Chapter 10: 1758 part 5
While the Cat’s Away…
The 1758 campaigns had started up in other parts of Europe with the coming of spring and as summer approached, the fields of battle had changed again and were fresh with new blood.
In the west, the British navy and the Duke of Brunswick had secured the port of Emden in East Frisia which allowed a line of supply from England to the Prussian provinces via the western allied elector states of Hanover, Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Hesse-Kassel, and Schamberg Lippe, and liberated Hanover from French occupation. He then continued to drive the French back across the Rhine.
Austrian forces in the meantime were now under the command of Count Leopold Joseph von Daun, who had replaced Prince Charles Alexander when he was asked to resign. Under Daun’s leadership, Austria had begun to retake parts of Silesia back from Prussian General Hans Joachim Von Zieten.
2nd Battle of Schweidnitz
The strategic fortress at Schweidnitz was no less important this year than it was the last for securing Austrian supply lines into an occupied Silesia. Therefore it yet again became a target as soon as word reached von Daun that Fredrick had taken his army northwards during the winter.
While Fredrick was preparing his siege on Stettin, Daun planned an attack to recapture Schweidnitz and then move on to Bresleu yet again. He took a recently reinforced army of 65,000 back into Silesia, and proceeded to attempt to gain control of strategic point while chasing Zietan’s reinforced 35,000 strong Prussian army.
On April 25th, Daun clashed with Zietan near Schweidnitz. Part of Daun’s forces were besieging the fortress while Zietan was attempting to relieve the siege. The two armies fought a more traditional battle, neither side gaining a dramatic advantage over the other despite attempts at maneuver. Zietan however, with a smaller number of troops than Daun, knew he could not win a battle of attrition against the Austrian forces. Failing in his objective to quickly relieve the siege he was forced to retreat back to Breslau, though he took heart in learning of Fredrick’s victory at thorn, and sent word back to Fredrick of the situation in Silesia. He only needed to hold out long enough for Fredrick’s army to arrive.
Battle Results:
Prussian Forces: 4000 dead and wounded; 1000 captured (from the Schweidnitz garrison)
Austrian Forces: 6000 dead and wounded.
Clear Austrian Victory. After 10 days of additional siege the fortress of Schweidnitz would yet again falls into Austrian hands, securing supply lines into Bohemia.
The Colonial Campaigns
Pitt’s policy against the French was use Britain naval supremacy to take as many French overseas holdings as he could, while only just holding on in the Germanies to keep Fredrick supported in the war. While he was lambasted for the abysmal failure of the first naval descent on Rochefort, it would not dissuade him from trying again. Osborne had kept the French fleet of Toulon in the Mediterranean, and it was unlikely they would be able to send many reinforcements, if any at all, across the Atlantic. While the planned invasion of New France was still underway, the campaigns in the Indian sub-continent and Africa were just beginning.
Battle of Cuddalore
In the Indian Ocean Vice-Admiral George and his fleet would encounter and face off against the French fleet led by Anne Antoine, comte d’Ache near Madras.
British Fleet:
HMS Yarmouth (64), Cumberland (66), Elizabeth (64), Newcastle (50), Salisbury (50), Tiger (60), Weymouth (60), the Frigate Queensborough (24) and the East-Indiaman Protector (44)
French Fleet:
Bien Aime (68), Venguer (64), Zodiaque (74), Duc d’Orleans (54), Le Saint Louis (54), Conde (50), Moras (60), Duc de Bourgogne (54), and the Frigate Sylphide (30)
Mistakes were made on both sides that resulting in an almost indecisive battle, save for the improper positioning of the Sylphide in the line, resulting in her being crippled, abandoned and captured by the British, while the French retreated. The British although attempting to chase at first, halted their pursuit because of damage sustained.
Battle Results:
British Fleet: 4 ships suffered light to medium damage
French Fleet: Capture of the Sylphide, 4 ships suffer medium to severe damage.
British Victory
After the battle, the French fleet would make it back to Pondicherry. The Bien Aime, assessed to be too damaged to travel the open sea was defensively anchored as a firing platform to protect the harbor from future British attack. (in OTL the Bien Aime was wrecked during the return trip)
Capture of Senegal
An American, Thomas Cummings had convinced the British, though without much difficulty, to send a force to West African to capture the French fort of Saint-Louis on the Senegal River. By April two warships and 200 troops arrived, while Cummings raised support from local African forces. The French garrison was surprised by the sudden appearance of the British, and surrendered on April 30th, without the loss of a single life. This tremendous success would lead to subsequent expeditions to conquer French West African trading stations later in the year.
