"Battle of Möckern" may also refer to a separate battle later in 1813.

The Battle of Möckern was a series of heavy clashes between allied Prusso

Prussian Army

The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...

-Russian

Imperial Russian Army

The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...

 troops and Napoleonic French forces south of Möckern

Möckern

Möckern is a town in the Jerichower Land district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated east of Magdeburg. It is part of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Möckern-Loburg-Fläming. The Battle of Möckern took place south of the town in 1813.-History:Möckern was originally called "Mokrianici" by the...

. It occurred on 5 April 1813. It ended in a French defeat and formed the successful prelude to the "Liberation War" against Napoleon (the German name for the German theatre of 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...

).

Context

In winter 1812, Napoleon had suffered a heavy defeat before Moscow upon which Prussia began to consider giving up its enforced alliance with the French. It signed the Convention of Tauroggen

Convention of Tauroggen

The Convention of Tauroggen was a truce signed 30 December 1812 at Tauroggen , between Generalleutnant Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg on behalf of his Prussian troops, and by General Hans Karl von Diebitsch of the Russian Army...

 with Russia on 30 December 1812, stipulating neutrality between them, and then on 27 March 1813 both powers declared war on France.

Course

Meanwhile in March 1813, the Allied armies decided to attack French forces in Magdeburg

Magdeburg

Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....

 so that they could then cross the River Elbe and advance westwards. Troops were also sent off under the command of the Prussian generals Bülow, Borstel, Hühnerbein and Yorck as well as the Russian commanders Wittgenstein

Peter Wittgenstein

Ludwig Adolph Peter, Prince Wittgenstein was a Russian Field Marshal distinguished for his services in the Napoleonic wars.-Life:...

 and Berg

Friedrich Wilhelm Rembert von Berg

Count Friedrich Wilhelm Rembert von Berg was a Russian Field Marshal, and the Governor-General of Finland from 1855 to 1861....

. After the French received information of the advance, about 30,000 men left Magdeburg under viceroy Eugène

Eugène de Beauharnais

Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam was the first child and only son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la...

 on 2 April 1813 and crossed the Elbe, setting up his headquarters in Königsborn

Königsborn

Königsborn is a village and a former municipality in the Jerichower Land district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Biederitz....

. Wittgenstein, who was in overall command of the Allied operations, planned to use feints further to the east to draw in the French and then cut them off after they returned to Magdeburg.

In expectation of an attack, the French formed their troops along the river Ehle

Ehle (river)

The Ehle is a river in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Elbe and is approximately long....

 between Möckern and Gommern

Gommern

Gommern is a town in the Jerichower Land district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km southeast of Magdeburg. On January 1, 2005, the municipalities Dannigkow, Dornburg, Karith, Ladeburg, Leitzkau, Menz, Nedlitz, Vehlitz and Wahlitz have been incorporated into Gommern. On...

. The allies arranged a total of about 10,000 men in three detachments marching in from the northeast, east and southeast. Smaller clashes were already happening on the 3rd and 4 April, with the French committing few troops to the fighting. Messages also began to arrive stating that the French wished to withdraw from Magdebury and so Wittgenstein gave the command to attack on 5 April.

First general Hühnerbein with two Yorkschen Corps marching in from the south came upon the French near Dannigkow, leading to stubborn resistance and house-to-house fighting. In spite of numerical inferiority, after four hours Hühnerbein succeeded in forcing the 2,000 French soldiers out of their positions.

The second major clash happened at the Ehle river crossing in Vehlitz. Prusso-Russian troops under Borstel and Berg here attacked the French, who had posted themselves in several lines at the Ehle as far as behind Vehlitz. Due to the deep gradient, few of the Allied guns could come to bear and so the battle descended into man-to-man fighting. This was impeded wide swampy area that lay between the two forces, meaning the soldiers had to wade across in places with the water up to breast height. After violent clashes, in which the French also used cavalry squadrons, here too the Allies succeeded in forcing the French from their positions.

Result

In view of these unexpected defeats, the French viceroy concluded on the night of 5 April to withdraw once more to Magdeburg. On its withdrawal the French forces destroyed all the bridges of the Klusdammes, denying the most important access routes to Magdeburg to the Allies. Although the French forces in Germany were not finally defeated by this action, for the Prussians and Russians the clash was nevertheless a first important success on the way to the final victory over Napoleon.

October 1813

Another battle of Möckern occurred on 16 October the same year between allied Prusso

Prussian Army

The Royal Prussian Army was the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.The Prussian Army had its roots in the meager mercenary forces of Brandenburg during the Thirty Years' War...

-Russian

Imperial Russian Army

The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...

 troops under Blücher

Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher

Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...

 and Napoleonic French forces under Marmont and Ney, on the northern front of the Liberation War. It played out in 4 phases. A small country house surrounded by gardens and low walls and looking over the village was transformed into a fortress, with the French in cover behind its walls. The west of their position was too marshy and wooded for an artillery position, and to the east a 4m deep dyke protected the banks of the Elster. There Marshal Marmont held back his infantry reserve ready for a counter-attack and for swiftly supporting all his positions. Blücher commanded Langeron

Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron

Count Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langéron , born in Paris, was a French general in the service of the Imperial Russian Army during the Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...

's Russian corps and Yorck's Prussian one.

Attacks went on all night, with most of the dead and wounded (9,000 for the Allies, 7,000 for the French) being down to the artillery. Another 2,000 French were captured and the battle ended in a French defeat, laying the foundations for the decisive defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig

Battle of Leipzig

The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...

the following day - on the very same day as the battle of Möckern Blücher was made a field marshal.