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Hildburghausen (1702–1787), General Feldzeugmeister of the Empire, had manoeuvred in the preceding days without giving Frederick an opportunity to bring them to See also:

ACTION

action, and now lay to the westward, with their right near Branderoda and their left at Miicheln (see See also:

SKETCH (directly adapted from Dutch schets, which was taken from Ital. schizzo, a rough draft, Lat. schedium, something hastily made, Gr. oxE&os, sudden, off-hand, axeb6v, near by; Ger. Skizze and Fr. esquisse are from the same source)

sketch). The advanced posts of the Prussians were in the villages immediately See also:

west of their camp, those of the Allies on the Schortau See also:

hill and the Galgenberg. The Allies possessed a numerical superiority of two to one in the battle itself, irrespective of detachments,' and their advanced See also:

POST

post overlooked all parts of Frederick's camp. They had had the best of it in the manoeuvres of the previous days, and the duke of Hildburghausen determined to take the offensive. He had some difficulty, however, in inducing Soubise to See also:

RISK

risk a battle, and the Allies did not begin to move off their camping-ground until after eleven on the 5th, Soubise's intention being probably to engage as See also:

LATE

late in the See also:

day as possible, with the ' V. der See also:

Goltz (Rossbach bis See also:

JENA

Jena, 1906 edition) gives 41,000 Allies and 21,600 Prussians as the combatant strengths. Berndt's statistical See also:

WORK

work, Zahl See also:

IM(K2+a2+h2—2 ah cos 0)

im Kriege, gives the respective forces engaged as Allies 43,000, Prussians 21,000. Other accounts give the Allies' See also:

TOTAL

total strength as 64,000 and the Prussians' as 24,000. See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of gaining what advantages he could in a partial action. The See also:

plan was to See also:

march the Allied army by Zeuchfeld, See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round Frederick's left (which was covered by no serious natural obstacle), and to deploy in battle See also:

ARRAY (from the O. Fr. areyer, Med. Lat. arredare, to get ready)

array, facing See also:

north, between Reichardtswerben (right) and Pettstadt (left).

The duke's proposed battle and the more limited aim of Soubise were equally likely to be attained by taking this position, which threatened to cut off Frederick from the towns on the See also:

SAALE

Saale. This position, equally, could only be gained by marching round the Prussian flank, i.e. by a flank march before the enemy. The obvious risk of interference on the exposed flank was provided against by a considerable flank guard, and in fact it was not in the See also:

EXECUTION (from Lat. ex-sequor, exsecutus, follow or carry out)

execution of their See also:

ORIGINAL

original See also:

DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

design but in hastily modifying it to suit unfounded assumptions that the Allies met with disaster. Frederick spent the morning watching them from a See also:

house-See also:

TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top in Rossbach. The initial stages of their See also:

MOVEMENT

movement convinced him that the Allies were retreating southward towards their magazines, and about See also:

NOON

noon he went to See also:

DINNER

dinner, leaving See also:

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. ca put, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus)

Captain von Gaudi on the See also:

WATCH (in O. Eng. wcecce, a keeping guard or watching, from wacian, to guard, watch, wacan, to wake)

watch. This officer formed a different impression of the Allies' intentions, for the columns which from See also:

time to time became visible in the undulations of the ground were seen to turn eastwards from Zeuchfeld. Gaudi's excited See also:

REPORT (O.Fr. report or raport, modern rapport, from O.Fr. reporter, mod. rap porter, Lat. reportare, to bring back, in poetical use only, of bringing back an account, news, &c.)

report at first served only to confirm Frederick in his See also:

ERROR (Lat. error, from errare, to wander, to err)

error. But when the See also:

king saw for himself that hostile See also:

CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry and See also:

INFANTRY

infantry were already near Pettstadt, he realized the enemy's intentions. The battle for which he had manoeuvred in vain was offered to him, and he took it without hesitation. Leaving a handful of See also:

LIGHT

light troops to oppose the French advanced post (or flank guard) on the Schortau hill, the Prussian army See also:

broke camp and moved—See also:

HALF

half an See also:

HOUR

hour after the king gave the See also:

order—to attack the enemy. The latter were marching in the normal order in two See also:

main columns, the first See also:

LINE

line on the left, the second line on the right; farther to the right was a See also:

COLUMN (Lat. columna)

column consisting of the reserve of See also:

FOOT

foot, and between the first and second lines was the reserve See also:

ARTILLERY (the O. Fr. artiller, to equip with engines of war, probably comes from Late Lat. articulum, dim. of ars, art, cf. " engine " from ingenium, or of artus, joint)

artillery on the road. The right-wing cavalry was of course at the See also:

head, the left-wing cavalry at the tail of the two main columns.

