The Battle of Mollwitz was fought by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

on 10 April 1741, during the

First Silesian War The First Silesian War (german: Erster Schlesischer Krieg, links=no) was a war between Prussia and Austria that lasted from 1740 to 1742 and resulted in Prussia's seizing most of the region of Silesia (now in south-western Poland) from Austria. T ...

(in the early stages of the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...

). It was the first battle of the new Prussian King Frederick II, in which both sides made numerous military blunders and King Frederick II of Prussia fled the battlefield, but the

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

still managed to attain victory. This battle cemented Frederick's authority over the newly conquered territory of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

and gave him valuable military experience.

Background

The

was sparked by the death of Charles VI in 1740 and the succession of his daughter

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...

. The

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

was originally subject to

Salic law The Salic law ( or ; la, Lex salica), also called the was the ancient Frankish civil law code compiled around AD 500 by the first Frankish King, Clovis. The written text is in Latin and contains some of the earliest known instances of Old Du ...

, which excluded women from inheriting it; the 1713 Pragmatic Sanction set this aside, allowing Maria Theresa to succeed her father. This became a European issue because the Monarchy was the most powerful element in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

, a loose federation of mostly German states. This position was threatened by the growing size and power of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, and

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, as well as

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

expansion into lands held by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. The Empire was headed by the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

; in theory an elected post, it had been held by a Habsburg since 1437. France, Prussia and Saxony now challenged Austrian dominance by nominating Charles of Bavaria as Emperor. In December 1740, Frederick II seized the opportunity to invade

and begin the

. With a population of over one million, the Silesian mining, weaving and dyeing industries produced 10% of total Imperial income. Under

Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin Kurt Christoph, Graf von Schwerin (26 October 1684 – 6 May 1757) was a Prussian ''Generalfeldmarschall'', one of the leading commanders under Frederick the Great. Biography He was born in Löwitz, Pomerania, and at an early age entered the ...

, the Prussians quickly over-ran most of the province and settled into winter quarters but failed to capture the southern fortresses of Glogau, Breslau, and Brieg. Maria Theresa sent an army of about 20,000 men led by

Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg Count Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg (27 May 1684 – 26 May 1774) was an Austrian general. Biography Born in Schwaigern, the residence of the Lordship, from 1766 County of Neipperg, he descended from an ancient comital family from Swabia, hi ...

to take back the province and assert herself as a strong monarch.

The Austrian army's advance north

Neipperg's army caught Frederick II completely off guard as he lingered in the province, and surged northwards past Frederick and his army to relieve the city of

Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.Neipperg's forces at Mollwitz, and the morning fog and snow allowed Frederick's army to advance undetected to within 2000 paces of Neipperg's camp. Most commanders would then have given the order to charge the camp and rout the Austrian army, but since Frederick had never fought a campaign or a battle before, he instead decided to deploy his army in a

battle line The line of battle is a tactic in naval warfare in which a fleet of ships forms a line end to end. The first example of its use as a tactic is disputed—it has been variously claimed for dates ranging from 1502 to 1652. Line-of-battle tacti ...

. There was very heavy snow on the ground which caused snow-blindness, and Frederick miscalculated the distance to the river on his right. He deployed several of his units behind a bend in the river where they could take no part in the battle, and several more units were deployed perpendicular to his two battle lines on the right flank. It is said that

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...

commented early on that Frederick miscalculated the distance, but he was ignored.

Austrian preparations

Neipperg was unprepared for battle when he discovered Frederick's entire army was approaching. Not only were Austrian troops still in bivouac and cooking food, but they were scattered across three villages with their front facing away from the Prussian advance. Had the Prussians attacked at this time, they would have encountered only disorganized resistance. Because of the two hour delay caused by Frederick dressing his battle lines, the Austrian army had the opportunity to concentrate its forces and form a battle line by the time the forces engaged one another just before 2 pm.

