Napoleon and Berlin: The Franco-Prussian War in North Germany, 1813 (Campaigns and Commanders, 1)

401 Pages·2002·3.79 MB·English

by  Michael V. Leggiere

Napoleon and Berlin
Campaigns and Commanders
CAMPAIGNS AND COMMANDERS
General Editor
Gregory J. W. Urwin, Temple University, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Advisory Board
Lawrence E. Babits, East Carolina University, Greenville
James C. Bradford, Texas A&M University, College Station
Victor Davis Hanson, California State University, Fresno
Robert M. Epstein, U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies,
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
David M. Glantz, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Jerome A. Greene, National Park Service
Herman Hattaway, University of Missouri, Kansas City
Eugenia C. Kiesling, U.S. Military Academy, West Point,
New York
Timothy K. Nenninger, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Bruce Vandervort, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington
Napoleon and Berlin
The Franco-Prussian War in
North Germany, 1813
Michael V. Leggiere
To my mother and father
This book is published with the generosity of Edith Kinney Gaylord.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Leggierre, Michael V., 1969–
Napoleon and Berlin:the Franco-Prussian war in north Germany,
1813/ Michael V. Leggiere.
p. cm. — (Campaigns and commanders; 1)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8061-3399-6(alk. paper)
1. Napoleonic Wars, 1800–1815—Campaigns—Germany.
2. Wars of Liberation, 1813–1814—Campaigns—Germany.
3. Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769–1821—Military
leadership. 4. France. Armée. Grande Armée—History.
5. France—History, Military—1789–1815. I. Title. II. Series.
DC236.L44 2002
940.2æ742æ90431—dc21
2001048068
Text design by CF Graphics
Napoleon and Berlin: The Franco-Prussian War in North Germany,
1813is Volume 1in the Campaigns and Commanders series.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and dura-
bility of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council on Library Resources, Inc. ∞
Copyright © 2002by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Pub-
lishing Division of the University. All rights reserved. Manufactured
in the U.S.A.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface ix
1. France and Prussia 3
2. The Sixth Coalition 28
3. The Defense of Berlin 55
4. Luckau 70
5. Muskets, Saddles, and Shoes 89
6. Axes, Spades, and Water 104
7. Plans and Preparations 120
8. Opening Moves 141
9. Groß Beeren 160
10. The Politics of Dissension 177
11. Dennewitz 189
12. At the Rubicon 212
13. Crossing the Rubicon 229
14. Leipzig 256
Conclusion 278
Notes 299
Bibliography 357
Index 371
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Illustrations
Photographs
All photographs are courtesy of the Anne S. K. Brown Military Col-
lection, Brown University Library.
Emperor Napoleon I 8
Marshal Louis-Nicholas Davout 18
Gen. Hans David Ludwig von Yorck 33
Marshal Michel Ney 52
Gen. Friedrich Wilhelm von Bülow 56
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France and
Crown Prince of Sweden 62
Marshal Nicolas Charles Oudinot 75
Gen. Henri-Gatien Bertrand 163
Gen. Jean-Louis-Ebénézer Reynier 167
Gen. Jean-Toussaint Arrighi 172
Gen. Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher 233
Gen. August Wilhelm Anton von Gneisenau 251
viii ILLUSTRATIONS
Maps
The German Theater of War in 1813 xiv
Wittenberg and the Surrounding Area xv
Prussia in 1806 10
Europe in 1812 26
The Situation on 25April 1813 50
The Nuthe-Notte Defense Zone 59
The Situation on 19May 1813 68
Hoyerswerda and the Surrounding Area 77
Luckau and the Surrounding Area 83
The Situation at the End of the Armistice 137
Übersichtskarte 144
Oudinot’s Advance 150
The Situation on 21August 1813 152
The Situation on 20and 21August 1813 154
The Situation on 22August 1813 158
The Battle of Groß Beeren, 23August 1813 165
The Battle of Hagelberg, 27August 1813 183
The Situation on 26August 1813 190
The Situation on 30August 1813 191
The Situation on 6September 1813 196
The Battle of Dennewitz, 6September 1813 201
The Situation on 19September 1813 240
The Situation on 25September 1813 246
The Situation on 9October 1813 260
The Situation on 13October 1813 263
Leipzig and the Surrounding Area 269
The Battle of Leipzig, 19October 1813 274
Preface
Astudy of French military operations in North Germany not only
highlights the breakdown of Napoleonic strategy in 1813but con-
stitutes a fascinating study in coalition warfare, international relations,
and civil-military relations.1 In early 1813 Prussia faced a choice
between dependency on France or on Russia. At the moment of
Napoleon’s greatest calamity, the Prussian army pushed the state into
a war of liberation. Not only did the Prussian army pressure the
monarch, but a patriotic uprising swept the kingdom as well. To meet
the demands of modern war, save his capital, and liberate his country,
the conservative Prussian king Frederick William III reluctantly and
momentarily embraced a popular uprising that transformed the strug-
gle from a dynastic conflict to a national war: a Franco-Prussian war.2
The growing patriotic movement, made evident by anti-French
demonstrations, influenced public opinion, especially the attitude of the
educated classes. Despite Frederick William’s “diplomatic anxiety and
his dislike of the patriots’ enthusiasm, the king was pressured into sup-
porting a patriotic liberation struggle.”3
Nineteenth-century German historians referred to the war against
Napoleon in 1813as a struggle for freedom, a Befreiungskrieg, or war of
liberation. A popular uprising occurred in Prussia, which, according to
historian Paul Schroeder, “was broad and deep enough to be called