Battle of Bergen ( 1759 ) The Battle of Bergen on 13 April 1759 saw the French army under de Broglie withstand an allied British , Hanoverian , Hessian , Brunswick army under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick near Frankfurt - am - Main during the Seven Years ' War . Background . As the campaigning season of 1759 opened , Prince Ferdinand stole a march on the French by moving out of winter quarters in late March . His destination was Frankfurt , where the French had a base on the Main River . The intent was to drive the French out of Westphalia and seize the initiative for the allies . By the end of the month , his army comprised some 27 , 000 men grouped into three divisions . One was commanded by the Erbprinz , one by Prince Isenburg , and the third by the Duke of Holstein - Gottorp . Operations commenced with the seizing of Fulda and Meiningen from troops of the Reichsexecutionsarmee under Field Marshal von Zweibrücken . As the Imperial army retreated into Bohemia , Ferdinand moved into Hesse hoping to fall upon Broglie ' s corps before it could be reinforced . Broglie , however , was able to reinforce his corps with a contingent of Saxons under the General von Dyhrn ( Dyherrn ) along with other French regiments that he was able to assemble . He placed his small army at the fortified town of Bergen and awaited developments . Prelude . The battlefield lent itself to a defensive stance . The walled town of Bergen was on the right atop a bluff overlooking the floodplain of the Main River and thus could not be flanked on that side . Northwest of the town was the " Berger - Warte " , a low hill that dominated the center and atop of which stood ( and still stands ) an old tower . Left of that was the town of Vilbel , located on the Nidda River , whose floodplain was covered by an expanse of woods . Broglie placed a large quantity of infantry in and behind the town of Bergen . On his left , he placed his light infantry in the woods supported by the Saxon contingent as well as some of his cavalry . He placed most of his artillery in the center in eight batteries . Behind the guns he positioned the bulk of his cavalry as well as his reserves . His reserves were formed in " columns of waiting " , a type of formation that anticipated Napoleonic tactics and hence was not in common use at this time . Battle . Ferdinand ' s army arrived on the field of battle piecemeal . Ferdinand himself accompanied the vanguard , commanded by the Erbprinz . As Ferdinand mistakenly believed that the French had not yet fully deployed , he ordered an immediate attack , choosing not to wait for the other two divisions . Despite the long odds , by eight o ' clock the town of Vilbel had been seized by Freytag ' s light infantry and the " Am Hohen Stein , " another low hill located east of the " Berger - Warte , " had been occupied . Perceiving that Bergen was the key to the position , by 8 : 30 Ferdinand had ordered an assault on this position . The initial allied attack was successful , driving the French infantry from the hedges and orchards that they occupied and back into the town . Then Broglie began to feed in reinforcements which turned the tide against the allies , driving them back . At ten o ' clock Prince Isenburg ' s division arrived . Isenburg pitched into the fray , once again driving the French troops back into Bergen . Broglie immediately counterattacked with more fresh regiments that he had fed in from his reserve , disordering the allies and driving them back once more . Isenburg himself was killed while trying to rally his men . It was with difficulty that Ferdinand himself was able to restore order to his troops . At this point , the battle began to cool off . As Broglie brought his reserve and his cavalry forward , Ferdinand was able to gauge the size of his opponent ' s army . Furthermore , the French artillery was finding its range and forcing the allied army back up the " Am Hohen Stein . " As Holstein - Gottorp ' s division finally made it onto the field , preparations for another attack were abandoned and the battle turned into an artillery duel that lasted until the fall of night , when the allies withdrew . Although it was a clear French victory , Broglie did not aggressively pursue Ferdinand , who was able to slip away with his army back toward Minden . Aftermath . This was Ferdinand ' s darkest moment , and even his brother in law , Frederick the Great commiserated with him to try to boost his morale . Ferdinand would recover , however , and redeem himself and his army later in the same year at the Battle of Minden . Allied casualties amounted to 415 dead , 1 , 770 wounded , and 188 missing . The French lost 500 dead and 1 , 300 wounded .