Battle_of_Altenburg

Battle of Altenburg

Battle of Altenburg

1813 battle during the War of the Sixth Coalition

The raid at Altenburg on 28 September 1813 took place during the War of the Sixth Coalition's German Campaign of 1813.[3] The raid was carried out by the Streifkorp under the command of Saxon General Johann von Thielmann commanding seven regiments of Cossacks, a squadron each of Saxon Hussars and Dragoons, and a detachment of Saxon Freikorps numbering about 1,500 cavalry. The objective of the raid was to attempt harassment of the French lines of communication 25 miles (45 km) south of Leipzig shortly before the Battle of Leipzig. The Austrian contingent was commanded by Emmanuel Mensdorff and the Russian contingent of Cossacks by Matvei Platov.[2][4]

Quick Facts Date, Location ...
War of the Sixth Coalition:
German campaign
200km
125miles
19
Siege of Hamburg from 24 December 1813 to 12 May 1814
18
Battle of Sehested from 10 December 1813
17
Battle of Hanau from 30 to 31 October 1813
Leipzig
16
Battle of Leipzig from 16 to 19 October 1813
15
Battle of Wartenburg on 3 October 1813
14
Combat of Roßlau on 29 September 1813
13
12
Battle of the Göhrde on 16 September 1813
11
Battle of Dennewitz on 6 September 1813
10
Battle of Kulm from 29 to 30 August 1813
9
Battle of Dresden from 26 to 27 August 1813
8
Battle of the Katzbach on 26 August 1813
7
Battle of Großbeeren on 23 August 1813
6
Battle of Luckau on 4 June 1813
5
Battle of Haynau on 26 May 1813
4
Battle of Bautzen (1813) from 20 to 21 May 1813
3
Battle of Lützen (1813) on 2 May 1813
2
Battle of Möckern on 5 April 1813
1
Siege of Danzig (1813) from 16 January to 29 November 1813
  current battle
  Napoleon in command
  Napoleon not in command

Background

The battle was the culmination of a raid in which Thielmann cavalry successfully attacked Napoleon's lines of communications along the roads between Erfurt and Leipzig in the Saale valley.[2][5]

Battle

Thielmann completely surprised and routed a larger force of French cavalry, including Cavalry of the Imperial Guard and a small force of 2nd Baden Infantry Regiment (Infanterie-Regiment No.2 ‘Markgraf Wilhelm’) nominally under the command of Lefebvre-Desnouettes numbering some 8,000. The French, completely surprised, broke and fled from Altenburg losing a third of their number (2,100), in the process running over the Baden infantry which was taken prisoner despite attempting to resist.[6] Thielmann's force lost about 200 in casualties.

Notes

  1. [1]
    Bodart 1908, p. 459.
  2. [2]
    Jaques 2007, p. 40.
  3. [3]
    p.155, Riley
  4. [4]
    UMKP staff 1813, p. 330.
  5. [5]
    Clarke 1815, pp. 631–632.
  6. [6]
    pp. 4233-4237, Anonymous

References

  • Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618–1905). Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  • Clarke, Hewson (1815). "Twelfth Bulletin". An Impartial History of the Naval, Military and Political Events in Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution to the Entrance of the Allies Into Paris, and the Conclusion of a General Peace [...]. Brightly & Childs.
  • Jaques, Tony, ed. (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity through the Twenty-first Century (3 volumes ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. LCCN 2006015366. OCLC 68786744. OL 10420610M.
  • UMKP staff (1813). The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure. J. Hinton. p. 330.
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