Battle of Kunersdorf
|
|
The battle of Kunersdorf was fought on August 12, 1759[1] (http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~mbishop/frames/wars/kunersdorf.html) during the Seven Years' War near Kunersdorf (today Kunowice in Poland), east of Frankfurt an der Oder. It was the most devastating defeat Prussia saw under the reign of Frederick the Great. Only 3,000 soldiers from original 50,900 Prussian army returned to Berlin after the battle.
A Prussian army of 50,900 men fought a combined Russian and Austrian army of 59,500 men. The Russians and Austrians lost less than 15,000 men (approx. 5,000 killed). The Prussians suffered a severe defeat losing all cannon, 6,000 killed, 13,000 wounded and 26,000 men that were scattered.
The battle started with a Prussian attack on the flank of the Russian positions. This attack was successful and if Frederick had stopped there (as his brother demanded) Kunersdorf would have been a Prussian victory. But the Prussian leader wanted to take advantage of the initial success and decided to continue the fight. While the power of the Prussian attack faded, the Austrian cavalry {so far kept in reserve) entered the battle.
It is reported that at the end of the battle, when the Prussians were defeated and almost everybody on the Prussian side was on the run, King Frederick II stood alone on a small hill with his epee sticking in the ground before him - determined to either hold the line against the whole enemy army alone or to die. In this situation cavalry captain Prittwitz with his 200 strong squadron, came to the King's rescue and convinced Frederick to leave.
Four days after the battle, most of the 26,000 scattered men had found their way back to their King and Frederick's army had recovered to a strength of 32,000 men and 50 cannon.
Frederick's dictum on Kunersdorf
The King wrote to Berlin on the evening after the battle: This morning at 11 o'clock I have attacked the enemy. ... All my troops have worked wonders, but at a cost of innumberable losses. Our men got into confusion. I assembled them three times. In the end I was in danger of getting captured and had to retreat. My coat is perforated by bullets, two horses of mine have been shot dead. My misfortune is that I am still living ... Our defeat is very considerable: To me remains 3,000 men from an army of 48,000 men. At the moment in which I report all this, everyone is on the run; I am no more master of my troops. Thinking of the safety of anybody in Berlin is a good activity ... It is a cruel failure that I will not survive. The consequences of the battle will be worse than the battle itself. I do not have any more resources, and - frankly confessed - I believe that everything is lost. I will not survive the doom of my fatherland. Farewell forever!de:Schlacht bei Kunersdorf pl:bitwa pod Kunowicami