On August 14 (26), 1813, on the Katzbach River (now the Kachava River) in Silesia, a battle took place between the allied (Russian-Prussian) Silesian army under the command of the Prussian general Gebgard Lembrecht Blucher and the French army under the command of Marshal Jacques MacDonald. This battle ended with a brilliant victory of the Russian-Prussian troops and brought Blucher universal popularity, and the title of Prince of Walstadt.
As mentioned in the article The End of the Armistice of 1813. The Battle of Großberen on 23 August 1813, after the termination of the Pleiswitz Armistice, the Silesian army under the command of the Prussian General Blucher was the first to go on the offensive. Napoleon, believing that these were the main forces of the allies, led his troops against the Silesian army, but having learned about the movement of the Bohemian army to Dresden, he was forced to turn back, leaving a barrier against Blucher under the command of MacDonald. The French marshal received the task of reaching Breslau in order to separate Prussian Silesia and Austrian Bohemia.
Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher (1742 - 1819).
Power balance and disposition
The Silesian army numbered about 100 thousand people (more than 60 thousand Russians and about 40 thousand Prussians) with 340 guns. Of these, 14, 3 thousand regular cavalry, 8, 8 thousand Cossacks. The army had two Russian corps and one Prussian: the Russian corps under the command of Lieutenant General Fabian Wilhelmovich Osten-Saken (18 thousand soldiers with 60 guns), the Russian corps of infantry general Alexander Fedorovich Langeron (43 thousand people, 176 guns) and the Prussian corps under the command of General Johann Yorke (38, 2 thousand people, 104 guns). The battle itself was attended by about 70-75 thousand people. Part of the forces of the Silesian army was dispatched to other areas - the troops of the Count of Saint-Priest and Major General Palen, and up to 12 thousand people have already died, were wounded, fell ill or deserted.
The Silesian army took up positions on the right bank of the Katsbach on the flat plateau Jauer. From the south-west, the plateau skirted a tributary of the Katsbakh, the Neisse River. Osten-Saken's corps was located on the right flank, Langeron on the left flank, and the Prussians were in the center. Neisse separated Langeron's Russian corps from the main forces of Blucher's army.
In the first line of the Osten-Saken corps was the 27th Infantry Division of Neverovsky, in the second - Lieven's 10th Infantry Division. The Kurland and Smolensk Dragoon regiments under the command of Major General Ushakov on the right flank of the second line behind the village of Eichgolts. The 2nd Hussar Division under the command of Adjutant General Vasilchikov was located to the right of Eichholtz, and Karpov's Cossack regiments at the end of the right flank. In the first line of the York corps were the 7th Horn Brigade - the right wing, the 8th Brigade of Gunerbein - the left. The battalion of the Brandenburg Regiment, the 11th and 36th Russian Jaeger Regiments occupied the village of Schlaupe, maintaining contact with the Lanzheron corps. For the same purpose, Schlaup had a landwehr and grenadier battalion, two squadrons of the Brandenburg hussars and two squadrons of the East Prussian National Regiment. In the second line were the 1st brigade of Colonel Steinmetz and the 2nd brigade of the Prince of Mecklenburg. Then the second brigade was moved to the first line, between the 7th and 8th brigades, and the 1st brigade was sent to help Langeron's corps. Cavalry under the command of Colonel Yurgas was in reserve.
The leading troops of Langeron's corps were the 45th and 29th Jaeger regiments, the Arkhangelsk and Old Ingermanland regiments, the 2nd Ukrainian Cossack, Lifland Horse Jaeger, Kiev Dragoon regiments. Behind them were the main forces: the 6th Infantry Corps of Prince Shcherbatov as part of the 7th and 18th divisions, the 9th Infantry Corps of Olsufiev - the 9th and 15th divisions, and the Jaeger regiments. The 10th Infantry Corps and cavalry were in reserve.
It should be noted that the Silesian army was exhausted by the fighting on August 21-23, forced transitions made in inclement weather, and a lack of provisions, this led to an increase in the number of sick and deserters. The corps commanders expressed dissatisfaction with Blucher, not understanding the meaning of the march, first forward, then back. The only way to restore authority among the troops was a decisive victory.
MacDonald's forces were stationed on the wooded hills along the left bank of the Katsbach. His grouping (nicknamed from the Beaver River - Bober Army) included: the 5th Infantry Corps under the command of General Jacques Lauriston, the 11th Infantry Corps under the command of General Etienne-Maurice Gerard, the 3rd Infantry Corps of General Joseph Suam (Sugam) and 2nd Cavalry Corps Horace Sebastiani de La Porta. In total, MacDonald's group consisted of about 80 thousand soldiers (including 6 thousand cavalry), with 200 guns. There were about 60-65 thousand soldiers on the battlefield.
