Frederick the Great was noted for his stunning victories during the War of Austrian Succession and Seven Years’ War, but this was not the case on October 14 1758. At the village of Hochkirch in Saxony the bold and often egotistical king was humiliated by the Austrian army. This week we’ll look at the Battle of Hochkirch, perhaps Frederick’s greatest defeat.
Prelude
I would advise looking over our previous posts to understand why and how the Seven Years’ War broke out in Europe, but to summarise the quest for power in Europe had led to the formation of two warring coalitions – one comprised of Britain and Prussia, and one comprising of Austria, France, Sweden, and Russia. When war broke out in 1756 when Frederick invaded Saxony Prussia was encircled by enemies with France to the west, Austria to the south, Russia to the east, and Sweden to the north. Frederick’s brother-in-law Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel had managed to check the French advance in the west, but the campaigns of Frederick in central Europe went from success to putting out fires. Although quick conquests in Saxony and Bohemia had created a source of revenue for the Prussian army to exploit, but facing forces on three fronts allowed the various coalition states to make advances. Last time we saw how Frederick fought an inconclusive but bloody battle at Zorndorf against the Russians which did give the Prussians some breathing room on the east. However, to the south the Austrians had forced Frederick’s brother Prince Henry to retreat in Saxony.
The Austrian forces were led by Field Marshall Leopold von Daun, a noted effective but overly cautious military leader. Daun had concentrated the Austrian army in a position to take Saxony, but this had angered the Austrian court. At Zorndorf the Russian commander William Fermor had been angered at the lack of Austrian support, and this view led to the Russian court also feeling they were being let down by the Austrians. Similarly, the Austrian court feared that the French would feel the same with their armies now being pushed back by the Prussians, so considerable pressure was put on Daun to make a move. With Ernst Gideon von Loudon the Austrians marched against Henry just south of Dresden who fell back – there was no way his force of 20,000 could stand against the might of the Austrians at 80,000. Leaving a small force in case of the Russians returning Frederick marched his army hundreds of miles in the summer heat to Saxony. The intense march after the bloody battle led to a not insignificant chunks of his forces dying from exhaustion and disease.
The Battle on the Horizon
Despite failing to destroy the Russian army at Zorndorf Frederick believed he could wipe out the Austrians when he arrived in Saxony in September, contemptuously describing Daun as ‘The Fat Excellency.’ To Frederick’s anger, and that of the Austrian court, Daun refused to meet Frederick on the field of battle, instead leading him on a chase across Saxony and Silesia. Daun hoped to find the best position to meet the Prussians on the field of battle, but to observers he was seen as a coward and was scared to face Frederick. The French foreign minister Bernis was sending worried notes to the French ambassador Choiseul about the prospects of the Franco-Austrian alliance, something especially nerve-wracking for himself as it gave fodder to his opponents at Versailles. With anxiety coming from Versailles this made the court of Vienna worried that Daun’s caution would lead to the French pulling out of the war with Prussia, however, just as it seemed bleak Daun struck.
Spending the end of September and start of October chasing Daun a spy in Daun’s camp revealed to Frederick that the field marshall would continue his chase but had made camp 5 kilometres east of the Saxon village of Hochkirch. Confident Frederick ignored his commanders and set up camp on October 10 just north of Hochkirch at the base of Kupritzer Berg to wait for supplies. The village was exposed, Daun had the high ground, and had less than half the men that Daun had, but his spy had told him that Daun did not plan to attack. One of Frederick’s closest confidants James Keith warned Frederick about their position saying that ‘If the Austrians leave us in peace here they deserve to be hanged‘ to which the king replied ‘It is to be hoped that they fear us more than the gallows.’ That was how confident he was in the spy’s information, but there was an issue – the spy was being given false information. Daun was ready to attack.
The Battle of Hochkirch
Daun struck at dawn. Keeping camp fires lit the main bulk of the army slipped through the pine forests to the south of Hochkirch with others circumventing the forest entirely to slip around to the west. At 4 AM the battle began when Ernst von Loudon’s forces encountered some Prussian infantry on patrol – hearing fighting artillery just outside the village fired blindly in the direction of battle until they were flanked by von Laudon’s grenadiers using the cover of the forested hills and early morning light. By the time the Prussian forces stationed in Hochkirch realised the Austrians were attacking the Austrian forces were already in the south of the village. In particular, Loudon’s cavalry smashed through the half-dressed Prussian forces and prevented them from forming a defensive line. The commanders who Frederick had ignored tried to organise a defence as Austrian cannonfire had caused the wooden buildings of Hochkirch to set of fire. With a burning village, the roar of cannons, and the shrieking of horses it is no wonder why the Prussians had such a difficult time organising themselves. James Keith himself would be killed during the fighting at Hochkirch – being fatally shot in the chest he was finished off by a cannon shot which knocked him off his horse.
