The king took up his quarters at a large house in Rossbach; and from its roof, at eight o'clock on the morning of the 5th, he saw that the enemy were getting into motion and moving away towards their left.
The movement had begun much earlier.

Half an hour later they had passed through the village of Grost, and were apparently making their way to Freiburg, where they had some magazines.

Hoping to have a chance of attacking their rear, Frederick ordered the cavalry to saddle, and the whole army to be in readiness, and then sat down to dinner with his officers at noon.

Little did he dream, at the time, that the slow and clumsy movement that he was watching was intended, by the enemy, to end in a flank attack on himself.
On the previous day Soubise, with his generals, looking down on the Prussian camp, had reckoned their force at ten thousand.

In reality they had seen only a portion of their camp, the site being hidden by a dip of the ground.