Battle near Dossenbach

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Battle near Dossenbach
Captain Lipp in action near Dossenbach, painting by Franz Seraph Stirnbrand, 1848
Captain Lipp in action near Dossenbach, painting by Franz Seraph Stirnbrand , 1848
date April 27, 1848
place Dossenbach coordinates: 47 ° 36 ′ 47 ″  N , 7 ° 51 ′ 29 ″  EWorld icon
output Victory of the Württemberg federal troops
Parties to the conflict

Flag of Germany (3-2 aspect ratio) .svg German Democratic Legion

WurttembergKingdom of Württemberg Württemberg

Commander

Georg Herwegh

Captain Friedrich von Lipp

Troop strength
600 137
losses

30 dead; 60 wounded

2 wounded

Fighting in the course of the Baden Revolution of 1848/49

The battle near Dossenbach (sometimes also the battle near Niederdossenbach ) took place on April 27, 1848 in the course of the Baden Revolution between Dossenbach and Niederdossenbach in southern Baden , not far from the Swiss border. The German Democratic Legion , led by Georg Herwegh , met a company of Württemberg infantrymen led by Captain Friedrich von Lipp on their retreat to Switzerland . The outnumbered infantrymen withstood the attack of the irregulars. When reinforcements from Württemberg also arrived, the revolutionaries withdrew and fled towards Switzerland. After other militants had already been defeated in skirmishes on the Scheideck near Kandern and Günterstal , the battle near Dossenbach marked the end of the armed April riots in Baden.

prehistory

Map of the area affected by the uprising

In the course of the revolutionary unrest in France and Germany , the "German Democratic Society" was formed in Paris, chaired by the poet Georg Herwegh. From this the militarily organized "German Democratic Legion" developed. Under the leadership of Herwegh and Karl Börnstein , the latter marched in April 1848 in the face of further revolutionary moods in the Grand Duchy of Baden from Paris to the Baden border to support the armed uprising there. While the Legion was still on the march from Paris to the Rhine, the Baden government called troops of the VIII Federal Corps to Baden to support the Baden army in suppressing the uprising. Among other things, around 5,000 Württemberg soldiers under Lieutenant General Moriz von Miller were dispatched to the Baden Lake District .

In mid-April the German Legion reached the Rhine; meanwhile the Hecker uprising had broken out in Baden . As a courier for the Legion, Georg Herwegh's wife Emma met Friedrich Hecker in Engen on April 15th . This refused a union with the Legion, however; On the one hand, the Legion in Germany had been portrayed as a plundering horde and Hecker feared that this reputation would rub off on his irregulars; on the other hand, it was his aim to lead the revolution from inside Germany to success. On April 19, there was another negotiation with Hecker, but Hecker again refused to publicly call the Legion across the Rhine to support him. The Legion finally marched from Strasbourg to Upper Alsace and crossed the Rhine at Kleinkems on the night of April 23rd to 24th . From there, the irregulars marched to Kandern , where they learned, however, that Hecker's revolutionaries had been decisively defeated a few days earlier in the battle on the Scheideck . Instead of joining Hecker, the Legion wanted to unite with Franz Sigel's revolutionary train, which at that time was in the Upper Wiesental near Todtnau . The Legion therefore marched northeast from Kandern and reached Wieden on April 25th . There Herwegh and his militants learned that Sigel was already on the retreat again. Sigel and his column had marched on Freiburg , which was occupied by insurgents but besieged by government troops , but was defeated on April 23 in the battle near Günterstal ; after another defeat in the attack on Freiburg the next day, his train had also largely disbanded.

Due to the unrest around Freiburg, General von Miller's Württemberg Association had also been ordered from the Seekreis to the west in the direction of Höllental and Freiburg. Now, after Sigel's withdrawal, Miller divided his armed force: A part under General von Baumbach was sent to Waldshut and Säckingen to secure the Upper Rhine border , while Miller himself with the rest of the unit via St. Blasien and Bernau into the Obere Wiesental near Todtnau and Schoenau marched. An advance guard was also sent from Todtnau to Schopfheim and arrived there on April 26th. In the meantime, the German Legion had also arrived in the Wiesental: after the news of Sigel's defeat, they had withdrawn to the south. She crossed the knee-high Belchen , covered in snow , crossed the Kleiner Wiesental and on April 26th reached Blauen Zell in the Wiesental via the Zeller .