Where was Frederick during this? At first he was asleep and had dismissed attempts to rouse him. His own ego and faith he put in the spy meant he mistook the sound of battle for a minor skirmish with the Croatian irregulars which occasionally had made minor attacks on Prussian forces the days prior. Only when shells began landing in his camp did Frederick realise how serious the battle was. Sending a messenger north to get the 60,000 reinforcements Frederick himself led a counterattack until his horse was shot under him. Any Prussian pushback was met with Austrian artillery fire which wiped out the Prussian infantry until Frederick called an orderly retreat by 10 AM. Despite the bloodbath the often harsh discipline drilled into Prussian troops meant that fewer troops were lost in the retreat, but it was still costly. Over 9,000 Prussians were killed, injured, or taken prisoner, but they had fought hard – considering the size difference of the armies Austrian casualties neared Prussian casualties with Franz Szabo estimating around 6,000 Austrian casualties. Without a doubt, Frederick had firmly lost the battle.
History Rhyming – The Battle of Valmy
The purpose of this section is to look at similarities the events we cover to other parts of history, and around 40 years after Hochkirch the Prussian army would be defeated by a force which they underestimated. During the French Revolution the monarchies of Europe formed a series of coalitions to wipe out the revolutionary state, and the Prussian military came to blows against the revolutionary army. The disciplined and elitist Prussian commanders looked down on the volunteer comprised French army, but failed to recognise that ancien regime troops joined with the volunteers. Since Frederick’s time the Prussian army stopped being the vibrant force that he had forged, instead it had fallen into conservative battle formations and rigidity. Compared to the eagerness and determination of the French volunteers at Valmy the Prussian army retreated. With what was often perceived as the mightiest army of Europe defeated it produced a wave of enthusiasm for the revolution in France, and the revolutionaries proclaimed a republic just two days after the battle.
Aftermath of Hochkirch
While Frederick was egotistical he was not a typical narcissist and he blamed the debacle at Hochkirch on himself. Losing his close friend James Keith led Frederick to fall into a depression with one of his aides walking in on the king in tears reciting poetry in honour of his fallen friend. Making matters worse for Frederick was that his elder sister whom he cherished, Wilhelmine, passed away on the day of the battle. Frederick would recover from the twin losses – after all he had to get through his father executing his boyfriend in front of him – but the king would forever after suffer from a depressive state. In Austria the news of Daun’s victory was met with jubilation – while Frederick’s news landed on one of the worst days of his life, the news of the battle reached the Austrian court on the name day of Maria Theresa. She announced a generous pension for Daun and his descendants, and even gave him a gift from the pope! Finally, the defeat of Frederick by the Austrians reaffirmed the faith the French and Russian courts had in Austria, so much so that Maria Theresa hoped to follow up on the victory. She ordered Daun to follow Frederick and destroy the rest of his army.
Daun was still Daun, so despite the empress wanting to see him follow up his victory the cautious Field Marshall failed to do so. With Hochkirch being fought in October the winter was on its way so the opportunity to wage war for 1758 was rapidly coming to an end. Daun’s caution meant that he soon lost the opportunity to take advantage of his victory. Frederick retired to Bohemia for the winter and the next major battle of the Seven Years’ War in Europe would not happen until the following year. Another year that will see Europe in flames.
Other Events
There were other events which happened in this quarter of the year. Among them included:
- In November the French surrender Fort Duquesne in modern Pittsburgh to the British. They had previously fought off the British earlier in the year, but the arrival of a larger British force made the French evacuate before a battle.
- In December as the British were ethnically cleansing the Acadians from Nova Scotia where over 360 Acadians ended up drowning when the ship transporting them to France, the Duke William, sank.
- In December again Halley’s Comet is seen and described for the first time.
- In October Noah Webster who would later make a specific dictionary for American English was born.
Bibliography:
- Giles MacDonogh, Frederick the Great: A Life in Deeds and Letters, (New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2000)
- Herbert Redman, Frederick the Great and the Seven Years’ War, 1756-1763, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2014)
- House of History, ‘Frederick the Great: The Battle of Hochkirch, 1758 (Part 14)’, YouTube.com, (11/11/2022), [Accessed 28/12/2023]
- Daniel Baugh, The Global Seven Years’ War, 1754-1763, (London: Routledge, 2014)
- Franz Szabo, The Seven Years’ War in Europe, 1756-1763, (London: Routledge, 2013)
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