The Battle of Zorndorf, 1758 ⚔️ One of the Bloodiest Battles of the Seven Years' War (Part 13)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ส.ค. 2024
- It is the early morning of August 25, 1758. An exceptionally hot day. As the Prussian columns marched along the river bank, intending to flank the Russians, a hussar scout hastily approached Frederick the Great. He told the King the Russians did not realise they were being flanked in time and left their entire baggage train behind their frontlines. It stood there, ready to be mopped up. It would be a decisive blow and would not even warrant a battle. Frederick, angered at the destruction the Russians inflicted on the countryside, did not act on this information. Instead, he spurred his army onwards. The battle of Zorndorf, described as one of the bloodiest battles of the 18th century, was about to commence.
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:56 Towards Zorndorf
3:19 The Battle of Zorndorf
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Sources:
Asprey, Robert B. Frederick the Great: The magnificent enigma. Ticknor & Fields, 1986.
Blanning, Tim. Frederick the Great: King of Prussia. Penguin UK, 2015.
Clark, Christopher M. Iron kingdom: the rise and downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947. Harvard University Press, 2006.
Duffy, Christopher. Frederick the Great: a military life. Routledge, 2015.
Fraser, David. Frederick the Great: King of Prussia. Penguin Uk, 2000.
Redman, Herbert J. Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' War, 1756-1763. McFarland, 2014.
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Frederick the Great is a difficult figure for military historians. He could be a tactical genius sometimes and he could be careless, dismissive, and disrespectful of his enemies other times. Lynn Montross noted in War Through the Ages (1961) that of the 16 pitched battles Frederick fought, he won eight and lost eight. But Prussia always survived because of the conflicts between their enemies and their inability to exploit Frederick's ultimate disaster at Kunersdorf in 1759. Lynn Montross wrote: “As week after week passed without an allied blow to end the war, Frederick [the Great] realized that foes who could not profit from a Kunersdorf would never be able to defeat a resolute opponent.... Frederick had learned from despair that craft is a substitute for numbers, and endurance the strength of the weak.” (Lynn Montross, War Through the Ages (3rd Ed., 1960), pp. 401-402).
What would determine his genius or not would be the opponents he had when he won and who he faced when he lost.
To justify Frederick's blunders, for example, prior to the battle of Zorndorf, Frederick had managed to outflank the Russians in a brilliant maneuver. By constructing a pontoon bridge across streams and rivers, he had rapidly marched towards the rear of the Russian army and managed to take them completely by surprise. This was not a frontal attack.
What happened was that Frederick was unaware that the Russians had realized he was outflanking them (seeing as he was conducting a night march) and thus was willing to rest on his laurels. He didn't order an attack until the next day (which may or may not have been a mistake given the circumstances, Frederick's men had just marched hundreds of miles from Silesia.)
@@hellshing4866 His genius is determined by the ideas he conjured: oblique tactics in modern warfare, horse artillery, the grand battery, the central position (Napoleon abused this tactic in his Italian campaign), blitzkrieg, etc. The guy was a genius in battle
Frederick was usually very good at connecting his battles to the grand strategic picture. Zorndorf is the first time he fought a battle just for the sake of fighting it. It makes the horrendous 33.000 casualties all the more galling to know that the battle did not have to be fought.
Great video! And what a prelude to the disastrous years of 1758/59...
Thanks for the video! Amazing that you are able to make so many videos in so short of a time. The battle could have been avoided so easily, though it did create some great moments as you described.
Glad you enjoyed it! And yes, this is more than a full-time job. But I love creating these videos and doing the research. So it doesn't feel like work.
@@HoH HI sir , this video is really very fantastic but I have a request for you sir can you please make a video on William III of Orange & England
loved it. I really appreciate how your vidoes always leave with a strong understanding of both the broad scope of the battle and some of what the common troops fought through.
Once again a great video ! Especially the series with the 7 years war always engages me the most. I also find the innovation to name individual divisions and their leaders in battle good. Since one comes a bit more into the action purely.
Excellent video, I wish I had this in depth look on this battle when I detailed this (and many other Prussian battles) in highschool. I tip my hat to you, sir.
Yes more content on Fritz! Keep em coming, love the content you put out!
I can see Frederick's logic in seeking battle.
If you take their baggage train, Russians retreat and will be back in a month or two.
If you take their baggage train and bottle them up, you create an "escape or die" situation with unbreakable morale for the invading Russian army that Sun Tzu already stated wins you a battle.
