Although Frederick the Great's army of 64,000 Prussians forced 60,000 Austrians to retreat, he lost 14,300 men and decided he was not strong enough to attack Prague.

Though initially surprised by the early Prussian attack, the able Austrian field marshal Maximilian Ulysses Count Browne had been retreating skillfully and concentrating his armed forces towards Prague.

Here he established a fortified position to the east of the town, and an additional army under Prince Charles of Lorraine arrived, swelling the Austrian numbers to 60,000.

The two Austrian commanders were in disagreement about the course of action: von Browne wanted to attack, but Charles decided to wait for Konigseck, who had been defeated at the Battle of Reichenberg but was known to be retreating towards Prague, and possibly even for the arrival of Daun.

On 6 May, around 5 am, the Prussian army assembled to the north on the Prosek heights, 115,000 men strong, and Frederick sent Keith with 30,000 to the west of the town to cut off any Austrian retreat.

The Prussian army started marching around 7 am, and succeeded in staying largely out of sight till the Austrian generals noticed the movements around 10 am.

[5] By King Frederick's own account, he claimed to have fallen ill with stomach pains as a means of explaining his frequent absences and seemingly deferred to Schwerin both on matters of reconnaissance and when the field marshal urged the necessity of an expedient attack at Sterbohol, a crucial village in the immediate vicinity of Prague, at the very onset of the battle.

[6][7] As such, Schwerin's leadership and the independent initiative of regimental commanders following the field marshal's untimely demise should be hailed as chiefly contributing to the battle's victorious conclusion.

[8] The Prussian victory was at a high cost; Frederick lost over 14,000 men, and two of his best generals were out of action (Schwerin was killed by enemy fire and Winterfeldt was severely wounded).