Ferdinand's army arrives on the field of…
April 1759 CE
Ferdinand himself accompanies the vanguard, commanded by the Erbprinz.
As Ferdinand mistakenly believes that the French had not yet fully deployed, he orders an immediate attack, choosing not to wait for the other two divisions.
Despite the long odds, by eight o'clock the town of Vilbel has been seized by Freytag's light infantry and the "Am Hohen Stein," another low hill located east of the "Berger-Warte," has been occupied.
Perceiving that Bergen is the key to the position, by 8:30 Ferdinand has ordered an assault on this position.
The initial allied attack is successful, driving the French infantry from the hedges and orchards that they occupy and back into the town.
Broglie now begins to feed in reinforcements, which turn the tide against the allies, driving them back.
At ten o'clock Prince Isenburg's division arrives.
Isenburg pitches into the fray, once again driving the French troops back into Bergen.
Broglie immediately counterattacks with more fresh regiments that he has fed in from his reserve, disordering the allies and driving them back once more.
Isenburg himself is killed while trying to rally his men.
It is with difficulty that Ferdinand himself is able to restore order to his troops.
At this point, the battle begins to cool off.
As Broglie brings his reserve and his cavalry forward, Ferdinand is able to gauge the size of his opponent's army.
Furthermore, the French artillery is finding its range and forcing the allied army back up the "Am Hohen Stein."
As Holstein-Gottorp's division finally makes it onto the field, preparations for another attack are abandoned and the battle turns into an artillery duel that lasts until the fall of night, when the allies withdraw.
Although it is a clear French victory, Broglie does not aggressively pursue Ferdinand, who is able to slip away with his army back toward Minden.
This is Ferdinand's darkest moment, and even his brother in law, Frederick the Great, commiserates with him to try to boost his morale.
Ferdinand will recover, however, and redeem himself and his army later in the same year at the Battle of Minden.
Allied casualties amount to four hundred and fifteen dead, seventeen hundred and seventy wounded, and one hundred and eighty-eight missing.
The French lose five hundred dead and thirteen hundred wounded.
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