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Schematic plan · The Seven Year's War

Battle of Zorndorf

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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 groundCentreLeft wingRight wingCentreReserveLeft wingRight wingHorseHorseReserveGunsHorseHorseGuns01 km2 kmN

Prussia (Pr Army, 36,000 men under Frederick II) attacked Russia (Russ Army, 43,300 men under Fermor) in Prussia. The CAA Database of Battles records 9.5 hours of fighting on a front of 3.4 km, a frontal attack against hasty defense, and that Prussia won. Losses: Prussia 12,797 (36%), Russia 18,500 (43%).

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

Prussia

Frederick II

UnitArmMen
Prussia left wingInfantry5,425
Prussia centreInfantry7,234
Prussia right wingInfantry5,425
Prussia reserveInfantry4,521
Prussia cavalry of the leftCavalry5,250
Prussia cavalry of the rightCavalry5,250
Prussia artillery (193 guns)Artillery2,895
Frederick IICommander—
In this plan36,000

Russia

Fermor

UnitArmMen
Russia left wingInfantry8,032
Russia centreInfantry10,710
Russia right wingInfantry8,032
Russia reserveInfantry6,694
Russia cavalry of the leftCavalry3,191
Russia cavalry of the rightCavalry3,191
Russia artillery (230 guns)Artillery3,450
FermorCommander—
In this plan43,300

What the sources report

PrussiaRussia
Strength, this plan36,00043,300
Losses, this plan12,79718,500

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 72, “Zorndorf”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
9.5 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Summer, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
3.4 km (attacker), 4.8 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Prussiaattacker36,00012,79710,500193Frontal attack; Penetration; Withdrew
Russiadefender43,30018,5006,382230Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack; Repulse; Withdrew

Attacker’s advantages leadership +1 · training +1 · combat effectiveness +1

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.