Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Maps
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Trachenberg and Reichenbach
- 2 The Silesian Army
- 3 “The infamous conduct of the Prussians”
- 4 Löwenberg
- 5 Goldberg
- 6 The Katzbach
- 7 Blücher’s hare hunt
- 8 “Nothing more remains than to have them shot dead”
- 9 Lusatia
- 10 The Middle Elbe
- 11 The Mulde
- 12 Hide and seek
- 13 Opening round
- 14 “A battle of the most obstinate and sanguinary class”
- 15 Leipzig
- 16 Race to the Rhine
- Assessment
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - “The infamous conduct of the Prussians”
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2015
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Maps
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Trachenberg and Reichenbach
- 2 The Silesian Army
- 3 “The infamous conduct of the Prussians”
- 4 Löwenberg
- 5 Goldberg
- 6 The Katzbach
- 7 Blücher’s hare hunt
- 8 “Nothing more remains than to have them shot dead”
- 9 Lusatia
- 10 The Middle Elbe
- 11 The Mulde
- 12 Hide and seek
- 13 Opening round
- 14 “A battle of the most obstinate and sanguinary class”
- 15 Leipzig
- 16 Race to the Rhine
- Assessment
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Yorck’s van – a combined-arms detachment commanded by Lobenthal – spearheaded the drive into the neutral zone. Departing from Lorzendorf (Wawrzeńczyce), the Prussians marched almost twenty miles northwest to secure Mertschütz, itself halfway to Liegnitz. From Panzkau (Pęczków), one cavalry detachment under Major Schenk consisting of two squadrons each from the 2nd Leib Hussars and the Brandenburg Hussars established communication with Sacken’s corps. Yorck’s main body trooped to Saarau and Konradswaldau (Mrowiny) in three columns. For added security, the Prussian corps commander kept the cavalry of each of his four brigades close to the infantry. To the left of the Prussians, Langeron’s vanguard reached Jauer; the main body halted ten miles to its southeast at Striegau, itself four miles west of Yorck’s main body. Two hundred Cossacks maintained communication between Yorck’s and Langeron’s vanguards. On Blücher’s right, Sacken’s corps marched into Breslau but did not achieve its objectives of Neumarkt and Deutschlissa. After occupying the provincial capital, the Russian corps commander continued only to Breslau’s western suburbs instead of the Schweidnitz stream. He pushed six Cossack regiments to Deutschlissa rather than Neumarkt. Purportedly, Sacken admitted to purposefully deviating from the disposition. On Blücher’s extreme left wing, Kaysarov led Pahlen III’s van of four Jäger battalions and three Cossack regiments only to Schmiedeberg, likewise falling short of his objective of reaching Hirschberg. Blücher’s headquarters moved to Würben, four miles north of Schweidnitz (see Map 2).
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- Napoleon and the Struggle for GermanyThe Franco-Prussian War of 1813, pp. 125 - 164Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015