At first the regulation distances were preserved, but when See also:

WHEELING

wheeling eastward at Zeuchfeld there was much confusion, See also:

PART

part of the reserve infantry getting in between the two main columns and hampering the movements of the reserve artillery, and the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest, on the See also:

OUTER

outer flank of the See also:

wheel, being unable to keep up with the over-rapid movement of the wheeling See also:

PIVOT (Fr. pivot; probably connected with Ital. pivolo, peg, pin, diminutive of piva, pipa, pipe)

pivot. A weak flank guard was thrown out towards Rossbach. When it was seen that the Prussians were moving, as far as could be judged, eastward, it was presumed that they were about to See also:

RETREAT (O. Fr. retrete, mod. retraite, from Lat. retrahere, to draw back)

retreat in order to avoid being taken in flank and See also:

REAR

rear; and the Allied generals thereupon hurried the march, sending on the leading (right-wing) cavalry towards Reichardtswerben, and calling up part of the left-wing cavalry from the tail of the column, and even the flank-guard cavalry, to take part in the general See also:

chase. That Frederick's move meant an attack upon them before they could See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form up, Soubise and the duke failed to realize. They had taken more than three See also:

HOURS, CANONICAL

hours to break camp, and found it difficult to suppose that Frederick's army could move off in one-See also:

SIXTH

sixth that time. It was obvious, moreover, that the Prussians were not deploying for battle on the See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain in front of Rossbach and Nahlendorf. Frederick had no intention either of forming up parallel to the enemy or of retreating. As his army could move as a unit twice as fast as the enemy's, he intended to make a detour, screened by the See also:

JANUS

Janus Hugel and the Polzen Hugel, and to fall upon them suddenly from the See also:

east. If at the moment of contact the Allies had already formed their line of battle facing north, the attack would strike their right flank; if they were still on the move in column eastwards or north-eastwards, the heads of their columns would be crushed before the rest could deploy in the new direction—deployment in those days being a lengthy affair. To this end General von Seydlitz, with every available See also:

SQUADRON

squadron, hurried eastward from Rossbach, behind the Janus Hiigel, to the Polzen Hugel; See also:

COLONEL (derived either from Lat. column, Fr. colonne, column, or Lat. corona, a crown)

Colonel von Moller, with eighteen heavy guns, came into action on the Janus Hugel at 3,15 against the advancing columns of the Allied cavalry; and the infantry followed as fast as possible. When they came under the See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire of Moller's guns, the Allied squadrons, which were now north of Reichardtswerben and well ahead of their own infantry, suffered somewhat heavily ; but it was usual to employ heavy guns to protect a retreat, and they contented themselves with bringing some See also:

field-guns into action. They were, however, amazed when Seydlitz's See also:

THIRTY

thirty-eight squadrons suddenly rode down upon the head and right flank of their columns from the Polzen Hugel time line incroyable vitesse.

Gallantly as the leading See also:

German regiments deployed to meet him, the result was scarcely in doubt for a moment. Seydlitz threw in his last squadron, and then himself fought like a trooper, receiving a severe See also:

WOUND (O. Eng. wund,connected with a Teutonic verb, meaning to strive, fight, suffer, seen in O. Eng. winnan, whence Eng. " win ")

wound. The melee drifted rapidly southward, past the Allied infantry, and Seydlitz finally rallied his horsemen in a hollow near Tagewerben, ready for fresh service. This first See also:

EPISODE

episode was over in half an hour, and by that time the Prussian infantry, in See also:

ECHELON (Fr. from ecltelle, ladder)

echelon from the left, was descending the Janus Hugelto meet the already confused and disheartened infantry of the Allies. The latter, as their cavalry had done, managed to deploy some regiments on the head of the column, and the French in particular formed one or two columns of attack—then See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar to the French army—and rushed forward with the See also:

BAYONET

bayonet. But Moller's guns, which had advanced with the infantry, tore gaps in the See also:

close masses, and, when it arrived within effective musketry range, the attack died out before the rapid and methodical volleys of the Prussian line. Meanwhile the Allies were trying in vain to form a line of battle. The two main columns had got too close together in the advance from Pettstadt, part of the reserve which had become entangled between the main columns was extricating itself by degrees and endeavouring to catch up with the rest of the reserve column away to the right, and the reserve artillery was useless in the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of the infantry. The Prussian infantry was still in €nghsh-See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

Miles • 3 Prussians grentb & cs,mana echelon from the left, and the leftmost battalions that had repulsed the French columns were quickly within See also:

MUSKET (Fr. mousquet, Ger. Muskete, &c.)

musket-shot of this helpless See also:

mass. A few volleys directed against the head and left flank of the column sufficed to create disorder, and then from the Tagewerben hollow Seydlitz's rallied squadrons charged, wholly unexpectedly, upon its right flank. The Allied infantry thereupon broke and fled. Soubise and the duke, who was wounded, succeeded in keeping one or two regiments together, but the rest scattered over the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country-See also:

side.

The battle had lasted less than an hour and a half, and the last episode of the infantry fight no more than. fifteen minutes. Seven Prussian battalions only were engaged, and these expended five to fifteen rounds per See also:

man. Seydlitz and Prince See also:

Henry of See also:

Prussia, the cavalry and the infantry leaders engaged, were both wounded, but the total loss of the king's army was under 550 See also:

OFFICERS

officers and men as compared with 7700 on the part of the Allies. (C. F.

End of Article: ROSSBACH

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