"Mollwitz 1741 " Topic

"Mollwitz was Frederick the Great's first full-scale battle since his accession to the Prussian throne. He had with him the superbly trained infantry that his father, Frederick William, had created. His cavalry was not as well trained and proved, in this first battle, to be not worth much.

In this first aggressive war that Frederick waged, he was being stalked by the Austrian Field Marshal Count Wilhelm von Neipperg. Both armies were slogging north to cross the Oder River in a blinding, late-season blizzard. In an age when commanders were only just beginning to understand the use of light cavalry to act as the feelers and intelligence gatherers of an army, neither commander was knew where the other was. And the snow didn't help.

Consequently, Neipperg, thinking Frederick was several miles north, brought his 19,000 men to bivouac in and around the village of Mollwitz (modern day Malujowice in Poland), facing north-east.

Frederick, meanwhile, was camped a few miles to the south-east, waiting for the snow to let up. Around 0500 on the April 10th, he began moving his 22,000 men north, with the object of crossing the Oder River at Brieg (modern Bzreg). The going was slow because though the snow had stopped, it was deep (Asprey, in his biography of Frederick says 2 feet--see references below). It wasn't until midday that his troops reached Neudorf…"
Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Great source!

This site is truly amazing. As far as I can see, there is only one error in this Piece, which is in the Prussian orbat. In the second line Fuislier Regt No 40 is included, and named Saxe-Eisenach. In the German General Staff History of the Wars of Frederick the Great they list regiments only by their Colonel's name, not the numbering system used later. This regiment is listed for Mollwitz as Graevenitz. Now Graevenitz did become Colonel of the FR40, but not until August 1741. In April 1741 he was still Colonel of IR20, and it is this regiment which should be at Mollwitz. This tiny slip is the only mistake I have ever found in the fantastic work of Christopher Duffy!
It is a real pity for the wargamer, as it removes the most colourfully uniformed unit from the Prussian army.
Mollinary

Boy, I am going to enjoy this article!
That site is a source of continuous marvel. Fellow wargamers: Please take a look at the the very small footprint of the linear warfare units. Thatīs why I prefer reducing the scale and keep the linear look, instead of seeing hordes of cluttered miniatures with no room to breath. For instance, in FOG(N), you can dispense completely with the second rank of bases and it looks so much better! (If you want to preserve the depth footprint, specially in cases like this where the wargame unit represents a number of tactical units, you can simply rule that the space behind the first rank is not available for deploying other units.)

Happy you enjoyed it boys!. (smile)

Thanks Molinary for the good data!.

Amicalement
Armand

Thanks, Mollinary. Sharp eye on the OOB for the Prussians.

Re: IR#40, Saxe-Eisenach Fusiliers. When I put this OOB together I did use Duffy, but then verified it from Kronoskaf's Project SYW site, which referenced a number of German sources. But the detail that doesn't fit my OOB is that Kronoskaf mentions that the second battalion of #40 wasn't formed until 1742. I should, at some point, make that change to the deployment map and OOB. Not today, though.

I have listed the numbers of the regiments because they began to be referred to in that way in 1737 as a clerical innovation of Leopold Anhalt-Dessau (the Old Dessauer) for bookkeeping continuity purposes.

Jeff Berry

Well done, indeed. You've set the bar high, Jeff. :-)

Hi Jeff,

A truly great site you've set up, with amazing maps! It is now many years since I decided to paint the Regiments for Mollwitz, and set out to do some research. I was fortunate enough to have access to a copy of the General Staff History covering the Silesian Wars, and consulted it for OOBs and maps. It was when I cross referenced it with Duffy and Bleckwenn, and then Kronoskaf, that I discovered the mistake. Easily enough made, in all conscience. Interestingly (and in my view correctly!) Kronoskaf does not claim FR40 was at Mollwitz, but does claim IR20 was. My suspicion had originally been aroused because Fred's army at Mollwitz is always described as consisting of his oldest and best troops, and FR40 stuck out like a sore thumb against that description. Anyway, well done on an awesome achievement. Particularly like your Soor article. Have walked the ground a number of times, including once on a tour with Chris Duffy, and your map makes perfect sense of the terrain.

Andrew Brentnall

I know this is a bit of thread necromancy, but I cannot seem to comment on your site. I noted the debate about snow at Mollwitz, and whether the description of it is confined to Asprey. I can confirm it is not, as the ground being covered with snow is mentioned in the first volume of the German General Staff History of the Wars of Frederick the Great, for what it is worth.

Mollinary