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{{Short description|1813 battle during the War of the Sixth Coalition}} {{For|the 1632 battle|Battle of Lützen (1632)}} {{inline citations needed|date=February 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Use shortened footnotes|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Battle of Lützen | partof = the [[German campaign of 1813|German campaign]] of the [[War of the Sixth Coalition|Sixth Coalition]] | image = Battle of Lutzen 1813 by Fleischmann.jpg | image_size = 300 | caption = Napoléon with his troops. | date = 2 May 1813{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=449}} | place = [[Lützen]], [[Germany]] | coordinates = {{coord|51.2167|N|12.1833|E|source:ruwiki_region:DE_type:city|format=dms}} | map_type = Europe | map_relief = 1 | map_size = 300 | result = French victory | territory = | combatant1 = {{flagcountry|First French Empire}}<br>{{flagicon|Napoleonic Italy}} [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Kingdom of Italy]]<br>{{flagcountry|Grand Duchy of Hesse}} | combatant2 = {{flagcountry|Russian Empire}}<br>{{flag|Prussia|1803}} | commander1 = {{plainlist| * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Napoleon]] * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Michel Ney]] * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Jean-de-Dieu Soult]] * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Auguste de Marmont]] * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Édouard Mortier]] * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Henri Gatien Bertrand]] * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Jacques MacDonald]] * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Eugène de Beauharnais]] * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Nicolas Oudinot]] * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Antoine Drouot]] * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Jean-Baptiste Bessières]] {{KIA}} * {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta|Horace Sébastiani]] *{{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Jacques Lauriston]] }} | commander2 = {{plainlist| * {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Peter Wittgenstein]] * {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] * {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Alexander Tormasov]] * {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Ferdinand von Wintzingerode]] * {{flagicon|Russian Empire}} [[Levin August von Bennigsen]] * {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher]] * {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg]] * {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Gerhard von Scharnhorst]]{{DOW}}{{sfn|Pigeard|2004|pp=499-500}} * {{flagicon|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Frederick William III]] }} | strength1 = 78,000{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=449}}{{sfn|Pigeard|2004|pp=499-500}}–145,000{{sfn|Leggiere|2015|p=217}} <br> 372 guns | strength2 = 70,000–96,000{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=449}}{{sfn|Pigeard|2004|pp=499-500}}{{sfn|Leggiere|2015|p=217}} <br> 552 guns | casualties1 = 19,655–22,000{{sfn|Pigeard|2004|pp=499-500}}{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=449}} | casualties2 = 11,500–30,000{{sfn|Clark|2006|p=365}}{{sfn|Chandler|2009|p=1120}}{{sfn|Tulard|1999|p=229}} }} {{Campaignbox German campaign}} {{Campaignbox Sixth Coalition}} {{OSM Location map | coord = {{coord|52.4|13}} | zoom = 5 | float = right | nolabels = 1 | width = 304 | height = 180 | title = [[War of the Sixth Coalition]]:<br>[[German Campaign of 1813|German campaign]] | caption = {{legend|black|current battle}}{{legend|maroon|Napoleon in command}}{{legend|navy|Napoleon not in command}} | shapeD=n-circle | shape-colorD=navy | shape-outlineD=white | label-colorD = navy | label-sizeD = 12 | label-posD = left | label-offset-xD = 0 | label-offset-yD = 0 | label1 = | mark-coord1 = {{coord|54.37|18.63}} | mark-title1 = [[Siege of Danzig (1813)]] from 16 January to 29 November 1813 | label2 = | mark-coord2 = {{coord|52.14|11.95}} | mark-title2 = [[Battle of Möckern]] on 5 April 1813 | label3 = | mark-coord3 = {{coord|51.22|12.18}} | mark-title3 = Battle of Lützen (1813) on 2 May 1813 | label-color3 = black | shape-color3 = black | label4 = | mark-coord4 = {{coord|51.18|14.42}} | mark-title4 = [[Battle of Bautzen (1813)]] from 20 to 21 May 1813 | label-color4 = maroon | shape-color4 = maroon | label5 = | mark-coord5 = {{coord|51.27|15.93}} | mark-title5 = [[Battle of Haynau]] on 26 May 1813 | label6 = | mark-coord6 = {{coord|51.85|13.72}} | mark-title6 = [[Battle of Luckau]] on 4 June 1813 | label7 = | mark-coord7 = {{coord|52.35|13.3}} | mark-title7 = [[Battle of Großbeeren]] on 23 August 1813 | label8 = | mark-coord8 = {{coord|51.10|16.10}} | mark-title8 = [[Battle of the Katzbach]] on 26 August 1813 | label9 = | mark-coord9 = {{coord|51.03|13.73}} | mark-title9 = [[Battle of Dresden]] from 26 to 27 August 1813 | label-color9 = maroon | shape-color9 = maroon | label10 = | mark-coord10 = {{coord|50.69|13.94}} | mark-title10 = [[Battle of Kulm]] from 29 to 30 August 1813 | label11 = | mark-coord11 = {{coord|51.97|13}} | mark-title11 = [[Battle of Dennewitz]] on 6 September 1813 | label12 = | mark-coord12 = {{coord|53.15|10.84}} | mark-title12 = [[Battle of the Göhrde]] on 16 September 1813 | label13 = | mark-coord13 = {{coord|50.99|12.43}} | mark-title13 = [[Battle of Altenburg]] on 28 September 1813 | label14 = | mark-coord14 = {{coord|51.83|12.25}} | mark-title14 = [[Combat of Roßlau]] on 29 September 1813 | label15 = | mark-coord15 = {{coord|51.81|12.78}} | mark-title15 = [[Battle of Wartenburg]] on 3 October 1813 | label16 = Leipzig | mark-coord16 = {{coord|51.33|12.38}} | mark-title16 = [[Battle of Leipzig]] from 16 to 19 October 1813 | label-color16 = maroon | shape-color16 = maroon | label17 = | mark-coord17 = {{coord|50.13|8.92}} | mark-title17 = [[Battle of Hanau]] from 30 to 31 October 1813 | label-color17 = maroon | shape-color17 = maroon | label18 = | mark-coord18 = {{coord|54.37|9.82}} | mark-title18 = [[Battle of Sehested]] from 10 December 1813 | label19 = | mark-coord19 = {{coord|53.58|9.98}} | mark-title19 = [[Siege of Hamburg]] from 24 December 1813 to 12 May 1814 }} In the '''Battle of Lützen''' (German: ''Schlacht von Großgörschen'', 2 May 1813), [[Napoleon I of France]] defeated an allied army of the [[War of the Sixth Coalition|Sixth Coalition]]. The [[Russian Empire|Russian]] commander, Prince [[Peter Wittgenstein]], attempting to forestall Napoleon's capture of [[Leipzig]], attacked the French right wing near [[Lützen]], [[Saxony-Anhalt]], [[Germany]], surprising Napoleon. Recovering quickly, Napoleon ordered a [[double envelopment]] of the allies. After a day of heavy fighting, the imminent encirclement of his army prompted Wittgenstein to retreat. Due to a shortage of [[cavalry]], the French did not pursue. The two armies would clash again in the [[Battle of Bautzen (1813)|Battle of Bautzen]] three weeks later. ==Prelude== Following the disaster of [[French invasion of Russia]] in 1812, a new coalition consisting of Britain, Sweden, Prussia and Russia formed against France. In response to this, Napoleon hastily assembled an army of just over 200,000 which included inexperienced recruits, troops from Spain and garrison battalions but was severely short of horses (a consequence of the Russian invasion, where most of his veteran troops and horses had perished). He crossed the [[Rhine]] into Germany to link up with remnants of his old {{lang|fr|[[Grande Armée]]}} under the command of Prince [[Eugène de Beauharnais]], and to quickly defeat this new alliance before it became too strong. On the 30 April, Napoleon crossed the river [[Saale]], advancing on Leipzig from the west and southwest in three columns led by the V Corps under General [[Jacques Lauriston]]. His intention was to work his way into the Coalition's interior lines, dividing their forces and defeating them in detail before they could combine. But due to the lack of cavalrymen and faulty reconnaissance, he was unaware of the Russo-Prussian army under Wittgenstein and [[Graf]] ([[Count]]) [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher|von Blücher]] concentrating on his right flank to the southeast. Prussian scouts reported that the French army was stretched between Naumberg and Leipzig. Wittgenstein's plan was to attack towards Lützen and split Napoleon's forces in two. He was hoping to inflict serious casualties on Napoleon and score a victory that could possibly be used to bring Austria into the Coalition. On the eve of the battle, one of Napoleon's marshals, [[Jean-Baptiste Bessières]], was killed by a stray cannonball while reconnoitering near [[Rippach]]. [[File:Mort du maréchal Bessières.jpg|left|thumb|Death of Marshal Bessières]] [[Marshal of France|Marshal]] [[Michel Ney|Ney's]] [[III Corps (Grande Armée)|III Corps]] was to hold the right flank around Lützen in support of the forces marching towards Leipzig and was caught by surprise. The [[III Corps (Grande Armée)|III Corps]] consisted of five infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade. Three of these divisions were situated around Lützen, one division in the four villages to the southeast (Kaja, Kleingörschen, Großgörschen and Rahna) and one division a mile to the west of these in Starsiedel. The French [[VI Corps (Grande Armée)|VI Corps]] under Marshal Marmont was at Rippach to the west, Bertrand's [[IV Corps (Grande Armée)|IV Corps]] was south of Weissenfels ([[Weißenfels]]) where the [[Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)|Imperial Guard]] was also located. Macdonald's [[XI Corps (Grande Armée)|XI Corps]] and the [[I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée)|I Cavalry Corps]] were situated to the north of Lützen. ==Battle== The Prussian attack started off late with Blücher leading with his corps about 11:30am. As they approached Großgörschen, he was only expecting a couple thousand French instead of the full division that he found. Blücher paused the attack, called up his artillery and started an artillery bombardment at about noon. Marmont to the west heard the sound of the cannon and moved his corps towards Starsiedel. After a 40 minute bombardment, Blücher sent in one brigade that drove the French out of Großgörschen then followed up with another brigade and cavalry that captured Kleingörschen and Rahna. Ney put himself at the head of one of his divisions moving south from Lützen and counterattacked, retaking Kleingörschen and Rahna. Blücher committed his last brigade about 2:00pm, which forced the French out of Kleingörschen and then advanced to Kaja. Blücher was wounded, leaving the Prussian forces to the command of General von Yorck. Napoleon was visiting the [[Battle of Lützen (1632)|1632 battlefield]], playing tour guide with his staff by pointing to the sites and describing the events of 1632, in detail from memory, when he heard the sound of cannon. He immediately cut the tour short and rode off towards the direction of the artillery fire. Arriving on the scene about 2:00pm, he quickly sized up the situation and sent orders to concentrate his forces. He sent Ney a steady stream of reinforcements which would take up positions in and around the villages south of Lützen. Yorck committed the recently arrived Prussian reserves about 4:00pm. Wittgenstein and Yorck continued to press Ney in the center; control of the villages switched hands multiple times as troops were committed from both sides. The King of Prussia personally led a charge of the Prussian Guard that took the village of Rahna. By 5:30pm, the Coalition held all of the villages except for Kaja, which was still contested. Once Bertrand's IV Corps approached the battlefield from his right and Macdonald's XI Corps from his left, Napoleon no longer needed to worry about his flanks. Once the Coalition's advance had been halted, with perfect timing, Napoleon struck back. While he had been reinforcing Ney, he had also reinforced the guns of the III Corps and VI Corps located between Starsiedel and Rahna with the Guard's cannons. General [[Antoine Drouot|Drouot]] concentrated these into a great mass of artillery of about 100 guns ([[Grand Battery|''Grande Batterie'']]) that unleashed a devastating barrage on Wittgenstein's center. Napoleon had collected his [[Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)|Imperial Guard]] behind these guns and sent them in a counter assault led by Marshal Mortier into the allied center at about 6:00pm, which cleared the Coalition forces from the villages. A Prussian cavalry attack, and encroaching darkness, slowed the French offensive, allowing the main Coalition army to retreat in good order to regroup south of the villages. The lack of French cavalry prevented pursuit. Napoleon lost 19,655 men, including 2,757 killed and 16,898 wounded, including one of his marshals, while the Prussians lost at least 8,500 men killed or wounded and the Russians lost 3,500 men killed, wounded or missing,{{sfn|Smith|1998}} although casualties may have been much higher.{{sfn|Chandler|2009|p=1120}}{{sfn|Tulard|1999|p=229}} By nightfall, the Tsar and Wittgenstein were hardly convinced that they had lost the battle. They retreated, however, after hearing that Leipzig had fallen, leaving Napoleon in control of Lützen and the field. ==Aftermath== [[File:Frühjahrsfeldzug 1813.png|thumb|upright=2.5|Army movements in the Spring Campaign of 1813]] Napoleon demonstrated his usual prowess in driving back the Russo-Prussian force at Lützen, but the costliness of his victory had a major impact on the war. Lützen was followed by the [[Battle of Bautzen (1813)|Battle of Bautzen]] eighteen days later, where Napoleon was again victorious but with the loss of another 22,000 men, twice as many as the Russo-Prussian army.{{sfn|Clark|2006|p=365}} The ferocity of these two battles prompted Napoleon to accept a temporary armistice on June 4 with Tsar Alexander and King Frederick William III. This agreement provided the allies the respite to organise and re-equip their armies and, perhaps more importantly, encouraged Britain to provide Russia and Prussia with war subsidies totalling seven million pounds.