Der Leuthener [German march]

The Battle of Leuthen was fought on 5 December 1757, at which Frederick the Great’s Prussian army used maneuver and terrain to decisively defeat a much larger Austrian force commanded by Prince Charles of Lorraine and Count Leopold Joseph von Daun. The victory ensured Prussia control of Silesia during the Third Silesian War (part of the Seven Years’ War). The battle was fought at the Silesian town of Leuthen, 10 kilometers (6 mi) northwest of Breslau. By exploiting the training of his troops and his superior knowledge of the terrain, Frederick created a diversion at one end of the battlefield, and moved most of his small army behind a series of low hillocks. The surprise attack in the oblique order on the unsuspecting Austrian flank baffled Prince Charles; the Prince took several hours to realize that the main action was to his left, and not to his right. Within seven hours, the Prussians destroyed the Austrian force, erasing any advantage the Austrians had gained throughout the campaigning in