6 May 1757 Battle of Sterbohol

The Battle of Sterbohol was the second largest engagement of the Seven Years' War. It saw the Prussian army of Frederick II and the Habsburg army led by Prince Charles of Lorraine. It took place on 6 May 1757.

Both sides went into battle with approximately equal numbers. But the Austrian army had the better position. Their camp was situated between Mount Vitkov, the heights near Hrdlořez, Malešice, Olšany and Nusle. The Prussians, however, managed to completely subvert the defences and won a significant victory. The breakthrough came when the Prussian soldiers surrounded the Austrian right flank, for which it meant great danger. The Austrian cavalry was "thoughtfully" scattered throughout Bohemia. The entire flank collapsed the moment Austrian Field Marshal Browne was hit by a cannon shot and succumbed to his wounds. He was the only one who could save the situation.

The Prussians eventually lost about 14,000 men, while the Austrians lost 8,000 and 4,500 were captured. "Frederick lost Major Generals Schöning and Blankensee as well as Lieutenant General Hautcharmoy. But most of all he mourned his great friend and ally, Field Marshal Schwerin. veteran infantrymen, and for the first time some of his battalions were completely destroyed in battle," says Simon Millar in Cologne 1757: Frederick the Great's First Defeat.

However, this bloody battle remains overshadowed by the Battle of Cologne, even though the aforementioned Prussian general Kurt Christoph von Schwerin also fell at Stěrbohol. "Until 1945, his death and the battle were commemorated by two monuments, which were senselessly removed by the "patriots" after the Second World War. On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the battle, a new monument was erected on the site of Schwerin's memorial," write Milan and Roman Plch in their book Where to Go for Military Monuments.

At the time of the Battle of Stěrbohol, Marshal Leopold Daun's strong and well-armed corps was on the march to Bohemia, which he was able to form in Moravia in the area of Olomouc. It was originally expected to be deployed to fight for Silesia. However, events forced a change of plans. Since Daun had not been able to intervene in the fighting at Prague, he withdrew to Kolin to prepare a retaliatory strike.

His forces were joined by the remnants of the scattered troops that had been cut off from Prague on the attack from Sterbohol. "He was joined by Saxon soldiers who had defected to Bohemia from the Prussian mercenaries," Karel Richter describes the events of the time in his book Iron and Blood: the Prusso-Austrian Wars 1740-1866.

First, he sent General Zieten and his hussar regiments to Cologne. When it became clear that their strength was insufficient against the enemy, he ordered Duke von Bevern's observation corps to join them. He handed over the supreme command of the siege of Prague to Prince Heinrich, determined to hasten to Cologne. At Cologne, 13,398 soldiers and 396 officers were eventually wounded or captured on the Prussian side (that is 41 percent of the total), 8,629 and 359 officers on the Austrian side. Compared to the Battle of Sterbohol, the Austrian army won at Kolín.

Sources:Milan and Roman Plch: Where to go for military monuments,Karel Richter: Iron and Blood: the Prusso-Austrian Wars 1740-1866,Simon Millar: Cologne 1757: Frederick the Great's First Defeat,https://epochalnisvet.cz/