1741 Lego Battle of Mollwitz, War of Austrian Succession

Lego Prussians and Austrians fight it out in Frederick the Great's first battle, where he ran away and Count Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin was left to clean up the mess. In 1740 Frederick II became King of Prussia, inherited his father's expertly trained infantry, and let it into Silesia, a property of the Czech crown in modern-day Poland, but really under the influence of the Austrian Hapsburg Empire. At the beginning of 1741 Maria Theresa, the new Hapsburg Empress, dispatched an Austrian army under Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg. On April 10, 1741, two days after a heavy snow, the armies met near the village of Mollwitz, now called Małujowice, in Poland. There are many conflicting accounts of what happened at the battle, and how much snow was still on the ground on April 10. Some versions have the snow as deep as two feet, making the cavalry charges barely as fast as a trot. Other versions say that after two days the snow of April 8 was mostly melted away by April 10. It is generally agreed that Frederick arrived on the field early in the day, and the Austrians were surprised at his appearance and not prepared for a fight. Instead of storming the village and camp, Frederick began the slow process of arranging his whole army into battle formation. This gave the Austrians time to do the same. The Prussians were arranged into a square with some units deployed on the other side of a stream, separated from where the whole battle was going to take place. This rendered them useless. Two Prussian cannon batteries were advanced well in front of the Prussian infantry and horses, and these began to bombard groups of Austrian cavalry that were advanced in front of the Austrian lines. At first the Austrian cavalry stood where they were. Then they made a charge into the Prussian cavalry, which advanced to meet them, led by Frederick himself. The Prussian cavalry were beaten and fled and Frederick was almost killed. His top commander, von Schwerin, told him to flee the battle because with no cavalry left the battle might be lost. Frederick did flee. Count Von Schwerin then took control and began to undo many of the bad decisions made by Frederick in commanding the army. The Prussian infantry and cannons began to blow the Austrian cavalry away at close range, and the Austrian cavalry commander General Römer was killed by a bullet. Then Count Von Schwerin ordered an advance of all the Prussian infantry, which pushed the Austrians off the field and into retreat. Custom Grenadier hats by Woody on Shapeways http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Minifi... Thanks to BaeumlerFilm channel for the voices with the Austrian and German accents. baeumlerfilm Some legends surrounding this battle include: Asked where the Prussians would retreat to after King Frederick fled, Count Von Schwerin replied "over the bodies of our enemies." Frederick was later quoted as saying "Mollwitz was my school." Frederick was pursued when fleeing by an Austrian hussar (the light infantry with the colorful fur-lined uniforms and tall hats shown in this movie). The King stopped and turned to face this rider, and told him "Hussar, if you will leave me now, I will remember it." The hussar recognized King Frederick and turned away, and answered "So be it. We will meet again after the war is over." After the war the hussar, who was named Paul Werner, became a colonel of a regiment of Prussian hussars, and a "knight of the black eagle."