Brigade Normann
The Normann Brigade was an association of the Württemberg Army in the sixth coalition war on the French side against Russia / Prussia under the command of Major General Karl Graf von Normann-Ehrenfels . She switched to the side of the coalition against France on October 18, 1813.
structure
In 1813 the Normann Brigade belonged to the Württemberg troop contingent under Lieutenant General Count Friedrich von Franquemont in the French army. After the battle of Bautzen , Napoleon asked for more troops from Württemberg. Thereupon the Döring Brigade and the Normann Brigade were put on the march to Leipzig .
The Normann Brigade consisted of
- Leib-Chevauxlegers-Regiment No. 2 to 4 Escadrons
- Jäger-Regiment on horseback No. 4 king to 4 escadrons
- Mounted battery of broad head with four 6-Pfünder- guns and two 7-inch howitzers .
After their arrival in Leipzig on July 9, both brigades - separately from the other Württemberg troops - were placed under Napoleon's command and assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Corps under General Arrighi . On June 25th, the Normann Brigade came to the VI as the 25th Light Cavalry Brigade. Corps Marmont .
Political background
After the losses in the Russian campaign in 1812, Württemberg had already begun to raise new troops in October 1812, i.e. before the survivors returned, and in the spring of 1813 11,617 men were under arms again. After Prussia declared war on France, Württemberg again provided a contingent for the French army: the Württemberg division, together with the French Morand division and an Italian division, formed Bertrand's IV Corps and participated in the battles near Bautzen , Jüterbog , Euper, Dennewitz and Wartenburg involved. In a secret order, King Friedrich had ordered Lieutenant General Count Franquemont not to cross the Rhine with his troops in the event of Napoleon's defeat , but to return directly to the kingdom.
2. If the above-mentioned case should arise, the commanding general of the French authorities will frankly declare that the particular orders of the king of his master instruct him not to march across the Rhine into France under any conditions. If the French authorities insist on it notwithstanding, the commanding general will publicize this particular order of all generals, brigadiers and commanders, staff officers and senior officers, with the declaration that His Royal Majesty will publicize any of them who do not obey as disobedience and guilty of the penalty imposed on it.
3. Should the French authorities make use of their superior power, the commanding general and all officers will declare themselves prisoners of war, but the non-commissioned officers and commons will declare their duty to be unmarried and free, but urge everyone not to take other duties. by then being regarded as disobedient subjects in their fatherland and treated on their return.
4. If the commanding general could part with the French army when crossing the Rhine or earlier, he will return to the kingdom by any route left open to him by the enemy, but in no case will he enter into negotiations with the army or admitting the corps of the Russian-Prussian armies, but treating them as enemies until other orders have been received, so that if an appropriate number of the army corps in question should oppose the retreat, it must endeavor to accomplish it by force. If the enemy were very superior, the commanding general must try to obtain a return to the kingdom by surrendering or promising not to serve, but in no case enter into any obligation in favor of the enemy armies and in the extreme case surrender as prisoners of war. "
quoted from Karl Spieß, Hans Ritter, p. 198 ff.
Battle with fawns
Arrighi commissioned on 15 June 1813, the Württemberg troops from Leipzig in four columns forays against the volunteer corps of the Allies, especially the Lützow to lead volunteer corps, who are after the temporary truce (June 4, 1813 in the Silesian Poischwitz ) still in Back of the French found. On June 16, Württemberg troops (Lieutenant Colonel von Kechler) encountered the Lützow Freikorps advancing from the south near Zeitz . According to their report, a mixed column under Division General François Fournier (1773-1827) with a French battalion marine (infantry), 200 French dragoons and under Count Normann three Württemberg companies, two Württemberg squadrons and 3 Württemberg guns moved from Leipzig and In the evening I met the Lützowers, who had moved into their camp at Kitzen . Major von Lützow refused to move his corps to Leipzig accompanied by Fourier's troops and marched off that evening. When he was about to be overtaken by the Württemberg cavalry under Count Normann, a shot was fired. Count Normann then ordered the attack, in which around 100 Lützowers were captured and the rest were blown up. The writer Theodor Körner was wounded in this battle by a sword blow over the head.
Contemporary accounts of the battle are contradicting each other, as each side attributed the shot that triggered the battle to the other. The prevailing mood in Germany at that time (as well as the later nationally tinged historiography) saw the behavior of the French as a breach of the armistice, which again put the blame on the Württemberg people.
