Battle of Strehla
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| Battle of Strehla | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Third Silesian War (Seven Years' War) | |||||||
.jpg) Battle of Strehla (L. Therbu, G. J. Cöntgen, c. 1760) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kingdom of Prussia |
 Austria | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Johann Dietrich von Hülsen | Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 12,000[1] | 25,000[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 900[1] | 1,800[1] | ||||||
The Battle of Strehla (20 August 1760) was a military engagement fought during the Seven Years' War between the Kingdom of Prussia and Austria. The Austrian army attacked an outnumbered Prussian corps on a strong position but was repulsed. The battle was fought near the town of Strehla in Saxony, Germany.
In August 1760, Fredrick the Great of Prussia and his army made ready to repel further Austrian incursions into Prussian territory. When the Austrian offensive did come, it came in Prussian-occupied Silesia. However, a second Austrian army of 25,000 men also began advancing upon Frederick's holdings in Eastern Saxony, putting the Prussians in danger of being caught in a large pincer movement.[2] To counter this threat, Frederick dispatched Lt. General Johann Dietrich von Hülsen and 12,000 men to hold the west bank of the Elbe river at the town of Strehla while Frederick dealt with the Austrians in Silesia.[1][3][4] Five days before the engagement at Strehla, Frederick and his army defeated the Austrian forces in Silesia at the Battle of Liegnitz, effectively rendering the Austrian pincer plan defunct.[3][4]
Hülsen and his army arrived in Strehla, and began to fortify their position. Rather than risk fording the Elbe at Strehla, the Austrian commander Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken instead chose to cross the river at a different point and then march parallel to the Elbe until he encountered Hülsen's forces.[1][2]