First battle at Polotsk
Russian cavalry counterattack in the Battle of Polotsk
| date | 17th to 18th August 1812 |
|---|---|
| place | Polotsk |
| output | Tactical French victory. Strategic Russian victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 22,000-135 cannons | 18,000-120 cannons |
| losses | |
|
4,500-5,500 |
5,500 |
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Mir - Mogilev - Ostrovno - Kobrin - Klyastitsy - Gorodeczno - Smolensk - Polotsk I - Walutino - Borodino - Tschirikovo - Tarutino - Maloyaroslavets - Polotsk II - Vyazma - Lyachovo - Chaschniki - Smoljany - Krasnoi - Beresina
The First Battle of Polotsk took place on August 17 and 18, 1812 in the course of Napoleon's Russian campaign between troops of the Russian army under the command of General Wittgenstein on the one hand and troops of the French Empire and the Kingdom of Bavaria under the command of Charles Nicolas Oudinot at Polotsk ( Location ). For Wittgenstein it was the advance of the French on Saint Petersburg . to stop. This first battle of Polotsk must be distinguished from the second battle of Polotsk , which took place two months later at almost the same place.
prehistory
After the Battle of Klyastitsy (July 30th / 31st) and a few minor lost skirmishes , the French II Corps under Marshal Oudinot withdrew across the Drissa to Polotsk. He relied on the Bavarian auxiliary troops standing there and occupied both banks of the Daugava .
First day of slaughter on August 17th
Early in the morning of August 17, the Russian I. Corps under Count Wittgenstein attacked the French positions near the town of Spas and forced the French to retreat. Oudinot then ordered reinforcements in the attacked section and was able to repel the attack. When it got dark, both sides tried to hold their positions. Oudinot had been wounded and was forced to give command to Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr , the commanding general of the Franco-Bavarian VI. Corps to surrender.
Second day of slaughter on August 18th
The next morning Saint-Cyr launched a general attack. About 5,000 Bavarians occupied spas and took up positions along the Polota. Wittgenstein had succeeded in deceiving the actual position of the attack, and the French suddenly attacked the Russians' left flank. At the beginning the attack was successful, the French drove the Russians in front of them and captured seven cannons. General Deroy launched an attack from Spas in the morning and threw back the enemy outposts, but was so covered by cavalry and artillery that he had to move to Spas. General Deroy recognized the danger of bypassing and had the 4th Line Infantry Regiment, which had just arrived, march on a hill, where the Russian army immediately brought it to a standstill with concentrated battalion fire. Deroy launched the attack with the bayonet in place, and while pursuing the Russians, a musket ball hit him in the abdomen. Despite his mortal wound, he still gave the decisive orders and only let himself be carried off the battlefield when he thought the victory was decided.
When the Russian defeat seemed inevitable, Wittgenstein managed to counter-attack with his cavalry . The French were then forced to break off their attack and withdraw again. Wittgenstein, for his part, withdrew to the Drissa river . For the next two months, neither side made any serious attempt to upset the balance of power. There was a stalemate that thwarted the French plans to march into northern Russia.
losses
The French-Bavarian casualties amounted to about 6,000 men killed, wounded and missing, including the fallen General of the Infantry Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy and Major General Justus Siebein , as well as the wounded Major General Karl von Vincenti and Brigadier General Clemens von Raglovich . Vincenti died on December 22, 1812 as a result of his injuries. There were 4 Bavarian hospitals in the city, in a palace, two monasteries and a former granary. Up to 900 soldiers could be provided for extremely poorly there, but. Some of the wounded lay on sacks of straw; there was a lack of staff, medicine and bandages. As a result, the death rate among those injured was high. There was a lack of food and the drinking water was polluted. In September 1812, 615 soldiers died in one hospital alone.
The Russians lost 5,500 men, including the wounded Generals Berg, Hamen and Kasachkovsky.
See also
literature
- Curtis Cates: The War of the Two Emperors. The duel between Napoleon and Alexander, Russia 1812 . Random House, New York 1985, ISBN 0-394-53670-3 .
- David G. Chandler : The Campaigns of Napoleon . MacMillan, New York 1978, ISBN 0-02-523660-1 (EA New York 1966)
- Thomas E. Griess (Ed.): Atlas for the Wars of Napoleon (The West Point Military History Series). Avery Publ., Wayne, NJ 1986, ISBN 0-7570-0155-6 .
- Richard K. Riehn: 1812 - Napoleon's Russian Campaign . John Wiley, New York 1991, ISBN 0-471-54302-0 .
- Digby Smith : The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Source . Greenhill Books, London 1998, ISBN 1-85367-276-9 .
- Digby Smith: Napoleon Against Russia. A Concise History of 1812 . Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley 2004, ISBN 1-84415-089-5 .
- Yevgeny Viktorovich Tarle : Napoleon's Invasion of Russia 1812 . Octagon Press, New York 1971, ISBN 0-374-97758-5 (reprint of the New York 1942 edition)
-
Adam Zamoyski : Moscow 1812. Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow . Harper Collins, New York 2004, ISBN 0-06-107558-2 .
- German: 1812. Napoleon's campaign in Russia . 10th edition Beck, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-63170-2 (EA Munich 2012)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dominik Lieven. Russia against Napoleon. The battle for Europe. Bertelsmann, 2011
- ↑ Wittgenstein, Peter Khristianovich Napoleon.org
- ^ Hugh Seton-Watson: The Russian Empire 1801-1917 . (Oxford History of Modern Europe). Ed .: Oxford University Press. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1967, ISBN 0-19-822152-5 , pp. 813 (English).
- ↑ Martina Haggenmüller: In the Polotsk hospitals (1812). In: Bayerisches Ärzteblatt 4/2019, p. 169.
- ^ Smith, Digby . The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9 , 386-387