Battle of Grossbeeren
Encyclopedia
In the Battles of Großbeeren and neighboring Blankenfield and Sputendorf (23 August 1813) an allied Prussia
n-Swedish
army under Crown Prince Charles John
- formerly Marshal of France
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte - defeated the French
under Marshal Oudinot
. Napoleon
had hoped to drive the Prussians out of the Sixth Coalition by capturing their capital, but the swamps south of Berlin
combined with rain and the Marshal's ill health to bog them down.
, in May 1813, during the War of the Sixth Coalition
, both sides agreed to a seven-week truce to plan and better prepare. When the campaign resumed, in August, Napoleon
ordered an offensive drive to take the Prussia
n Capital of Berlin
. With its capture, he hoped to knock the Prussians out of the war. Meanwhile he kept the bulk of his army on the strategic defensive, to deal with any potential moves by the large Austrian
army, which had now gathered in southeastern Germany. For this task, he chose one of his bravest and best commanders, Marshal
Nicolas Oudinot
, to lead the offensive. Oudinot tried to turn down this honor due to his poor health. He had been wounded on several occasions during the previous year's disastrous campaign in Russia, and had not yet fully recovered. But the emperor insisted, so Oudinot with three corps
of about 60,000 men advanced on Berlin.
Unknown to both Napoleon and Oudinot at the time, this strategy played right into the Coalition's hands. In accordance with their Trachenburg Plan
(formulated during the truce) they would avoid any large, main engagement with Napoleon himself until after they had gathered overwhelming strength and weakened the emperor by defeating his marshals in separate, smaller battles.
From its start the offensive was plagued by misfortune. On the same day as the advance began, 19 August, heavy rain storms broke out turning the roads into muddy quagmires and making it nearly impossible to move the artillery
. Further hindering the advance, the area south of Berlin was crisscrossed with small lakes and swamps. In the best of weather there were only a couple of roads by which to approach the city from the south. But rain turned many of the Prussian defensive positions into fortified islands. Oudinot was forced to advance his Corps along three separate roads, with little communication between them. General Bertrand's
4th Corps of 13,000 men and 32 cannons to the right, on the left General Guilleminot
's 12th Corps of 20,000 mainly inexperienced recent recruits (nicknamed Marie-Louises
). In the center was the main column of General Jean Reynier
's 7th Corps of 27,000 largely French allied Saxons
troops. Oudinot did not expect any serious opposition and a lack of cavalry
kept him unaware of the position of the enemy. Berlin was defended by the Army of the North, commanded by Crown Prince Charles John
of Sweden
, formerly French Marshal Bernadotte,. When Reynier's corps reached Großbeeren, he encountered the bulk of Prince Charles' army drawn up for battle. Acting without orders or support, he attacked Friedrich von Bülow's
corps, which had just been reinforced by the Swedes to 38,000, and was repulsed with heavy casualties. Oudinot, unable to concentrate his army, arrived late in the day just as Reynier's Saxons had begun to waver after that general failed to rally them for another assault. Realizing the advance had been checked, and believing his army was in an exposed position, Oudinot ordered the retreat to Jüterbog
after sustaining heavy losses. Reynier alone lost over 3,000 dead and wounded, 1,500 made prisoner and 13 artillery pieces.
. Napoleon was furious with Oudinot, not so much for his defeat, but for his withdrawal to Wittenberg instead of back to Luckau
. He fumed, "It is truly difficult to have fewer brains than the duke of Reggio!". Napoleon then appointed Marshal Michel Ney
to lead a second drive on Berlin with the same three, now reduced and demoralized, corps and the ailing Oudinot as Ney's subordinate. The result would be the Battle of Dennewitz
.
- then a fourteen-year old boy - visited the site of the Battle of Großbeeren and was deeply impressed, later writing a school essay about this battle - the first work known to have been penned by a man who would become a major German writer. Fontane recounted this reminiscence in a much later essay, written in his old age (1894). He mentioned also that his mother - at the time a young Berlin woman - had in the aftermath of the battle tended wounded soldiers, both German and French. Being of a Huguenot
family who still spoke French among themselves, she was able to speak to dying French soldiers in their own language.
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n-Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
army under Crown Prince Charles John
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
- formerly Marshal of France
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte - defeated the French
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
under Marshal Oudinot
Nicolas Oudinot
Nicolas Charles Oudinot, 1st Comte Oudinot, 1st Duc de Reggio , was a Marshal of France.-Early life:...
. Napoleon
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
had hoped to drive the Prussians out of the Sixth Coalition by capturing their capital, but the swamps south of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
combined with rain and the Marshal's ill health to bog them down.
Prelude
Following the Battle of BautzenBattle of Bautzen
In the Battle of Bautzen a combined Russian/Prussian army was pushed back by Napoleon, but escaped destruction, some sources claim, because Michel Ney failed to block their retreat...
