Battle of Leuthen

Battle of Leuthen
Part of the Third Silesian War
Storming of the breach by Prussian grenadiers, Carl Röchling
Date 5 December 1757 Location Leuthen, Silesia, Prussia (present-day Lutynia, Poland) 51°09′08″N 16°45′09″E / 51.15222°N 16.75250°E / 51.15222; 16.75250 Result Prussian victory
Belligerents
Prussia	Austria
Commanders and leaders
Frederick II	Charles Alexander of Lorraine Joseph von Daun
Strength
36,000[1] 167 guns[1]	65,000[1] 210 guns[1]
Casualties and losses
1,141 killed 5,118 wounded 85 captured Total: 6,344 casualties	3,000 killed 7,000 wounded 12,000 captured Total: 22,000 casualties 116 guns captured

Frederick the Great

200km
125miles

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Dresden

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Prague

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  current battle

  First Silesian War

  Second Silesian War

  Third Silesian War

The Battle of Leuthen /ˈlɔɪtən/ was fought on 5 December 1757 between Frederick the Great's Prussian Army and an Austrian army commanded by Prince Charles of Lorraine and Count Leopold Joseph von Daun. Frederick used maneuver warfare and knowledge of the terrain to rout the larger Austrian force completely. The victory ensured Prussian control of Silesia during the Third Silesian War, which was part of the Seven Years' War.

The battle was fought in the town of Leuthen (now Lutynia, Poland), 10 km (6 mi) northwest of Breslau, (now Wrocław, Poland), in Prussian (formerly Austrian) Silesia. By exploiting the training of his troops and his superior knowledge of the terrain, Frederick created a diversion at one end of the battlefield and moved most of his smaller army behind a series of low hillocks. The surprise attack in oblique order on the unsuspecting Austrian flank baffled Prince Charles, who took several hours to realize that the main action was to his left, not his right. Within seven hours, the Prussians had destroyed the Austrians and erased any advantage that the Austrians had gained throughout the campaigning in the preceding summer and autumn. Within 48 hours, Frederick had laid siege to Breslau, which resulted in the city's surrender on 19–20 December.

Leuthen was the last battle at which Prince Charles commanded the Austrian Army before his sister-in-law, Empress Maria Theresa, appointed him as governor of the Habsburg Netherlands and placed Leopold Joseph von Daun in command of the army. The battle also established beyond doubt Frederick's military reputation in European circles and was arguably his greatest tactical victory. After the Battle of Rossbach on 5 November, the French had refused to participate further in Austria's war with Prussia, and after Leuthen (5 December), Austria could not continue the war by itself.