Battle of Dresden (26-27 August 1813)

From Wikipedia

The Battle of Dresden, fought on 26–27 August 1813, resulted in a French victory under Napoleon against forces of the Sixth Coalition of Austrians, Russians and Prussians under Field Marshal Schwartzenberg.

Prelude: On 16 August, Napoleon had sent Marshal Saint-Cyr's corps to fortify and hold Dresden in order to hinder allied movements and to serve as a possible base for his own manoeuvres.  He planned to strike against the interior lines of his enemies and defeat them in detail, before they could combine their full strength.  He had some 300,000 men 800 cannons against allied forces totaling over 450,000 and 1200 cannons.  But the Coalition avoided battle with Napoleon himself, choosing to attack his subordinate commanders instead according to the Trachenberg Plan.  On 23 August, at the Battle of Grossbeeren, south of Berlin, Crown Prince Charles of Sweden (formerly French Marshal Bernadotte, Napoleon's own Marshal) defeated his old comrade Marshal Oudinot.  Also on 26 August, Prussian Marshal Blücher defeated Marshal MacDonald at the Battle of Katzbach.

 French Emperor Napoleon and Austrian Field Marshal Schwartzenberg

From Historyofwar.org

The Battle of Bresden was the only French victory of the Leipzig campaign and Napoleon's last on German soil.  Marching against Napoleon the Allies had massed 80,000 men at the gates of Dresden by 25th and if they had moved quickly they could have re-taken the city from the French, instead as often throughout the Napoleonic wars politics hindered the Allies, slowing them.  The Allies halted for a council of war, this was a multinational army with all three Allied Monarchs present (Emperor Francis of Austria, Tsar Alexander of Russia and King Frederick William III of Prussia) each with their own objectives in the campaign.  The Allied commander Marshal Prince Karl Von Schwarzenberg would often have his hands tied during the campaign.

The Town of Dresden was fortified to some extent with outlying areas being prepared with loopholes and firing steps and barricades. That said the defensive line was 8 km long and the French commander St Cyr had too few men to defend it, fact he had only one man per ten paces in most areas. Had the Allies acted quickly they would have overwhelmed the French but they were slow to act and lacked any real leadership. The attack began at 5 am on 26 August as Prussian troops advanced through the Royal gardens despite tough French opposition. As the Allies attacked it became obvious from the shouts of Vive l'Empereur that the French garrison was being reinforced, Napoleon had arrived. His mere presence spooked the Allies who now called for a withdraw (except Frederick William of Prussia), their attacks continued throughout the day on the 26th August and just as the Allies were on the verge of entering the town Napoleon ordered his 70,000 troops to attack.

The fighting that followed was bloody and slowly the French drove the Allies back.  That night the Allies could reflect on their failure to enter the town as without clear leadership coordinating their attacks on an 8 km front his proved impossible.  The next day Napoleon attacked the now demoralized Allied flanks with a 6 am attack lead by two divisions of his Young Guard.  The Allies planned to counter attack but several of their commanders were either injured or hesitated and their chance was lost.  By 3pm the Allied left flank was beaten and they struggled to disengage in the thick mud, by 4pm the Allies were retreating not only away from Dresden but back to the safety of Bohemia leaving behind 38,000 killed, captured or wounded.  General Dominique Vandammme tried to pursue the fleeing Allies but Napoleon failed to support him and he was cut off at the Battle of Kulm two days later.

Further Reading and Resources:

The Battles of Dresden and Kulm 26-30 August 1813 by Martin Gibson

Napoleon, His Army, and Enemies - Battle of Dresden

Orders of Battle:  French OOB, Allied OOB
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Battle of Katzbach (26 August 1813)

Battle of Katzbach

From Wikipedia:

The Battle of the Katzbach occurred during a heavy thunderstorm at the Katzbach river between Wahlstatt and Liegnitz in the Prussian province of Silesia.  The engagement pitted the French Army of the Bober under Marshal MacDonald and a Russo-Prussian army of the Sixth Coalition under Prussian General von Blücher.

The two armies, roughly equal in size, stumbled upon one another after MacDonald crossed the swollen river. In the midst of the confusion and heavy rain, MacDonald seemed to recover first. Although his orders were to defend the flank of Napoleon's main force from Blücher, MacDonald decided to attack. He dispatched two-thirds of his army, about 60,000 men, in an attempt to flank the Russo-Prussian right. But confusion reigned again as the French columns found themselves too far apart to support one another.

