Silesia and Moravia are separated by a range of mountains. When spring came, Frederick sat on the Silesian side, waiting for the Austrians to advance. Archduke Charles, who had taken command of the Austrian army, was not about to disappoint the Prussian king. Both sides concentrated their forces by the end of April (1745) and with the beginning of May, Austrian light troops began spilling into Silesia.

It soon became apparent to Frederick that he'd be unable to evacuate the magazine stores at Jagerndorf without a fight. He thereupon dispatched the Margrave Charles to reinforce the four battalions guarding this supply base at his exposed southern flank.

On May 18, he issued a follow-up order to the Margrave, instructing him to hold Jagerndorf until the Archduke actually commenced operations. It was the last message to get through. The Austrian light troops slammed the door shut. Anticipating a battle, Frederick decided to recall the Margrave and his force of 13 battalions and 24 squadrons to rejoin him. He was further expected to bring with him all the stores his wagons could carry, destroying the rest to prevent it from falling into Austrian hands.

[Editor: Frederick then ordered Zieten to take his entire regiment of hussars (HR2) and deliver the withdrawal orders to Margrave Charles, as all other attempts to deliver orders to Charles had been intercepted by the heavy screen of Austrian light troops that surrounded Jagerndorf I

Zieten gathered his regiment, 550 men in five squadrons, in the small town of Gesaess, southeast of Patschkau, during the afternoon of May 19, 1745. The road ahead led over some 45 miles of rolling and partially wooded terrain, dotted with numerous small villages. Much of the area was known to be overrun by some ten thousand Austrian light troops and cavalry. Intending to make the first leg of their march under the cover of night, Zieten's regiment moved off about 6:00 PM.

At midnight, Zieten ordered an hour's halt to feed the horses in the hamlet of Polish Wette. No Austrians had been sighted thus far; then the sound of gunfire from the direction of Neustadt put everyone on their toes. Returning scouts reported that the small garrison holding the town was under attack from Austrian insurgents. Refusing to give way to the imprecations of his officers, who knew nothing of the regiment's true mission, Zieten simply waited.

The defenders of Neustadt, 300 men commanded by a captain from the Regiment Holstein, beat off the attack, as Zieten hoped they would. As soon as the gunfire abated, he ordered his regiment to advance at the trot, entering the town through the north gate, opposite to where the enemy was withdrawing. 

Zieten climbed into the town church steeple to observe the retreating Austrians, heading in the direction of their extensive encampments around Leobschuetz in two columns. It was at this point that Zieten got the idea for the most audacious move. With the way to his objective leading straight through the Austrian encampments, he decided to simply tag his regiment onto the rear of one of the retreating Austrian columns.

Forming up under cover, Zieten's regiment emerged into the open at a quiet and leisurely pace. With their swords in their scabbards, the troopers moved forward in loose formation. Men of Hungarian birth rode at the head and the flanks of the squadrons, calling out in their native language to passersby and singing Hungarian songs. Cautiously, they passed an Austrian dragoon regiment that barely noticed them. Other pickets, sentries and details along the way paid no attention either. At one point, the road led through the middle of a bivouac area where Seressaners, the elite Croatian scouts from the Karlstadt and Banal regiments, were camping.

An Austrian officer, going their way, joined the column, taking up a conversation with Zieten himself and receiving the shock of his life when he was quietly taken prisoner.

The regiment began to draw abreast of the main encampments in and around Leobschuetz. An Austrian dragoon regiment, just ahead of the Zieten hussars, swung off to the left. To reach the Margrave and his Prussians, Zieten would have to continue straight ahead. Moving towards no-man's land would arouse attention and the pickets in this area were bound to be more alert than the ones they had been passing all day. The moment of truth was at hand. Zieten gave the hand signal to trot. Predictably, curious heads turned their way from all directions. When the regiment passed the turn off the road at a brisk pace, a sentry took a real hard look. Prussians!

His challenge rang through the encampments like an electric charge. By the time the Austrians figured out what to do, Zieten had gained precious ground, passing the town of Rosswald and heading southwards toward Dobersdorf.

At the bridge, about halfway between the two towns, an Austrian hussar picket spread the alarm ahead into the outermost encampments. As Zieten's hussars thundered past Dobersdorf and crossed a little brook with swampy banks, the Austrians made an attempt to bag them.

A battalion of Croats occupied Mocker and the hill just beyond. To the left, two other irregular companies took up positions in Bratsch, also occupying the hill to north of the town. With the road through Mocker closed, Zieten's hussars swung wide to avoid another stream with swampy banks, bringing them close to the companies in and around Bratsch.

The regiment was in full career now, running the gauntlet between the two hills dominating the ground. Like swarms of angry bees, sections and platoons broke away from the column to drive back any enemy forces that dared approach too close. When Austrian hussars came up, entire squadrons swerved to meet them. The cavalcade went on unimpeded. The only way to stop them now would be to stand squarely in their path. No one was disposed to take the chance and even if they had, Zieten would not have given them time. The wild chase continued, the Prussian hussars gathering an ever-growing tail of pursuers behind them.

Prussian sentries in front of Jagerndorf passed the alert and Bronikowski came up with his hussars to investigate the commotion. Immediately behind, the Margrave followed at the head of five squadrons of dragoons and two battalions of infantry. Forming up a receiving line near Tuermitz, they let Zieten'ss hassars pass. The pursuit came to an abrupt halt when the first platoon volleys of the infantry were heard.

Zieten had made his ride and delivered Frederick's message to the Margrave. It is descriptive of both Zieten and his hussars that the celebrated feat was less an affair of sabre-swinging histrionics than it was a triumph of boldness and cunning. Out of 550 men, three were killed, two missing, and one officer and twenty troopers were wounded. These figures indicate that the Zieten hussars had succeeded in psyching out their opponents. With the element of surprise on his side, Zieten hadn't faltered for a moment, alternately making and taking his chances.

[Editor: Riehn goes on to say that the similarity in Austrian and Prussian hussar uniforms also contributed to the success of Zieten's bluff, and that the Margrave did rejoin Frederick in time to fight at Hohenfriedberg on June 4, 1745 ].

[Editor's Note: this story is an excerpt from an article that appeared in Campaigns magazine, Issue No. 4, June 1976. Mr Riehn was the editor of this fine magazine, now defunct, and has written a number of books on 18th Century and Napoleonic military history. I felt that Riehn 's account of Zieten's raid would make for an excellent Kleine Krieg wargame scenario.]

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