Battle of Bautzen

This article deals with the Battle of Bautzen during the Napoleonic Wars. For the fighting around Bautzen in the course of the Second World War see: Battle of Bautzen .

Battle of Bautzen

Part of: Wars of Liberation

Napoleon and officers receive a message. Painting around 1830.

date	20th / 21st May 1813
place	Bautzen
output	tactical victory for France

Parties to the conflict
France Bavaria Wurttemberg Baden Hesse	Prussia Russia
Commander
Napoléon Bonaparte Michel Ney	Gebhard von Blücher Ludwig zu Wittgenstein
Troop strength
Main army: approx. 110,000 men, side army (Ney): approx. 85,000 men	about 100,000 men
losses
20,000–25,000 dead and wounded	11,000–20,000 dead and wounded

The Battle of Bautzen , also known as the Battle of Wurschen on the Triumphal Arch in Paris , took place on 20/21. May 1813 near the city of Bautzen in the course of the liberation wars against Napoleonic France .

Napoléon had defeated the allies Russia and Prussia in the battle of Großgörschen (Lützen) . Napoleon had led two separate armies onto the battlefield at the same time in different places and completely embraced the allies' right wing. During the retreat of the allies, Napoléon attacked again near Bautzen. Although the French could only win terrain, this battle is counted as a victory for Napoléon.

prehistory

Map showing the course of the campaign in 1813

After the defeat at Lützen (May 2), the allies withdrew to Dresden via the right bank of the Elbe . Napoleon let Ney advance against Berlin via Torgau , while Lauriston and Reynier pursued the Prussians and he himself the Russians. In the meantime, Barclay de Tolly and General von Kleist had arrived with their troops in the allied army under the command of Count von Wittgenstein , which now had about 97,000 men at its disposal.

Napoleon joined the army from Dresden on May 18, after dispatching Peri's division to connect with Ney. He ordered Marshal Ney to stop his advance on Berlin and to operate against the Allies' right flank via Hoyerswerda . On the part of the allies, Barclay with his fresh troops, a Russian grenadier division and the Yorck Corps were sent to prevent Ney's connection with Napoleon. Barclay destroyed most of the Peri division at Königswartha on May 19, but Yorck encountered Lauriston's superior power at Weißig and both had to retreat to the starting position at Bautzen.

At the time of the battle there were the three monarchs - Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander I and Friedrich Wilhelm III. - in Upper Lusatia . Around the city of Bautzen, around 250,000 soldiers with around 30,000 horses were concentrated. German troops faced each other as enemies on both sides (which is why older German historiography often speaks of the “fate of the Germans driven to fratricidal struggle”). Prussians on the side of the allies fought against the Württemberg , Baden , Hesse , Bavaria and Saxons on the French side. On May 19, when the monarchs of Russia and Prussia were still in Bautzen and exploring the French positions from Ortenburg , Napoleon almost fell into the hands of a Cossack patrol stopping at the relocation of his headquarters.

Course of the battle

Plan for the battle of Bautzen on May 21, 1813

On the eve of the battle, Napoleon examined the location from three vantage points at Schmochtitz , Salzenforst and Kleinwelka . The favorable terrain around Bautzen (mountains in the south, pondland in the north) offered good defensive conditions, and so the allies faced another battle in May 1813. For Napoléon, Bautzen had the chance to decide the war in his favor. The reasons given for this failure include a mistake by one of his marshals, his own indecision and the excellently planned and organized retreat of the allies.

First day

The battle began on the morning of May 20th, 97,000 allies faced about 163,800 soldiers on the French side. Napoleon had his headquarters in Bautzen, the allied monarchs in Wurschen . Napoleon sent his instructions early in the morning and had the army deployed. The XII. Corps under Marshal Oudinot led the extreme right wing at Drauschkowitz and was supposed to cross the Spree and attack the Russian troops under General Miloradowitsch on the heights of Doberschau and Singwitz . The XI. Corps under Macdonald had to march on the road to Dresden, occupy the city of Bautzen and then cross the Spree. To the left of this, the VI. Corps under Marshal Marmont and the IV Corps under Bertrand to cross the Spree at Nimschütz and Niedergurig . Marshal Soult held the leadership in the center, where he was supposed to attack the Prussian troops under General Blücher and von Kleist . Behind it, the Imperial Guard under Marshal Mortier and two cavalry corps remained on the roads to Kamenz and Bischofswerda as a reserve. Marshal Ney, who was also subordinate to the V Corps under General de Lauriston , which only came through Königswartha , had orders to initially only work with the III. Corps (represented under General Souham ) against the place Klix . Ney could intervene with his full troop power on the following day at the earliest; before that he still had to unite with the VII Corps under Reynier, which was marching via Hoyerswerda, and only then could Napoleon's command to encircle the right wing of the allies over a large area.