The situation for the Legion was very tense here: Württemberg troops stood a few kilometers northeast near Schönau and a few kilometers southwest near Schopfheim. In the meantime, General von Baumbach's column had also reached Bad Säckingen.

The Legion held a council of war in Zell; Barricades were erected, but it was finally decided to give the exhausted troops a day's rest and then continue the march. The aim was to avoid Schopfheim, which was occupied by Württemberg, and to march through the Dinkelberg mountains to Dossenbach and from there to Rheinfelden . The route led over the Gaisbühl and Hasel .

Associations involved

The Württemberg troops consisted of the 6th Company of the 6th Infantry Regiment and a platoon of the 1st Infantry Regiment . The 6th Company was led by Captain Friedrich Lipp and at the time of the battle was 137 men strong; the platoon of the 1st Infantry Regiment was under the command of Lieutenant Carl and comprised 70 men. The German Democratic Legion had both a political and a military leadership. Political President was Georg Herwegh, Adelbert von Bornstedt acted as Vice President and the military leadership was incumbent on Karl Börnstein. The Legion was organized as a regiment of four battalions. Most of the officers had already served in the Prussian, Austrian or French army, for example Börnstein, Chief of Staff Otto von Corvin , regiment commander Wilhelm von Löwenfels or battalion commander Reinhard Schimmelpfennig . The strength of the Legion is given as around 600 armed men.

Course of the battle

Sketch of the battle of April 27, 1848. The sketch is not north, but oriented to the south-west.

At midnight the Legion continued their march from Zell, but moved slowly. While the usual travel time from Zell to Dossenbach was three hours, the Legion did not reach (Ober-) Dossenbach until 8.30 a.m. Gustav Struve saw this as the work of the guides accompanying the procession; The Württemberg captain Friedrich Lipp, on the other hand, saw the long march as being due to the fact that the legion had lost its marching discipline and the men often stopped in towns and asked for refreshments.

In the meantime, the Württemberg troops in Schopfheim and Schönau had learned of the presence of the irregulars in Zell. A company of the 6th Infantry Regiment under the command of Captain Lipp was sent south from Schopfheim on the morning of April 27, to march via Dossenbach to Schwörstadt and there to establish contact with the column of General von Baumbachs coming along the High Rhine from Säckingen . The company left at 5.30 and reached Schwörstadt after about two hours, so it had passed Dossenbach before the rebels. At 8.30 a half company of the 1st Infantry Regiment from Baumbach's column arrived in Schwörstadt, whereupon Lipp's company was ordered back over the Dinkelberg to Schopfheim. So insurgents and federal troops marched almost towards each other - while the Württemberg troops wanted to go from Schwörstadt to the northwest via Niederdossenbach and Oberdossenbach to Schopfheim, the militants marched from Oberdossenbach in a south-westerly direction to Rheinfelden.

While the Württemberg infantry was marching from Niederdossenbach to Oberdossenbach, they were warned by a farmer that there had only recently been rioters there. A patrol was sent out, which met the rearguard of the Legion and took some prisoners, but was attacked in turn and, since they were away from the actual company, had to withdraw. There were first firefights and wounded on the part of the irregulars. The patrol was now reinforced; half a company of the Wuerttemberg people took up position in a field, taking cover behind stone bars . The Legion advanced, but suffered losses under the musket fire of the Württemberg people and partially withdrew. Wounded rioters were taken to a nearby forest. Isolated riflemen sought cover behind trees and continued the firefight with the Württemberg soldiers, who had brought the entire company up in the meantime.

After the first setback, the Legion rallied and then proceeded again against the outnumbered Württemberg company. While Adelbert von Bornstedt occupied the center and right flank of the federal troops, Schimmelpfennig's battalion, equipped with scythes , was to fall into the left flank of the Württemberg people. The first-mentioned attacks got stuck in the trained fire of the covered infantrymen, but the Grim Reaper managed to overrun a post on the left flank and force a retreat. When attacking another post, there was close combat, and in this a duel between Schimmelpfennig and Captain Lipp. Lipp wounded Schimmelpfennig on the head, but in turn suffered a wound on the hand. More grim reapers and infantrymen armed with bayonets rushed in, with Lipp suffering further injuries, while Schimmelpfennig was killed by several bayonet stabs. The attack of the grim reapers who had rushed farthest forward was repulsed by the infantrymen, and the bulk of Schimmelpfennig's battalion, which was somewhat behind, broke off the attack after his death and withdrew.