If you ignore their baggage train and fight like Frederick did, you get their regular morale and they think they have a way out.
I was thinking the same. Overall in the long term I think it was Friedrich's best choice.
Except he had to deal with so many enemies at this time it would make sense to just fend off the Russians for a month or two to deal with the Austrians, especially since such a great opportunity to do so without many casualties presented itself.
Great video as always - superb visuals. Many thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Best video yet loved the field battle coverage. 👍
Great as always! loving this series
Glad you enjoy it!
Thank you so much 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 For these topics, I am sure this channel will hit 1 million followers
Thanks for the encouragement!
Great Series, thanks for your good work !
Outstanding! Thank you very much for your effort!
Many thanks!
You are improving ! Keep up the best work !
Thanks for the video!
Excellent work here Sir and your Team
Very clear and measured commentary and good graphics - thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Nice video thnx, for uploading.
Great video!
Looking forward to future videos, specifically Prince Ferdinand against the French at the Battle of Minden, you're the first channel I've seen covering the 7 Years War.
Thanks For Sharing
Best early modern content I've seen on youtube
Really enjoying these videos.
Glad to hear it!
I so hope you include Seydlitz' reply to his king; "Tell the King That After the Battle My Head Belongs to Him. During the Battle I Still Need It to Serve Him"
He was a fascinating man who lived life to the fullest.
Auw, you did 😀
He is my great-great-great-great-great grandfather, i couldn't be more proud.
@@seydl002 marry me!
You ancestor was... A special kind of man. One who lived life to the fullest. I respect that and his abilities.
@@seydl002 Question, was the one at Stalingrad then your great-grandfather?
You make some great video's. I seriously hope you do a series on day on the Revolutionary War.
That's the plan!
@@HoH---Awesome. can't wait.
Excelente video!!!
Last time I was this early Prussia still existed
Prussia still exists in my heart
😂
@@LoLMasterManiac in everybody heat my brother 🤣🤣
@@LoLMasterManiac Hey Konrad why you said Prussia?? You were the Chef of Command of the Austria-Hungaryan empire in WW1 🤔🤔🤣
@@djfiore7103 Correct, brother
Frederick the Great had some serious Plot Armour.
The number of times he fucked up and still managed to pull through is absurd especially when you consider other generals who were ended for one little mistake.
Love these videos. Please more in this series
Thanks for the nice words! I covered nearly all Prussian battles of the Seven Years' War. Check out my most recent videos.
Loving this series on the 7 years war
Seriously, how the hell did Prussia even manage to survive this war!?
Hey @House of History, I should have to correct on one thing about the Battle of Zorndorf: the Prussians actually lost 12,800 men, while the actual number of casualties for the Russians is 21,100 men.
Awesome job
beautiful!!!
Now I'm waiting for Kunesdorf
Sounds like the summary of the upcoming Battle of Kunersdorf: Frederick won half the battle (baggage train) but wanted to whole victory......
Fredrick the great knew the Russians so well. His description of Russians is almost 100% true at 21st century battlefield
Except they are really good at running these days. Not like their great-grandparents. But maybe that is because they are fighting an aggressive war for a despot, not defending their homes.
@@PalleRasmussen So much wrong in this comment it's hilarious! You are comparing two different styles of warfare, high precision is the name of the game now so don't blame the infantry for retreats. Do you dare to go the front lines in Ukraine? Also are you calling Putin a despot? He entered Ukraine to defend eastern Ukrainians who the despot Zelensky and friends attacked... What is Biden and friends doing in Ukraine? Saving Ukraine? Don't make me laugh!
Good video
Frederick sounds like a fine gentleman. Does nothing but wage wars almost his entire reign but is outraged that war causes destruction. Then goes on to fight a battle that he could avoid, which causes even more death and suffering. Makes sense for an 18th century monarch.
That about sums it up i think lmao
Lol you are absolutely clueless. He waged two wars. One of the bloodiest, its true. For the rest of his life its will be consumed of developing the countrysidie, draining marshes, introducing new crops, developing farmlands, inviting settlers, developing industries specially in Silesia, building the cities of Potsdam and Berlin, further administrative reforms he inherited from his father, and codifying laws. On his death he would bequeath his successor an enourmous treasury
@@ryanjuguilon213 I'm sorry but you need to work on your reading comprehension. At the point in his life when this battle took place, he did wage war for most of his reign. His decision to go and fight instead of looting the baggage train was not influenced by whatever he was doing AFTERWARDS.
