Battle of Leuthen, 5 December 1757 (Prussia, now Poland)

Battle during the Seven Years War, fought near Breslau (modern Wroclow), between Frederick the Great of Prussia and the Austrians, led by Count Leopold von Daun. Frederick began the battle with a feint against the Austrian right. The Austrians moved reinforcements from their left flank, at which point Frederick attacked the Austrian left with his main forces, which was totally destroyed. The Austrian right threatened to turn the battle, having destroyed the weak forces left to face it by Frederick, but he had left some cavalry in reserve, which restored the situation. The Austrians were forced back against the river Oder, where the bridges were unable to cope, leaving 21,000 men to fall into Prussia hands. Only 37,000 of 90,000 Austrian troops returned to Austria, who was forced to abandon Silesia, while only 1,140 Prussians were killed.
Battles of the Seven Years War: Central Europe
Battles of the Seven Years War 1756-64: Central Europe
Lobositz to Leuthen - Horace St. Paul and the Campaigns of the Austrian Army in the Seven Years War 1756-57, Neil Cogswell. Meant as a series study of the military art, so includes orders of battle, extracts from other author's work, all pulled together in St. Paul's diaries, and describing some of the earliest campaigns of the Seven Years War. A valuabkle source for this period, giving us an educated outsider's view of some of the early battles and sieges of the Seven Years War, seen from a position close to the senior Austrian and Imperial armies (Read Full Review)
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Books on the Seven Years's War | Subject Index: Seven Years' War

How to cite this article: Rickard, J. (29 October 2000), Battle of Leuthen, 5 December 1757, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_leuthen.html

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