Again there was a pause in the fight; the Legion withdrew, but kept fire going while the Württemberg company awaited another attack. Now, however, Württemberg reinforcements arrived from the south: The platoon of the 1st Infantry Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Carl and arriving in Schwörstadt that morning, had marched up and fell into the (right) flank of the retreating Schimmelpfennig battalion. Lipp and Carl combined their commands and continued the pursuit of the Legion, which now disbanded and fled.

Losses and consequences

Memorial stone for the fallen militants in the cemetery of Oberdossenbach

On the Wuerttemberg side, only Captain Lipp and a lieutenant were wounded (by grazing the shoulder). Lipp attributed this, among other things, to the fact that the rioters had fired their muskets from too great a distance and sometimes had not used the correct powder and bullet charges. Numerous soldiers showed gunshot marks on their uniforms, but without having been wounded. Lipp put the losses of the Legion at around 30 dead and 60 wounded. Ten fallen legionaries were buried in the Dossenbach cemetery.

After the defeat at Dossenbach, the German Legion disbanded and split up into small groups that tried to make their way to the nearby Swiss border on their own. Emma and Georg Herwegh succeeded in doing this, disguising themselves as farmers during their escape. Adelbert von Bornstedt managed to lead a larger group across the Rhine at the last second. He himself was caught by a Württemberg patrol because the boat crossing the Rhine was already overcrowded and he could not get on. In total, the Württemberg patrols captured 394 legionnaires in the following days. After Hecker's defeats on the Scheideck and Sigels near Günterstal and Freiburg, the battle near Dossenbach and the flight and dissolution of the German Legion marked the end of the armed unrest in the Grand Duchy of Baden that was triggered by the Hecker uprising.

Artistic processing

Franz Müller, a former member of the German Democratic Legion, published in 1849 a "New People's Song about the first German uprising, the procession of the German Parisian Democratic Legion to Baden and the battle near Dossenbach on April 27, 1848".

Franz Seraph Stirnbrand made the painting “Captain Lipp in battle near Dossenbach” in 1851, which was acquired by King Wilhelm of Württemberg . The South Baden poet Gerhard Jung also wrote the play "One Day in April", which is about the stay of the German Legion in Zell and their departure towards Dossenbach.

Commemoration

In 1870 a memorial plaque for the fallen of the German Democratic Legion was erected on the cemetery of Oberdossenbach. In July 2020, the village of Dossenbach, the municipality of Schwörstadt and the Southern Black Forest Nature Park opened a short themed trail with five information boards on the history of the battle. The path begins right at the Dossenbach kindergarten.

literature

Web links

Commons : Battle near Dossenbach  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, p. 63
  2. ↑ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 47
  3. ↑ Hecker, The Raising of the People in Baden , p. 40f.
  4. ↑ Hecker, The Raising of the People in Baden , p. 89
  5. ↑ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 35f.
  6. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, Ways of the Revolutionaries , p. 66
  7. ^ Struve, History of the three popular uprisings , p. 93
  8. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, Ways of the Revolutionaries , p. 35
  9. ^ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 48ff.
  10. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, ways of the revolutionaries , p. 64, Struve, history of the three popular surveys , p. 93
  11. ↑ Major General Karl von Baumbach (1817–1880)
  12. ↑ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 50
  13. ^ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 51f.
  14. ^ Albert von Pfister, Memories from the Württemberg War History of the 18th and 19th Century: Following the History of the 8th Infantry Regiment , Grüninger, Stuttgart 1868, p. 495
  15. ↑ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 58
  16. ^ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 82
  17. ↑ Lipp, Irr and Wanderfahrt , p. 31f.
  18. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, Ways of the Revolutionaries , p. 70
  19. ^ Struve, History of the three popular uprisings , p. 93
  20. ↑ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 54
  21. ^ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 57f.
  22. ^ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , pp. 58–66
  23. ^ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , pp. 70–80
  24. ^ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , pp. 80–83
  25. ↑ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 72, p. 81.
  26. ↑ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 84
  27. ↑ The first Baden uprising of 1848 on the city ​​of Schwörstadt's website
  28. ^ Struve, History of the three popular uprisings , p. 94
  29. ↑ Lipp, Irr- und Wanderfahrt , p. 85
  30. ^ Full text on the Frankfurt University Library
  31. ↑ General German biography: Franz Seraph Stirnbrand, Wikisource
  32. ↑ See also the description on the website of the Baden-Württemberg State Media Center
  33. ↑ see Reissmann