The Battle of Chotusitz was a major battle of the War of the Austrian Succession that was fought between the armies of Austria and Prussia in Bohemia in 1742. King Frederick the Great defeated the Austrian army despite heavy losses on both sides, and he soon made peace with the Austrians, bringing an end to the First Silesian War.
In early 1742, the Austrian general Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller drove the French out of most of Bohemia and much of Bavaria, and irregular Pandurs harassed the lines of communication of Frederick's Prussian army in the region. Frederick moved into Moravia in March 1742 and moved to threaten Vienna, coinciding with Queen Maria Theresa's decision to send 28,000 troops to retake Prague. Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine's army chanced upon Frederick's army at Chotusitz on 17 May 1742, and he decided to attack Leopold II of Anhalt-Dessau's force before Frederick's main body could arrive.
Frederick arrived in time to drive back the Austrian cavalry attack, but a Prussian cavalry counterattack was blinded by a dust cloud, and some units attacked in the wrong direction. The two cavalry forces spent the rest of the battle looting each other's baggage trains, leaving the rest of the fighting to the infantry. Leopold Joseph von Daun's infantry stormed the town of Chotusitz and drove Leopold's forces from house to house, setting fire to the village. However, Frederick's army arrived and chased the Austrians from the field, as the cautious Charles decided to settle for a draw rather than engage the whole Prussian army. Charles was thus still able to move on Prague and Frederick on Vienna, and Maria Theresa and Frederick - tired of fighting - settled on a temporary peace that resulted in the June 1742 Treaty of Breslau, ending the First Silesian War.