“The Lieutenant Colonel v. Kechler is instructed to search the grounds in the districts named after with 200 infantry and 100 horsemen from the Württemberg troops: from Leipzig to Gotha, from there to Schmalkalden, Hildburghausen, Saalfeld, Plauen, Zwickau and from there along the left bank of the Pleiße to Leipzig . - This stretch of land must be crossed in all directions without following a fixed route in order to discover and arrest those partisans, from whatever nation they may be, who, despite the armistice, are still waging the war on their own account or are hiding in the woods , Farms, villages, with the purpose of suddenly and unexpectedly reappearing after the armistice. "
"Lieutenant Colonel v. Kechler will collect all sorts of news and threats will force the rural authorities to give him useful news. He should keep his direction of march secret even from his own troops and also the time he intends to stay in each area. If he encounters armed hostile parties which do not want to surrender, he should have them shot down, but he should disarm and capture all others and have them brought to Leipzig under safe conduct. The escort team is to be instructed that fire is to be given to those who seek to escape. - In order to move the infantry quickly, wagons should be requisitioned if necessary. A report must be made every two days. We have to search for prey horses, weapons and equipment. "
“He will inform all French authorities that the lieutenant colonel meets on his way of his assignment and collect useful information from them. He will only march back with his detachment when he has either received the order to do so directly from me or through the mediation of the commanding general from Württemberg on my behalf. "
"General Duke of Padua IC Arrighi"
Quoted from Pfister
"To the king."
"Your Royal Highness will General v. Doering have already reported that on 15.d. four mobile columns left Leipzig to catch or destroy the Russian-Prussian partisans who are on this side of the Elbe. Early on June 17th the Duke of Padua had me fetched and gave me the order to set out at once with two squadrons, three companies and three pieces, in order to take one under the command of General Fournier, who had a French battalion and 200 dragoons with him Prussian corps marching from Gera against Zeitz and Pegau. In the evening we learned that the same thing was in Kitzen, not far from Lützen. "
“I received orders to occupy the village with the two Württemberg squadrons and two companies without firing the first shot, but to send the parliamentarians to the division general. Four hundred paces from Kitzen I saw that the Prussians were in battle to the left of the village on the way to Leipzig; but the baggage of this corps was already heading for Leipzig. It was already dusk; However, I still saw that five squadrons were opposing me and that there was still a strong escort with the baggage. "
“I formed my cavalry and infantry into two columns, and so advanced. Now the Prussian major v. Lützow, who commanded this corps, met with a trumpeter and asked: What does this mean and whether I would attack him? - I answered: I have orders to march into the village where you are standing; since I find you here now, I will move up to your line and wait for further orders. You can go to the division general yourself, and since I have no orders to do so, I will not attack your troops during this time. Major v. Lützow rode back to the division general. "
“I stopped twenty paces from the enemy front, had the infantry deployed on the right of the road, and placed the three pieces, which had meanwhile arrived, on the left on a little hill under their protection; the cavalry lined up to the left of the road and the division general set up the dragoons and French infantry as a second meeting. "
“As long as I was busy with this formation, I saw the enemy squadrons in reserve break off and follow their baggage. Now Major v. Lützow, coming from the division general, galloped past me, and immediately the primarily enemy squadrons broke off to take the road from Leipzig. Shortly afterwards the division general ordered me to trot along with the 2 squadrons to the enemy and explain to him that he would have to surrender, but in case of refusal to force him to do so. "
“It was getting very dark and in order not to lose sight of them I had to ride very close to them. The Prussians then rode faster and faster and I was forced to command a gallop. Now a shot fell on us and they began to ride Carrière. For a moment I wouldn’t have seen her at all if I didn’t march! March! would have commanded. In the darkness that had set in, it could not come off without a saber cut; nor could rank and rank be held because of the deep ditches on the road. The Prussians stood at a village and threatened to fall into the left flank. This forced me to call the French dragoons to cover them. What was not on the road itself could not get into the village because of the deep trenches. There was a short halt, during which the Prussians did not stop shooting, but ours called out to them: They should dismount and surrender, so nothing would be harmed to them. "
“As soon as our left flank was completely covered, I ordered the colonel, Prince von Wallerstein, to formally cut into it, now that they did not want to surrender. The Colonel sprang across the trench with the most assembled crew possible, and the entire enemy corps dispersed. It was too dark to continue the chase. and the division general ordered in Knautnauendorf to bivouac not far from the village. "
