It was now a fine winter afternoon. The Saxons lay peacefully in their quarters oblivious to the impending doom. Buchner was sitting down to a late lunch with his officers when Zieten's hussars swept out of the woods at the east end of the village just before 3:00 P.M.

Hennersdorf Jumbo Map (slow: 122K)

Hennersdorf was a straggling village running nearly 5km along the hollow of a small stream (the Feldbach). Zieten cleared the entire length of the village in the first rush, taking two cannon in the process. Then that curse of irregulars struck - his men dispersed to plunder. Their horses were probably blown after the morning's exertions and the lure of the abandoned Saxon quarters proved too strong to resist.

Leaving the disrupted luncheon, Colonel O' Byrn managed to rally about half of his regiment, chase off the hussars and recapture the guns. The other troops quickly fell in behind a thick hedge just north of the center of Hennersdorf. Because of the length of the village, it took awhile for the infantry to join the cavalry in this position. This gave Zieten time to regroup at the east end of Hennersdorf and await assistance (Map 3: A and B).

He had sent word to Frederick as soon as he discovered the Saxon positions. The king lost no time in despatching reinforcements. Lt. General Rochow was sent immediately with part of the cavalry left wing towards Hennersdorf from its crossing point at Haugwitz on the Queis. The two infantry columns set out fromNaumburg as soon as they were over the river, while the cavalry right, with Hussar Regiment Natzmer in the van, hurried past Heyde-Gersdorf to cut off Buchner's retreat.

Buchner had also appealed for assistance, but received only Polenz's orders to retreat to the collection point of the allied army's left wing at Hochkirch. His infantry had just started trudging westward past the houses, when a large body of Prussian horse appeared by the sunken road a little to the north.

This was Major General Katler's cuirassier brigade, the lead unit of Rochow's column. Seeing the Saxon infantry departing, Rochow immediately ordered Katzler's ten squadrons to attack. It was a critical moment which Buchner had foreseen. His six squadrons were already riding out to cover their comrades' withdrawal.

Catching Katzler's brigade as it deployed to charge, the Saxons threw it into disorder. The Prussians were saved in the nick of time by the appearance of two grenadier battalions arriving hot foot from Naumburg. Their disciplined salvos disuaded Buchner's cuirassiers from further pursuit, enabling Katzler's troopers to regroup in two lines. Winterfeldt arrived with eight squadrons of Natzmer Hussars as a third line (Map 3: C).

Owing to the presence of so much Prussian horse, the Saxon infantry were marching in a square. This greatly slowed their progess and they still had not cleared the west end of Hennersdorf, let alone reached their comrades in Kieslingswalda. There was nothing for it but for Buchner's brave men to charge again. Being so few, they drew up in a single line to attack three times their number. However, Rochow had not deployed his greater strenght to best effect. The shock of the Saxon attack threw his first line back onto the stationary second line drawn up only 100 paces behind. Both were thrown into confusion and fell back into the Natzmer Hussars as well. For a moment it looked as though all 18 squadrons might be routed completely, when Rochow was saved a second time by the arrival of fresh forces. The two remaining squadrons of Natzmer Hussars now appeared on the Saxon's left, while Zieten's troopersreappeared in their flank and rear. Effectively surrounded by over six times their number, Buchner's cuirassiers were finally overwhelmed (Map 3: D).

It was now about 5 P.M. The Saxon infantry had only just reached a knoll at the west end of Hennersdorf, having been shadowed by the two Prussian grenadier battalions. Five Prussian squadrons now bore down from three directions. Calmly, the Saxons halted and dispersed these with disciplined volleys. However, the greandiers now opened fire with muskets and field artillery, forcing the Saxons to abandon their square formation. This left them at the mercy of the Prussian cavalry. Five regiments of horse now assaulted their flanks and rear, while the grenadiers pushed home with the bayonet. Only 135 men escaped (Map 3: E).

The Prussians were surprised and impressed by this remarkable resistance. Buchner's command could scarcely have totalled more than 2,600. Of these over 1,400 had been killed or captured in a three hour fight against more than 5,000 Prussians. Both Buchner and Colonel O'Byrn were wounded and taken prisoner along with 24 fellow officers and at least 885 men. Zieten had been seiously wounded along with seven officers and 110 men killed or injured. The Saxons had once again shown themselves worthy opponents of the reknownd bluecoats. The cavalry engagement also indicated that there were still some serious deficiencies in the battlefield handling of the Prussian horse. [7]

However, these details were completely outweighed by the morale impact of the battle. With Buchner's force completely killed, captured or scattered, Prince Charles had no inclination to continue a winter campaign he had opposed from the outset. Despite being only five hours march from Buchner at Schonberg, he took no action to help him. As it became clear that the entire Prussian army was across the Queis, Charles only thought was retreat. The remainder of the Saxon corps managed to reach Schonberg that night. The next morning the allies made a disorderly retreat to Gorlitz, covered by the mist.

Having crossed to the west bank of the Neisse, Charles would only have had a short march to join Rutowski. However, he was in no mood for further action. The activities of his hussars and Croat irregulars had already made him unpopular in the Lausitz. This further sapped the will of his army to continue fighting after the reverses earlier that year. Leaving Gorlitz to its fate, he headed for the relative safety of Bohemia on November 25, covered by his light troops who laid waste to the countryside to hinder pursuit. The Saxon auxiliary corps, by now only 2,518 effectives, had no choice but to follow. [8]

Austrian morale now collapsed. Pursuing Prussian hussars found the road littered with abandoned equipment. When Winterfeldt finally caught up with Charles on the heights by Zittau, at 2:00 A.M., the next day, the Austrians retreated precipitiously and fell back in confusion to Gabel. The army's baggage fell into Prussian hands, while desertion brought total losses to over 5,000. Gorlitz with its precious magazine surrendered and its inhabitants were forced to pay 100,000 florins "contribution" to the Prussian war effort.

By November 29th the huge Saxon magazine at Guben (along with its 138 transport wagons) and a flour store at Bautzen were also in Prussian hands.

This rout put an end to Rutowski's ambitious plan to invade Prussia. With the main army out of the way and Frederick pushing into Saxony from the east, the Old Dessauer was finally persuaded to leave Halle and invade from the northwest. Though Prince Charles collected his shattered army (now only 18-19,000), and dodged behind the mountains to emerge at Pima, he failed to save the Saxons. The latter were beaten in the bloody battle of Kesselsdorf in the snows west of Dresden, finally bringing the winter campaign to an end.

Footnotes