Battle of Zorndorf The Battle of Zorndorf was a battle fought on August 25 , 1758 during the Seven Years ' War , fought between the forces of the Russians troops under the command of Count William Fermor – and a Prussian army under King Frederick the Great . The site of the battle was the Prussian village Zorndorf ( now Sarbinowo , Poland ) . Background . After the victory at Kolín , having pushed the Prussians out of Bohemia in the summer of 1757 , and the cleverly waged campaign in the autumn that saw Lieutenant - General the Duke of Bevern ' s Prussians defeated at the Battle of Breslau ( 22 November 1757 ) , Queen Maria Theresa of Austria believed her fortunes were taking a turn for the better . In August 1758 , Austria ' s ally Russia invaded East Prussia with 43 , 000 troops under William Fermor advanced within of Berlin , and were poised to join the Austrians under Field Marshal Daun . The king , Frederick II of Prussia , understood that the joining of his enemies would spell the fall of Berlin and , deciding to forestall their plans , moved to the Russian rear . Fermor , who was then besieging Küstrin , learned about his manoeuvre from a Cossack sortie . He lifted the siege and occupied an advantageous position at Zorndorf , northeast of Küstrin . Battle . On August 25 Frederick ' s infantry attacked a Russian " observation corps " , which consisted of young conscripts only . The Russians managed to hold their own until the famed cavalry of Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz struck against them . The Russian cavalry clashed with the Prussians but was routed and had to flee towards the lines of the Russian infantrymen but these , confused by clouds of dust and gun smoke , mistook them for the Prussians and opened artillery fire . In the meantime , Frederick ' s infantry fell upon the left wing of the Russian army . Frederick intended to repeat the oblique order assault that had granted him victory at the battle of Leuthen , yet as the Russian lines were unable to retreat due to the swamps in their rear , and the left flank of Frederic ' s army was likewise unable to enclose the Russian lines because of the unfavorable terrain and successful Russian resistance , the battle took the course of an extremely bloody , frontal clash of the adversaries ' armies within a narrow battlefield setting . During the ensuing battle , both sides quickly ran out of powder and engaged in hand - to - hand fighting . One Russian detachment was said to take hold of a supply of wine barrels and drink themselves to stupefaction . When some of the Prussian battalions showed signs of tiring , Frederick himself led them in an attack . The battle was described by contemporaries as the bloodiest in the 18th century . One Prussian officer reported that " bodies of Russians covered the field row by row ; they kissed their cannons while their bodies were cut to pieces by our sabers , but still they would not retreat " . After the battle , Frederick famously declared that " it ' s easier to kill the Russians than to win over them " . Murderous fighting continued until nightfall , by which time 80 % of the observation corps were dead . Aftermath . The Prussians lost 12 , 800 men , the Russians lost 18 , 000 men . That the Russians took such heavy casualties and did not retreat left an imprint on the Prussian soldiers and Frederick . Before the battle he regarded the Russians as incompetent . Afterwards he began to respect them . The battle appeared inconclusive , however . Although the Russians kept the battlefield on the following day , Fermor was the first to retreat towards Landsberg . His retreat prevented the Russians from reaching their Austrian allies and allowed Frederick to claim the battle as his victory , a view also popular in 19th century historiography , < br > Russian retreat from Prussia although some Russian historians still dispute the outcome .