“Early on June 18th we received the news that around 160 men of the Prussian corps had crossed the Elster not far from Leipzig, which we had to pursue, and so until yesterday evening I roamed between Leipzig, Halle, Dessau and Düben, where I was I was ordered to return to Leipzig for myself, to reinforce the four mobile columns with the two squadrons, but to send the infantry and the three pieces to General Doering in Dessau. This morning (June 23) I received the order from the Duke to reinforce the mobile columns so that there are now two squadrons with each of them. "
“On June 17th, one hunter remained dead on our side; wounded: 1 officer and 6 men. On the other hand, we captured 10 officers and around 100 men [among the prisoners there were three Wuerttemberg deserters who were later condemned] and captured 65 horses. The horses are in the most wretched condition. "
"Count Normann"
Quoted from Pfister
“I have the honor to send the requested information about the affair with the Lützow Corps. I still have to say to your Excellency the following, which I did not want to notice in the story. - General Fournier had given me the orders he had received regarding his conduct against this corps only in part, under the seal of the greatest secrecy, or let me read them. I was therefore able to tell Major v. Lützow couldn't possibly say more than I really had orders. Incidentally, because I marched against him with my saber drawn, because I insisted on advancing, and at twenty paces in front of his front, I believed the cannons and had the cargo taken up, that I had shown too much what was his Corps could be imminent. "
"Meanwhile Major v. Lützow was with the division general and I was surrounded by at least ten Prussian officers in front of the front, a French orderly came and brought me the following verbal order: Le général vous fait ordonner de faire arreter à son retour le colonel, qui parle dans ce moment avec lui . "
"I immediately rode away from the Prussian officers, who all heard this order but must probably not have understood it for lack of knowledge of the language, and told the orderly that he wanted to tell the general that I could not do this by telling Major v . Lützow would have given my word for his safety. "
“When I received the order to trot forward to the left to reach the Tete, it was already all night, the column was at least one and a half quarters of an hour long; the French dragoons followed only at a step, the infantry even less able to follow; So if they had let me drift past I would have stood with two squadrons at about five to half an hour from everything soutien. I was therefore not entirely unhappy that the Prussians took the first shot. "
“At first General Fournier reproached me for not having arrested Major Lützow at the parliament. Of course I replied that I couldn't break my word and that he could have done it himself. Later he explained to me that he had done the same thing in my case, but that he had believed he was doing his duty by ordering me to arrest the major. A few days later, when I came to Leipzig, the Duke of Padua told me: I had let Lützow slip away because I was related to him. I now told him that I was not related to him and that I could not have broken my word of honor, which he later approved. Incidentally, it does prove that the French generals were to blame for Major v. Lützow want to push completely on me. "
“In the statements made by the Prussians about this affair, it seems that I have several times with Lieutenant Colonel v. Kechler, who commanded a mobile column, was mistaken. Because he has been with Major v. Lützow confessed in negotiations, but in the evening did not take part in the affair. "
"Count Normann"
Quoted from Pfister
“I have the honor of presenting your Excellency with the required detailed report on the affair at Kitzen. - Yesterday morning at 10 o'clock, in order to carry out your Excellency's orders, I marched from Leipzig with 1,100 infantry, 420 horsemen and 3 guns; Direction of the march on Pegau. News which I received about the march of the Lützow Corps determined me to change direction; A mile from Zwenkau I had passable fords sought out and pulled at full speed to Lützen. Neither the authorities nor the better residents of Lützen wanted to know anything about the appearance of the enemy near the city. A few women were finally brought before the gendarmerie sergeant from Lützen, according to whose statements I could suspect that the Corps Lützow might find its way around Kitzen; Other reports, which I received at the same time from the Lieutenant Colonel of Württemberg, who leads the mobile column at Zeitz, and who followed the movements of the enemy, confirmed my initial assumptions; I marched towards the village of Kitzen, 1 1/2 Lieues von Lützen. "
“The Württemberg general, Count Normann, was in the lead with the cavalry, I told him to advance towards Kitzen and ride through the village; I added that he should tell every parliamentarian that he would not commit anything hostile, but that his orders, which he must obey, were to penetrate the village of Kitzen. It was eight and a half in the evening. Major Lützow presented himself and demanded to know whether they wanted to recognize the armistice or intended to break it; repeated this question and added that he had marched past French troops and French generals without any difficulty. "