Battle

At the beginning of the battle, the Prussians had the larger army. They also had three times the field guns than the Austrians had; however, the Austrian cavalry outnumbered the Prussian cavalry two to one. The Prussian forces advanced toward the Austrians in two lines while the Prussian artillery began bombarding the Austrian line. Six regiments of Austrian cavalry on the extreme left flank of the Austrian line, numbering 4,500 to 5,000 men and horses, were goaded by the Prussian bombardment to charge the Prussian right flank without orders from Neipperg. The charge shattered the Prussian cavalry, who received the attack while at a full halt. Frederick was with the Prussian cavalry and was caught up in its rout. This left the Prussian flank open to attack, and the Austrian cavalry then turned on the unprotected infantry. Schwerin, the Prussian military commander under Frederick, now advised the king to leave the battlefield because it looked as though the Prussian army was about to be defeated; Frederick heeded this warning. Abandoning the field, he was nearly caught and almost shot. Frederick's absence allowed Schwerin, a veteran general, to take command of the troops himself. Menzel- Grenadiers at Mollwitz

At this point of the battle, the scene was chaotic. Having scattered the Prussian cavalry, the Austrian cavalry continued its attack on the Prussian infantry. They charged the infantry repeatedly. The firing of Prussian soldiers from the second line who were trying to stop the Austrians was also killing Prussian soldiers in the first line. When asked whether the Prussians would retreat, Schwerin answered "Over enemy bodies". In fact, the Prussian infantry, which had been rigorously drilled and trained under Frederick William I, held firm and continued firing rapid volleys into the Austrian cavalry, causing it tremendous losses and killing its commander, General Römer. After the repulse of the Austrian cavalry, Schwerin reformed the infantry and ordered infantry units that were short on ammunition to strip the dead of theirs. He then ordered the right flank of the Prussian infantry to advance toward the Austrian infantry line, with the left flank receiving the order to advance a few minutes later. This resulted in an

oblique order The oblique order (also known as the 'declined flank') is a military tactic whereby an attacking army focuses its forces to attack a single enemy flank. The force commander concentrates the majority of their strength on one flank and uses the r ...

attack on the Austrian infantry line with the right flank of the Prussians overlapping the left flank of the Austrians. In addition, the Prussian infantry's use of the recently invented iron

ramrod A ramrod (or scouring stick) is a metal or wooden device used with muzzleloading firearms to push the projectile up against the propellant (mainly blackpowder). The ramrod was used with weapons such as muskets and cannons and was usually held ...

, allowed them to fire 4–5 shots a minute with their

flintlock musket Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism itself, also know ...

s, which was three times more rapid than any other European army at the time. This combination of discipline and firepower quickly overwhelmed the Austrian infantry, which consisted of a large number of raw recruits lacking the training of the Prussian infantry. Soon, the Austrian line collapsed from left to right, and the Austrian army was routed from the field.

Aftermath

In the end, the Prussians won a close victory against a numerically inferior enemy due to the leadership of Field Marshal

and the superior training of the Prussian infantry. After the battle, the Austrian army was not pursued and remained intact. Neipperg retreated to Neisse, remaining in Silesia to await reinforcements. Frederick returned to his army the morning after the battle, restored his lines of communication, and subsequently brought the siege of Brieg to a successful conclusion. After the battle Frederick censured himself for his mistakes and learned from them, writing later that Mollwitz educated him and his army. The battle showed that Frederick could depend on the superior training of the Prussian infantry in a battle, which had proven itself able to withstand the charge of Austrian cavalry. Realizing that the cavalry would have to be reformed to be able to hold its own against the excellently-trained Austrian cavalry, he soon instituted a training program to discipline the Prussian cavalry in coordinated action and precision that would increase its effectiveness in both reconnaissance and battle. Mollwitz also illustrated the effectiveness of the oblique order, a tactic Frederick would use in most of his later major battles. In spite of the fact that the battle had been a near disaster for Frederick and was not won through his direct command, the victory raised his prestige in Europe by demonstrating that Frederick was capable of challenging the Habsburgs and emerging victorious. The Prussian victory also made it clear to Maria Theresa that she would not be able to reassert her control of Silesia easily and that Prussia was a military power that would have to be more carefully reckoned with. The defeat of Maria Theresa's army at Mollwitz encouraged other rulers to deny the Pragmatic Sanction and to claim much of the Habsburg territories amongst themselves. Within a few months, France, Spain, Bavaria, Saxony, Savoy and Prussia became allies in a loose coalition known as the League of Nymphenburg, widening the conflict into a larger European affair that would become known as the War of the Austrian Succession.

Notes

References

Citations

Works cited

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External links

* * * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Mollwitz Mollwitz Mollwitz Conflicts in 1741 1741 in Austria Mollwitz Mollwitz