Time Astra

Schematic plan · War of the Austrian Succession

Battle of Mollwitz

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A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Rolling, Mixed groundCentreHorseHorseLeft wingRight wingReserveCentreHorseHorseLeft wingRight wingReserveGunsGuns01 km2 kmN

Habsburg Empire (Aus Army, 18,100 men under Neipperg) attacked Prussia (Pr Army, 22,000 men under Frederick II) in Silesia. The CAA Database of Battles records 6.8 hours of fighting on a front of 2.7 km, a frontal attack against hasty defense, and that Prussia held. Losses: Habsburg Empire 4,551 (25%), Prussia 4,850 (22%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

Habsburg Empire

Neipperg

UnitArmMen
Habsburg Empire left wingInfantry2,116
Habsburg Empire centreInfantry2,821
Habsburg Empire right wingInfantry2,116
Habsburg Empire reserveInfantry1,763
Habsburg Empire cavalry of the leftCavalry4,500
Habsburg Empire cavalry of the rightCavalry4,500
Habsburg Empire artillery (19 guns)Artillery285
NeippergCommander—
In this plan18,101

Prussia

Frederick II

UnitArmMen
Prussia left wingInfantry4,020
Prussia centreInfantry5,360
Prussia right wingInfantry4,020
Prussia reserveInfantry3,350
Prussia cavalry of the leftCavalry2,250
Prussia cavalry of the rightCavalry2,250
Prussia artillery (50 guns)Artillery750
Frederick IICommander—
In this plan22,000

What the sources report

Habsburg EmpirePrussia
Strength, this plan18,10022,000
Losses, this plan4,5514,850

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 55, “Mollwitz”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
6.8 hours
Winner
the defender
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Wet, Light precipitation, Cold, Spring, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
2.7 km (attacker), 4.3 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Habsburg Empireattacker18,1004,5519,00019Frontal attack; Repulse; Withdrew
Prussiadefender22,0004,8504,50050Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack

Attacker’s advantages none recorded

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.