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Battle of Kulm

(Redirected from Battle of Culm)

See Battle of Chlumec for the 1126 battle at Kulm

The Battle of Kulm was fought near the town Kulm (Czech: Chlumec) and the village Přestanov in northern Bohemia. It was fought on 29–30 August 1813, during the War of the Sixth Coalition. A French corps under General Dominique Vandamme attacked Alexander Osterman-Tolstoy's Russian corps on 29 August. The next day, Friedrich von Kleist's Prussian corps hit Vandamme in the rear while Russian and Austrian reinforcements attacked the French front and left. Vandamme was defeated with the loss of between 13,000 and 25,000 men and 82 guns.

Battle of Kulm
Part of the German campaign of the Sixth Coalition

Painting by Alexander Kotzebue
Date29–30 August 1813[1]
Location
Kulm, Bohemia
50°41′50″N 13°56′20″E / 50.6972°N 13.9389°E / 50.6972; 13.9389
Result Coalition victory
Belligerents
 France  Russia
 Austria
 Prussia
Commanders and leaders
First French Empire Dominique Vandamme Surrendered
Strength
32,000[2]–37,000[1] Initially:
15,000–16,000[3]
Totally:
103,000[a]
Casualties and losses
13,000 to 25,000[b]

Details:
9,000 killed or wounded;
8,000 captured;
81 guns;
2 Imperial Eagles;
2 guidons.[1]		 11,000 to 12,319[c]

Details:
11,000 killed or wounded;
1,000 captured.[1]
Battle of Kulm is located in Europe
Battle of Kulm
class=notpageimage|
Location within Europe
War of the Sixth Coalition:
German campaign
Map
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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 Göhrdeon 16 September 1813
11
Battle of Dennewitz on 6 September 1813
10
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
  current battle
  Napoleon in command
  Napoleon not in command

Background

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Following the French victory at Dresden, Vandamme pursued the retreating allies. Napoleon sent Marshals Gouvion Saint Cyr and Auguste Marmont to support Vandamme's corps. With Vandamme in advance, Saint Cyr's and Marmont's corps brought up the rear. Vandamme caught up with Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy's forces near the town of Kulm, eight kilometres northwest of Aussig (Ústí nad Labem, now in the Czech Republic).

Battle

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Charge of the cuirassiers at Kulm

On 29 August, Vandamme, with 34,000 soldiers and 84 guns at his disposal, attacked Russian formations forming a rearguard for the retreating Coalition army, at 14,700[citation needed] to 16,000[3] strong, under the command of Russian general Ostermann-Tolstoy. The situation was very dangerous for the allies; if Vandamme won the battle, the French would take the passes in the mountains, and the retreating Coalition army could be trapped by Napoleon. However, Ostermann-Tolstoy rallied all of his troops for a stiff defense; he was seriously wounded, losing his left hand, but was replaced by his right hand man, Aleksei Petrovich Yermolov. By the end of the day the Allies had 20,000 men.[3] All of Vandamme's attacks were repulsed, and his situation got worse on the next day. A Prussian army corps commanded by Friedrich von Kleist attacked Vandamme's rearguard. Kleist then received help from a combined Russian and Austrian attack on his front, under the command of Generals Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly and von Colloredo-Mansfeld. In an attempt to repulse simultaneous attacks on his front and rear, Vandamme ordered his forces to form squares. The inexperienced French troops were unable to fend off the allies, and soon withdrew from the battlefield, with heavy losses, including Vandamme himself as a captured prisoner of war.

Casualties

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The French lost between 13,000 and 25,000 of the pursuing force of 34,000, including Vandamme, and almost all of his artillery, 82 of his 84 guns, were captured. The allies lost approximately 11,000 soldiers killed or wounded.[5]

In Vandamme's corps there were two Polish regiments of Uhlans, part of cavalry divisions under the command of General Jean Corbineau. These regiments were used by Vandamme to defend against enemy cavalry charges. One regiment, commanded by Colonel Maximilian Fredro (brother of playwright Alexander Fredro), was attacked after withdrawing to a defile and surrendered. The other regiment of Uhlans, under the command of Count Tomasz Łubieński (generally known in English as Thomas Lubienski) successfully withdrew.

Aftermath

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While Marshal MacDonald's defeat at Katzbach coincided with Napoleon's victory at Dresden, the Coalition success at Kulm eventually negated his triumph, given that his troops never completely crushed the enemy. Thus, by winning this battle, Ostermann-Tolstoy and his troops succeeded in buying much needed time for the Coalition armies to regroup after the Battle of Dresden for the Battle of Wartenburg and subsequently for the Battle of Leipzig.

Insults

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According to a French anecdote, after the battle Vandamme was brought to and accused by Emperor Alexander I of Russia of being a brigand and plunderer. He retorted, "I am neither a plunderer nor a brigand, but in any case, my contemporaries and history will not reproach me for having murdered my own father." This statement apparently hinted at the widespread belief that Alexander I was implicated in the murder of his father, Emperor Paul I.[6]

The battlefield today

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The battlefield is mostly built over. There is a large monument topped with a lion next door to the Hotel Napoleon.

Notes

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  1. ^ 103,000 total[1]
    • of these, 54,000[2] were made up of 44,000 Russians and 10,000 Prussians[4]
  2. ^
  3. ^

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Bodart 1908, p. 456.
  2. ^ a b c d Clodfelter 2008, p. 178.
  3. ^ a b c Velichko et al. 1915, pp. 384–388.
  4. ^ Eggenberger 1985, p. 224.
  5. ^ a b c Leggiere 2015, p. 9.
  6. ^ Marbot 2011, p. 375.

Sources

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  • Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618–1905). Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  • Clodfelter, M. (2008). Warfare and armed conflicts : a statistical encyclopedia of casualty and other figures, 1494–2007. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0786433193.
  • Leggiere, Michael V. (2015). Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany: The Franco-Prussian War of 1813. Cambridge University Press.
  • Marbot, Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin (2011). The Memoirs of General Baron de Marbot. Vol. II. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  • Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-24913-1. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  • Velichko, Konstantin; Novitsky, Vasily; Schwarz, Alexey; Apushkin, Vladimir; Schulz, Gustav (1915). Sytin Military Encyclopedia (in Russian). Vol. 14. Тип. Т-ва И.Д. Сытина. Retrieved 1 June 2023.

Further reading

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  • Nadzieja, Jadwiga (1998). Lipsk 1813. Warsaw: Bellona. pp. 57–59. ISBN 83-11-08826-8.
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Preceded by
Battle of Dresden 		Napoleonic Wars
Battle of Kulm 		Succeeded by
Battle of San Marcial
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