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Historical Perspective: General Hadik’s Crucial Mistake
Sometime in 1757, an extraordinary event took place at the royal
palace in Vienna. A general of the Austrian army, András Hadik de
Futak was mercilessly slapped across the face with a pair of leather
gloves by the Empress Maria eresa.
A fascinating sequence of events preceded this dramatic occasion.
Austria and Germany, along with almost all other European pow-
ers, had been engaged in a Seven Years’ War. At one point, General
Hadik, who had been leading a light cavalry brigade consisting of
about 5,000 hussars, found himself in close proximity to the forces of
his enemy, Prussian King Frederick. For some unexplained reasons,
instead of attacking the ...