The 1758 campaigns had started up in other parts of Europe with the coming of spring and as summer approached, the fields of battle had changed again and were fresh with new blood.
In the west, the British navy and the Duke of Brunswick had secured the port of Emden in East Frisia which allowed a line of supply from England to the Prussian provinces via the western allied elector states of Hanover, Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Hesse-Kassel, and Schamberg Lippe, and liberated Hanover from French occupation. He then continued to drive the French back across the Rhine.
Austrian forces in the meantime were now under the command of Count Leopold Joseph von Daun, who had replaced Prince Charles Alexander when he was asked to resign. Under Daun’s leadership, Austria had begun to retake parts of Silesia back from Prussian General Hans Joachim Von Zieten.
2nd Battle of Schweidnitz
The strategic fortress at Schweidnitz was no less important this year than it was the last for securing Austrian supply lines into an occupied Silesia. Therefore it yet again became a target as soon as word reached von Daun that Fredrick had taken his army northwards during the winter.
While Fredrick was preparing his siege on Stettin, Daun planned an attack to recapture Schweidnitz and then move on to Bresleu yet again. He took a recently reinforced army of 65,000 back into Silesia, and proceeded to attempt to gain control of strategic point while chasing Zietan’s reinforced 35,000 strong Prussian army.
On April 25th, Daun clashed with Zietan near Schweidnitz. Part of Daun’s forces were besieging the fortress while Zietan was attempting to relieve the siege. The two armies fought a more traditional battle, neither side gaining a dramatic advantage over the other despite attempts at maneuver. Zietan however, with a smaller number of troops than Daun, knew he could not win a battle of attrition against the Austrian forces. Failing in his objective to quickly relieve the siege he was forced to retreat back to Breslau, though he took heart in learning of Fredrick’s victory at thorn, and sent word back to Fredrick of the situation in Silesia. He only needed to hold out long enough for Fredrick’s army to arrive.
Battle Results:
Prussian Forces: 4000 dead and wounded; 1000 captured (from the Schweidnitz garrison)
Austrian Forces: 6000 dead and wounded.
Clear Austrian Victory. After 10 days of additional siege the fortress of Schweidnitz would yet again falls into Austrian hands, securing supply lines into Bohemia.
The Colonial Campaigns
Pitt’s policy against the French was use Britain naval supremacy to take as many French overseas holdings as he could, while only just holding on in the Germanies to keep Fredrick supported in the war. While he was lambasted for the abysmal failure of the first naval descent on Rochefort, it would not dissuade him from trying again. Osborne had kept the French fleet of Toulon in the Mediterranean, and it was unlikely they would be able to send many reinforcements, if any at all, across the Atlantic. While the planned invasion of New France was still underway, the campaigns in the Indian sub-continent and Africa were just beginning.
Battle of Cuddalore
In the Indian Ocean Vice-Admiral George and his fleet would encounter and face off against the French fleet led by Anne Antoine, comte d’Ache near Madras.
British Fleet:
HMS Yarmouth (64), Cumberland (66), Elizabeth (64), Newcastle (50), Salisbury (50), Tiger (60), Weymouth (60), the Frigate Queensborough (24) and the East-Indiaman Protector (44)
French Fleet:
Bien Aime (68), Venguer (64), Zodiaque (74), Duc d’Orleans (54), Le Saint Louis (54), Conde (50), Moras (60), Duc de Bourgogne (54), and the Frigate Sylphide (30)
Mistakes were made on both sides that resulting in an almost indecisive battle, save for the improper positioning of the Sylphide in the line, resulting in her being crippled, abandoned and captured by the British, while the French retreated. The British although attempting to chase at first, halted their pursuit because of damage sustained.
Battle Results:
British Fleet: 4 ships suffered light to medium damage
French Fleet: Capture of the Sylphide, 4 ships suffer medium to severe damage.
British Victory
After the battle, the French fleet would make it back to Pondicherry. The Bien Aime, assessed to be too damaged to travel the open sea was defensively anchored as a firing platform to protect the harbor from future British attack. (in OTL the Bien Aime was wrecked during the return trip)
Capture of Senegal
An American, Thomas Cummings had convinced the British, though without much difficulty, to send a force to West African to capture the French fort of Saint-Louis on the Senegal River. By April two warships and 200 troops arrived, while Cummings raised support from local African forces. The French garrison was surprised by the sudden appearance of the British, and surrendered on April 30th, without the loss of a single life. This tremendous success would lead to subsequent expeditions to conquer French West African trading stations later in the year.
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