"I replied that my orders were to recognize the armistice, to respect it and to have it respected, but that these same orders, about which I am not entitled to any judgment or interpretation, prescribe me with regard to the Corps von Lützow to fix his march and to give him up to follow me with the whole column to Leipzig, where the necessary argument with the Duke of Padua will take place. "
“Major Lützow replied that he claimed to be allowed to choose his direction of march, that he was free on this point; as soon as I hindered his march, he would know how to fight. I pointed out the awkwardness of this decision to Major Lützow and remarked to him that, as the situation of the warring armies was at the moment, there was neither hostility nor insult in my proposal, and that for the rest I did not shy away from combat. He galloped back to his troops, which were standing backwards from Kitzen in order of battle, and I marched directly towards them, but without firing. "
“At the moment when General Normann received the order to ride forward on the left flank of the column Lützow and to reach the top without attacking it, Major Lützow had General Normann fired, who, without answering, was now cutting it sharply started. The scuffle was bloody and persistent, but the sight of the naval battalion advancing at a storming pace with the shouts of: Vive l'empereur! decided the escape of the enemy, who fled from each other at a gallop in different directions. I followed the strongest column and reached Knautnauendorf at midnight, where I had the troops bivouacked. They were overwhelmed with fatigue. The naval battalion had made 14 lieues. "
“Following in the tracks of the enemy, I left Knautnauendorf this morning at 5 o'clock. I've made sure that he's going to Merseburg; I will be in Merseburg this evening and tomorrow I will continue the hunt for the vagabond corps. "
“In the battle near Kitzen this corps lost 12 officers, 70 riders were captured, 30 killed, 100 horses are in our hands. On our side, 5 are dead and 25 are wounded. "
"I mainly name the prince, who is a lieutenant colonel in the Württemberg Chevauxlegers, a 21-year-old young man of brilliant bravery, and the commander of the naval battalion."
"Le général Fournier."
Quoted from Pfister
“The young man's fame had actually made the whole reputation of the Lützow Corps. He himself was very dissatisfied with the whole thing and had assured Herr von Einsiedel that if he could break free he would not go back to this neglected group. For the accident near Leipzig he had partly put the blame on Lützow, but even more on the low discipline of the corps. "
"The armistice had been announced to them, and a Saxon officer had come to see them to lead them across the demarcation line."
“After some big talk that he did not recognize the armistice, Lützow had finally made up his mind to follow the officer. But he was incapable of obedience. The corps continued to commandeer in Saxony and did not stay on the prescribed line, but turned against Leipzig. "
"Arrighi was very afraid of this, believed they wanted to conquer the city, and sent one or even two Württemberg brigades to stand by their side."
"Lützow now began to fear himself and entered into negotiations."
“Most of the people from Württemberg had already passed by when the last of them got into a dispute and, as Körner has assured, the assaults began and fired first. Lützow had sent him back immediately to calm down, but he had already found everything in the scuffle and had sunk from the horse, wounded. Lützow had saved himself with one part that already had a lead, the rest had been partly cut down and partly captured. This is what Körner told Herr von Einsiedel, from whom I found out again a few days later. - As a miserable person Arrighi was, the greater part of the blame for the incident falls on the disorder and the lack of obedience of the Lützow Corps itself. "
Quoted from dtv
The change
At the beginning of October, Count Normann had received the instruction from the king to "take great care not to sacrifice the troops, to act on his responsibility and to get in touch with Lieutenant General Count Franquemont and to obey his orders as closely as possible". On the morning of October 18, 1813, the Normann Brigade was at Taucha , about 10 kilometers from Leipzig . Normann was aware of the conversion of Saxon and Westphalian troops to the alliance. Since he was facing a superior enemy and an (as it turned out later, ambiguous) instruction from Franquemont did not reach him in time, he decided, supported by the two regimental commanders Prince Öttingen-Wallerstein and von Mylius, to switch to the side of the Alliance. That same evening he reported this to King Friedrich.
quoted from Seeger, Zweiausend Jahre Schwäbisches Soldatentum, p. 112
Consequences of the change
The brigade marched back into the kingdom and reached Ochsenfurt on November 13th . Count Normann-Ehrenfels learned from a letter from his brother that he had fallen out of favor, and from a Württemberg lieutenant general who had been sent to meet him that he should arrest him on Württemberg soil. After briefing his officers, he ordered the brigade to march on to Mergentheim for the following day. He himself left the brigade on November 14th at 2:00 am and left a daily order in which he justified his departure and said goodbye: “Soldiers, I have to leave you, I feel too much at this moment how hard it is to lose one's country so that I could draw even one of you into my fate. Return to the fatherland, humbly submit to the will of the king. ”Count Normann-Ehrenfels himself went to Saxony .
