Prussian Night March

There can be no doubt that Frederick would waste no time in attacking his unsuspecting opponents. The Advance Guard of ten infantry battalions and three hussar regiments, under the command of General Du Moulin, was to march northwest from Alt-Jauernick, through Striegau, and occuppy the three hills above that town. Du Moulin embarked at 8 P.M. on the night of June 3 and occuppied the Muhlen-berg after a brief skirmish with some Saxon uhlans.

Concurrently, the Duke of Weissenfels ordered his advance guard of Saxons to occupy the same ground around Striegau. They posted a few companies of grenadiers and some artillery on the Spitz-berg and drove off Du Moulin's hussars, thinking that the Prussians were nothing more than a skirmish detail. A few Austrian hussars attempted to cross the Striegauer- wasser, but were driven off by Prussian hussars. They reported seeing the Prussian campfires around AltJauernick and reported that all was quiet on the front.

Quite to the contrary, the rest of the Prussian army was following in Du Moulin's path. They left their campfires at 9 P.M. with orders to march to Striegau. There they were to cross the stream and bear NW towards Pilgramshain, deploy, and turn west. Frederick expected to be in position to turn the Austrian left flank. By midnight, most of the army was in the Striegau-Graben area.

Frederick had not expected to run into any opposition at Pilgramshain, so he made an on-the-spot change in his plans to suit the situation. He sent a battery of six 24-pound cannons and all of Rothenburg's right wing cavalry (26 squadrons of cuirassiers and 20 squadrons of dragoons) to reinforce Du Moulin. The rest of the army would cross the Striegauer- wasser at Teichau and Graben, led by Prince Leopold's nine battalions and march due west towards Thomaswaldau. The left wing cavalry would cover the flank to the south of Teichau.

The Fighting Begins On The Prussian Right

Du Moulin's infantry commenced the attack on the Saxon-held Spitzerg at 4 A.M. The Saxon guns opened fire, but they and their supporting infantry were overwhelmed and driven away. Du Moulin, in turn, deployed a battery of fifteen guns on the Spitz-berg to cover his advance on Pilgramshain. Weissenfels ordered his Saxons to fall back behind and to the right of Pilgramshain.

The infantry was placed in the boggy strip of land called "The Gule" and the cavalry was posted in front of Pilgramshain. Bogs, dykes and carp ponds hindered the movement of the Saxon artillery and it was late in deploying. Sixteen battalions of Saxon and Austrian infantry formed the first line and the second line of fourteen battalions extended the line left towards Eisdorf. Eighteen companies of grenadiers held out in Pilgramshain. Map 2 depicts the respective deployment of Prussian and allied forces at 4 A.M. on June 4.

Weissenfels deployed the Saxon cavalry and four regiments of Austrian cavalry in front of Pilgramshain. A furious cavalry battle erupted and lasted until 5 A.M. Twice the Saxon-Austrian cavalry charged and twice they were driven back. They scattered a few squadrons of Prussian cuirassiers in the first line (26 sqds.), but the supporting second line of Prussian dragoons (20 sqds.) drove them back while their armored bretheren reformed.

This by itself demonstrates the improvement in the quality of the Prussian cavalry since Mollwitz. To be able to charge, retire and reform, and charge again speaks well for their training. The Saxons reformed and attempted one more charge, but they were repulsed and routed off the field towards Eisdorf. The cavalry battle was over by 6 A.M.

Map: First Phase of the Battle

MAP 2: The first phase of the battle between the Saxon Left and the Prussian Advance Guard gave way to an immense cavalry fight around Pilgramshain. Later Leopold's Right Wing fought the Saxon infantry.

More Hohenfriedberg

Hohenfriedberg: Introduction
Hohenfriedberg: March and Battle Openings
Hohenfriedberg: Prince Leopold Attacks
Hohenfriedberg: Second Battles vs. Austrians
Hohenfriedberg: Order of Battle

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