Battle of Pułtusk (1806)

Battle of Pułtusk

Part of: Fourth Coalition War

Order of battle in the morning

date	December 26, 1806
place	Pułtusk
output	tie, tactical victory for the allies

Parties to the conflict
France Bavaria	Russia Prussia
Commander
Jean Lannes	Levin August von Bennigsen
Troop strength
25,000-27,000 men	40,000–45,000 men
losses
7,000 dead and wounded	5,000 dead and wounded

The Battle of Pułtusk on December 26, 1806 was a conflict in the 4th Coalition War on the territory of New East Prussia . The Russian troops under General Levin August von Bennigsen , who marched into Prussia as allies, were able to prevent the French army under Marshal Jean Lannes from crossing the Narew .

The French tried to drive out the Russians entrenched on the heights to the left of the Narew, which they did not succeed in doing, even with considerable losses. By the afternoon the French had made only minor gains and took the village of Mosin.

prehistory

Emperor Napoleon had defeated the Prussian army, faced the Russians in East Prussia and wanted to attack immediately. On November 22nd, 1806, Field Marshal Count Michail Kamenski took over command of the Russian army. When this decrepit general arrived with the army on the Narew, he was almost blind and the character of his orders was very contradictory. However, as the French army drew closer, Kamenski was forced to take immediate action for his divided army. On his orders, the Bennigsen corps advanced to Strzegocin was called back, while Count von Buxhoeveden was supposed to advance the 7th Division ( Dochturow ) to Gołymin and the 5th Division (Tutschkow) to Maków to protect the northern flank . Kamenski then wanted to gather all his forces at Pultusk to deliver a battle to Napoleon. Shortly before the battle, he gave the confusing order to withdraw and left his post. In addition, he had appointed the senior general Buxhoeveden as his successor, but his troops were several days' march away. Napoleon did not understand the reasons for the Russian movements and suspected that the Russian opponent was preparing a trap and in the end held on to his planned advance on Narew.

Course of the battle

Levin August von Bennigsen

Jean Lannes

Bennigsen had taken over the command and led his army back along the road Pułtusk - Gołymin and took up positions on the northwestern hills of the city. The right wing - the Barclay de Tolly corps camped in the forest and near the village of Mosin to cover the road to Gołymin. The left wing, the corps of General Karl Gustav von Baggehufwudt , took up position south of the main power on the bridge over the Narew. A few cavalry formations were still standing between Barclay and Baggehufwudt.

The French 5th Corps of Marshal Lannes had the order to cross the Narew at Pułtusk. Lannes soon came across Russian units, but underestimated their strength as he could not identify their main power. The French attacked the cavalry deployed in front and pushed them back to the main force. The division deployed on the left under General Suchet attacked the corps under Barclay de Tolly, with the intention of encompassing the Russian right that was visible to him. At around 11 a.m. the French right flank also advanced against Baggehufwudt. Baggehufwudt fell back despite artillery support and the French center was able to advance to attack Baggehufwudt from the flank. Through this maneuver, however, the French exposed themselves to an attack by the Russian cavalry, which took place in a sudden snowstorm. In the scuffle that followed, the French infantry succeeded in repelling the Russian troops. The attempt of the French cavalry to advance that followed was thwarted by precise artillery fire from the main Russian forces.

At the same time, Suchet's division successfully attacked the opposing forces under Barclay in the Mosin forest. The Russian troops withdrew from the woods and lost a gun battery. The incoming Barclays Reserve was able to repel the French again and recapture the guns.

Order of battle in the afternoon

In the meantime the French divisions under Gazan and Claparede advanced further in the center and the Russian cavalry that had been thrown back had to retreat behind the main Russian forces. This rather accidental maneuver, however, allowed a free field of fire for the Russian batteries upstream of the main power, which the French took under heavy fire. By early afternoon the French position became almost untenable. While the Russian troops maintained their positions, the French troops in the center were under heavy artillery fire. In the Mosin Forest, too, Suchet's troops had to slowly retreat under enemy pressure.

The French retreat seemed inevitable when von Lannes unexpectedly reinforcements reached the battlefield from the road to Gołymin. Gudin's 3rd Division from Marshal Davout's 3rd Corps, commanded by his Chief of Staff Joseph Daultanne , had initially been instructed to advance into the gap between the Russian troops, which were withdrawing on Pułtusk. After unexpected contact with the enemy, however, he got no further and prepared his bandages for the night in the bivouac. When Daultanne heard the noises of the fight on his right, he immediately ordered his men to march in the direction of Pułtusk and intervened in the fight near the village of Mosin. Barclay de Tolly, who saw the troops advancing, withdrew into the Mosin forest. Bennigsen reinforced Barclay de Tolly with two infantry regiments and a few squadrons of cavalry and let the artillery fire on the enemy-occupied forest. So Barclay was able to counterattack. The French withdrew again to the village of Mosin.

Due to the unexpected relief in the center, the French troops in the south were also able to take action against the Russians under Baggehufwudt. Its southern flank was bypassed by the cavalry division under Treilhard , some Russian artillery was brought in. Lieutenant General Count Ostermann-Tolstoy , who had taken command of the left wing, led the counterattack; 20 squadrons with a mounted battery followed this attack by the infantry. The advance threw the French back, and the captured artillery was lost again. The evening ended the fighting, the French troops were back in their starting position from the morning.

Results

During the following night Bennigsen withdrew to move to Różan on December 27 along the east bank of the Narew. Lannes' troops were unable to pursue Bennigsen, but occupied Pułtusk on December 28th. The battle served more to feel each other and was hardly decisive for the war.

literature

• David Chandler: The campaigns of Napoleon . Weidenfeld, London 1993, ISBN 0-297-81367-6 (reprint of the London 1966 edition).
• David Chandler: Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars . Wordsworth Editions, Ware 1999, ISBN 1-84022-203-4 .
• Marcellin de Marbot : Mémoires du Général Bon de Marbot . Plon, Paris 1892.
  • German translation: Memoirs of the French General Marcellin de Marbot . VRZ-Verlag, Hamburg 1999 (reprint of the Stuttgart 1899 edition).
  1. Genoa, Austerlitz, Jean, Eylau . 1999, ISBN 3-931482-60-X .
  2. Madrid, Aspern, Torres Vedros . 1999, ISBN 3-931482-61-8 .
  3. Polotsk, Beresina, Leipzig, Waterloo . 1999, ISBN 3-931482-62-6 .
• Francis Loraine Petre: Napoleon's campaigns in Poland. 1806-1807 . Greenhill, London 2001, ISBN 1-85367-441-9 (reprint of the London 1912 edition).

Coordinates: 52 ° 42 ′ 30 ″  N , 21 ° 4 ′ 30 ″  E