Great, First Edition, 176).

  32. Schaefer, I, 407–408.

  33. Horace St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 61.

  34. He died the next morning as a prisoner of the Austrians.

  35. Tuttle, IV, 113.

  36. Horace St. Paul, 1757 Elbe to the Oder, 59.

  37. These atrocities are related in Entick, II, 409–410. “Many [Prussians] were hanged, others have had their legs cut off, or been ript [sic] up alive and their hearts tore out…”; Die Kriege, Part 3, IV, 47–97.

  38. Groehler, 100; König, II, 377–379.

  39. Angus Konstam and Bill Younghusband, Russian Army of the Seven Years’ War: 2 (London: Osprey Publishing, 1996), 41.

  Chapter 13

  1. Die Kriege, Part 3, IV, 83–90; Helden Geschichte, IV, 383–390.

  2. Dorn and Engelmann, Die Schlacthen, 65; Colin Lindsay, Tempelhoffe, I, 206–214; Huschberg, 245–257; Waddington, I, 575–582.

  3. Field artillery, not the howitzers.

  4. Showalter, 180.

  5. Pauli, IV, 77–94; König, II, 237–239.

  6. Dorn, Infantry Regiments, 20; König, III, 192.

  7. Ibid., 34; König, I, 120.