French Marshal MacDonald and Prussian General von Blücher

Meanwhile, the remaining 30,000 men of MacDonald's force, who were supposed to hold down the Coalition forces, were met by a heavy counter-attack by Prussian cavalry. Without support or reinforcement, the French were soon forced to withdraw with many men being forced into the river to escape and thousands drowning. MacDonald's casualties numbered 13,000 killed and wounded with another 20,000 captured. Blücher's losses were some 4,000.

Aftermath: Beyond the battle losses, the French strategic position had been weakened. This, coupled with the defeats at Kulm, four days later, and Dennewitz on 6 September, would more than negate Napoleon's victory at Dresden.

For his victory, Blücher received the title of "Prince of Wahlstatt" on 3 June 1814.

In Germany there used to be a now obsolete saying "Der geht ran wie Blücher an der Katzbach!" ("He goes forward like Blücher at Katzbach!"), referring to Blücher and describing a vigorous behavior.

Blücher at the Battle of Katzbach

Further Reading and Resources:

The Battle of Katzbach 26 August 1813 by Martin Gibson

Grande Armée Scenario & short History


Note:  The Battle of Dresden fought on 26-27 August 1913 will be covered tomorrow.
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Battle of Großbeeren (August 23, 1813)

 

Rain having rendered small arms fire impossible, Saxon infantry (left) use musket butts

and bayonets to defend the churchyard at Großbeeren against a Prussian onslaught.

From HistoryOfWar.org:

The first major battle of the Leipzig campaign.  Grossbeeren lies about 10 miles south of Berlin.  Marshal Oudinot commander of the French Army of Berlin had been ordered to quickly take Berlin and to disarm and scatter its militia, destroying the city if it resisted.  To do this Oudinot had three corps, his own plus Bertrand and Reynier's (Including Saxons) and a force of cavalry (9,000 strong) totaling about 70,000 men and 216 guns.

Unfortunately Napoleon had underestimated his enemy and Oudinot's forces were not strong enough to take Berlin either in quantity or quality being made up largely of raw recruits.  Against them were about 98,000 Prussians defending their own homes.  Legend has it that the crown Prince of Sweden, the former Marshal Bernadotte wanted to retreat and leave Berlin to the French but evidence from the time shows this to be untrue.

Prussian General von Bülow, Crown Prince of Sweden Charles John, & French Marshal Oudinot

Oudinot continued his master's mistake and believed the Prussians to be much weaker than they really were and poor intelligence meant that on the morning of 23rd August his troops blundered into the Prussian forces and a scattered battle began as the French started to engage.  Heavy rain added to the confusion and made firing difficult, soon the Prussians took the offensive although with clumsy frontal assaults rather than attacking the French flanks.

The battle ended after the final French column encountered Prussian Lifeguard Hussars about 8pm and a confused cavalry battle took place in the dark.  The next day the French continued to retreat having lost 3,000 men and 13 guns to the Prussians 1,000 causalities.  Although a small battle it was the Prussians first victory over the French since 1806 and it raised morale for the upcoming battles.

From Wikipedia:

Aftermath: Unknown to both Napoleon and Oudinot at the time, the strategy played right into the Coalition's hands.  In accordance with their Trachenberg Plan (formulated during the truce) they would avoid any large, main engagement with Napoleon himself until after they had gathered overwhelming strength and weakened the Emperor by defeating his marshals in separate, smaller battles.

The defeat at Großbeeren, combined with continued ill health, had shaken Oudinot's confidence, and he continued the general retreat to Wittenberg.   Napoleon was furious with Oudinot, not so much for his defeat, but for his withdrawal to Wittenberg instead of back to Luckau.  He fumed, "It is truly difficult to have fewer brains than the Duke of Reggio!".  Napoleon then appointed Marshal Michel Ney to lead a second drive on Berlin with the same three, now reduced and demoralized, corps and the ailing Oudinot as Ney's subordinate.  The result would be the Battle of Dennewitz.


Further Reading and Resources:

The Battle of Gross Beeren 23 August 1813 by Martin Gibson

Nafziger Order of Battle

Campaign Booklet from Westfalia Miniatures

Memorial tower in Großbeeren

Note:  This the first in a series of posts covering the post armistice battles of the 1813 Campaign in Germany.  This is the main time frame and OOBs that our project is based on.  Out of completeness, I may cover the spring battles next year.

Next up is the beginning of another series of posts covering the basics of Napoleonic miniature wargaming.
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