Battle of Liegnitz (1760)

The Battle of Liegnitz on 15 August 1760 saw Frederick the Great's Prussian Army defeat the Austrian army under Ernst von Laudon during the Third Silesian War (part of the Seven Years' War).

Battle of Liegnitz
Part of the Third Silesian War (Seven Years' War)

Battle of Liegnitz
Date15 August 1760
Location
Liegnitz, Prussian Silesia, present-day Poland
51°13′30″N 16°11′17″E
Result Prussian victory
Belligerents
Prussia Austria
Commanders and leaders
Frederick the Great Ernst von Laudon
Strength
30,000 25,000 (80,000 reinforcements under von Daun never engaged)
Casualties and losses
3,394 dead and wounded

8,537

3,803 dead and wounded
4,734 captured
82 cannons

The armies collided around the town of Liegnitz (now Legnica, Poland) in Lower Silesia. Laudon's Austrian cavalry attacked the Prussian position in the early morning but were beaten back by General Zieten's Hussars. An artillery duel emerged which was eventually won for the Prussians when a shell hit an Austrian powder wagon. The Austrian infantry then proceeded to attack the Prussian line, but was met with concentrated artillery fire. A Prussian infantry counter-attack led by the Regiment Anhalt-Bernburg on the left forced the Austrians into retreat. Notably, the Anhalt-Bernburgers charged Austrian cavalry with bayonets, a rare example of infantry assaulting cavalry.

Shortly after dawn the major action was over but Prussian artillery fire continued to harass the Austrians. General Leopold von Daun arrived and, learning of Laudon's defeat, decided not to attack despite his soldiers being fresh.[1][2][3][4]

References
  1. George Upton. "The Battle of Liegnitz". Heritage History. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  2. The Cambridge Modern History. CUP Archive. 1907. pp. 294–. GGKEY:3RW6X98Z8L9.
  3. Thomas Carlyle. "History of Friedrich II of Prussia— Volume 20 Chapter III. Battle of Liegnitz". Western Standard. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  4. Spencer C. Tucker (23 December 2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. pp. 785–. ISBN 978-1-85109-672-5.


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