After the war began with the Austrians and French battling the Prussians and the British, the Seven Years' War escalated into a conflict between colonial empires. Soon, new nations would become embroiled in the conflict.
August of 1758 saw mass movements by the Russian army. 43,000 men, commanded by Count William Fermor, attempted to link with Austrian troops for an eventual attack on Berlin. King Frederick retaliated with 35,000 men and engaged them in Zorndorf, resulting in a Russian retreat.
The Prussians began to suffer major setbacks over the course of the next year. A coalition of Swedish, Austrian, and Russian troops caused large losses of at least 86,000 Prussian soldiers, driving Frederick to near suicide. Prussian generals began to question his leadership abilities and judgment.
Meanwhile, France attempted an invasion of the British Isles in late 1759. The French navy divided into three fleets stationed near Brest, Toulon, and the Mediterranean. After discovering France was amassing troops near the mouth of the Loire, a British armada scattered the Mediterranean fleet in August in the Battle of Lagos, while a follow up attack on November 20 saw the destruction of the forces assembled in Brest. France's plans of invasion had been thwarted.
1760 proved to be a turning point in the Seven Years' War, nearly spelling disaster for King Frederick and the Prussian forces. In the Battle of Landshut, a Prussian army of 12,000 was routed by 28,000 Austrians on June 23, resulting in the capture of General Fouque. The coalition against Prussia proceeded to consolidate its position with a decisive blow in which France occupied Marburg, Sweden took Pomerania, and the Austrians captured Glatz. Frederick responded with a victory in Liegnitz against a force that outnumbered him three to one, however, this celebration was short lived as a joint Russian-Austrian army succeeded in taking Berlin, Prussia's capital, in October.
The last major conflict of the year took place on November 3. Frederick was pushed into a position in which he had to act decisively or face a total defeat. He rallied a force of nearly 50,000 men and assembled near Torgau to oust a comparable Austrian army. An artillery dual opened the conflict, but impatience led Frederick to order ten battalions into combat. The Austrian barrage cut down 5,000 Prussians in the matter of an hour. Retreat was sounded and Frederick believed the battle was lost. However, one of his commanders, General von Zieten superseded his orders and engaged the artillery batteries, securing 43 guns and turning them upon the Austrians. By nightfall, Prussian forces had pushed back the Austrian army, but at a cost of nearly 20,000 men, making this battle one of the bloodiest of the Seven Years' War.
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