Battle of Kesselsdorf The Battle of Kesselsdorf was fought on 15 December 1745 , between Prussia and the combined forces of Austria and Saxony during the part of the War of the Austrian Succession known as the Second Silesian War . The Prussians were led by Leopold I , Prince of Anhalt - Dessau , while the Austrians and Saxons were led by Field Marshal Rutowsky . The Prussians were victorious . Preliminary maneuvers . Two Prussian columns , one led by Frederick , the second by the Leopold the ' Old Dessauer ' were converging on Dresden , the capital of Saxony , which was then an Austrian ally . Interposed between Leopold and Dresden was Rutowsky with an army of Saxons . Rapidly marching towards Dresden and Rutowsky was prince Charles who hoped to be able to reinforce both . Leopold moved slowly and deliberately forward entering Saxon territory on 29 November and advanced on Rutowsky at Leipzig , whereupon Rutowsky retired towards Dresden . By 12 December , Leopold reached Meissen and joined with a corps under Lehwaldt . Rutowsky was reinforced by some Austrians under Grünne and took up a position at Kesselsdorf , 5 miles west of Dresden , that covered Dresden while leaving him closer to the advancing Charles than Leopold was to Frederick . The Saxons deployed along a ridge that ran from Kesselsdorf to the river Elbe and that was fronted by a stream and marshy ground . The 7 , 000 Austrians under Grünne formed on the right near the Elbe . The line was long and there was a considerable gap in its center between the Saxons and the Austrians . On the fifteenth , Leopold finally came up . There was much snow and ice on the field . Battle . The Prussians were slightly outnumbered 35 , 000 to 32 , 000 . Additionally , the Saxons and Austrians had the advantage of the ground . Dessauer , a long experienced general now over seventy years old , perceived that by taking the town of Kesselsdorf the enemies flank could be turned and concentrated his efforts against the Saxon portion of the army . The Saxons had the town defended with twenty - four heavy cannon their engineers and carpenters enhancing its defensibility . Leopold made dispositions for an attack by an elite force of infantry and grenadiers , however the ground was very difficult and the first attack was repulsed with considerable loss , including the officer leading the attack , General Hertzberg . A second , reinforced attack was made and this too failed with the Prussians fleeing in disorder . The Prussians had suffered some 1 , 500 casualties from the attacking forces of 3 , 500 . The Saxon grenadiers seeing the flight of the Prussians left their strong defensive position and made an impetuous pursuit of the Prussians which exposed them to a massed charge by the dragoons of the Prussian cavalry . The shock of the charge sent the Saxons tumbling back and through their former position in Kesselsdorf , driving them from the field . At this same time , Leopold ' s son , Maurice , personally led an infantry regiment which broke through the Saxon center . The regiment , although isolated , held its ground while other Prussian regiments attempted but failed to link up with it due to the stubbornness of the Saxon defence . Eventually , Leopold ' s success in taking Kesselsdorf bore fruit and the Saxon flank was turned causing the Saxon line to collapse and their army to flee at nightfall . The Prussians ' losses amounted to over sixteen hundred killed and more than three thousand wounded , while the Saxon losses were less than four thousand killed and wounded with almost seven thousand Saxons taken prisoner as well as forty eight cannon and seven standards . During the battle , the Austrians on the right never fired a shot , while Charles , who had reached Dresden and could hear the cannon , failed to march to the aid of his ally . Aftermath . The Saxons fled in a wild panic into Dresden . There , despite the presence of Charles and his army of 18 , 000 and the Austrians willingness to renew battle , they continued to flee . The Saxons then abandoned Dresden , which Fredrick and Leopold occupied on the eighteenth after demanding its unconditional surrender . The Austrians subsequently began to negotiate the peace of Dresden immediately , ultimately ending the Second Silesian War and leaving Prussia ' s ally , France , to conduct the rest of the war of the Austrian Succession alone .