Battle of Friedland
Battle of Friedland | |||||||
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Part of the Etienne de Nansouty and behind the Emperor, on his right is Marshal Michel Ney. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
French Empire Kingdom of Saxony[1] | Russian Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
80,000 (65,000 engaged[2]) 118 cannons[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] |
46,000–60,000 120 cannons[3][4][6][7][8] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
8,000[10]–10,000[11] |
20,000[10]–40,000[12] killed, wounded and captured 80 guns[10] | ||||||
The Battle of Friedland (14 June 1807) was a major engagement of the
The engagement at Friedland was a strategic necessity after the
Napoleon's overwhelming victory was enough to convince the Russian political establishment that peace was necessary. Friedland effectively ended the
Prelude
Prior to Friedland, Europe had become embroiled in the War of the Third Coalition in 1805. Following the French victory at the Battle of Austerlitz in December 1805, Prussia went to war in 1806 to recover her position as the leading power of Central Europe.
The Prussian Campaign
Franco-Prussian tensions gradually increased after Austerlitz. Napoleon insisted that Prussia should join his economic blockade of Great Britain. This adversely affected the German merchant class. Napoleon ordered a raid to seize a subversive, anti-Napoleonic bookseller named Johann Philipp Palm in August 1806, and made a final attempt to secure terms with Britain by offering her Hanover, which infuriated Prussia.[17] The Prussians began to mobilize on 9 August 1806 and issued an ultimatum on 26 August: they required French troops to withdraw to the west bank of the Rhine by 8 October on pain of war between the two nations.[18]
Napoleon aimed to win the war by destroying the Prussian armies before the Russians could arrive.[18] 180,000 French troops began to cross the
Eylau
When the French arrived in Poland, the local people hailed them as liberators.[22] The Russian general Bennigsen worried that French forces might cut him off from
On 7 February the Russians fought
Heilsberg
After several months of recuperating from Eylau, Napoleon ordered the Grande Armée on the move once again. Learning that the Russians had encamped at their operational base in the town of Heilsberg, by the Alle River, Napoleon decided to conduct a general assault in the hopes of dislodging what he thought was the rearguard of the Russian army. In fact, the French ran into the entire Russian army of over 50,000 men and 150 artillery guns.[28] Repeated and determined attacks by the French failed to dislocate the Russians, who were fighting inside elaborate earthworks designed to prevent precisely the kind of river crossing Napoleon was attempting. French casualties soared to 10,000 while the Russians lost about 6,000.[28] The Russians eventually withdrew from Heilsberg as their position became untenable, prompting Napoleon to chase after them once again. The French headed in the direction of Königsberg to gain additional supplies and provisions. On 13 June the advance guard of Marshal Lannes reported seeing large numbers of Russian troops at the town of Friedland. Both sides engaged one another for the remainder of the day with no result. Crucially, Bennigsen believed he had enough time to cross the Alle the following day, to destroy the isolated units of Lannes, and to withdraw back across the river without ever encountering the main French army.
The battle
This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2017) |
Bennigsen's main body began to occupy the town on the night of 13 June, after Russian forces under General
In the meantime Lannes fought hard to hold Bennigsen. Napoleon feared that the Russians meant to evade him again, but by 6 a.m. Bennigsen had nearly 50,000 men across the river and forming up west of Friedland. His infantry, organized in two lines, extended between the Heinrichsdorf-Friedland road and the upper bends of the river along with the artillery. Beyond the right of the infantry, cavalry and Cossacks extended the line to the wood northeast of Heinrichsdorf. Small bodies of
The head of
The course of the previous operations meant that both armies still had large detachments out towards
Soon the Russians found themselves huddled together in the bends of the Alle, an easy target for the guns of Ney and of the reserve. Ney's attack indeed came eventually to a standstill; Bennigsen's reserve cavalry charged with great effect and drove him back in disorder. As at
The Russians suffered heavy losses in the disorganized retreat over the river, with many soldiers drowning. Farther north the still unbroken troops of the right wing withdrew by using the Allenburg road; the French cavalry of the left wing, though ordered to pursue, remained inactive. French casualties numbered approximately 10,000 soldiers while the Russians suffered at least 20,000 casualties.[3]
Results
On 19 June Emperor Alexander sent an envoy to seek an armistice with the French. Napoleon assured the envoy that the
Although the negotiations at Tilsit featured plenty of pageantry and diplomatic niceties, they were not spared from ruthless politics. Alexander faced pressure from his brother,
The War of the Fourth Coalition was over.
The Peninsular War began in the same year on 19 November 1807.
The War of the Fifth Coalition began in 1809.
