Fight at Emsdorf

The battle of Emsdorf was a battle of the Seven Years War , in which on July 16, 1760, not far from Marburg, the forces of the Allied Army (the British, Prussians and their allies) under the command of the Crown Prince of Hesse-Kassel destroyed almost completely the French corps of Baron Glaubitz .

The corps of Baron Glaubitz (7 infantry battalions, the Bersheny hussar regiment), stationed in Siegenhein on the bank of the River Om, was located at a distance of 8 Prussian miles (60-65 kilometers) from the main French forces. The isolated position of the corps was used by Prince of Brunswick , on July 14, 1760, sending 6 infantry battalions under the command of Prince of Hesse-Kassel, as well as several squadrons of irregular cavalry and hussars and the newly formed 15th English Dragoon Regiment. The second task of the expedition was the capture of Marburg. The prince was wounded the day before in the battle of Korbach and, despite the injury, led the expedition, according to stories, eager to avenge the defeat at Korbach.

Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1720-1785), in the described time - Crown Prince

For the French, the approach of the enemy was no longer a secret, and the Glaubitz decided to retreat to Kirchhain (a town 12 kilometers from modern Marburg). But, because during the march he frivolously neglected precautionary measures, the Allies managed to outflank the French in the forest and near the village of Emsdorf (now the Kirchhain region) unexpectedly attack them in the rear and in the left flank. Stunned by the surprise attack, the Glaubitz soldiers put up almost no resistance by first attempting to flee to Kirchhain. However, they ran into an ambush: the Allies ahead of time occupied a bridge along the road with a battalion of infantry. Then the French tried to leave the forest, but they did not succeed either: while the dragoons of the Prince of Hesse-Kassel got into the ranks of the infantry, the Allied hussars defeated the French hussars. As a result, the corps of Baron Glaubitz was completely destroyed - Glaubits himself, Prince Anhalt himself, were captured, with them 179 officers and 2480 lower ranks. 8 guns were captured. Only the French hussars managed to escape. Another battalion, Glaubitsa, which had been elaborated earlier to escort transport with bread to Marburg, avoided a common fate. The Allied losses amounted to 186 people, of which most of the losses (125 people) were suffered by the English dragoons, for whom this fight was a baptism of fire.

The Prince of Hesse-Kassel expedition would have been a complete success if he had managed to complete the second part of the task, taking Marburg. He, however, found the city strongly fortified and, without risking to go on the assault, returned with his loot to the main forces.