Battle of Prague (1757), Prague, Czech Republic
Posted by: ToRo61
N 50° 04.558 E 014° 33.370
33U E 468241 N 5547171
In the Battle of Prague or Battle of Šterboholy on May 6, 1757 Frederick the Great's 67,000 Prussians forced 60,000 Austrians to retreat.
Waymark Code: WMC867
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 08/07/2011
Views: 116
After Frederick (
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In early spring the Prussian army marched in four columns over the mountain passes separating Saxony and Silesia from Bohemia. The four corps would unite at the Bohemian capital of Prague.
Meanwhile the Austrians had not been idle. Though initially surprised by the early Prussian attack, the able Austrian Field Marshal Maximilian Ulysses Count Browne had been retreating skillfully and concentrating his armed forces towards Prague.
On the 6th of May, around 5 a.m., the Prussian army assembled to the north on the Prosek heights 115,000 men. The Prussian army started marching around 7 a.m., and succeeded in staying largely out of sight till the Austrian generals. The Prussian infantry soon found themselves not in meadows, but in the remains of fish ponds. The Prussian infantry wavered and Schwerin rallied them, leading them from the front. He was hit several times by Austrian canister. Frederick, when he heard the news, ordered to press on with the assault. The Austrian infantry smelled the Prussian confusion and started to press the Prussians back down the slope, opening a gap between themselves and the remainder of the Austrian line still facing north.
The final phase of the battle started around 3 p.m., with Prussians engaging the still-forming Austrian line and outflanking them from the south. The Austrians had lost 12,000 men and 4,500 prisoners. Having suffered over 14,000 casualties in his own army, losses hard to replace for the small Prussia, Frederick decided not to assault the city walls of Prague.
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