Battle of Soor

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The Battle of Soor was fought on September 30, 1745 between Prussian and Austro-Saxon forces. The Prussians were led by Frederick the Great, while the Austro-Saxons were led by Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine. At first, Frederick's forces were in trouble, but his men fought back, reversing the tide of the battle, and the Prussians emerged victorious.

[edit] The battle

Three months after the battle of Hohenfriedberg, Prince Charles exploited Frederick's carelessly laid "Camp of Staudenz" to launch a surprise attack on the diminished Prussian army. Having stripped off many detachments during his march through Bohemia, Frederick's numbers had been reduced to 22,000 effectives. Prince Charles then had a splendid opportunity. The King, Frederick the Great, had failed to occupy the Graner-Koppe, the hill north of Burkersdorf that dominated the landscape to the east and south. Prince Charles loaded it up with musketeers, grenadiers, cavalry and 16 heavy guns. He extended the remainder of his army in line to the south.

The Prussians detected the Austrian presence, however, and despite all the enemy's advantages of surprise and terrain, it was they who moved first to the attack. Marching in column formation, Frederick directed his army to the north where the battle opened with an Austrian cannonade upon the helpless columns of cavalry as they passed beneath the Graner-Koppe.

Having weathered the fire, the cavalry deployed to the north of the hill. The infantry took the summit itself. General Buddenbrock's troopers opened the assault by driving the Austrian horse from the high ground. But the cavalry attack ran into enemy infantry and was turned back by musket fire. The Graner-Koppe was then under infantry attack as well. Elite Prussian grenadiers marched right up to the muzzles of the heavy guns and were decimated by a combination of cannon and musket fire. The second line surged forward, fighting through enemy grenadiers, and captured the summit, putting the dangerous battery out of action.

Meanwhile, the right wing of the Austrian line was engaged in its own separate battle as the Prussians moved to clear Burkersdorf. After nearly bogging down under yet another battery near the town, Prince Ferdinand's troops finally cracked the Austrian center. The Austrians relinquished the field, and Frederick overcame the most dangerous predicament of his career. ("I was in the soup up to my ears.")