@@csabaszep8162 Do you know that fish are caught by their own mouth? What does the phrase "Does nothing but wage war in his ENTIRE REIGN" means to you? Better read what you are writing first before blabbering nonsense.
@@ryanjuguilon213 Regarding the English comprehension bit, you're both right. The sentence could be read either way. On its own, it means what Ryan says. With the following sentence, it means what Csaba says. If first clause of the sentence included "up to that point", it would be more clear in conveying Csaba's intended meaning.
Anyway it's a flippant comment that ignores the context of what he is actually outraged about (wanton destruction & barbaric killing of non-combatants) and dismisses all the good things that happened in the 18th century under monarchs (beginning of industrial revolution and abolition of slavery both seem like nontrivial events off the top of my head).
Surprising how often the name Manteufel appears in German history.
Great video and a story well told. Sadly, there is one immersion breaking bug. William Fermor's name is spelled "Виллим" in russian. You have missed one "и".
awesome battle
Great video! A comment for the algorithm
Thank you!
What a wasted opportunity. Frederick held all the cards with the baggage train in the open and Russian already trapped. All he had to do was prevent them from escaping and they would have disintegrated. If not for Seydlitz, it probably would have been a total disaster for the Prussians.
Even if he wanted to beat them in battle, he could have dispatched a small force to secure the baggage train...
I like the new style
2:50
||| corps marched 130km in
2 days, 20km a day is a usual speed
8:10
I would be less critical of Frederick's choice to seek battle. The baggage train, the lifeline of the Russians was on Frederick's hands, yes, but countless battles have also told us, that soldiers busy looting camps/baggage are easy prey for the enemy army. See Kerestes 1596. Frederick probably read enough of military history to know not to loot camp before a victory. Plus, destroying the Russian army would undoubtedly deter them from invading again, as was proved by the strategic aftermath of the battle. Seeking battle was therefore a prudent decision.
It was everything but prudent, had he lost the battle the war would have been lost, as he couldn't replace his losses. Even the casualties he did suffer in "victory" were irreplaceable and contributed to him losing the war, a fate only averted by the literal divine intervention that were the House of Brandenburg miracles.
Taking the baggage train would have saved almost half his army, improved his finances and incapacitated the Russians all the same. Historically, the biggest trouble facing Russia when invading Eastern Europe was its supply situation and Frederick would have been prudent to take this course of action which both struck the enemy where he was the weakest(supplies) and avoided being himself hit at his weakest(irreplaceable troops).
yes, when it's done in an undisciplined manner. there is also that battle of diadochi where Eumenes lost his baggage train even though he won the battle, and then subsequently lost the war of because of it.
Dziękuję
What battles like this show is that Prussia's success in the seven years war was not really due to strategic genius on the part of Frederick, but rather to the skill of his actual soldiers. Under normal circumstances, charging against a larger army who is occupying a defensive position is suicidal, and yet the Prussians somehow manage to pull off a positive K/D even in unfavorable conditions. It's actually too bad that they were so proficient, because it made Frederick overconfident. If he had less trust in the ability of his soldiers he would have played it safe and taken the baggage train. But instead he thought "I have the best army in the world, why not just attack?"
This comment would be a correct one if you ignore the existance of the battles of rossbach and leuthen
So... what became of the bagage train??.
Hello, I'd love to see documentary about siege of Olmütz
This is the first time in forty years I've head of this blood bath.
Amazing editing in this video! Did you hire a editor recently?
Nope, it's all done by me.
@@HoH looks nice. Keep it up dude!
Frederick may have failed to take the baggage train, but were the Russian's not still cut off from it?
Please explain.
What is the source of quote used in 3:32?
zorndorf is Fredrick's bloodiest day.
must be like borodino of the napoleon's bloodiest day.
@@illumey7884 lipzig was kunersdorf, waterloo was kolburg
@@illumey7884 Austerlitz was a slaughter
What is the name of the soundtrack from 12:04 to 13:37?
At around 10:00, I think you overused the neighing horse sound effect 😅
太酷了
11:15 - defensive "parameter" ?
Those army sizes are a bit low, especially for the Prussians because you only add cavalry and infantry together. Each battery will have about 10 soldiers per artillery piece, and perhaps a tiny bit more. That means there will be about 2000 artillerists. This 25.500 + 10.500 + 2000 = 38.000 soldiers. Roughly.
What happened to the baggage train after the battle?
