page_title: Battle of Kay
section_title: Dispositions
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Kay / Dispositions
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of Pyotr Saltykov (1697–1772)
context_page_description: The Battle of Kay, also referred to as the Battle of Sulechów, Battle of Züllichau, or Battle of Paltzig, was an engagement fought on 23 July 1759 during the Seven Years' War. It occurred near Kay in the Neumark, now part of Poland.
  General Carl Heinrich von Wedel, the commander of the Prussian army of 26,000 men, unwisely attacked a larger Russian army of 41,000 men commanded by Count Pyotr Saltykov. The Prussians lost 8,300 men; the Russians lost less than 5,000 men. After the battle, King Frederick II of Prussia was determined to force the Russians into a decisive engagement in order to prevent them joining up with the main Austrian army. Three weeks later, the Prussians met the combined Russian-Austrian army at Kunersdorf.
context_section_description: Upon orders from Empress Elizabeth, Saltykov moved on Prussia in a methodical advance beginning in June 1759. Some estimates place his army as high as 70,000 men; others suggest he had approximately 41,000 in June and July. Upon learning of this advance, Frederick ordered General Dohna to halt the Russian westward advance. Dohna had a force of 26,000 at his disposal, including several companies of cavalry.
  In mid-July, Dohna and Saltykov spent a week feinting with each other as Saltykov drew closer to the Prussian border. On 14 July, he turned southwest, making for the Oder river, somewhere between Crossen and Glogau. By 19 July, he had reached the Silesian front near Züllichau (Sulechów), where Saltykov planned to rest his troops for a couple of days.
  The third commander of the Russian force in three years, he was still relatively new to the command of this army, and spent a couple of days consulting with his chief officers and getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of his army, and letting them get to know him.  In a course of meetings with his staff, however, he excluded the Austrian commanders with him, a telling comment on his distrust of the Habsburg staff.
  Monitoring this from afar, and dissatisfied with Dohna's timidity in bringing Saltykov to battle, Frederick sent Carl Heinrich von Wedel to take command. Wedel arrived on 20 July and established a blocking position at Züllichau. This would prevent the Russians from entering Prussian territory and reaching the Oder. He wanted to attack the Russians at dawn the next day, but could not find an appropriately weak location in the Russian defenses.
  On the same day as Wedel arrived, 20 July, Saltykov established himself astride the Prussian communication line at the Oder, strengthening his already formidable position. This effectively cut any Prussian advance or reinforcement from Crossen (Krosno) or Frankfurt on the Oder. At this point, the Russians occupied the heights by Kay and additional high ground by Mosau (Mozów). A stream, the Eichmühlen Fliess, flowed in a swampy depression just to the east of the town. It could be crossed only at a single narrow point on the road east of Kay, directly opposite the Russian center; a second crossing could be made immediately south of Kay, which would permit an assault on the Russian right flank. This seemed reasonable to Wedel, but only if the Russians were not fully deployed.
  By 23 July, Wedel had received direct orders from the impatient Frederick to secure a "good position", by which the king meant defensible ground, and to use the preferred means of attack, by which the King meant "oblique order". Wedel knew he must bring the Russians to battle before they could move on Frankfurt or risk his reputation with the King. On 23 July, Wedel ordered another reconnaissance of Saltykov's troops at Langen Meil, a small settlement outside Key, and found them in motion; assuming they meant to move on Frankfurt, he subsequently ordered an advance on the Russian right flank. Wedel's best opportunity seemed to be securing the Paltzig heights before the Russians could do so, and the best way to do that would be through Kay.
caption: Saltykov masterfully distributed his troops, taking advantage of the heights surrounding the village of Kay (Paltzig).
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