Battle of Breslau ( 1757 ) The Battle of Breslau ( also known as the " Battle on the Lohe " ) was a battle fought on November 22 , 1757 during the Seven Years ' War . A Prussia n army of 28 , 000 men fought an Austrian army of 84 , 000 men . The Prussians held off the Austrian attack , losing 6 , 000 men to the Austrians 5 , 000 men . But one day later the Prussians beat a retreat . Breslau ' s garrison surrendered on November 25 , 1757 . Background . In 1757 the Prussian king , Fredrick II , was still active in Saxony . During this time , the duke of Brunswick - Bevern was supposed to cover Silesia with a force of 32 , 000 troops . This soon turned out to be a difficult task as he had to face the superior Austrian forces , whose main army of 54 , 000 troops was led by Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine and Count Leopold Joseph von Daun . The corps of 28 , 000 troops under Franz Leopold von Nádasdy was also able to advance to the front . Despite their overwhelming superiority , the Austrians wanted to initially avoid a battle . The main army ' s role was supposed to be tying up the Prussians thereby allowing Nádasdy ’ s forces to take the fortress of Schweidnitz , which was a key position ensuring the flow of supplies Bohemia to Silesia . After Nádasdy ’ s corps had been reinforced bringing its size up to 43 , 000 troops , the Austrians surrounded Schweidnitz on 14 October . The handover then took place on 13 November . Until then , Bevern had managed to keep the main Austrian army engaged in battle . However , after joining Nádasdy ’ s corps it had been considerably strengthened . As a direct result of the additional reinforcements , the Austrian army command gave up their position and decided to launch an immediate attack on the Prussians ; their intention was to take Breslau should before the arrival of the main Prussian forces so that they would be unable to winter in Silesia . The Prussians had over 40 battalions and 102 squadrons at their disposal ( totalling 28 , 400 troops ) . The Austrian army , however , consisted of 96 battalions , 93 grenadier companies , 141 squadrons and 228 artillery pieces ( totalling 83 . 606 troops ) . Course of battle . Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine attacked the Prussian forces on 22 November outside the gates of Breslau , between the villages of Kosel und Gräbschen , launching the battle with a cannonade . The Prussians , who had taken up fortified positions in the surrounding villages , were then attacked at three separate points . After the Austrians were able to conquer the first few villages , they manned them with howitzers and intensified their cannonade , after which the duke of Brunswick - Bevern gathered ten regiments together and began a counter - attack . A tough , bloody struggle for the villages began , in which the Prussians were able to score several decisive successes against the superior Austrian forces . It has never been established whether Bevern wanted to lead another counter - attack the next day or whether the retreat . Nevertheless , the Prussians did retreat , which seemed to have begun suddenly as if on cue , whether it had been ordered or not . The battle field was consequently abandoned to Prince Charles and the Prussians went back to Glogau via Breslau . The battle , which had lasted almost the entire day , cost the Austrians 5 , 723 men and the Prussians 6 , 350 men . Results . Following the withdrawal of the Prussian army , 10 battalions under General Johann Georg von Lestwitz remained behind in the fortress of Breslau . The Austrians immediately laid siege under the direction of General Nádasdy . The Austrian minded population of Breslau made the Prussians ’ defence very difficult as not only did Breslau ’ s citizens pressure Lestwitz to vacate the fortress but they also aided any Prussian deserters . The Prussians ’ moral was extremely low due to the defeat in the battlefield and the high proportion of conscripts serving in the army . Discipline almost collapsed . Lestwitz therefore surrendered on the night of 25 November on condition of being allowed to withdraw unhindered . Out of the 4 , 227 Prussian soldiers , only 599 of them began the march to Glogau . The rest fled the military service which they so despised . Due to these events , Fredrick II . was forced to completely change his campaign plans . However , he remained determined to attack the Austrian army to tear Silesia away from them . In order to continue the war , Prussia had to rely on Silesia both financially and as a source of future recruitment of troops .