The scheme of the battle at Katsbach on August 14 (26), 1813
Battle
The whole day of August 14 (26), there was a heavy downpour, it lasted for the third day. Blucher, due to the delay of the French, decided that they went on the defensive and wanted to go over to the counteroffensive himself. He received information from intelligence that Napoleon had departed with a significant part of the army and wanted to take advantage of the weakening of the enemy and give him a decisive battle.
But French troops were the first to cross the Katsbakh River. The French commander planned to push the enemy even further into the depths of Silesia, and hoped that one appearance of his army would be enough for the enemy to retreat. MacDonald gave the order to conduct reconnaissance in battle across the river and in the afternoon the French crossed the river and Neisse across the bridge and ford. The 3rd corps of Suam was supposed to bypass the right flank of Blucher, but the corps could not solve this problem due to the impossibility of crossing the river. As a result, the blow of MacDonald's army was weakened. Puteaux's division from the 5th corps, directed to Schönau, Ledru's division of the 11th corps sent to Hirschberg, the Charpentier division and two divisions of the 3rd corps did not take part in the battle. MacDonald himself was with Loriston's troops, and lost the ability to lead the course in the most decisive direction, in the center. The French cavalry crossed the river without interference, without finding the enemy. The infantry also followed the cavalry.
From the corps of York, the 8th brigade was the first to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. She destroyed a French battalion in hand-to-hand combat and knocked over two battalion squares. Enemy guns were captured. French horse rangers tried to help the infantry, but were driven back by the cavalry of Colonel Yurgas, the National Cavalry Regiment, the 1st West Prussian and Lithuanian Dragoon Regiments. They were followed by the 1st Neimark Landwehr and Brandenburg Uhlan regiments. The Lithuanian dragoon regiment distinguished itself most of all, which broke through the French line of infantry and artillery and marched through the French rear, cutting out the infantry and gun servants, putting a significant number of enemy guns into inactivity. When the French cavalry rushed to the dragoons, the Lithuanian regiment was rescued by the attack of the Prussian reserve cavalry.
However, the attack of the Prussian cavalry did not decide the outcome of the battle. Sebastiani's 2nd Cavalry Corps fully deployed, the Prussian cavalry, getting stuck in the mud, in the pouring rain, lost its striking power. Three French battalions climbed to Kugberg Hill and opened fire on the flank of the Prussian cavalry. The Prussian cavalry was forced to withdraw. The French, pursuing the Prussians, broke into their first infantry line. The 2nd brigade of Prince Karl of Mecklenburg had to be moved to the first line. Blucher himself rushed into battle. After a stubborn battle, the French were thrown back.
At the same time, the Osten-Saken corps went over to the offensive. At about 17 o'clock the corps attacked the enemy from three directions. Major General A. A. Yurkovskiy with the Mariupol and Alexandria hussar regiments hit the enemy from the front. Major General S. N. Lanskoy with the Belorussian and Akhtyrka hussars struck on the left flank. And six Cossack regiments A. A. Karpov went behind enemy lines. Neverovsky's 27th Infantry Division was advancing behind the hussars. The pouring rain limited the use of rifles, so the infantry hit with bayonets. The Prussian cavalry regained its ranks and supported the attack. MacDonald hoped that the flank of Gerard's 11th corps would be covered by Suam's 3rd corps, but he did not have time to come to the rescue of the attacked corps. The French cavalry was overturned by superior forces and, having fled, frustrated their infantry.
Blucher, seeing the success of the cavalry, ordered all the infantry of the corps of York and Osten-Sacken to attack. The French infantry tried to stop the enemy, but were driven back. When one of the divisions of the 3rd French corps and three light cavalry regiments were able to cross the river, the battle resumed with the same strength, but these troops were no longer able to rectify the situation. The French were finally pushed back to Katsbach. The flight began.
The allies had the advantage in artillery. The French, pressed against the river, could not maneuver their batteries. As a result, the French forces had to abandon most of the guns as they retreated across the river. The Katsbakh and Neisse rivers overflowed from the rain led to a sharp deterioration in retreat capabilities, the fords became impassable for the infantry, and the only bridge could not cope with the load. Allied artillery batteries from the heights fired grapeshot at the fleeing French, who crowded in front of the rivers. The enemy suffered heavy losses. Already late in the evening, Katsbakh forced two more divisions of the 3rd French corps and two cavalry regiments. But they were met by heavy artillery fire from Saken's corps, and the enemy, having suffered heavy losses, retreated.
