Battle of Gefrees
Battle of Gefrees | |||||||
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Part of War of the Fifth Coalition | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Austria Black Brunswickers |
First French Empire Kingdom of Westphalia Kingdom of Saxony | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Michael von Kienmayer Frederick William |
Jean-Andoche Junot Jérôme Bonaparte Johann von Thielmann | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Entire Campaign: 13,000 Austrians 2,000 Brunswickers At Gefrees: 6,000 Austrians |
Entire Campaign: 15,000 French 15,000 Westphalians 5,000 Saxons At Gefrees: 7,500 French | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
At Gefrees: 100 killed or wounded |
At Gefrees: 185 killed or wounded |
Rebellion Brunswick
The Battle of Gefrees was fought on 8 July 1809 during the
Background
When
After the battle of Battle of Aspern-Essling, Archduke Charles reinforced the Austrian troops in Bohemia to a total strength of over 12,000 men and ordered a diversionary attack into Saxony. These Austrian reinforcements entered Saxony on 10 June and by the third day, an Austrian force of over 6,000 men under Major Am Ende captured the capital, Dresden. Von Thielmann and his Saxons were forced back to Gorbitz, whilst the Saxon Royal Family hurriedly fled west. Meanwhile, another force of 6,000 men under Paul von Radivojevich wheeled south into Bavaria, another French ally, capturing Bayreuth on 14 June. From here, Radivojevich could threaten an invasion of the Kingdom of Württemberg or an attempt to reinforce the Tyrolean uprising.
On 22 June, in face of the worsening situation in Saxony and northern Bavaria, Napoleon's brother Jérôme, who was also King of Westphalia, left Kassel with a force of 15,000 men including his Royal Guard Division. On the same day the Austrian forces had occupied Leipzig but were quickly forced to retreat by the arrival of Jérôme's troops. By 26 June, Jérôme had retaken the city and two days later the Westphalians clashed with the Austrians and Brunswickers for the first time.
In addition, General Junot had arrived in Frankfurt and took command of the Corps of Observation of the Elbe, an army hastily assembled to guard the Confederation of the Rhine. Deciding to seize the initiative rather than engaging in a defensive campaign, Junot began marching east to confront Radivojevich. Outnumbered, Radivojevich chose to fall back towards am Ende's troops to the north. Meanwhile, Jérôme's forces had retaken Dresden forcing am Ende's to form a new defensive line further south.
In an attempt to reclaim their lost momentum, the Austrian and Brunswicker troops were reorganised into the new XI. Corps and placed under the command of General Michael von Kienmayer, who had arrived with reinforcements. However, on the same day Kienmayer took up his command, Jérôme had left Dresden and headed south in pursuit of am Ende. Kienmayer and his 15,000 troops had found themselves dangerously positioned in the middle of a Franco-Westphalian pincer movement.
Battle
However, what followed was the most successful series of battles for the Austrians in over a decade. Jérôme was slow in his pursuit, allowing Kienmayer to head south and confront Junot. The Austrians first managed to stop Junot's advanced guard and then engaged Junot's main force on 8 July 1809 at Gefrees. This was the largest battle on the northern front during the whole war and ended in a decisive victory for the Austrians.
At Gefrees, the Austrians under Kienmayer had 2 regiments of regular
With the southern pincer defeated, Kienmayer turned his attention to Jérôme who was still slowly advancing south. He rejoined with the rest of his forces, including the Black Brunswickers, and finally engaged Jérôme's forces on 11 July at Hof. Jérôme had been expecting to fight an Austrian army being pursued by Marshal Junot. Instead, Jérôme found himself outnumbered and facing an army buoyed by a recent victory.
Jérôme, sensing defeat was inevitable, ordered a general retreat to
Aftermath
Duke Frederick William, however, was appalled by the
Notes
References
- histofig (2007). "The Black Band in 1809 and the Brunswick Troops in the Peninsular War". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
Further reading
- Gill, John H. (1992). With Eagles to Glory: Napoleon and His German Allies in the 1809 Campaign. Greenhill Books.
- Petre, F. Loraine (1976). Napoleon and the Archduke Charles. New York, N.Y.: Hippocrene Books.
External links
- Media related to Battle of Gefrees at Wikimedia Commons
Preceded by Combat of Stockerau |
Napoleonic Wars Battle of Gefrees |
Succeeded by Battle of Hollabrunn (1809) |