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Blood and Mud

Fredrick had reunited with von Zeitan to lead a combined army of 57,000 in an attempt to reverse the slow re-conquest of Silesia by Austria. The Austrians led by von Daun had an army of 59,000 after taking and fortifying the fortress at Schweidnitz yet again, which after several battles, was in need of significant repair. The Austrians already had retaken upper and most of middle Silesia during the spring while Fredrick fought in the north so the goal here was to retake the city of Breslau yet again, from which to command control of lower Silesia.

The two armies knew they were operating in the same area, near Zobten in between Schweidnitz and Breslau. A series of late spring rainstorms had left the area a mire of mud, and on May 30th, dark skies and a very heavy downpour severely diminished visibility, resulting in two scouting groups running right into each other and firing on each other under the shadow of Mount Sleza.

Battle of Zobten

At the sounds of exchanging gunfire amidst the torrential rain both armies assumed they were being attacked by the other in force, and as quickly as the mud drench roads would allow, re-positioned themselves to make and receive an attack. The heavy rain played havoc though on the field, wetting powder, and causing horses and artillery to get stuck in the mud, and most critically interfering with their ability to see each other and their own forces, and command it properly.

By the time the downpour had slaked off the two forces were entangled in a mire of men, bodies, blood and mud. Severe hand to hand fighting had occurred in places where artillery could not be brought to bear and even dry powder was hard to find.

A disorganized brawl being no way to fight a battle, both Fredrick and von Daun rallied their forces to reorganize and disengage from the mire. Each had thought they had lost the battle, and by the time an orderly retreat had been achieved and they assessed their casualties it only reinforced this idea, until word finally came that the other side had also withdrawn from the field. Both Fredrick and von Daun then resent an observing force to the field to assess the enemy’s whereabouts. Though minus the rain this time (but not the mud) the observing forces ran into each other again, and engaged in a fierce skirmish before falling back once more. Both commanders felt their armies were too heavily damaged and exhausted to pursue. Daun retreated back to Shweidnitz and Fredrick retreated back to Breslau.

Battle Results:
Prussian Forces: 10,500 dead and wounded. 11 guns lost.
Austrian Forces: 11,800 dead and wounded. 17 guns lost.
(Both sides lost and captured some of the other sides guns, primarily from horses and wagons stuck in the mud)

The Battle of Zobten had become the bloodiest battle of the war so far, but it would only be the beginning. Fredrick did not obtain the decisive victory he needed to push Austria back out of Silesia, but neither did the Austrians, get what they needed to take final control of the province.

Assessments

When word got back to Vienna, the Austrians were in a quandary. Clearly the conquest of the Prussia and occupation of Silesia was not to be the easy task that they had originally hoped it would. Yet they were so close to its success. Austrian diplomatic officials made more requests to France of providing a larger amount of aid, though they had their own issues facing the British and Germans in the Rhineland.

Fredrick was finding himself very dependent on Great Britain to maintain their supplies through East Frisia and overland by keeping the French off his western flank. This would become even more import because before the end of the year, Russia would move to blockade his final ports in the Baltic. Fredrick would find himself running back and forth through Prussia and Poland to keep the Russians and Austrians in check, though they were just as weary as his own forces.

In Paris, many of Choisel’s army reforms were just beginning to get put in place though they were unlikely to reach or have any impact on the front during this year. As word also reached him of King Ferdinand IV of Spain’s, continual descent into depression over the loss of his wife, he began writing to the expected heir apparent, Charles III in order to foster a greater friendship and alliance on behalf of King Louis XVI.

Raid on St. Malo

Despite the great failure of the raid on Rochefort last year, Pitt refused to give up on the idea of descending on the French coasts to harass and force them to draw their forces away from the eastern theater.

The British were again beset by delays, but less so than for Rochefort. The French while at first thinking the British aimed for Flanders, soon realized that St Malo would be the target and hastily sent reinforcements and advance warning to the town.

On June 14th, 11,000 British troops, 18 ships of the line and 7 frigates would descend on St. Malo. Although they had desired to have an earlier start, like the last raid at Rochefort they had been hampered by delays. The British entry into the bay was swift and it was defended only by an onshore French Artillery battery, and French Privateers.

The battery put up a much greater fight than was expected before it was silenced by the British warships, where upon 20 privateers and over 50 smaller vessels were burned. The British however lost a frigate when it ran aground, and had suffered some moderate damage to four ships of the line from the French battery, and some of the Privateers who had put up a brief fight.

The British then landed and marched on St. Malo, but soon faced a sizeable French force who laid wait for them on the road. Keen British sentries had denied the French a chance to ambush and encircle the British, but it was still too late to avoid a fight. After a fierce battle the Duke of Marlborough, upon hearing the town was well fortified and would require a siege even in the unlikely event that they won this battle, sounded a fighting retreat.

The British warships kept the French from pursuit against the English as they disembarked back into their landing craft to return to the fleet. The fleet remained in the area for a few weeks seeking other targets, but bad weather and low supplies forced them to return home on July 3rd.

Battle Results:
British Forces: 3,200 dead, wounded or captured; loss of the HMS Venus (36) which ran aground and was burnt to avoid French capture. Damage to 20% of the Fleet.
French Forces: 800 dead or wounded; loss of 20 Privateers and over 50 small private vessels.

Despite the effective attack and destruction of over 70 French civilian vessels at St. Malo, several of Pitt’s opponents called the expedition a disastrous failure because of the losses sustained, the cost of repairs, and the failure to raid the city. Although Pitt admitted the cost was much higher than expected it was a position he did not agree with. The sentiment however, reinforced by the King who began to dislike Pitt's popularity, which suffered some after this expedition, would ultimately lead to a disapproval of any more descents against the French coast.