, in May 1813, during the War of the Sixth Coalition
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
, both sides agreed to a seven-week truce to plan and better prepare. When the campaign resumed, in August, Napoleon
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
ordered an offensive drive to take the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n Capital of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. With its capture, he hoped to knock the Prussians out of the war. Meanwhile he kept the bulk of his army on the strategic defensive, to deal with any potential moves by the large Austrian
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
army, which had now gathered in southeastern Germany. For this task, he chose one of his bravest and best commanders, Marshal
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
Nicolas Oudinot
Nicolas Oudinot
Nicolas Charles Oudinot, 1st Comte Oudinot, 1st Duc de Reggio , was a Marshal of France.-Early life:...
, to lead the offensive. Oudinot tried to turn down this honor due to his poor health. He had been wounded on several occasions during the previous year's disastrous campaign in Russia, and had not yet fully recovered. But the emperor insisted, so Oudinot with three corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
of about 60,000 men advanced on Berlin.
Unknown to both Napoleon and Oudinot at the time, this strategy played right into the Coalition's hands. In accordance with their Trachenburg Plan
Trachenburg Plan
The Trachenberg Plan was concocted by Allied commanders in the 1813 German Campaign during the War of the Sixth Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars. The plan advocated avoiding direct engagement with the French emperor, Napoleon I. This resulted from fear of the Emperor's now legendary prowess in battle...
(formulated during the truce) they would avoid any large, main engagement with Napoleon himself until after they had gathered overwhelming strength and weakened the emperor by defeating his marshals in separate, smaller battles.
Battle
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
. Further hindering the advance, the area south of Berlin was crisscrossed with small lakes and swamps. In the best of weather there were only a couple of roads by which to approach the city from the south. But rain turned many of the Prussian defensive positions into fortified islands. Oudinot was forced to advance his Corps along three separate roads, with little communication between them. General Bertrand's
Henri Gratien, Comte Bertrand
Henri-Gatien, Comte Bertrand , French general, was born at Châteauroux, Indre as a member of a well-to-do bourgeois family....
4th Corps of 13,000 men and 32 cannons to the right, on the left General Guilleminot
Armand Charles Guilleminot
Armand Charles, Count Guilleminot , was a French general during the Napoleonic wars....
's 12th Corps of 20,000 mainly inexperienced recent recruits (nicknamed Marie-Louises
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma
Marie Louise of Austria was the second wife of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French and later Duchess of Parma...
). In the center was the main column of General Jean Reynier
Jean Reynier
Jean Louis Ebénézer Reynier rose in rank to become a French army general officer during the French Revolutionary Wars. He led a division under Napoleon Bonaparte in the French Campaign in Egypt and Syria...
's 7th Corps of 27,000 largely French allied Saxons
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
troops. Oudinot did not expect any serious opposition and a lack of cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
kept him unaware of the position of the enemy. Berlin was defended by the Army of the North, commanded by Crown Prince Charles John
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, formerly French Marshal Bernadotte,. When Reynier's corps reached Großbeeren, he encountered the bulk of Prince Charles' army drawn up for battle. Acting without orders or support, he attacked Friedrich von Bülow's
Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow
Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow, Graf von Dennewitz was a Prussian general of the Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...
corps, which had just been reinforced by the Swedes to 38,000, and was repulsed with heavy casualties. Oudinot, unable to concentrate his army, arrived late in the day just as Reynier's Saxons had begun to waver after that general failed to rally them for another assault. Realizing the advance had been checked, and believing his army was in an exposed position, Oudinot ordered the retreat to Jüterbog
Jüterbog
Jüterbog is a historic town in north-eastern Germany, located in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg. It is located on the Nuthe river at the northern slope of the Fläming hill range, about southwest of Berlin.-History:...
after sustaining heavy losses. Reynier alone lost over 3,000 dead and wounded, 1,500 made prisoner and 13 artillery pieces.
Aftermath
The defeat at Großbeeren, combined with continued ill health, had shaken Oudinot's confidence, and he continued the general retreat to WittenbergWittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
. Napoleon was furious with Oudinot, not so much for his defeat, but for his withdrawal to Wittenberg instead of back to Luckau
Luckau
Luckau is a city in the district of Dahme-Spreewald in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. Known for its beauty, it has been dubbed "the Pearl of Lower Lusatia".-Origin of the name:...
. He fumed, "It is truly difficult to have fewer brains than the duke of Reggio!". Napoleon then appointed Marshal Michel Ney
Michel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
to lead a second drive on Berlin with the same three, now reduced and demoralized, corps and the ailing Oudinot as Ney's subordinate. The result would be the Battle of Dennewitz
Battle of Dennewitz
The Battle of Dennewitz took place on 6 September 1813 between the forces of the First French Empire and an army of Prussians and Russians of the Sixth Coalition. It occurred in Dennewitz, a village of Germany, in the Prussian province of Brandenburg, near Jüterbog, 40 km. S.W...
.
Literary Reference
In 1833 Theodor FontaneTheodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.-Youth:Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary, his father's profession. He became an...
- then a fourteen-year old boy - visited the site of the Battle of Großbeeren and was deeply impressed, later writing a school essay about this battle - the first work known to have been penned by a man who would become a major German writer. Fontane recounted this reminiscence in a much later essay, written in his old age (1894). He mentioned also that his mother - at the time a young Berlin woman - had in the aftermath of the battle tended wounded soldiers, both German and French. Being of a Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
family who still spoke French among themselves, she was able to speak to dying French soldiers in their own language.