Lutzen & Bautzen 1813 by Peter Hofschroer

Author:Peter Hofschroer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Lützen & Bautzen 1813: The Turning Point
ISBN: 9781780964317
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Published: 2012-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

Marshal Nicolas-Charles Oudinot, Duke of Reggio (1767-1847). Appointed to the rank of marshal in 1809, Oudinot was twice wounded in Russia in 1812. He recovered sufficiently to command a corps again in 1813.

Blücher’s Movements

By mid-March, Blücher’s raiding parties had crossed the Elbe both above and below Dresden and his vanguard, Wintzingerode’s Corps, reached Bautzen on 20 March. Meanwhile, Durutte had completed his withdrawal from Dresden, so that when Wintzingerode entered the Saxon capital on 27 March he found it abandoned by the French. He erected a pontoon bridge and continued his advance, reaching Leipzig by 3 April. His raiding parties crossed the Saale at various points on 8 April and Lanskoi covered them by occupying Merseburg.

Blücher himslef advanced from Breslau (Wroclaw) in Silesia on 16 March and was in Dresden by the end of the month. Fearing a French move from the direction of Erfurt or Hof, he moved south towards Chemnitz. By 4 April, he had reached the upper Mulde at Zwickau and Penig, where he remained for the time being. As Saxony had not joined the Allies and her king had departed for Regensburg, leaving his government in the hands of commissioners, his domain was treated as enemy territory. Despite calls to join the Allied cause, the populace as a whole showed little enthusiasm.

The general indecision in the Allied high command again led to inactivity. Blücher’s three Prussian brigades took up positions in Penig, Zwickau and Nossen, the Reserve Cavalry at Kohren. Scouting parties were sent out to observe French movements and to link up with Wintzingerode’s partisans with patrols spreading throughout the province of Thuringia.

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