I guess it's not that urgent anymore because so many mouths got freed up
If only Frederick had taken the Russian baggage train...
Thank goodness the Russians are showing none of the stubbornness of Zorndorf of late.
Yes, but all of the old savagery that pissed off Frederick.
or borodino for that matter.
Declaring yourself as the victors of the war that is far from ending is a recipe for disaster
Didn't age well
make a video on the siege of Vienna 1529
I may have missed it in the video but was Seydlitz court martialed for disregarding Fredricks orders?
He was not
@@Leo-ok3uj surprising he was not.
@@bilbilly625
Frederick probably agreed with him after the battle that not attacking was the right move
Would you consider Malplaquet ?
Funfqct before this Battle the Village was known as Ruhedorf.
Redman Barry saved Captain Potzdorf at this battle.
Stanley Kubrick was kind enough to travel back in time and capture the act of heroism on film for posterity’s sake.
If the next battle is at Kunersdorf
Yay
It is noteworthy when the great generals/kings can take their large armies and cover amazing distances in short order, AND STILL be able to not only fight, but to dominate and taste the glorious milk of victory!!
Frederick and Caesar both possessed such loyal, physically fit armies willing to go straight into battle after lengthy travail!!
And for that, in memory of these two unparalleled generals I say GOLF CLAP!! BRAVO! BRAVO!! ENCORE!!! ")
Jack ~'()'~
The casualty numbers seems to have been exaggerated too much for both sides.
No love ever lost between Prussia and Russia.
Kunnersdorf please
Sounds like Antietam in the War of Northern Aggression.
Due to logistical limitations of the magazine system of supply there were no grand general battles of the Napoleonic era. During this logistical "two steps forward one step back" way of warfare every success was local, military catastrophe of the enemy (like Jena and Auerstedt in 1806) not exploited to the fullest, no battle alone was decisive in strictly operational military terms for the whole war. More important than yielding local gains was attritional physical and psychological shock - the Prussians simply wouldn't budge and disjointed powerful continental allies wouldn't and cannot work in consort because it presuppose the existence of Ferdinand Foch's 1918 overall command over Italian, French, British and American armies, a sort of a 18th century generalissimo existing as a child of political consensus to win the bloody war, to stop with selfish "primadona" vanity and allied state court backstabbing. No separate peace until the final victory! Frederick's genius of Hannibal like stature and aggressive military character could use his interior lines to counter his uncoordinated enemies who are maneuvering from the exterior lines. Similarly to Hannibal and many famous generals through history he aimed for fighting decisive battles but being generations apart from the post 1792 era he unintentionally fit right in with the exhausting attritional warfare of war wearing survival. The folk, the military and the Prussian elites endured - their much more powerful enemies eventually gave up.
Goran Katić, a life long military history fanatic and an armchair general couch potato military expert, holder of the dried pizza crumbs 2nd class.
What happened to the 11k Russian soldiers sent south prior to the engagement? Why did they not come back to reinforce and counter attack?
The information of the battle did not reach them in time, and they did not participate.
Seydlitz, Manteuffel, cossacks whipping riot🐱, multiple letter Z. I think this battle is still going on😂
👍
"Russia is the most dangerous in Europe."
Medieval: Total War 2
"How about no."
> *Proceeds to turn 3 of my full stack armies into rebels.*
The hohols should have studied the Seven Years War.
Now they will learn the lesson of so many others.
That Russia can’t handle logistics?
🙂
Where the f*** did you find this : "Of all our enemies, the Austrians understand war the best, the French are the weakest and the Russians the most savage" I never seen this phrase, it's super weird.. Frederick said this??? I search all internet for something close to this supposed citation and I did find nothing.. Please help me, where is the source?
No need to swear. I don't use websites but books for my sources. This particular quote is from a letter to Prince Henry, cited in Fraser's "Frederick the Great, King of Prussia" (2001) p. 396.
В русском переводе не дикие ,а свирепые. Все же битва была очень яростная для тех времен.В этом плане все нормально.Штыковой бой ,рукопашная ,все честь по чести. У Фрейзера в главе про семилетнюю войну.
🤔👍
This battle is a big mess and pyriques Victory.
They should have fought at Vergebensdorf, they wouldn't have had any casualties.
So...Frederick succesfully drove the invaders out but at heavy casualties?
Thats like every battle that Russia has ever had
And yet their battles are called victories?
William Fermors name is supposed to be spelled as виллим фермор.