The River Niemen was crossed in the
In literature and the arts
The battle is mentioned as a pivotal event, though not described, in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.[32]: 204, 232
See also
References
- ISBN 9781782899037. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
The Saxons also had a small division with two brigades, two cavalry regiments and two foot batteries in the French reserve Corps at Friedland.
- ^ Clodfelter 2002.
- ^ a b c Chandler, 1999: 161
- ^ a b Dowling T. C. Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond. ABC-CLIO. 2014. P. 279: "Napoleon, with 80,000 men and 118 cannon".
- ^ Chandler, D. The Campaigns of Napoleon. Scribner, 1966, p. 576.
- ^ a b Tucker S. C. A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. 2009. P. 1055: "The Battle of Friedland of June 14, 1807, pits Napoleon with 80,000 men against Bennigsen with only 60,000".
- ^ a b Emsley C. Napoleonic Europe. Routledge. 2014. P. 236
- ^ a b Sandler S. Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. 2002. P. 304: "Friedland... A battle in East Prussia between French forces, ultimately numbering 80,000, commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, and Russian forces, numbering about 46,000 under Levin, Count Bennigsen".
- ^ Nicholls D. Napoleon: A Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO. 1999. P. 105: "Some 50,000 Russians under Levin von Bennigsen faced 80,000 of the Grande Armée".
- ^ a b c Chandler 1995 p. 582.
- ^ Fisher, Todd & Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. Osprey Publishing, 2004, p. 90
- ^ Fisher, 2001: 78
- ^ a b Gregory Fremont-Barnes (editor).The Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. A Political, Social, and Military History. V. I. ABC CLIO. 2006. P. 388-389.
- ^ Weigley R. F. The Age of Battles: The Quest for Decisive Warfare from Breitenfeld to Waterloo. Indiana University Press, 2004. P. 407
- ^ Roberts, Andrews. Napoleon: A Life. Penguin Group, 2014, p. 455
- Niemenreflected the image of Napoleon at the height of his glory."
- ^ McLynn, p. 354
- ^ a b McLynn p. 355
- ^ McLynn p. 356
- ^ Chandler 1995 p. 502
- ^ Chandler 1995 p. 515
- ^ Todd Fisher and Gregory Fremont-Barnes, The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. p. 76
- ^ a b Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 77
- ^ Chandler, David. The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York: Macmillan. 1966. P. 536
- ^ Esdaile Charles J. The Wars of Napoleon. Routledge, 2014. P. 66
- ^ Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 83. 10,700 represents the paper strength of French cavalry at Eylau. It seems very unlikely, however, that all of these squadrons fought at full strength. History may never ascertain the real number of cavalrymen that charged.
- ^ Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 84. Debate continues regarding the casualties at Eylau. Some historians, such as Chandler, put the figures at 25,000 French and 15,000 Russian while others equate the two around either 15,000 or 25,000.
- ^ a b Roberts, A. Napoleon: A Life. Penguin Group, 2014, p. 450.
- ^ a b Roberts, A. Napoleon: A Life. Penguin Group, 2014, p. 452-3.
- ^ Roberts, A. Napoleon: A Life. Penguin Group, 2014, p. 457.
- ^ a b Roberts, A. Napoleon: A Life. Penguin Group, 2014, p. 458-9.
- ^ Tolstoy, Leo (1949). War and Peace. Garden City: International Collectors Library.
Sources
- ISBN 0-02-523660-1
- Elting, John & Esposito, Vincent, A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars, Greenhill Books, 1999, ISBN 1-85367-346-3
- Fisher, Todd & Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. Osprey Publishing. 2004. ISBN 1-84176-831-6
- Hourtoulle, F. G., From Eylau to Friedland, 1807, The Polish Campaign, Histoire & Collections, Paris, 2007, ISBN 978-2-35250-021-6
- McLynn, Frank. Napoleon: A Biography. New York: Arcade Publishing Inc., 1997. ISBN 1-55970-631-7
- Roberts, Andrew Napoleon, A Life. Penguin Group, 2014. ISBN 978-0-670-02532-9
- Summerville, Christopher. Napoleon's Polish Gamble: Eylau & Friedland 1807. Pen & Sword Books, Ltd. 2005, ISBN 1-84415-260-X
- La bataille de Friedland according to General Marbot in his memoirs: Mémoires, Plon, Nourrit et Cie - Paris 1891
External links
- La bataille de Friedland according to General Marbot in his memoirs: Mémoires, Plon, Nourrit et Cie - Paris 1891
- Clodfelter, Micheal (2002). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500-2000. McFarland. ISBN 9780786433193. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
- Media related to Battle of Friedland at Wikimedia Commons
Preceded by Battle of Heilsberg |
Napoleonic Wars Battle of Friedland |
Succeeded by Siege of Stralsund (1807) |