Battle for Halle

Battle for Halle

Part of: Wars of Liberation

date	May 2, 1813
place	Halle (Saale)
output	Victory of Prussia

Parties to the conflict
France	Prussia
Commander
	Friedrich Wilhelm von Bülow
Troop strength
	5,000
losses
432 prisoners, 120 of them wounded, 3 guns	232 dead and wounded

The battle of Halle took place on May 2, 1813 during the spring campaign of 1813 as part of the beginning wars of liberation . A Prussian corps under Friedrich Wilhelm von Bülow took over Halle an der Saale, which was occupied by a French garrison .

prehistory

Map showing the course of the campaign in spring 1813

After the defeat of the Grande Armée in the Russian campaign of 1812 , Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, at the urging of his officers, concluded an agreement with the Russian General Diebitsch in the Tauroggen Convention on December 30, 1812 , which meant that Prussia would leave the war against Russia. This happened without the requested consent of King Friedrich Wilhelm III. to have received. On February 27, 1813, the Prussian-Russian military alliance was concluded by Kalisch . Field Marshal Ludwig Adolf Peter zu Sayn-Wittgenstein then went together with the Prussian army corps under Yorck von Wartenburg . Wittgenstein moved into Berlin on March 11th , Yorck followed on March 17th. From there, after the death of Kutuzov , Wittgenstein was called to the main army of the allies, which remained with Kalisch until April 7, to take over the supreme command.

After taking Berlin, the Russians under Wittgenstein liberated Hamburg , Lübeck and the areas on the Lower Elbe. The approximately 10,000-strong corps of Friedrich Wilhelm Bülow von Dennewitz fought separate from the main events in the spring campaign. So his troops were initially charged with the siege of Magdeburg . After Wittgenstein had crossed the Elbe , the corps was instructed to cover the Elbe crossing at Roßlau and the roads to Berlin and to maintain the connection between the siege corps of Wittenberg and Magdeburg. In addition, he had to take Halle (Saale) , which was occupied by the French . On April 28, the 10,000-strong French corps under General Lauriston attempted an attack against Halle. This was occupied by Lieutenant General Friedrich von Kleist with about 5,000 men. The attacks were repulsed that day. After a French attack on the neighboring Merseburg had ended victorious for the French after eventful battles and they had taken the city, Kleist Halle had to evacuate as otherwise it was threatened with being surrounded. Halle was immediately occupied by Lauriston's troops.

course

The French garrison, which was engaged on April 30, 1813, consisted of four battalions of the 135th Line Infantry Regiment, 19th Division Rochambeau of the 5th Army Corps of Lauriston , and 6 artillery pieces. The Prussian attacking power consisted of 4½ East Prussian battalions, a hunter company , 9 squadrons of cavalry and 3 artillery batteries with 24 guns, a force of 5000 men numerically superior to the French troops. Von Bülow appeared in front of Halle in the morning of May 2nd and at 6 o'clock began the attack on the northern suburb, which could be captured because the French were completely surprised by the attack. Only at the northern gates of the city did a rifle fight begin to develop. After several hours of fighting at the gates, they could be taken. After the French suffered heavy losses, they fled over the Saale bridge on the road to Lauchstädt . 432 French were captured, and 3 artillery pieces and 350 rifles were captured.

consequences

Due to the defeat in the Battle of Großgörschen , the victory in this battle was almost insignificant. So von Bülow had to withdraw his troops very soon in order to protect the Mark Brandenburg and Berlin from the advancing French who crossed the Elbe near Torgau and Wittenberg . However, there was no French advance against the mark. Marshal Michel Ney moved to Bautzen to reinforce Napoleon.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Karl Ludwig Wilhelm Ernst von Prittwitz: Contributions to the history of the year 1813, p. 17
2. ^ Theodor Brand: The War of Liberation 1813, 1814 and 1815 , Vol. 1, Breslau 1842, page 110
3. ^ Heinrich Beitzke: History of the German Wars of Freedom in the years 1813 and 1814, Volume 1, p. 497
4. ^ Heinrich Beitzke: History of the German Wars of Freedom in the years 1813 and 1814, Volume 1, p. 500

literature

• Heinrich Beitzke: History of the German Wars of Freedom in the years 1813 and 1814, Volume 1. Berlin 1854