On the left flank of the allied army, initially things did not go so well. Langeron's Russian corps, separated from the main forces by the Neisse River, could not withstand the onslaught of Loriston's 5th corps. The Russian avant-garde under the command of Rudzevich initially held back the onslaught of the enemy, but there was a threat to bypass it, and Langeron ordered to withdraw. In many ways, the retreat was due to a mistake by the corps commander. Langeron, believing that due to inclement weather and bad roads, artillery would be a hindrance, not a help, left the artillery in the rear and could not pull it up during the battle. Due to the mud, the main forces of artillery could not be pulled up to the infantry and prevented the enemy from crossing. Blucher straightened the situation by sending one brigade to help Lanzheron, which struck on the enemy's flank. Attacked from the front and flank, the French could not resist and began to withdraw.
Battle on the Katsbakh River. Engraving by A. Bartsch after the original by I. Klein. OK. 1825 g.
MacDonald gave the order to retreat to Bunzlau. The first to cross Katsbakh were Gorn's brigade and Yurgas's cavalry from the York corps, Vasilchikov's cavalry from Saken's corps and Rudzevich's vanguard from Langeron's corps. The crossing was complicated by the flooding of the river, which greatly slowed down the pace of the offensive. The main forces of the three corps moved behind the leading forces. The night retreat further disorganized the French troops. Langeron's corps achieved the greatest success in pursuing the enemy. Rudzevich's vanguard met the dead, the wounded, guns, carts at every step. The French surrendered in crowds. Grekov's Cossacks at Prausnits scattered the enemy detachment, taking 700 prisoners and 5 guns. The Tver dragoon, Seversky and Chernigov horse-jaeger regiments under the command of Major General Panchulidze defeated the enemy detachment in Goldberg, capturing 1 thousand people. Another 1200 people were found in hospitals (including 200 Russians and 400 Prussians). The Kharkov and Kiev dragoon regiments overtook the enemy convoy near Pilgramsdorf, taking 1,200 prisoners and 6 guns. The advance units of the corps of York and Osten-Saken were not so successful, since the 3rd corps of Sugama, the least affected in the battle, retreated in good order and covered the withdrawal of other troops. It was reinforced by Sebastiani's cavalry.
The rise of water in the Beaver River created a serious obstacle to the French troops, delaying their retreat. As a result, the 17th Infantry Division under the command of General J. Puteaux from the 5th Corps of Loriston, which covered the far right flank of the French group, was cut off from the main forces and on August 29 was defeated near Zobten while crossing the Beaver River by the Lanzheron corps. The French, despite the tiring marches and the superiority of the enemy forces, put up a desperate resistance, but were overturned and thrown back to the river, where many drowned. 400 people died, including Brigadier General Sible. More than three thousand people were captured, including divisional general Puteaux, 16 guns were captured. French forces retreated west from Silesia to Bautzen in Saxony. Blucher. Having received news of the defeat of the Bohemian army near Dresden, he stopped the offensive.
K. Buinitsky. Kharkov dragoons at Katsbakh.
Outcomes
The defeat of the French army was caused by several mistakes. MacDonald divided his forces, and began the crossing without conducting a full reconnaissance of the area. As a result, Blucher was able to crush part of the forces of the enemy army and provide assistance to Langeron's corps on the left flank. The advantage of the allies in the cavalry also affected. Moreover, the French could not maneuver their artillery.
The allied army lost about 8 thousand people killed and wounded, of the bottom 3,5 thousand Russians. In addition, some of the Prussians - from parts of the Landwehr of the Prussian militia), went home, tired of marches and battles. Researchers note the great contribution of the Russian cavalry in the battle at Katsbakh. So the Russian military historian Anton Kersnovsky wrote: “The glory of two especially beautiful victories shines on the trumpets and standards of our cavalry. The first is the day of August 14, when the Russian cavalry, with its crushing raid, drove MacDonald's army into the stormy waves of Katsbach! The French army suffered heavy losses in this battle: about 30 thousand people (12 thousand killed and wounded, 18 thousand prisoners), 103 guns. Many Frenchmen drowned while fleeing. This victory was of great importance, as it led to the fulfillment of the Trachenberg plan - the exhaustion of Napoleon's army by defeating individual parts of his army. MacDonald's army, after the defeat at Katzbach, was demoralized.
