Battle of Leuthen
On 5 December 1757, six weeks after Rossbach, Frederick the Great's army of 33,000 attacked an Austrian force of 65,000 under Charles of Lorraine entrenched near the village of Leuthen in Silesia. Frederick employed his oblique order — concentrating attack against the Austrian left flank while masking the rest of his line — to create local superiority at the point of decision. A feint toward the Austrian right drew Charles's reserves; Frederick's main attack then struck the Austrian left before reinforcements could arrive, rolling up the flank progressively. When the Austrians formed a new defensive line at Leuthen village, Prussian grenadiers stormed the church; Austrian cavalry attacked the Prussian flank but was repulsed by Prussian cavalry in reserve. By nightfall the Austrian army was in flight; the army lost 22,000 killed, wounded, and captured against Prussian losses of around 6,000. Napoleon later called Leuthen 'the masterpiece of manoeuvre and resolution' and used it as a textbook example at the École de Guerre.
- Year: 1757 CE
- Category: Military