06:30 when the vanity/glory project of an old fart costs many many young lives. Sun Tzu spinning in his grave
Maybe he was pissed at the Russians for razing and looting so many villages.
He likely capitalised on the rage and desire of revenge of his soldiers, he knew he was facing superior numbers and needed his men to be motivated, also taking the baggage train may have meant losing discipline among his troops, looting is a highly disruptive activity, in particular had they found booze ...
@@andreasalvarani8598 all these COULD be valid points. It depends on the situation. And if you KNEW FOR SURE that you have a winning battle, and that you find alcohol, and that some of your men will get drunk (and you never know these for sure), you'd still have to send a small squadron. If not to capture the baggage train, then, at least, to destroy it.
Friedrich der Große Military Genius... So sayeth Nepoleon and I.
Great victory for Russia
Russia now not even most dangerous power in ukraine 🤣
The Russians would just come back with another shipment of human meat.
In that regard nothing has changed throughout history.
@@HoH 👺👺👺👺
@@HoH yes, more hate towards Russia
@@user-pg9qb3wy7s Look at what you guys are doing right now! You guys are invading Ukraine and actually trying to take its territory, this is much worse than American invasion of Iraq, which only tried to change its government.
@@user-pg9qb3wy7s ironic. Russia lost less soldiers in this war than Prussia or Austria
Prussian casualties were indeed 13,000 but Russian casualties were actually 16,000 not 20,000
Still struggling and confused as to why Frederick is called the great. Apart from marching his armies quickly & them being well disciplined, he seems careless to the number of them he gets killed. I don't rate him along with Marlborough, Napoleon or Wellington. This was an unnecessary battle as pointed out, he should have captured the baggage train rather than fight & not achieve a decisive outcome. Very poor tactics.
It's because he fought basically alone* against France, Austria and Russia (notably the three most powerful European States back then) and stood victorious. Even Napoleon was an admirer of him.
* English money notwithstanding
@@vectorstrike Thanks for this. Well is survival is your only goal whatever the cost then he succeeded and led to the Rise of Prussia.
@@vectorstrike he fought them one by one, there is no chesive joint offensive at that time, when the Russians and Austrians join together their forces at Kurnersdorf, Frederick got beaten horribly, Frederick NEVER defeat the Russian during the 7 years war
He's called the great because thomas carlyle had a huge crush on him
Take a Wiki article, inflate Russian losses (double) , Frederic wanted to pursue? How about the letter Fred wrote t his sister that all was lost? A slight reminder that after the battle the Russians occupied that little town called Berlin? The only reason Russians left Prussia is because change of the emperor in Russia? And that this battle was the beginning for a commander who truly was never defeated and became a real Generalissimo (someone Alexander Suvorov - rings a bell?). I understand a true historian u ae not, but in this case to tell a heroic story of your people, in the times when their leadership brought them to ruin I guess you feel justified.
Must say, Russia was always an ally to Prussia, even saved Prussia from Napoleon dismembering it, for which Germany repaid with 2 WWars. Plus the latest c**p. Good luck. Keep telling your tales
I am not sure what you are talking about. I am neither Russian nor German. All sources I used are listed in the description.
So what, throughout history you guys are just second rate soldiers compared to real powers of Europe, always relying on numbers, and your big wins are either against a equally ineffective weakening Ottoman or ganging up on Germany with the help from the rest of the world. But of course, you guys are very good at looting and plundering, must have inherited that from the Golden Horde that fathered half of your blood.
@@HoH Sorry havent seen any references. But read quite a few books on Frederic the Great. Not a single one presented the information that way. For best references you should refer to contemporaries (except British - they always lie), to the correspondence of Old Fred himself and the campaign archives (including Russian, who were ordered to not touch a fly in Berlin. After 3 days of boredom they left that "provincial town"). Old Fritz stated that all was lost. I know its popular to talk like that about Russians but as someone if not a historian, then someone who is providing true information you should stick to the facts
Butthurt Russians who got their arses kicked, moaning and complaining that they secretly won and anyone who refuses their version is 'biased'.
Now there's another thing that hasn't changed in 3 centuries.....
Prussia and Russia being allies you say? Let's ask the Prussians shall we? Oh wait you can't. They were all murdered or driven away by the Russians, who occupy Königsberg to this very day.
Sorry i maybe missed this . What happened to the cavarly commander that denied Fredericks orders?
He launched a charge on his own accord which changed the course of the battle. He received many promotions during the war.