Battle of Rossbach

for a total of 8.3% wounded or dead, and 12.2% (approximately 5,000) missing or captured. Other historians might place the numbers of captured higher, at almost one third, or about 13,800. The French lost approximately 6,600 men, the Imperials 3,552.

Prussian losses are more controversial: Frederick boasted of negligible casualties. In his thorough study of regimental histories, Bodart counted 169–170 Prussian dead (including seven officers), and 430 wounded (including Prince Henry, Seydlitz and two other generals, and 19 officers), or about 2.4% of the total Prussian force; these casualties amount to less than 10% of the engaged Prussian force. Other recent sources agree that the Prussians lost as few as 300 and as many as 500 among the wounded. In an assessment of surviving regimental records, modern sources place Prussian losses at even fewer than Bodart did: one colonel was killed, plus two other officers, and 67 soldiers.

The Imperial army, although smaller, was not much better, and certainly not the battle-hardened army the Prussians had faced at Kolín. This was the Reichsarmee, an army consisting of units sent by the constituent members of the Holy Roman Empire. Their commander had reported that they were defective in training, administration, armaments, discipline and leadership. The same might be said of their commander, Saxe-Hildburghausen, an indolent and slow-moving man. The Imperial regimental officers often lacked even basic garrison training. These units had little experience working together, much less fighting together, a problem that expressed itself most evidently in the disastrous wheeling pivot. Furthermore, the Reichsarmee contingents came from many principalities, some of which were Protestant, and many of which were unhappy about any alliance with the French; most were more adverse to the French than they were to the Prussians. Once news of the battle's uneven resolution spread, some Germans felt satisfaction; the battle could be seen as retribution for the years of suffering under the French atrocities in the Rhineland and Palatinate during the wars of Louis XIV like the Nine Years' War. Mostly, though, Rossbach was significant for the strengthening of Prussia's relationship with Frederick's uncle, King George, and George's other subjects. The British could now see the advantage of keeping the French occupied on the Continent while they continued their offensives against French territories in North America.

While Frederick was engaging the combined Allied forces further west, that autumn the Austrians had slowly retaken Silesia: Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine had captured the city of Schweidnitz and moved on Breslau in lower Silesia. While heading back to Silesia, Frederick learned of the fall of Breslau (22 November). He and his 22,000 men reversed tracks, and covered from Rossbach to Leuthen (now Lutynia, Poland), west of Breslau in twelve days. On the way, at Liegnitz, they joined with the Prussian troops who had survived the fighting at Breslau. The augmented army of about 33,000 troops arrived at Leuthen to find 66,000 Austrians in possession. Despite his troops' exhaustion from the rapid march from Rossbach, Frederick won yet another decisive victory at Leuthen.

Assessment

After the battle, Frederick reportedly said: "I won the battle of Rossbach with most of my infantry having their muskets shouldered." This was indeed true: less than twenty-five percent of his entire force had been engaged. Frederick had discovered the use of operational maneuvers and with a fraction of his entire force—3,500 horsemen, 18 artillery pieces, and three battalions of infantry—had defeated an army of two of the strongest European powers. Frederick's tactics at Rossbach became a landmark in the history of the military arts.

thumb|upright|alt=map showing the march from Rossbach to Leuthen|Upon learning that the Austrians had slowly retaken parts of Silesia, Frederick and his troops marched east toward Breslau.

Rossbach also highlighted the extraordinary talents of two of Frederick's officers, the artillery colonel Karl Friedrich von Moller and his cavalry general, Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz. Both men possessed the much-coveted coup d'œil militaire, the ability to discern at one glance the tactical advantages and disadvantages of the terrain. This attribute allowed them to use the artillery and cavalry to full potential. Frederick himself called this "[T]he perfection of that art to learn at one just and determined view the benefits and disadvantages of a country where posts are to be placed and how to act upon the annoyance of the enemy. This is, in a word, the true meaning of a coup d'œil, without which an officer may commit errors of the greatest consequence." On the morning of the battle Frederick had passed over two senior generals and placed Seydlitz in command of the whole of his cavalry, much to those men's annoyance and to Seydlitz' satisfaction. Seydlitz had spent the interim of the peace (1748–1756) training the cavalry to perform at optimum speed and force. The other outstanding officer, Colonel Moller, had invested the interim in developing a highly mobile artillery force. His artillery engineers were trained similarly to dragoons, to ride to a battle and fight dismounted; in the case of the artillery, they dragged their guns around the battlefield as needed. This was not yet the flying artillery that Frederick developed later, but it was similar in structure and function. Later developments refined the training and usage. French interest in the so-called Prussian war declined sharply after the Rossbach debacle and, with the signing of the Third Treaty of Versailles in March 1759, France reduced its financial and military contributions to the Coalition, leaving Austria on its own to deal with Prussia in Central Europe. The French continued their campaign against Hanover and Prussia's Rhineland territories, but the Army of Hanover—commanded by one of Frederick's finest officers, Ferdinand of Brunswick—kept them tied down in western Germany for the rest of the war.

