Battle of Friedland

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Battle of Friedland
Military operations in May / June 1807, border line from July 1807 after the peace of Tilsit
Military operations in May / June 1807, border line from July 1807 after the peace of Tilsit
date June 14, 1807
place Friedland ( Prawdinsk )
output French victory
Parties to the conflict

France 1804First empire France

Russian Empire 1721Russian Empire Russia Prussia
Prussia KingdomKingdom of Prussia 

Commander

France 1804First empire Napoleon Bonaparte Jean Lannes
France 1804First empire

Russian Empire 1721Russian Empire Levin von Bennigsen

Troop strength
80,000
118 cannons
60,000
120 cannons
losses

8,000 dead and wounded

20,000 dead and wounded

Friedland, southeast of Königsberg and northeast of the city of Bartenstein , on a map from 1910.
Napoleon at the Battle of Friedland , painting by Horace Vernet

In the Battle of Friedland ( Friedland in East Prussia ) on June 14, 1807, an 80,000-strong French army under Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte defeated a 60,000-strong Russian-Prussian army under Russian General Levin August von Bennigsen . It was the last battle in the Fourth Coalition War .

prehistory

On February 7th and 8th, 1807, in the Battle of Preussisch Eylau, Russian-Prussian troops under Bennigsen brought Napoleon's advance into East Prussia to a standstill. Without taking advantage of this success, the Russian troops holed up near Heilsberg for the winter . Napoleon was able to begin the siege of the Prussian fortress of Danzig , which capitulated on May 25, 1807. With united troops and a secured rear, Napoleon stood in western East Prussia. Only then did General Bennigsen become active, but could not force Napoleon to battle and again retreated to Heilsberg, surprisingly to attack without waiting for reinforcements.

Course of the battle

Bennigsen occupied Friedland on the evening of June 13th in order to form a bridgehead on the western bank of the Allee . In the neighboring forest near Sortlack to the south, French troops under Lannes and Mortier were posted there . With great effort, they succeeded in holding Bennigsen's vanguard long enough until the main French forces could intervene the following day.

Early on June 14th, the troops of Marshals Lannes and Mortier were the first to fight. The Mortier Corps (French and Poles), established as the right wing, advanced from Heinrichsdorf and drove the Cossacks who had invaded Schwonau out of the village. At 9 a.m., the 17,000 French faced 46,000 Russians. The French were assisted by General Grouchy's Dragoon Division and by General Nansouty's cuirassiers .

In the meantime Bennigsen had formed his army in battle order on the western bank of the avenue. The Russian army had established itself in a semicircle 6 kilometers wide on both sides of the avenue, which included the city of Friedland von Karschau, Henrichsdorf to the forest of Sortlak. The Russian positions on the western bank were also divided by the Mühlenflies brook. The left flank of the Russian troops was commanded by General Bagration , the right flank with the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th Infantry Divisions by Prince AI Gorchakov . The cavalry of the Russian right wing was commanded by Lieutenant General Uvarov and Prince Golitzyn , the cavalry of the left wing led by General Kologrivov . The guards and 20,000 men with heavy artillery and about 20 squadrons remained temporarily in reserve on the right bank of the river near Allenau.

When Emperor Napoleon arrived at 12 o'clock with his general staff, he took command of Lannes. Napoleon decided to wait for more forces to increase to around 80,000 soldiers. He personally carried out the battle from a wooden platform erected in the park of the Posthenen estate. At 5 p.m. all the corps of the French army were in their assigned positions. Marshal Ney stood on the right wing, Marshal Lannes in the center, Marshal Mortier on the left wing, and General Victor's 1st Corps and the Guard in the reserve . The left wing was supported by the cavalry under the command of General Grouchy. General Latour-Maubourg's dragons division was in reserve behind the right wing. General La Houssaye's Dragoon Division and the cuirassiers formed the reserve for the center.

Russian officers exploring the bell tower of Friedland Cathedral informed Bennigsen of the approach of strong French columns from the west. Only now did Bennigsen become aware of his extremely dangerous isolated position on the western bank of the Alley and he gave orders to withdraw the entire army in order.

At 5:30 p.m. Marshal Ney from the northern edge of the Sortlack forest began to attack the Russian corps under Prince Bagration and to push him back onto the headland of the avenue. Ney had the instructions from the emperor to courageously lead the main thrust on Friedland unhindered from his flanks and to conquer the bridge there. On the right the division under General Marchand advanced, on the left the Bisson division pulled the main Russian power on itself. The Russians withdrew, and Marchand swung his troops slightly to the right to drive the Russians there into the river Allee. A counter-attack by Russian cavalry into the gap between the Marchand and Bisson divisions was repulsed by General Latour-Maubourg's Dragoon Division.

After the intervention of strong Russian reserves, the French attack began to stall. Napoleon threw General Victor's 1st Corps into battle in support of Ney, whose vanguard with General Dupont's division and the support of the Latour-Mabourg cavalry were able to push back the Russian columns. General Victor managed to position his artillery so favorably under General Sénarmont that the Russian troops huddled in the bend in the river suffered terrible losses at close range and the entire left wing of Bennigsen was in disarray. Soon the French were able to throw the Russian troops back across the river after heavy resistance. Obstructed by the only crossing over the Alle, there were great losses on the Russian side, especially since the right wing not yet in close combat under Gorchakov was still on the opposite bank when the bridge was blown up by their own troops. The Russian army could only retreat across the river with enormous losses (20,000 men). After changeful hand-to-hand fighting in and outside of Friedland, the Russian 7th Division under General Dochturow fought for a retreat across the river at 9 p.m. The French troops suffered losses of around 8,000 men.

Results

The defeat caused Russia to break the Bartenstein Treaty, which was concluded with Prussia in April, under the impression of the success of Prussian-Eylau for better or for worse . Prussia was forced to sign the Peace of Tilsit . It was no longer a major European power. Napoleon managed to win Russia as an ally in the war with Great Britain. Napoleon created the Duchy of Warsaw as a vassal state of France from the territories that Prussia had gained in the partitions of Poland in 1793–95 .

Others

To commemorate the victory in Paris in 1864, a street running towards the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile was named Avenue de Friedland .

literature

  • Frank Bauer: Friedland June 14, 1807. A worthy sister of Marengo, Austerlitz and Jena (Small series history of the wars of liberation 1813-1815, item 19), Potsdam 2007.