German campaign of 1813

German campaign
Part of the War of the Sixth Coalition
War of the Sixth CoalitionBattle of Lützen (1813)Battle of the KatzbachBattle of DresdenBattle of KulmBattle of LeipzigBattle of Hanau
War of the Sixth Coalition

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Left to right, top to bottom:
Battles of Lutzen, Katzbach, Dresden, Kulm, Leipzig, Hanau
DateJanuary-October 1813
Location
Germany, France, the Low Countries, and Central Europe
Result Sixth Coalition victory
Territorial
changes
Confederation of the Rhine dissolved
German states unite to form the German Confederation
Netherlands gains independence
Norway ceded to the King of Sweden
Belligerents
 Russia
 United Kingdom
Netherlands Netherlands
 Sweden
German states:
 Austria
 Prussia
Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Mecklenburg-Schwerin
 Hanover
 Bavaria
Kingdom of Saxony Saxony
 Württemberg

 France

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway
Commanders and leaders
Russian Empire Alexander I
Sweden Crown Prince Karl Johan
Austrian Empire Karl von Schwarzenberg
Kingdom of Prussia Frederick William III
Kingdom of Prussia Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg
Kingdom of Prussia Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Kingdom of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm von Bülow
Kingdom of Bavaria Maximilian I Joseph
Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick Francis I
Kingdom of Saxony Frederick Augustus
Kingdom of Württemberg Frederick I
Russian Empire Alexander Romanov
Russian Empire Barclay de Tolly
Russian Empire Levin August von Bennigsen
Russian Empire Matvei Platov
Russian Empire Peter Wittgenstein
Netherlands William I of Orange-Nassau
United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandElectorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg George III
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Robert Jenkinson
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Arthur Wellesley of Wellington
First French Empire Napoleon I
First French Empire Pierre Augereau
First French Empire Jean-Baptiste Bessières 
First French Empire Louis-Nicolas Davout
First French Empire Jacques MacDonald
First French Empire Auguste de Marmont
First French Empire Édouard Mortier
First French Empire Michel Ney
First French Empire Nicolas Oudinot
First French Empire Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr
First French Empire Jean-de-Dieu Soult
First French Empire Claude Victor-Perrin
First French Empire Jacques Lauriston (POW)
Duchy of Warsaw Józef Poniatowski 
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Eugène de Beauharnais
Kingdom of Naples Joachim Murat
Strength

16 August 1813:
Total: 860,000 men[2]

Field army:
512,113 men[2]
1,380 guns[2]

16 August 1813:
Total: 700,000 men[3]

Field army:
442,810 men[4]
1,284 guns[4]
Casualties and losses
360,000[5][b]
  • 275,000 killed and wounded
  • 85,000 captured and missing
460,000[5][c]
  • 270,000 killed and wounded
  • 190,000 captured and missing
Casualty statistics are the total losses of 1813.
Map
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Maps: terms of use
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
Battle of Altenburg on 28 September 1813
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
  Napoleon in command
  Napoleon not in command
Battles of the German campaign inscribed on a medal
The Lützow Free Corps in action

The German campaign (German: Befreiungskriege, lit.'Wars of Liberation') was fought in 1813. Members of the Sixth Coalition, including the German states of Austria and Prussia, plus Russia and Sweden, fought a series of battles in Germany against the French Emperor Napoleon, his marshals, and the armies of the Confederation of the Rhine - an alliance of most of the other German states - which ended the domination of the First French Empire.[d]

After the devastating defeat of Napoleon's Grande Armée in the Russian campaign of 1812, Johann Yorck – the general in command of the Grande Armée's German auxiliaries (Hilfskorps) – declared a ceasefire with the Russians on 30 December 1812 via the Convention of Tauroggen. This was the decisive factor in the outbreak of the German campaign the following year.

The spring campaign between France and the Sixth Coalition ended inconclusively with a summer truce (Truce of Pläswitz). Via the Trachenberg Plan, developed during a period of ceasefire in the summer of 1813, the ministers of Prussia, Russia, and Sweden agreed to pursue a single allied strategy against Napoleon. Following the end of the ceasefire, Austria eventually sided with the coalition, thwarting Napoleon's hopes of reaching separate agreements with Austria and Russia. The coalition now had a clear numerical superiority, which they eventually brought to bear on Napoleon's main forces, despite earlier setbacks such as the Battle of Dresden. The high point of allied strategy was the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, which ended in a decisive defeat for Napoleon. The Confederation of the Rhine was dissolved following the battle with many of its former member states joining the coalition, breaking Napoleon's hold over Germany.

After a delay in which a new strategy was agreed upon, in early 1814 the coalition invaded France, coinciding with the march of Duke of Wellington's British army northward from Spain into southern France. Napoleon was forced to abdicate and Louis XVIII assumed the French throne. The war came to a formal end with the Treaty of Paris in May 1814.

  1. ^ Hans A. Schmitt. Germany Without Prussia: A Closer Look at the Confederation of the Rhine. German Studies Review 6, No. 4 (1983), pp 9-39.
  2. ^ a b c Maude 1908, p. 156.
  3. ^ Maude 1908, p. 149.
  4. ^ a b Maude 1908, p. 148.
  5. ^ a b Bodart 1916, p. 46.


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