Battlefield today

From 1865 to 1990, the area was mined for lignite. The extensive open-cast mining operations caused fundamental changes in the landscape and the population: a total of 18 settlements and some 12,500 people were resettled over the time of the mining and manufacturing. Residents of Rossbach itself were resettled in 1963 and most of the town was destroyed by mining operations that same year. Today, most of the battlefield is covered in some farmland, vineyards and a nature park created from flooding the old lignite mine with water; the resulting lake has a surface area of ; at its deepest point, the lake is deep. In the course of filling the old pit, paleontologists found fossils 251–243 million years old.

Four separate monuments dedicated to the battle were erected in the town of Reichardtswerben. The first monument was erected 16 September 1766, in gratitude to God for sparing the town of Reichardtswerben during the battle. The stone at Burgwerben castle was erected 9July 1844, and bears the following inscription:

<blockquote> Before the Battle of Rossbach, on 5November 1757, Joseph Marie Friedrich Wilhelm Hollandius, Prinz von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, commandant of the German Reichsarmee in the Seven Years' War, established his headquarters in this castle. From this location, he gave the order on 31 October 1757 to burn the Saale bridge at Weissenfels.<br />

After the Battle of Rossbach on 5November 1757, at six o'clock in the evening, the King of Prussia Frederick II, the Great, with only a small entourage, arrived at the castle. All rooms were occupied by wounded officers. His Majesty would not allow any of the [wounded] officers to be disturbed, and set up his field bed in an alcove and, after giving the orders for the day, spent the night there. The owner at that time was Superintendent Funcke; his grandson, Hauptmann [Franz Leopold] von Funcke, organized this in his memory.<br />

Schloss Burgwerben the 9July 1844, Franz Leopold v. Funcke. </blockquote>

K2169, the county highway passing through Reichardtswerben, is named Von-Seydlitz-Straße.

Image:Reichardtswerben Schlacht v. Rossbach 01.jpg|alt=Square monument with battle details.|Monument at Reichardtswerben

Image:RoßbachSchlachtgedenkstein.JPG|alt=Engraved stone commemorating the battle.|Monument at Rossbach

Image:Stein-Burgwerben.jpg|alt=Rectangular monument with details of ownership of the land on which the battle occurred.|Burgwerben Memorial

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File:The Imperial German Army 1890 - 1913 HU68455.jpg|alt=Old photograph showing men on horseback standing in a field.|In 1903, the Imperial Army conducted maneuvers on part of the old battlefield.

File:Tagebaurestloch.jpg|alt=The original site of the battlefield destroyed by a lignite mine.|In the 19th and 20th centuries, the battlefield site was excavated for lignite, and the terrain destroyed. By the end of the 20th century, the Geiseltal covered the battlefield.

File:Panorama Geiseltal1 - panoramio.jpg|alt=Excavation showing the construction of the lake and swimming park that now covers the battle field and an old pit mine constructed on it.|Panorama of the principal location of the battle today; the old pit mine was flooded, creating the Geiseltal See, now a swimming and recreation area.

File:Blick zum Hafen - panoramio (2).jpg|alt=Excavation showing the construction of the lake and swimming park, known as the Gieseltal See (Giesel Valley Lake) that now covers the old battle field and an old pit mine constructed on it.|Panorama of the principal location of the battle today

</gallery>

Notes and citations

Explanatory notes

Citations

General and cited references

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External links

The French Army 1600–1900