On the Road to Leuthen: November 28th

Frederick the Great and his generals at Parchwitz (Minden Miniatures) - click picture to enlarge

I hope to chronicle the daily events leading up to the battle of Leuthen on December 5, 1757 ( and leading up to my Leuthen Wargame on the same anniversary date).

Here is an excerpt from Christopher Duffy's fine book on the Rossbach to Leuthen Campaign, Prussia's Glory (pages 126-127):

On November 28, 1757 Frederick and his army marched by way of Schonberg and Muhlraditz to approach the little town of Parchwitz on the Katzbach rivulet. So far Frederick had seen nothing of the Austrians except the parties of hussars were falling back in the face ofmthenadvance guard, but it turned out that Parchwitz was in possession of the enemy, which indicated that the main Austrian force must be close at hand.

Map from Duffy's "Prussia's Glory" (page 125)

Frederick's unopposed March from Saxony was at an end. His force had covered 308 kilometers in 15 days, including the necessary rest days, which made an average daily progress of more than twenty kilometers, or thirteen miles, which was a very creditable rate of sustained marching by the standards of the time. This feat was made possible by the mild and dry  ( which also facilitated the Austrian operations against Schweidnitz and Breslau), and by the high spirits of the Prussian troops, who were buoyed up by their victory at Rossbach, and were determined to make good what had been lost in Silesia.

DAF