Although King Friedrich had already turned away from Napoleon politically, he reacted violently to the arbitrary change of the brigade. On their return on November 16, 1813, the brigade arriving from Heilbronn near Eglosheim was surrounded and disarmed in the open field by Württemberg troops. Escorted by an infantry regiment, they entered Ludwigsburg on foot , while the artillery brought the horses and weapons into town.
The two cavalry regiments were originally supposed to be dissolved, the teams were to be distributed among the remaining ones and these were to be renumbered. Due to the need for troops, this only happened partially. In fact, only the two commanders were dismissed, the regiments themselves were renamed, the Leib-Chevauxlegers Regiment No. 2 in Jäger Regiment on Horse No. 4 Prince Adam and the Jäger Regiment on Horse No. 4 King in Jäger Regiment Horse No. 5 (disbanded in 1816).
Further political development
After Napoleon's defeat in Leipzig, King Friedrich also openly participated in the coalition. Already on October 26, 1813, a Württemberg unit marched under General von Walsleben ( Infantry Regiment No. 4 , Infantry Regiment No. 7 , some companies of the Light Infantry Regiment No. 10, Jäger-Regiment on Horseback No. 3 Duke Louis and 2nd foot battery) to the Austrian-Bavarian Corps Graf Wrede on the Upper Rhine. On November 2, the “Treaty on the Military Alliance between Württemberg and Austria” was signed in Fulda, with which Württemberg officially moved to the coalition camp.
References
swell
- Main State Archive Stuttgart , inventory E 146 Bü 479 Various files on Karl von Normann-Ehrenfels
- Existing E 270 a Bü 277 mobilization and budget of the 26th Oct. 1813 under Major General v. Walsleben, the Württemberg troop detachment left for the Austrian army
literature
- Karl von Seeger: Two Thousand Years of Swabian Soldierhood , Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart, 1937.
- Leo Ignaz von Stadlinger, History of the Württemberg War , K. Hofdruckerei zu Guttenberg, Stuttgart 1856.
- Hans-Joachim Harder: Military history handbook Baden-Württemberg . Edited by the Military History Research Office . Kohlhammer , Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-17-009856-X .
- Wilhelm Gustav Philipp Julius Gleich: The first 100 years of the Uhlan regiment King Wilhelm I. (2nd Württemb.) No. 20 , publishing house of Uhland'schen Buchdruckerei GmbH Stuttgart, 1909.
- Albert Pfister: From the camp of the Rheinbund 1812 and 1813 , Deutsche Verlagsanstalt Stuttgart, 1897.
- Eckart Kleßmann: The Wars of Liberation in eyewitness reports , 2nd edition, Rauch, Düsseldorf, 1967.
- Hartmut Bücker, Hartmut and Dieter Härig, The battle near Großgörschen on May 2nd, 1813, the battle near Rippach on May 1st, 1813 and the attack on the Lützow Freikorps near Kitzen on June 17th, 1813 Grimma: Ed. Krannich, 2003.
- Karl Spieß, Hans Ritter: History of the Dragoon Regiment Queen Olga (1. Württ.) No. 25 , self-published by the regiment, Ludwigsburg, 1913.
- Benedikt Peter: Wachtmeister Peter with and against Napoleon , 4th edition, Verlag JF Steinkopf Stuttgart, 1986, ISBN 3-7984-0516-6 .
- Frank Bauer: Kitzen June 17, 1813. The sacrifice of the Lützow cavalry (Small series history of the liberation wars 1813–1815, no. 14), Potsdam 2006.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Harder, p. 58
- ↑ a b quoted from Seeger, Zweiausend Jahre Schwäbisches Soldatentum, p. 112
- ^ Karl Spieß, Hans Ritter, p. 131
- ↑ Immediately, p. 37
Remarks
- ↑ Döring Brigade: Infantry Regiment No. 4 , Infantry Regiment No. 6 and 1st foot battery
- ↑ The regiment was disbanded as part of the reorganization of 1817
- ^ On March 27, 1813, Prussia declared war on Napoleonic France
- ↑ After the great losses in the battle, the remnants of the Württemberg infantry were formed into 3 battalions
- ↑ On the retreat of the French after the Battle of Leipzig, the Württemberg troops at parted Fulda from these
- ↑ Detailed description also in Karl Soeß and Hans Ritter, pp. 101 ff.
- ↑ Published in the Royal Württemberg State and Government Gazette No. 52 1813 of November 20, 1813. The Minister of State and Cabinet Ferdinand von Zeppelins , head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, played a key role .