The story of the last battle

One of the last battles of the Seven Years' War and the last battle on Czech territory took place in the village of Hudcov near Teplice on August 2, 1762. The Prussian army of 12,000 men led by Generals Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz and Friedrich Wilhelm von Kleist and the Austrian army of 9,000 men on the other side clashed.000 men led by General Prince Christian Löwenstein-Wertheim.

In the end, more than a third of both armies remained on the battlefield, i.e. over 7,000 dead. This places the battle in an inglorious second place in the region's military conflicts after the bloody 1813 Battle of Chlumec with its 20,000 dead. Just a little excursus on what the Seven Years' War actually was. The Seven Years War /1756-1763/ was essentially the first global conflict. It was a war that involved Great Britain, Prussia and Germany on one side against France, Austria, Russia, Sweden and Saxony. Later, Spain and Portugal were drawn into the war, and the war spread from Europe to North America. Even after the Peace of Dresden, Maria Theresa continued to seek Silesia and tried to regain it. These efforts were discovered by her rival from the previous war, King Frederick II of Prussia. Great. He allied with Great Britain and in 1756 invaded the territory of Saxony (an ally of Austria) and advanced further into northern Bohemia. As Bohemia was the most industrialised part of Austria, this attack was seen with particular intensity in Vienna. However, Prussia was defeated in the resulting Battle of Cologne in 1757 and had to retreat.

France and Russia sided with Austria, and the German Diet even declared war on Prussia. In the next battle of Leuthen, however, Frederick defeated the numerically stronger Austrian army. In the spring of 1758 he then invaded Moravia and besieged Olomouc. He was unable to capture it and, in addition, his supply convoys were scattered at the Battle of Domashov and he had to retreat again to his own territory. To relieve the Prussian onslaught on Austria, his allies Russia and France launched an attack on East Prussia and inflicted heavy defeats on the Prussians at the two battles of Zorndorf and Kunersdorf. The Allied armies then attacked Prussia itself and captured Berlin. Then the tide turned. In Russia, after the death of Tsarina Elisabeth, Peter III, who was a great admirer of Frederick II, came to the throne. He was a great admirer of Frederick the Great and Russia left the anti-Prussian coalition. The Seven Years' War ended with the signing of the Peace of Hubertsburg in 1763. The two warring factions made no major gains and were merely exhausted by the long war. The peace treaties only confirmed the previous state of affairs in Europe and Great Britain's dominance as a colonial power. Austria had to give up Silesia for good. Moreover, the war showed Austria's backwardness. Empress Maria Theresa thus initiated extensive reforms, which were continued by her son Joseph II after her death in 1780.

And now back to the battlefield of Hudcov. The Prussian army of the time was probably the best equipped and organised army in Europe. The country was divided into cantons, and each canton was allowed to recruit a precise number of soldiers. The nobility, the eldest sons of peasants, prominent townsmen, manufactory workers, clerks and students were exempted. Those who had money were allowed to enlist. The handouts lasted for 20 years. The ransom was 2 groszy per month, which paid for everything. Soldiers were usually organized in groups of 5 to 10 members, in which they managed their household together. They slept in townhouses, barracks were built later. Soldiers from the poorer classes had the opportunity for a better life here. The soldiers' pride in their profession grew along with the growing public esteem of the army. Soldiers served their country and trusted the king, after 4 years of service, if a soldier could read and write, he could be promoted to a non-commissioned officer. The officer corps consisted mostly of younger sons of noblemen. The officers were the elite of the kingdom. If they proved themselves, they won the king's favour. Career advancement was a matter of ability.

The soldiers wore uniforms of dark blue cloth with wool lining, knee-length coats. The regiments differed in their braids and coloured hems. Underneath the coat was a lined waistcoat. The trousers reached below the knee, with woollen stockings over them. A three-cornered hat with a white brim was worn on the head. They carried a torn with 60 cartridges and a breadbox with at least 3 kg of bread. Other equipment was transported by regimental wagons. The armament was a flintlock rifle with a calibre of about 20mm. Without the bayonet it measured 155 cm and weighed 5 kg. It had a range of 300 paces, and in battle a soldier could fire about twice a minute. The bayonet was 44 cm long. The cavalry consisted of cuirassiers armed with a palash (a type of sabre), a carbine and two pistols. Dragoons had only a light sword, 2 pistols and a rifle with a bayonet. Hussars had a light sabre, 2 pistols and a carbine. They reconnoitered, covered the flanks and attacked the enemy's rear. The artillery had 3 and 6 pounder guns that could move decently around the battlefield. They had a long range, with a cadence of up to 6 shots, so they could disrupt enemy positions very effectively. Brush rounds were used to defend against cavalry. The heavier guns were used for sieging and shelling villages. Nothing was left to chance, regulations and orders dealt with all possible activities of the army. Movement was in three parallel columns, spaced a thousand paces apart. Ammunition wagons and guns were driven along the roads, followed by provisions and a mobile bakery. For thirty thousand soldiers there were 150 doctors and field hospitals, ten wagons with medicines. It was forbidden to march in the fields.

In the camp each company had 36 tents, 4 for officers, 2 for staff NCOs, 26 for soldiers (6 men each) 4 for women who worked in the rear. The hussars slept in the open air or in straw huts ready for battle. Each regiment had strong guards and four field guns in its part of the camp. The artillerymen slept by the guns. Special units performed fire and police duty. The main tent was in the nearest village. Each regiment had a liaison officer there ready to relay orders at a moment's notice. The army had a total of 750 bakers, 50,000 horses for covering and 25,000 footmen. The bakeries had army supplies, the bakers were paid 3 times the wages of common soldiers and were armed just in case. One victualling column had 50 wagons, the flour supply could be used to bake bread for 15,000 men for 3 days.

Each company had a shoemaker, a tailor and a butcher who bought cattle in the area from local peasants at a fixed and good price. The troops were also accompanied by carpenters, blacksmiths, gunsmiths and saddlers, they were soldiers but exempt from normal service outside of combat. The Prussian soldier did not know hunger, he was better off than any other, a daily ration of 1kg of bread, once a week a large portion of beef. The Austrians developed a defensive line in front of Teplice at three main points. On the right, from Újezdeček through the centre at Výšiná to the left flank at Štěrbina. The Prussian tactic was to simulate a main attack on the central line and secretly move part of the regiments through Ledvice to Křemýža on the night of 2 August and from there attack the hill of Jalovčiny and after the conquest continue to the town of Teplice. The tactic almost worked, but Austrian patrols intercepted a Prussian messenger with a dispatch to Prince Henry of Prussia detailing the plans for the battle. So the Austrians quickly regrouped their forces and at the same time asked for reinforcements from Dippoldiswalde to defend Teplice. The morning battle for the Juniper Mountains then turned into a great battle between two prepared opponents and the Prussians did not conquer the important hill. They retreated to Litvínov and on August 5 back to Saxony. On the fields and meadows in the vicinity of Jalovcina, 4200 dead Prussians and about 3100 Austrian soldiers remained. While the Prussians are buried near Tuchlov, there is no record of any Austrian graves.

You can search for artifacts from this battle with our metal detectors.

p.s. So the flame found in the battle area probably doesn't belong to the Napoleonic era, but perhaps it was carried on a cartridge by a grenadier in this battle? For me, an amazing idea and even more joy at the find.

Materials used: the book The Seven Years' War in Europe, František Stellner: When the Muses Were Silent. Karel Vilím websites: palba.cz, wikipedia, kronoscaf.com

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