Battle of Soor

The Battle of Soor (born 30 September 1745) saw Frederick the Great's Prussian army defeat an Austro-Saxon army led by Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine during the War of the Austrian Succession. After early setbacks, Frederick's Prussians were victorious.

Background
Three months after the battle of Hohenfriedberg, Prince Charles exploited Frederick's carelessly laid "Camp of Staudenz" to launch a surprise attack on the diminished Prussian army. Having stripped off many detachments during his march through Bohemia, Frederick's numbers had been reduced to 22,500 effectives. Prince Charles then discovered that Frederick had failed to occupy the Graner-Koppe, the hill north of Burkersdorf that dominated the landscape to the east and south. Prince Charles loaded it up with musketeers, grenadiers, cavalry and 16 heavy guns, and extended the remainder of his army in line to the south.

Battle
The Prussians detected the Austrian presence, however, and moved first to the attack despite all the Austrian advantages of surprise and terrain. Marching in column formation, Frederick directed his army to the north where the battle opened with an Austrian cannonade upon the helpless columns of cavalry as they passed beneath the Graner-Koppe. Having weathered the fire, the cavalry deployed to the north of the hill.

General Buddenbrock's troopers opened the assault by driving the Austrian horse from the high ground. But the cavalry attack ran into Austrian infantry and was turned back by musket fire. The Graner-Koppe was then under infantry attack as well. Elite Prussian grenadiers marched right up to the muzzles of the heavy guns and were decimated by a combination of cannon and musket fire. The second line surged forward, fighting through Austrian grenadiers, and captured the summit, putting the dangerous battery out of action.

Meanwhile, the Austrian right wing was engaged in its own separate battle as the Prussians moved to clear Burkersdorf. After nearly bogging down under yet another battery near the town, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick's troops finally cracked the Austrian center and the Austrians relinquished the field. Frederick overcame the most dangerous predicament of his career stating, "I was in the soup up to my ears."