18th Century Calendar of Events

1713 "Pragmatische Sanktion".
1740-1748 War of Austrian Succession.
France, Spain, Bavaria, Saxony and Prussia allied against Maria Theresia of Austria. Karl Albert, Kurfürst von Bayern, elected Kaiser.
1740-1742 First Silesian War
Friedrich claims parts of Silesia (Liegnitz, Brieg and Wohlau, Jägerndorf).
1741 Prussian alliance with France and Bavaria.
Friedrich's Silesian involvement draws Austrian forces away from the German and Bavarian theater of operations, aiding the Pragmatic Army's war effort there.
1742-1745 Karl VII. driven out of Bavaria by Austro/Hungarian forces.
1744-1745 Second Silesian War
Friedrich advances through neutral Saxony and attacks the Austrian province of Bohemia, capturing Prague.
12.01.1741 Schloß Ottmachau surrenders to the Prussians.
10.04.1741 Battle of Mollwitz.
Friedrich leaves the battlefield thinking that he is defeated. Schwerin turns the confused battle into victory.
March/April 1742 Friedrich's HQ at Schloß Seelowitz.
17.05.1742 Battle of Chotusitz.
Friedrich defeats the Austrian army.
24./25.10.1744 Confrontation at Marschowitz.
Friedrich unable to attack the well protected Austrian camp.
04.06.1745 Battle of Hohenfriedberg.
Friedrich defeats the Saxons and Austrians in detail. Famous charge of D5 Bayreuth Dragoons, capturing 67 flags and standards, five guns and 2,500 Prisoners within 20 minutes, losing 94 men.
30.09.1745 Battle of Soor.
The Austrian army moves around Friedrich's camp, blocking the Prussian withdrawal route across the mountain passes into Silesia. Friedrich is forced to give battle, defeating the Austrians. Famous cavalry(!) attack against the flank of the Graner-Koppe, an unscalably steep hill on the Austrian left flank.
1745 Leopold von Dessau defeats the Saxons at Kesseldorf.
1756-1763 Third Silesian or Seven Years' War
Friedrich launches a preemptive attack against Saxony, before Austria can mobilize its alliance with France, Saxony, Bavaria, German States, Sweden and Russia.
01.10.1756 Battle of Lobositz.
Friedrich defeats Feldmarschall von Browne, preventing the latter from reaching the Saxon army at Pirna.
06.05.1757 Battle of Prag.
Friedrich defeats Browne. Feldmarschall von Schwerin is killed, Austrian Feldmarschall Browne mortally wounded.
18.06.1757 Battle of Kolin.
Friedrich attacks the numerically superior Austrian army under Daun and is defeated.
05.11.1757 Battle of Roßbach.
Friedrich defeats the French and Reichsarmee.
05.12.1757 Battle of Leuthen.
Friedrich defeats the Austrians under Charles of Lorraine.
1758 The Olmütz Campaign.
14.10.1758 Battle of Hochkirch.
Daun surprises Friedrich in Camp. Feldmarschall von Keith killed. Prinz Moritz is wounded, recovers from his wounds but dies of cancer in April 1760, resulting from an injury to the lip.
25.08.1758 Battle of Zorndorf.
Friedrich narrowly defeats the Russians under Fermor.
1759 The Camp at Schmottseifen.
01.08.1759 Battle of Minden
Prinz Ferdinand von Braunschweig defeats the French army under Marshal de Contades.
12.08.1759 Battle of Kundersdorf
Friedrich marches around the combined Russian and Austrian army in hopes of attacking a weakly defended part of the camp. He finds unsuitable terrain and a strongly defended Russian position. The initial attack goes well, but the Russians are able to reinforce and defend the Kuhgrund valley. Prussian losses are staggering. Major Ewald Christian von Kleist, the poet, is mortally wounded. Friedrich has two horses killed under him. A bullet pierces his coat, only to be stopped by a golden box he was carrying in a coat pocket.
20.11.1759 Battle of Maxen
Generalleutnant Friedrich August von Finck is ordered to defend a precarious position in the rear of the Austrian army. Feldmarschall Daun surrounds Finck with three converging formations and defeats him in battle. Nearly half of Finck's infantry, pressed Saxon and former Austrian soldiers, desert en masse during the fight. 15,000 Prussians surrender to the Austrians.
23.06.1760 Battle of Landeshut.
Generalleutnant Heinrich August Freiherr de la Motte Fouque and his isolated force of 12,000 Prussians is attacked by three times their number and defeated. After a bitter fight, Fouque and 8,000 men surrender to the Austrians.
19.-21.07.1760 Bombardment of Dresden.
An Austrian withdrawal away from the Elbe allows Friedrich to attack Dresden. The city is severally damaged in a firestorm caused by the bombardment, but Generalmajor Macquire and his 13,900 Austrians hold out. Upon Daun's return to the Elbe, the Prussian position became untenable. On the moonless night of the 21st, Feldmarshall Daun sends an Austrian commando across the Elbe, to attack the Prussian batteries firing against Dresden. Prussian gunners, one battalion of Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Ferdinand and the entire Regiment Anhalt-Bernburg are routed after only brief resistance. As a punishment, Friedrich has the Anhalt-Bernburg regiment give up their sidearms and remove the lace from officer's tricornes. Regimental drummers are forbidden to play the grenadier march from then on.
15.08.1760 Battle of Liegnitz.
Friedrich defeats Loudon near the Katzbach. Infanterie-Regiment Anhalt-Bernburg attacks valiantly, gaining Friedrich's pardon for their previous failure at Dresden.
03.11.1760 Battle of Torgau.
1761 The Camp at Bunzelwitz.
05.01.1762 Czarina Elisabeth Petrowna dies
May 1762 Peace with Russia
The new Czar, Peter III., formerly Herzog von Holstein-Gottorp, forms an alliance with Prussia. Friedrich offers him the famous Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 13 (formerly von Itzenplitz and von Syburg, popularly known as "Donner-und-Blitzen"-Regiment) in addition to an honorary rank of General in the Prussian army.
21.07.1762 Battle of Burkersdorf
Friedrich attacks the Austrian army in their fortified camp, forcing Feldmarschall Daun to abandon the siege of Schweidnitz. Feldmarschall Tschernyschew and 15,000 - 20,000 Russian troops are present at the battle, but do not attack in support of the Prussian army. Following the coup against Czar Peter III. Feldmarschall Tschernyschew was under orders to return his forces to Russia. That Tschernyschew remained at Burkersdorf a few days longer than his orders permitted helped distract the Austrian army and contributed to the Prussian victory there.
28.10.1762 Battle of Freiberg, Saxony
Prinz Heinrich and Seydlitz defeat the Reicharmee and Austrian forces.
15.02.1763 Hubertusburg Peace Treaty
Austria agrees to honor the 1756 borders. The Prussians pull out of Saxony and receive Glatz in return.

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