Battle of Chotusitz

The Battle of Chotusitz, or Chotusice, sometimes called the Battle of Czaslau, was fought on May 17, 1742, in Bohemia between the Austrians under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine and the Prussians under Frederick the Great. The battle was a part of the War of the Austrian Succession, sometimes referred to as the First Silesian War. The armies were about equal at 28,000 to 30,000 each, with the Prussians having about 2,000 more infantry and the Austrians some 2,000 more cavalry. The Austrians were attempting to retake occupied Prague and the Prussians were trying to block them from accomplishing that. The Battle of Chotusitz was especially notable in that it was the only major battle started by the Austrians during this war.
Prince Charles had entered Bohemia with the intention of liberating the occupied capital of Prague. Faulty intelligence misinformed him of the strength of the Prussians in the area and he was unaware that Frederick was before of him with the main Prussian force. The Prussian army had divided with Frederick leading the vanguard about 10,000 strong, marching on Kuttenberg, Kutna Hora, with the intent of preventing the Austrians from reaching Prague. The main army of nearly 20,000 followed a day later under Prince Leopold of Anhalt. With the two Prussians forces a day's march apart and out of supporting distance of each other Charles had an opportunity of inflicting a defeat in detail on one, or both, of the Prussian forces.

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