In the main position of the allies on the terraces of the right bank of the Spree , the Russians under Barclay (around 12,000 men) occupied the right wing, Gorchakov and Graf von Berg occupied the left wing, Blücher and Yorck occupied the center, Grand Duke Konstantin and the guards were in reserve. The Prussians under Blücher held the heights at Neschwitz , Pliesskowitz and Doberschütz and General von Kleist secured the positions on the hill at Burk .

Around 9 o'clock in the morning Napoleon went back to the Schmochtitzer Höhe, and around noon the French artillery opened the battle. Oudinot's attacks on the heights north of Hochkirch failed, and in the center the Spree line was overcome across its entire width. On the left wing, the vanguard Neys, who only arrived in the afternoon, took the crossing at Klix , but without crossing the Spree that day.

Second day

On May 21st the battle resumed at 6 a.m., the Tsar and the King of Prussia chose their new position on the left wing, behind the Russian Guard, on the hill of Baschütz . Oudinot's divisions stormed again against the heights at Doberschütz . With the support of the 35th Division (General Gerard) it was soon possible to wrest the towns of Mehltheuer , Pielitz and Großkunitz from the Russians under General Lussanjewitsch . General Miloradowitsch was then reinforced by troops of the right wing on the orders of the Tsar, although Wittgenstein pointed out the danger of the complete exposure of the right wing. With the help of the reinforcements, the Russians were not only able to regain the lost places, but also to push Oudinot's troops back to the Spree. Napoleon had expected this disposition and denied the now beleaguered Marshal Oudinot the possible support, because the decision was to be made by the three corps of Ney on the left wing.

For the most part, only a violent artillery battle was waged in the center until the encirclement took effect. When Ney finally arrived in the Baruth area at 3:30 p.m. , he immediately attacked Barclay on the right flank and took Preititz and the heights of Gleina . The Prussians under Blücher now saw themselves under fire from three sides, as before from Burk and Pliesskowitz and now also from behind at Preititz. The right wing of Barclays was threatened with constriction if the Prussians did not hold out until the withdrawal through the Malschwitz ponds was complete. General Kleist was instructed to hold up Ney's troops at Preititz in order to buy time. Marshal Soult then had the Kreckwitz Heights in the center, the key to Blucher’s position, stormed by Bertrand’s troops. After a terrible struggle they were taken. Soult and Ney's troops threatened the right flank so much that the center of the allies threatened to be pushed to Wurschen . Tsar Alexander, who had already confined himself to the leadership through his abilities, had to give up his advantages on the left wing and give the order to retreat. When the French stormed Preititz again and broke through the narrowness of Niedergurig , Blücher also had to dismantle. At Purschwitz he was able to unite with Yorck's troops and fight for an orderly retreat to Wurschen.

rating

After the battle, Napoleon was disappointed. Although he had formally won (the opponent had been forced to withdraw), as a result he was still the loser. The French had lost up to 25,000 men at Bautzen, the allies had lost between 10,850 and 11,200 deaths according to various sources, i.e. significantly fewer. According to this information, it was a Pyrrhic victory for Napoleon. However, there are also sources that say that the French losses were only slightly higher and that the allies also lost 20,000 men. In any case, Napoleon had not achieved any of his goals and his strength was insufficient to immediately place the allies in another battle. In addition, his deputy Grand Maréchal du Palais Duroc fell in combat shortly after the battle.

A temporary armistice was subsequently negotiated on June 4, 1813 in Poischwitz, Silesia . Napoleon later often reproached himself for this and viewed this as a decisive mistake, since the allies were now able to regroup their strengths and strengthen themselves more and more. In the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig from 16. – 19. Napoleon finally lost in October 1813.

The extent of the battle and the intensity of the fighting are illustrated by the fact that more than 10,000 soldiers were killed on both days of the battle. Bautzen was overcrowded with wounded. As a result, nervous fever broke out in the city . Many of the surrounding villages were completely devastated.

One of the numerous mass graves with fallen Russians, Germans and French is still located on the diving cemetery in Bautzen. A memorial was inaugurated there on the 40th anniversary of the event, in 1853.

Inscription in the triumphal arch of Paris

literature

• Brief history of the battle of Bautzen on May 20 and 21, 1813, edited from the best older and more recent sources . Reichel, Bautzen 1863 ( digitized version )
• Paul Arras : Contemporary reports on the Battle of Bautzen on May 20 and 21, 1813 . Weller, Bautzen 1913.
• Frank Bauer: Bautzen 20./21. May 1813. Napoleon's second victory in the spring campaign. Small series History of the Wars of Liberation 1813–1815, Issue 6, Potsdam 2004.
• Andreas Bensch: The Battle of Bautzen in 1813 . 2nd Edition. Lusatia Verlag , Bautzen 2003, ISBN 3-929091-57-7 .
• Wolfgang Rabe: The battle near Bautzen: on 20./21. May 1813 . Lusatia, Bautzen 1993, ISBN 3-929091-06-2 .
• Detlef Wenzlik: The Battle of Bautzen: The Spring Campaign of 1813 - Part 3 . 1st edition. VRZ, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-931482-85-5 .

Web links

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