War of the Austrian Succession

The Battle of Mollwitz on 10 April 1741 was the first major engagement of Frederick II's reign and a significant early action of the First Silesian War within the broader War of the Austrian Succession. The Prussian force of approximately 21,600 faced an Austrian army of between 15,800 and 19,000 under Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg, with both sides committing numerous military blunders in the course of the fighting. Frederick himself left the battlefield before the outcome was decided, yet the Prussian army secured a victory regardless, inflicting roughly 4,550 Austrian casualties against Prussian losses of approximately 4,850. Despite the disorderly character of the engagement, the result carried concrete strategic weight: it cemented Prussian control over Silesia, the territory Frederick had seized at the outset of the war, and denied Austria the battlefield success that might have reversed that conquest. The victory also provided Frederick with direct operational experience that would shape his conduct in subsequent campaigns of the War of the Austrian Succession.

The Battle of Chotusitz, fought on 17 May 1742 in Bohemia, arose when an Austrian imperial force of around 25,000 men under Charles of Lorraine, advancing against French-occupied Prague, encountered a Prussian army of roughly equal size commanded by Frederick the Great. Casualties were heavy on both sides — approximately 5,100 Austrian and 4,900 Prussian — reflecting the intensity of the engagement despite parity in force sizes. The battle is generally considered a Prussian victory, though its direct effect on the broader War of the Austrian Succession was limited. Within the context of the First Silesian War, the engagement nonetheless reinforced Prussian military standing in Bohemia and checked Austrian offensive momentum toward Prague at a moment when French forces held the city.

The Battle of Dettingen, fought on 27 June 1743 near Karlstein am Main in Bavaria, saw the Pragmatic Army — a combined force of British, Hanoverian, and Austrian troops numbering 35,000 — defeat a French force of 23,000 under the Duke of Noailles. Casualties stood at approximately 2,332 for the Pragmatic Army against 3,000–4,500 for the French. Despite the Allied victory, the engagement has been characterized as 'a happy escape, rather than a great victory,' and it had little impact on the broader course of the War of the Austrian Succession. Its most enduring significance is constitutional rather than strategic: George II, nominally commanding the Pragmatic Army while operational control rested with the Earl of Stair, became the last reigning British monarch to lead troops in combat.

The Battle of Toulon, fought on 21 February 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession, brought together Spanish commanders Juan José Navarro and Claude de La Bruyère against a British force under Thomas Mathews, Richard Lestock, and William Rowley. The engagement represented a direct naval confrontation between Britain and the Franco-Spanish alliance in the Mediterranean theater of the war. Beyond the recorded facts, no further detail on outcome, casualties, or operational consequences is available in the source material to permit fuller assessment of its significance within the broader conflict.

The Battle of Fontenoy, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in Belgium, was a French victory over the Pragmatic Army during the War of the Austrian Succession. Marshal Saxe commanded 50,000 French troops against a roughly equal Allied force under the Duke of Cumberland. French casualties of 8,000 against Allied losses of approximately 12,000 indicate the scale of the French success. The engagement formed part of the broader French strategic effort in the Austrian Netherlands, and the defeat of the Pragmatic Army — a coalition force drawing on British, Dutch, and allied contingents — strengthened France's position in that theater during the mid-point of the war.

The Battle of Soor was fought during the Second Silesian War, a constituent conflict of the wider War of the Austrian Succession, in which Prussia under Frederick the Great contested Austrian control of Silesia. Facing an Austro-Saxon force of 40,200 with only 22,500 troops, the Prussian army absorbed an initial Austrian surprise attack before recovering to inflict a decisive defeat on the larger force. Prussian casualties stood at 3,911 against Austrian losses of 7,444, a disparity that reflected the scale of the reversal suffered by the Austro-Saxon side. The outcome demonstrated the Prussian army's capacity to withstand a coordinated surprise assault while outnumbered and still carry the field, reinforcing Frederick's operational position in the Second Silesian War.

The Battle of Rocoux, fought on 11 October 1746 near Rocourt, Liège, was a significant engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession in the Low Countries. Marshal Maurice de Saxe commanded a French force of 100,000 against a combined British, Dutch, German, and Austrian army of 70,000 under Charles of Lorraine, Earl Ligonier, and Prince Waldeck. French casualties of approximately 3,000 against Allied losses estimated between 8,000 and 10,000 indicate a decisive French tactical success. The engagement was part of France's sustained campaign to extend and consolidate its position in the Austrian Netherlands, continuing the operational momentum Saxe had developed in the region. The scale of Allied losses weakened the coalition's capacity to defend the Low Countries and reinforced French dominance in the theater during the final years of the war before the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.

The Battle of Lauffeld, fought on 2 July 1747 between Tongeren and Maastricht, was a significant engagement in the closing stage of the War of the Austrian Succession. Marshal Saxe's French army of 136,000 defeated the Duke of Cumberland's Pragmatic Army of 100,000, extending French dominance in the Austrian Netherlands that Saxe had established through earlier victories in the campaign. The engagement demonstrated France's continued ability to concentrate superior force and impose its will on the Allied coalition in the Low Countries theater. With the war concluding the following year at the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, Lauffeld stood among the final major field actions of the conflict, reinforcing the French military position in the region and contributing to the diplomatic leverage France brought to the peace negotiations.