Battle of Mehr
Coordinates: 51 ° 44 ′ 8 ″ N , 6 ° 30 ′ 7 ″ E
| date | August 5, 1758 |
|---|---|
| place | Hamminkeln-Mehrhoog |
| output | Prussian victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 3,000 men | 10,000 men |
| losses | |
|
313 dead and wounded |
400 dead and wounded |
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European theater of war:
Pirna * - Lobositz * - Prague * - Kolin * - Hastenbeck ** - Groß-Jägersdorf * - Moys * - Hastenbeck * - Roßbach * - Breslau * - Leuthen * - Rheinberg ** - Krefeld ** - Domstadtl * - Olomouc * - More ** - Zorndorf * - Saint-Cast - Hochkirch * - Bergen ** - Kay * - Minden ** - Kunersdorf * - Lagos *** - Hoyerswerda * - Bay of Quiberon *** - Maxen * - Koßdorf * - Landeshut * - Emsdorf ** - Warburg ** - Liegnitz * - Berlin * - Kampen Monastery ** - Torgau * - Döbeln * - Vellinghausen ** - Ölper ** - Burkersdorf * - Reichenbach * - Freiberg *
(* Third Silesian War , ** western theater of war - Great Britain / Kur-Hanover and other allies against France , *** naval battle )
American theater:
Seven Years War in North America
Monongahela - Carillon - La Belle Famille - Québec - Beauport - Abraham Plain - Sainte-Foy - Restigouche
Asian theater:
Cuddalore - Negapatam - Pondicherry - Wandiwash - Manila
In the battle of Mehr (French Affaire de Meer) on August 5, 1758, the "small army" deployed on the Prussian side of approx. 3000 men under the Brunswick Lieutenant General Philipp Freiherr von Imhoff met a French superiority under General François de Chevert von 10,000 soldiers and defeated them. The battlefield is in the area of what is now the neighboring village of Mehrhoog between the old Poststrasse and the residential area "Im Kuckuck". The Imhoff memorial in Storchenweg commemorates this battle.
On that day General Chevert commanded 14 battalions of infantry, 4 squadrons of dragoons and 1,000 volunteers on horseback. Six battalions were under the command of Imhoffs: a Hanoverian (von Stolzenberg), two Braunschweigische (von Imhoff), one from the Hereditary Prince of Hesse, a Hessian (von Tolle) and a Saxon Gotha , plus around 400 cavalrymen including the Bückeburg carabinier corps .
Course of the battle
Report by Lieutenant Colonel Johann Kasimir von Monkewitz from Schaumburg-Lippe about the course of the battle:
“At dawn my last patrol came back from the sea and reported that nothing of the enemy could be seen in that area. I made a report to General von Imhof, who informed me that, since General von Zastrow had arrived with the 2 battalions from Stolzenberg and one from Hereditary Prince, he was thinking of filling the previous position at Meer again, which is why I immediately to leave and take the old post at Wildemannshof again. So I marched off, but sent two carabiniers to Hauinkel via Schleienhorst Monastery , with orders to stay at Hauinkel until about 10 o'clock and to watch from where they were to be relieved. Around 8 o'clock I arrived at my post, dispatched a patrol against Luhrhase on the way to Wesel , and occupied myself with drawing up my posts. It was 9 o'clock when I was informed that a shot had been fired at Hauinkel, which is why I immediately dispatched the Kornet from Berk with 10 horses in that direction to investigate the matter. The Busch Dragoon Regiment had already arrived at the camp. The day before, General von Imhof had ordered an officer with 50 horses of this regiment to be placed under my command, since I had complained that it was impossible for me with my few men to observe the enemy closely and to properly cover the position; these 50 horses had not yet arrived, and I rode hurriedly to the commander of the regiment mentioned to request the detachment. I was hardly at the Colonel's. von Müller arrived when a carbine brought the news that the patrol sent against Hauinkel had returned with the report that the enemy was in large numbers against my von Hauinkel posts. I immediately sent the carbineer with the report to General von Imhof, whose troops had just arrived at the camp; For myself, however, I went to my people and led them against Hauinkel. It was not long before I discovered the enemy, and judged from the rising dust that General Chevert and his whole corps were marching towards the sea. This assumption was immediately confirmed when I saw 4 cavalry squadrons and a strong column of infantry. By the captain Lieut. Baum I let General v. Report to Imhof, whereupon he made his arrangements to receive the enemy properly. Meanwhile I got into a sharp scuffle with the enemy's advance troops. But soon the 4 squadrons of enemy dragoons, followed by 1,000 volunteers, pushed me back to a detachment of Hessian grenadiers. This was immediately attacked violently by the enemy and, in spite of the most strenuous bravura, after his captain von Buttlar had been shot, thrown with considerable loss. Thereupon I received orders to divide my corps and, on my behalf, to go with one half towards our left wing, in order to observe the route leading from Wesel via Schleienhorst Monastery to Reeß , while Captain Lieut. Baum moved with the other half towards the right wing in order to keep an eye on the way from Wesel via Bislich towards Reeß. Meanwhile a violent cannonade broke out, with our artillery causing considerable damage to the enemy. The intention was to cut us off from Reeß, which is why he concentrated his main force on his right wing in a wood, which masked this movement; on his left wing he left only 3 battalions of the Swiss Regt. Salis. General von Imhof, guessing the enemy's intentions, fell on the left flank of these Swiss with the Hanovian von Stolzenberg regiment with such happy success that, after a very stubborn resistance, they fled.
Since in the meantime the two battalions arrived from Imhof, on which the troops standing next to the Swiss fell, and they threw, this entire hostile left wing was separated from the rest of the corps - which moved further and further to the right - and forced in great haste to retreat via Luhrhase against Wesel. The Hessian hereditary prince regiment, meanwhile, was in a tough position, in that, as our left wing advanced, it encountered the bulk of the enemy who had positioned themselves behind an old army. The von Toll regiment also arrived, and both brave regiments overwhelmed the enemy's position with such force that the enemy had to withdraw from the woods on Hauinkel in great haste and disorder. It is a pity that at the moment when the enemy left the wood and had to pass an almost quarter of an hour long Haide to gain the way to Hauinkel, there was not enough cavalry at hand to pursue him. With the little stone of the house, as I led, I hit the enemy, pursued them to Hauinkel, and made over 200 prisoners and 34 prey horses. The enemy hurriedly continued the retreat against Wesel. "
literature
- GW v. Düring: History of the Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg Carabinier and Jäger Corps. Berlin, Posen and Bromberg 1828. - In memory of Mr. von Monkewitz by HF Froriep, Bückeburg 1789 (in the library of the high school in Bückeburg).