Battle of Rossbach (1757): Frederick the Great's Swift Victory

The Battle of Rossbach, fought on 5 November 1757 in Saxony, was one of the most lopsided victories of the Seven Years’ War. In about 90 minutes, Frederick II of Prussia, known as Frederick the Great, routed a French and Holy Roman Imperial army roughly twice the size of his own. Coming at a moment when Prussia seemed close to collapse, it transformed the king’s fortunes and his reputation.

Background

By the autumn of 1757 Prussia was surrounded. The Seven Years’ War pitted Frederick against Austria, Russia, France, Sweden and most of the smaller states of the Holy Roman Empire, with only Britain and Hanover on his side. In June he had suffered a heavy defeat by the Austrians at Kolin in Bohemia, forcing him to abandon his invasion of that kingdom.

The news from the west was just as bad. A French army had beaten the Duke of Cumberland’s Hanoverian force at Hastenbeck in July, and in September Cumberland signed the Convention of Klosterzeven, taking Hanover out of the fighting. A Russian army had invaded East Prussia, and Austrian forces were pushing into Silesia, the province Frederick had seized in the 1740s.

A second French army under Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise, joined the Reichsarmee, the army of the Holy Roman Empire, commanded by Prince Joseph Friedrich of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Together they advanced into Saxony, threatening Leipzig and the Prussian heartland. Frederick hurried west with a small force to meet them.

The armies

Frederick had about 22,000 men, mostly well-drilled Prussian infantry and around 5,000 cavalry. The allied army numbered roughly 41,000, of whom about 30,000 were French and 11,000 belonged to the Reichsarmee. The figures vary slightly between historians, but all agree the allies had close to a two-to-one advantage.

Numbers hid serious weaknesses. The Reichsarmee was a patchwork of contingents from dozens of German states, with different drill, equipment and loyalties. Many of its soldiers had little enthusiasm for fighting Prussia. Relations between Soubise and Hildburghausen were strained, and French supply arrangements were poor.

What happened

On the morning of 5 November the Prussians were camped between the villages of Bedra and Rossbach. The allied commanders decided to march around Frederick’s left flank and cut him off from the River Saale. They set off in long marching columns, believing the Prussians were about to retreat.

Frederick watched their movements from the roof of a manor house in Rossbach. Shortly after midday he struck camp. The allies took this as the retreat they expected and hurried on. In fact the Prussian army was moving east behind a low ridge, the Janus Hill and the Polzen Hill, which hid it from view.

Around 3:30 pm Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz led 38 squadrons of Prussian cavalry over the ridge and into the head of the allied columns. The allied cavalry tried to respond but was scattered in two charges. Meanwhile Prussian artillery on the Janus Hill opened fire on the crowded allied infantry.

The Prussian infantry then advanced in line against the front of the columns, which had no time to deploy. After a few volleys the allied infantry broke. Seydlitz’s regrouped cavalry fell on their flank and rear, turning the retreat into a rout. By about 5 pm, as darkness fell, the Franco-Imperial army was fleeing west in disorder. Only seven Prussian battalions had been seriously engaged.

Key people

Frederick II (1712–1786), King of Prussia from 1740, commanded in person. His quick reading of the enemy’s march and his willingness to strike before they could form were the core of the victory.

Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz (1721–1773), only 36, was the junior cavalry general given command of the whole Prussian horse that day. He was wounded during the battle and was promoted to lieutenant general immediately afterwards.

Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise (1715–1787), a court favourite of Louis XV, commanded the French contingent. He kept his royal favour despite the defeat and later became a Marshal of France.

Prince Joseph Friedrich of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1702–1787) commanded the Reichsarmee and resigned his command soon after the battle.

By the numbers

Casualty figures differ between sources; the allied total is commonly given as around 10,000 men.

Consequences

Rossbach removed the immediate threat to Prussia from the west. Frederick was free to march back to Silesia, where a month later he won an even harder battle against the Austrians at Leuthen. The two victories together restored Prussia’s position at the end of 1757.

The battle also changed British policy. London repudiated the Convention of Klosterzeven, revived the army in Hanover under Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, and from 1758 paid Frederick a large annual subsidy. France, for its part, never again sent a major army directly against Prussia, concentrating instead on Hanover and the war overseas.

Legacy

Rossbach was a deep humiliation for the French army, which had long seen itself as the best in Europe, and it encouraged military reform in France in the following decades. In Germany the defeat of a French-led army by a German king became a source of national pride, celebrated in songs and prints, even though many Germans had fought on the losing side.

That symbolism lasted. After defeating Prussia in 1806, Napoleon had the Prussian victory monument on the battlefield removed. Later German nationalists often presented Rossbach as an early triumph over France, an interpretation that says more about the 19th century than about 1757.

Timeline

• 1757, 18 June: Frederick is defeated by the Austrians at Kolin in Bohemia.
• 1757, 26 July: French victory over Hanoverian forces at Hastenbeck.
• 1757, September: Convention of Klosterzeven takes Hanover out of the war.
• 1757, late October: Soubise and Hildburghausen advance into Saxony; Frederick marches west.
• 1757, 5 November, about 3:30 pm: Seydlitz’s cavalry charges the head of the allied columns.
• 1757, 5 November, about 5 pm: The Franco-Imperial army is in full flight.
• 1757, 5 December: Frederick defeats the Austrians at Leuthen in Silesia.

Why it matters

Rossbach showed what a small, well-trained and well-led army could do against a larger but divided one. It rescued Prussia in one of its darkest years, kept Britain in the war, and made Frederick the most admired general in Europe.