In this post, dear readers, we take another turn into my e-books for antiquarians series in order to share a colorful, if little known, anecdote of the Battle of Kolin, June 1757--Frederick the Great's first defeat. Although the course of this battle is worthy of study, I'll won't reprise it in detail here. You may find several excellent accounts on the Battlefield Anomalies web page and the Project Seven Years War page (among others). This posting was generated by my perusal of the below book on cavalry, written in the immediate aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars by Count Von Bismarck (not the Prussian Iron Chancellor of the later century but an officer who reformed the Wurtemburg Cavalry). It was translated into English by an English cavalry officer (who also adds his own notes and commentary). It is well worth reading for its information on the role and use of cavalry, covering everything from the conceptual and operational down to the organizational and sub tactical. I am fortunate enough to have a copy of my own, but it is available in digital form on the web (see information below the title page images) where it can be both read and downloaded. As usual, in this post you may clix on pix for BIG PIX (and will probably need to do so to read the pasages):
Like many of the military treatises of its day, this text has much "technical" information on the organization, configuration, and evolutions cavalry, but it is also generously sprinkled with historical anecdotes in support of concepts and principles. This particular tome is most rich in these, with bits pulled from battles of antiquity right up through the (then) latest wars. So it is a rich resource for anyone interested in Napoleonic cavalry and also a dashing good read on military history. Some of these anecdotes are well known, and some not so much, which brings me to this post--which is an entertaining anecdote concerning the Battle of Kolin. The battle happened during the Seven Years War between the Austrians and Prussians and raged all day, with the Austrians under Daun holding off the assaulting Prussians. This was the battle where Frederick is famously said to have grabbed a color to lead a renewed charge ("Dogs, do you want to live forever!") only to find that the was heading up the hill alone. Later in the day, there were several cavalry charges by the Austrians that turned back the Prussians. As I said, accounts vary about these, which is an interesting topic in itself. Focusing in on the anecdote, there was a three-regiment Saxon cavalry brigade in the Austrian right wing whose role is sometimes mentioned, sometimes mentioned only in passing, and sometimes not mentioned. Additionally, some accounts mention that Daun sent an order to withdraw late in the battle (others don't mention this order, interestingly enough). The Austrian Army in fact did not withdraw, but instead the cavalry charged and finally broke the Prussian effort and drove them from the field. It is when this withdrawal order was making its way down the line and arrived at the Saxon cavalry brigade, and was received by a Saxon Lt Colonel Benkendorf that this Munchausenesque anecdote arises...
The below note is Found on pages 79 and 80 to illustrate the phrase, "The winning or losing of a battle depends often on some small, unimportant accident, not taken into the calculation of the General" (Clix pix for Big Pix to read)
If it didn't happen this way, it should have, is all I have to say.
The note above has it's own footnote that is worth including:
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