Battle of Prague, 1757: Frederick the Great's bloodiest victory

Frederick the Great won the Battle of Prague, but the day is remembered as much for its cost as for its result. Each army lost well over 13,000 men, the Prussians lost their most famous field marshal, and in Czech memory the battle carries the name of the one village where the Austrians held their ground: Štěrboholy.²

Into Bohemia

The Seven Years' War had begun in August 1756, when Frederick invaded Saxony to strike before the alliance of Austria, France and Russia could close on Prussia. In the spring of 1757 he struck at Bohemia from several directions at once: Frederick himself up the Elbe valley with 39,600 men, Prince Moritz from Saxony, the Duke of Bevern toward Jung-Bunzlau and Field Marshal Schwerin from Silesia. The Austrians fell back on Prague and took up a strong position on the heights east of the city, between the Vítkov hill and the village of Kyje.³

Their command was divided. The new commander-in-chief, Prince Charles of Lorraine, the empress's brother-in-law, and Field Marshal Browne had argued so violently over how to meet the Prussians that, as the people of the house where they had stayed told Frederick, they had almost come to blows.⁴

A march around the flank

On 5 May Frederick crossed the Vltava below the city and joined Schwerin, leaving Field Marshal Keith on the west bank with 32,000 men. At dawn on 6 May the combined army marched east. Frederick, Schwerin and Winterfeldt looked over the Austrian lines from a height under cannon fire and agreed to attack at once, beyond the Austrian right flank. According to BritishBattles.com, Frederick was suffering from a stomach complaint that day and left much of the first decisions to Schwerin.⁵

The flank march went badly. The Prussian artillery jammed in the narrow streets of Dolní Počernice, and the infantry had to struggle through a chain of fish ponds which, drained for the season, were beds of deep mud. The Austrians saw the movement and swung grenadiers and some fifteen cavalry regiments round to face it near Štěrboholy.⁶

Schwerin takes the colors

The Prussian infantry wheeled to the right and attacked between Hostavice and Štěrboholy. Under Frederick's new doctrine they advanced with muskets shouldered, without stopping to fire, straight into Austrian guns on the Homole hill and the volleys of the grenadiers. Several regiments broke. Winterfeldt was shot through the neck in front of Schwerin's own regiment and fell.⁷

The Czech magazine Reflex tells how Frederick had cursed Schwerin's infantry as cowards. The old field marshal gave his horse to the wounded Winterfeldt, seized the color of his regiment and led it forward again. He is usually credited with the cry "At them, my children!" A blast of canister struck him in the head, chest and stomach and killed him on the spot. On the Austrian side Field Marshal Browne had his leg shattered by a cannonball; he was carried into Prague and later died of the wound.⁸

The gap at Kyje

The battle was decided by men no general had ordered forward. In shifting troops to face the flank attack, the Austrians had opened a gap near Kyje between their new eastern front and their original line facing north. Prussian regiments under the nominal command of the Duke of Bevern pushed into it on their own initiative, with battalion commanders such as Colonel Herzberg and Major General Manstein's grenadiers leading the way.⁹

At the same time, at the southern end of the field, Lieutenant General von Zieten threw the Puttkamer and Werner hussar regiments into the flank of the Austrian cavalry, which had held its own until then. Caught between the infantry in the gap and the hussars, the Austrian position between Štěrboholy and Hostavice collapsed. General Kheul rallied part of the infantry for a last stand in the valley near Malešice before the Austrians withdrew into Prague; the Prussian attempt to cut off the retreat failed when Keith's bridging train stuck on the roads. Kam po Česku quotes the old Czech chronicle formula: the battle was over by three in the afternoon.¹⁰

Victory and its price

BritishBattles.com gives 14,300 Prussian and 13,400 Austrian casualties, the Austrian figure including 4,500 prisoners and 60 guns. Reflex counts 375 Austrian officers and 12,912 men lost plus 4,000 to 4,500 prisoners, against 340 Prussian officers and 12,169 men and 3,000 Saxon deserters. It was among the bloodiest battles of the eighteenth century. The Prussian doctrine of the silent advance with shouldered muskets was dropped; in later battles the infantry halted to fire volleys as it came on.¹¹

Frederick laid siege to Prague, but the victory did not last. Field Marshal Daun came to relieve the city, and on 18 June Frederick attacked him at Kolín with about 34,000 men against 54,000 and was badly beaten. He raised the siege on 20 June and fell back into Saxony. That is why, Reflex notes, the bloody victory at Štěrboholy was soon overshadowed in Czech memory by the brilliant Austrian victory at Kolín.¹²