Battle of Rossbach

Overview

The Battle of Rossbach took place on 5 November 1757 during the Third Silesian War near the village of Rossbach (Roßbach), in the Electorate of Saxony. It is sometimes called the Battle of, or at, Reichardtswerben, after a different nearby town. In this 90-minute battle, Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, defeated an Allied army composed of French forces augmented by a contingent of the Reichsarmee of the Holy Roman Empire. The French and Imperial army included 41,110 men, opposing a considerably smaller Prussian force of 22,000. Despite overwhelming odds, Frederick managed to defeat the Imperials and the French.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Rossbach, fought on 5 November 1757 near the village of Rossbach in the Electorate of Saxony, saw Frederick the Great defeat a combined Franco-Imperial force during the Seven Years' War. The Allied army of 41,110 — French forces augmented by a contingent of the Reichsarmee of the Holy Roman Empire — was routed by a Prussian force of only 22,000 in an engagement lasting roughly 90 minutes. French and Imperial casualties reached between 8,000 and 10,000. The outcome demonstrated that Frederick could defeat numerically superior Coalition opponents drawn from two of the principal powers arrayed against Prussia, checking the combined pressure of France and the Holy Roman Empire on the western and central theaters of the war.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)