Battle of Torgau

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Torgau
partof=Seven Years' War


caption=
date=1760-11-03
place= flagicon|Saxony Süptitzer Höhen, near present-day Torgau, Saxony, Germany
casus=
territory=Saxony
result=Prussian victory
combatant1=flagicon|Prussia|1750 Prussia
combatant2=flagicon|Holy Roman Empire Austria
commander1=Frederick II of Prussia
commander2=Field Marshal Leopold Josef Graf Daun
strength1= 49,000
strength2=53,000
casualties1=20,000
casualties2=16,000|notes= The Battle of Torgau (November 3, 1760) was a Prussian victory over a larger Austrian army, and one of the bloodiest battles of the Seven Years' War.

A Prussian army of 49,000 men under Frederick II fought an Imperial army of 53,000 men under the Austrian Field Marshal Leopold Josef Graf Daun. The battle started with an artillery duel between the Austrians, who were fortified on the high ground of Süptitzer Höhen, and a Prussian contingent under General von Zieten. Hearing the artillery the Prussian king decided to launch his attack, prematurely, with ten battalions. The fire from 400 Austrian field pieces caused the loss of 5,000 Prussian grenadiers in the span of one hour. The attack faltered and Frederick called off the uphill assault and believed the battle to be lost. Daun, who had been wounded in the foot and was being treated in Torgau, sent General Charles Flynn to deliver a preliminary victory dispatch to Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna.

The tide of the battle turned at dusk, when Zieten's columns, who had been engaged pointlessly with General Lacy, assaulted the heights and captured the gun battery from the Austrians. Zieten then turned the guns and fired upon the Austrian forces, which twice tried unsuccessfully to regain the lost battery. By 9 p.m. the battle wound down with the Prussians still in control of the heights.

The Prussians had won the battle but at a heavy cost: losses amounted to about 20,000 total. The Austrian losses were 16,000 in all and 43 guns.

References

Frederick the Great: A Military Life By Christopher Duffy