The Battle of Lobositz or Lovosice also Lowositz on 1 October 1756 was the opening land battle of the Third Silesian War and the wider Seven Years’ War. Frederick the Great’s 28,000 Prussians were prevented by 33,000 Austrians under Maximilian Ulysses Count von Browne from continuing their invasion into the rich Bohemian plain, forcing Frederick to ultimately fall back north into Saxony for the winter.
Being a believer in the pre-emptive strike, on 29 August 1756 Frederick invaded Saxony with the bulk of the Prussian army, against the advice of his British allies. Neither the Saxon nor the Austrian army was ready for war. The Saxon army took up a strong defensive position near Pirna, and Frederick had no option but to isolate and try to starve them into surrendering. Meanwhile, realizing that the siege would take some time, he was compelled to leave a covering force around Pirna and head south through the rough Mittel-Gebirge of northern Bohemia to establish a winter base in the rich Bohemian plain.
An Austrian army under Field Marshal von Browne had prepared a fortified base at Budin to block any Prussian moves out of the Mittel-Gebirge. Browne had been in secret communication with the Saxon prime minister, Heinrich Count Bruhl, and had planned a rescue mission up the right bank of the Elbe to Königstein, near Pirna, to help the Saxon army escape across the river and join its allies. On the 28th, Browne received an enthusiastic agreement from Bruhl on his proposal; the date of the rendezvous of the two forces was to be the night of 11/12 September.
Meanwhile, Frederick and his 28,000 men were making their way through the Mittel-Gebirge toward the Bohemian plain. Browne’s intelligence told him that the Prussians would exit from the mountains at Lobositz, modern day Lovosice in the Czech Republic a few miles northwest of his fortified base at Budin. He recalled his small relief force up the Elbe and raced with 33,000 men up to Lobositz on the 28th to lay an ambush for Frederick as he debouched from the narrow passes of the mountains.
Both sides lost about the same number of men each, about 2,900, which was more severe for the initially smaller Prussian army Frederick, still shaken in the following days, decided his only political option was to proclaim Lobositz as a victory by 18th century rules of combat (since Browne had left the field of battle). However, Browne had done exactly what he had set out to do: stop Frederick at Lobositz and cover his own crossing of the Elbe further upstream to go and rescue the Saxon army at Pirna. Indeed, Frederick, though he sat on the “field of victory”, never advanced beyond Lobositz and within two weeks had ordered a general retreat back into Saxony. So, strategically, with his army intact, Bohemia safe, and his way north to the Saxons unhindered, Browne could be thought of as having won a strategic victory at Lobositz.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lobositz
I was out of town for a few weeks, so I was going to be challenged in setting up a scenario this month for SYW Tuesday. Fortunately, my buddy TJ agreed to help me out with organizing the troops and terrain. I knew we would not have too many players and wanted to keep the game small to continue my Kaiserin Krieg rules play testing. Since we had not played Lobositz in a very long time and it would give a nice test of late period Prussians and Austrians, I figured that would be a good fit.
I drive back to town late Monday night and got some sleep to be ready for the next morning game. TJ had brought all the stuff and set up the terrain and troops. We had three players, with myself being the game master.
We started with the Austrians in position, with all the troops on Defend orders. The Prussians started on the board and were free to pick any order for each unit. The were also free to choose any formation. The commander decided to go with all units in line formation and two batteries limbered. All units were placed on attack orders.
The game started with a charge by the forward cavalry regiments. The rest of the Prussian army piled forward in tight ranks. The fresh artillery and infantry were able to throw these attacks back. The Prussians decided to concentrate all their units on a narrow front, in order to set up their artillery to support the assaults. With he guns set up, the Prussians continued to push units forward to attack the Austrian line. The Austrians continued to bravely hold and through back each Prussian assault, but the casualties continued to mount. The Prussians were quite constrained by having all their units so packed in, so they kept with their strategy. Eventually, the Austrian units started to break and the Prussians managed to get their breakthrough. However, this was at the cost of a lot of cavalry.
On the Lobosch, the Austrian Grenzers engaged Prussians in long range skirmish fire, falling back as the Prussians advanced. The initial firing by the Austrians was very effective, but quickly died down to nothing, as they continued to give ground. Eventually, the Prussians cleared off the Grenzers and looked to take the hill. However, the Austrians sent forces forward to counterattack and hold the base. This exhausted the Prussians who finally gave up on this attack.
Across the Model Bach, the bulk of the Austrian army sat awaiting instructions. After a few hours, General Browne finally got some of the troops moving, with the rest to follow. The force was given the order to cross the Model and attack the Prussian flank. This movement took some time, as the terrain slowed down the Austrians. However, late in the day, the troops finally moved into position and started their attack on the Prussian flank.
It was clear that the flanking movement would come too late to save the Austrian army, but there was still a chance to give the Prussians a bloody nose and stave off defeat. The Austrians through everything they had across the front against the Prussians, breaking their army morale in the process. However, they did just enough to do the same to the Prussians. The game ended at turn eight as night was falling, with both armies broken. We did a roll off to see who would give up the field first. The Austrians lost this, as they suffered the heavier casualties. However, the Prussians were very bloodied in the process and would not be making any grand movement in pursuit!
Another good and close game. Nothing came up new, as far as the rules were concerned. I was curious how the game would play on such a small table. The battle was small enough to do the rules in tactical scale. However, I think a larger map would have made things more interesting instead, but we did not have a larger map. Something to think about in general. Next time we just need to try out some other armies.
- Manteuffel