Westphalia, Hesse and Lower Saxony Electoral Saxony Brandenburg Silesia East Prussia Pomerania Iberian Peninsula Naval Operations The Battle of Zorndorf,[a] during the Seven Years' War, was fought on 25 August 1758 between Russian troops commanded by Count William Fermor and a Prussian army commanded by King Frederick the Great.

Empress Maria Theresa of Austria had signed the treaty to gain time to rebuild her military forces and forge new alliances; she was intent upon regaining ascendancy in the Holy Roman Empire as well as the Silesian province.

Seeing the opportunity to regain her lost territories and to limit Prussia's growing power, Austria put aside the old rivalry with France to form a new coalition.

Ferdinand evicted the French from Hanover and Westphalia and re-captured the port of Emden in March 1758; he crossed the Rhine, causing general alarm in France.

[19] After the Battle of 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), Empress Maria Theresa of Austria believed her fortunes were taking a turn for the better; however, the situation soon changed when Frederick defeated, first, the French at Rossbach and, then, the Austrians at Leuthen.

King Frederick understood that the joining of his enemies would spell the fall of Berlin and, deciding to forestall their plans, moved to the Russian rear.

Thomas Carlyle, who toured the ground 100 years later, investigated some of the old records: he called these marshes "leakages" approximately 2–3 miles broad, mostly bottomless and woven with sluggish creeks and stagnant pools.

[30] However, Fermor, unlike Frederick, did not report his possible "victory," he admitted that he had suffered heavy losses and retreated in order after the end of the battle.

The Austrians were, instead, preparing for a thrust into Saxony against the weaker army Frederick had left behind under the command of his younger brother, Prince Henry.

[32] After the fighting, Frederick withdrew his cavalry to stop their incessant and destructive skirmishing with the Cossacks, thereby allowing the Russian army to re-establish contact with their baggage wagons.

Fermor sent a letter to Saint Petersburg, assembled his troops into two columns and marched towards Landsberg to link up with the forces of Count Pyotr Rumyantsev.

"[35] As Fermor left, Frederick was eager to proclaim it a retreat, although in reality the Russians were not fleeing and marched in perfect order, not being harried by the remaining Prussian troops.

[33] This 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, but historians still disputed the outcome.

[36] Carl Röchling's 1904 depiction, Frederick the Great in the Battle of Zorndorf Before the Frontline of the von Bülow Regiment, became a widely perceived symbol of the early 20th century ideal of soldiers' heroism.