Battle of Reichenberg

On April 18, 1757, the Prussian army, acting in several columns, invaded Bohemia. She was opposed by the Austrian army under the command of the recently appointed Prince Lorraine , who was dispersed into four fairly distant detachments.

The Duke of Beverna led one of the four main columns of the Prussian invading army, advancing on the eastern bank of the Elbe from Lausitz in the direction of Jungbunzlau (now Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic), where there was a large Austrian army store . Under his leadership, according to various sources, from 18 to 20.3 thousand people.

While the rest of the Prussian detachments advanced without any resistance: the Austrians, for whom the Prussian offensive came as a complete surprise, retreated without a fight, reaching for Prague , the Duke of Bevernsky had to make his way with battles. His opponent in this direction was the Austrian general-lieutenant-master Count Königssegg, whose 28 thousandth army was located in winter apartments in North Bohemia, in Reichenberg, near the border with Lausitz.

At first, the Prussians had to face resistance in the town of Thechen (now Decin ), occupied by a small detachment of Croats under the command of a certain Count Butler. 200 Count Croats detained the two thousandth Prussian detachment for four days and then were able to make a breakthrough, taking with them even all their artillery, which consisted of two horse guns.

On April 20, the vanguard of the duke several times, and quite successfully, was attacked by the Austrian cavalry, only the reinforcement approach allowed the Prussians to fight back. The next day, April 21, Reichenberg clashed with the main forces of Königssegg.

By the time of the meeting, both armies were not in full force, according to various sources, from 13.6 to 16 thousand Prussians and from 10.5 to 14 thousand Austrians participated in the battle. The Austrian fortifications were erected the day before, in the winter, and were located on both sides of the Neisse river, leaning, as at Lobozice , on flanks on a hill. The main position of the Austrians (8 battalions with 18 heavy guns under the command of General Lassi ) was on the right bank of the river, where a Prussian attack was expected. The Prussians came up, however, along the left bank, so that the Lassi soldiers were only able to witness the battle that had taken place.

Before starting the assault on the Austrian fortifications, the Prussians had to first deal with the Austrian cavalry (3 regiments of cuirassiers and dragoons), standing in a lowland on the far left flank of the Austrians. This was not possible immediately, but only on the second attempt as a result of attracting reserves. Having disabled the cavalry of the enemy that left the battlefield, the Prussian troops, after shelling, during which crossings were made across a stream flowing in front of the Austrian positions, stormed the Austrians. Konigsegg tried to assemble his army for a counterattack, however, the Prussians, tirelessly pursuing the defeated enemy, managed to thwart this attempt.

The battle lasted 6 hours, from 5 to 11 in the morning, and the Prussian army cost 643 people in loss, 28 of them officers. Austrian casualties amounted to approximately a thousand people, according to Prussian sources, of course, much more, not less than 1800 people. Königssegg moved to a new position, 10 kilometers from the previous one, where on the same day he joined with the previously detached parts of his army, after which he went to Prague. Lassi, who left Reichenberg at the same time as Koenigsegg, commanded the rearguard of his army. General Winterfeld led the persecution of the Austrians. According to Austrian sources, the retreat was organized without loss, according to the Prussian - Winterfeld managed to capture many prisoners and Austrian convoys.

Having won the battle, the Duke of Bevernsky proceeded further to join Field Marshal Schwerin's 30,000th army, advancing to his left. Schwerin was the adversary of the weak, indecisive Field Marshal Serbelloni, who camped in Koeniggrace (now Hradec Kralove ). When moving deeper into Bohemia, he had to endure only a few skirmishes with the enemy rearguard. Despite the menacing orders of the prince of Lorraine, Serbelloni did not dare to leave for Prague, leaving the shops in Jungbunzlau. When he finally decided to move, he did not have time to destroy the reserves. The Prussians, who joined at Jungbunzlau, without a fight got rich booty, estimated at 5 million guilders . Serbeloni was also late for Prague; therefore, his troops did not participate in the battle on May 6.

• Groehler, Olaf: Die Kriege Friedrichs II., Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1990

• C. von Decker, Oberst und Brigadier der Ersten Artillerie Brigade ir .: Die Schlachten und Hauptgefechte des siebenjährigen Krieges. Mit vorherrschender Bezugnahme auf den Gebrauch der Artillerie, in Verbindung mit den beiden andern Hauptwaffen der Armee, Druck und Verlag von Ernst Siegfried Mittler, Berlin, Posen und Bromberg 1837