{{sfn|Clark|2006|p=365}} The financial security offered by this agreement was a major boon to the war effort against Napoleon. Another important result of the battle was that it encouraged [[Austrian Empire|Austria]] to join the allied Coalition upon the armistice's expiration, shifting the balance of power dramatically in the Coalition's favor.{{sfn|Clark|2006|p=366}} Due to these developments, Napoleon later regarded the June 4 truce, bought at Lützen and Bautzen, as the undoing of his power in Germany.{{sfn|Clark|2006|p=365}} During the battle of Lützen, [[Gerhard von Scharnhorst]], one of the brightest and most able Prussian generals, was wounded while serving as Wittgenstein's Chief of Staff. Although his wound was minor, the hasty retreat prevented proper treatment, allowing a fatal infection to set in.{{sfn|Dupuy|Dupuy|1986|p=760}} ==Notes== {{Reflist|2}} ==References== * {{cite book | last=Bodart | first=Gaston | year=1908 | title=Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905) | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_A0kNAAAAYAAJ|lang=de|publisher=C.W. Stern|location=Vienna and Leipzig| url-access=registration | access-date=3 February 2024|via=Internet Archive}} * {{cite book | last=Chandler | first=David G. | year=2009 | author-link=David G. Chandler | title=The Campaigns of Napoleon. The mind and method of history's greatest soldier | publisher=Simon and Schuster | location=New York}} * {{cite book | last=Clark | first=Christopher C. | year=2006 | title=Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 | publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | isbn=978-0-674-02385-7}} * {{cite book | last1=Dupuy | first1=R. Ernest | last2=Dupuy | first2=Trevor N. | year=1986 | title=The Encyclopedia of Military History: From 3500 B.C. to the Present | edition=2nd|isbn=0061812358|publisher=Harper & Row Publishers}} * {{cite book | last=Leggiere | first=Michael V. | year=2015 | author-link=Michael Leggiere | title=Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-1107080515 |volume=1}} * {{cite book | last=Pigeard |first=Alain|publisher=Editions Tallandier|lang=fr|isbn=2847340734| year=2004 | title=Dictionnaire des batailles de Napoléon}} * {{cite book | last=Smith | first=Digby | year=1998 | author-link=Digby Smith | title=The Napoleonic Wars Data Book | publisher=Greenhill | isbn=1853672769}} * {{cite book | last=Tulard | first=Jean | year=1999 | author-link=Jean Tulard | title=Dictionnaire Napoléon| volume=((I-Z))| location=Paris | publisher=Fayard | isbn=2-213-60485-1}} ==Further reading== * {{cite book |ref=none| last=Clark | first=Christopher M. | year=2006 | title=Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 | url=https://archive.org/details/ironkingdomrised00chri | url-access=registration | access-date=3 February 2024|via=Internet Archive|publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts| isbn=9780674023857 }} * {{cite book |ref=none| last=Lawford | first=James | year=1979 | title=Napoleon, The Last Campaigns 1813-1815 | publisher=Crown Publishers | location=New York}} * {{cite book |ref=none| last=Lorraine | first=Petre F. | year=1977 | title=Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany in 1813 | publisher=Hippocrene Books, Inc. | location=New York}} * {{cite book |ref=none| last=Nafziger | first=George | year=1992 | title=Lutzen and Bautzen: Napoleon's Spring Campaign of 1813 | publisher=Emperor's Press | location=Chicago}} * Wimble, Ed (1999). ''La Bataille de Lutzen'' [Board game]. Phoenixville, Pennsylvania: [[Clash of Arms Games]]. ==External links== *[http://www.napoleonguide.com/battle_lutzen.htm A shorter account of Lützen at napoleonguide.com] *[http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/Russian_army.htm Russian Army of the Napoleonic Wars] *{{commons-inline}} {{Sequence | prev = [[Battle of Castalla]] | list = Napoleonic Wars | curr = Battle of Lützen (1813) | next = [[Battle of Bautzen (1813)]] }} <!--The addition enables mobile users to click at least the next battle or the previous one taken from the navbox "Napoleonic Wars" placed below but invisible in mobile view.--> {{Napoleonic Wars}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Lützen 1813}} [[Category:1813 in the Confederation of the Rhine]] [[Category:May 1813]] [[Category:German campaign of 1813]] [[Category:Battles in 1813]] [[Category:Battles commanded by Napoleon]] [[Category:Battles inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe]] [[Category:Battles of the War of the Sixth Coalition involving Prussia]] [[Category:Battles of the War of the Sixth Coalition involving Russia]] [[Category:Grand Duchy of Hesse]] [[Category:Battles involving the Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)]] [[Category:Lützen]] [[Category:Military history of Saxony-Anhalt]] [[Category:Alexander I of Russia]] [[Category:Frederick William III of Prussia]] [[Category:Encirclements]]
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