1838: The War of French Succession -- The First German Campaign (Part 2) The Battle of Leipzig
As the French move northwest from Erfurt cavalry scouting reports the clearing of towns with residents moving east towards Leipzig. Maupeou correctly interprets the local evacuations as a sign that he will be fighting a great battle at the largest Saxon city. Maximilian’s retreating army also heads for Leipzig, marching through the crossroads of Sangerhausen on 10 July. Roving French cavalry units encounter the Saxon rear and they skirmish at the limited
Battle of Sangerhausen, but the main French force is still nearly 15 kilometers behind them and Maximilian’s army is able to rendezvous with the Coalition army at Leipzig on 13 July. Marshal Maupeou is less than a day behind the Saxon army and he halts his forward progress east of Schkeuditz north of the Elster River to give his men respite and send scouts around Leipzig to note the condition and location of the enemy.
The Coalition sets up camp in the village at Gohlis just north of the city. Dobrovolsky set up his command in the city-owned
Gohliser Schlösschen, a rococo-style manor with ample room for the Coalition’s general officers. After several hours of reviewing maps and strategies, the Russian commander insists on hosting a lavish meal for all the officers of brigade-commander rank and higher. While many of the generals favor such treatment, there is notable discomfort among their number. Schwarzenberg notably leaves the meal early as it drags into the evening, writing that he hopes “the amount of pure vodka imbibed at that table this night will clear any hidden uncertainties in the minds of these men. Foggy heads will surely ruin us against such a foe as Maupeou.”
The French Marshal is also aware of the fight ahead of him. Maupeou has had little sleep when he rises on 14 July and upon seeing the vistas of rolling green dells blanketed in morning fog he remarks, “it is a tragedy of man to sully these lively fields with such bloody work.” The French commander has frequently waxed poetic about the greenery of Europe since his return from a four year stint commanding French forces in Algiers. Maupeou is anxious to begin the engagement, feeling the pressure to demonstrate French battlefield prowess after twenty-years of peace between the powers of Europe. He dispatches Lepic’s cavalry brigade to scout ahead with orders to engage any Coalition forces “if practicable” and call for reinforcements.
Lepic’s chasseurs encounter a regiment of Austrian Hussars and give chase to Lindenthal, a village northwest of the city, where a pitched dismounted firefight ensues. By the afternoon both sides have called for infantry reinforcements, the first elements of which arrive in the 1400 hour. As the bulks of each army decamps by the evening a line takes shape from Leutzch in the west to Wiederitzch in the north. While little infantry fighting occurs the first day, with corps commanders testing each other’s strength, by nightfall it was clear that the
Battle of Leipzig had begun in earnest.
On the second day of fighting the two armies clash all along the Coalition’s defensive lines wrapping around Leipzig from west to north. The Coalition has the larger force but the French are more cohesive, being mostly from one organizational force. Schwarzenberg has ensured that the bulk of Austrian troops are held in reserve to plug anticipated gaps in Russian lines. The Russian corps are a combination of inexperienced recruits, conscripts and a number of units with experience in central Asia. While ferocious, this so-called Army of the Steppes is unaccustomed to large-scale field action.
One Russian corps commander underestimates his opponent on the southern line and preemptively charges on the French, leading to the breaking of the line when the French corps facing them shatters them with infantry and artillery fire. The ill-advised charge leads to a French breakthrough at the Frankfurter Fields by Marshal Paul Frederic Duval’s corps, but the advance is halted by fresh Austrian troops under Ewald Paul von Hauser. Likewise, there is a breakthrough by Ludwig Adolf von Bar’s
Deutsche Korps on the north end of the line with the Rhinelanders pushing Prussian troops back to Mockau that is ultimately blocked and swept back to the north by Coalition reinforcements. Bar is forced to fall back to avoid encirclement. At the conclusion of the second day, the Coalition’s center has held, while the Alliance left near Wiederitzch has wavered and the Coalition left is at serious risk of collapse having been pushed out of Leutzch.
Overnight both sides reinforce the southern line and Dobrovolsky is certain that the position can be salvaged, discounting the Prussian Hacke’s argument to extend the line with reserves to preclude any flanking encirclement. Schwarzenberg personally is quite pleased with himself for his management of reinforcements and moves two divisions to reinforce the Coalition center between Wahren and Lindenthal. For the French, Maupeou plans a strong drive at the center to break through and cut the Coalition lines in half. He vetoes a plan by Marshal Duval to attempt to flank the Coalition to the South, owing to marshier ground and certain reinforcement.
On Day 3 the French nearly break through at Lindenthal but face intense holding actions from Schwarzenberg’s well-positioned reserves. Meanwhile on the southern line Russian formations break interfering with the movements of the Saxon rear guard. Sensing an opportunity, the French corps under Marshal Duval breaks formation in the south to chase crumbling Russian left towards Connewitz. This move allows elements of the Saxon reserve corps under Albrecht von Gräfe to maneuver into position on the Frankfurter Fields and move towards Leutzch, cutting off Duval’s formations from the Alliance. Schwarzenberg directs Hauser’s battered but well-formed corps to move on Connewitz and destroy Duval’s now-isolated troops.
To the north, a Prussian corps under Ernst Georg Kurtius savages Bar’s
Deutsche Korps, collapsing their position when his artillery is successfully moved to a small hill to the northeast. This breakthrough proves to be decisive as the Prussians are able to curl back the French lines and create an unsustainable “kink” in the line that ruins its integrity by early-afternoon. As French reserves are rushed to the northern flank, Schwarzenberg is able to punch through the center, leading nearly all Alliance corps to fall back. Maupeou, fearing a rout, signals his corps commanders to disengage and withdraw and regroup at Halle. Two northern Alliance corps are detained by the Coalition encirclement, with only a few companies able to break free and rejoin the French columns. Duval’s corps, mostly unaware, is also left behind, dangerously isolated near Connewitz.
Dobrovolsky is ecstatic at the French collapse and wants to move in pursuit for a knockout blow at Halle. Schwarzenberg protests, backed up by Hacke that the Coalition needs to take stock of their captives and deal with Duval’s forces before moving the army. The Russian is adamant and insists that the Russian units move on Maupeou while his Coalition partners consolidate their positions in Leipzig. “This is precisely the type of fight a Russian warrior lives for! I will not deprive him!” Dobrovolsky is reported to exclaim. His German counterparts cede to his wishes, with Prussian, Austrian, and Saxon forces remaining to clean up in Leipzig. The Rhinelanders and French in the north undertake an orderly surrender. Meanwhile, Duval and his corps hunker down in Connewitz and force the Coalition to siege the village. He doesn’t surrender until 18 July, two days after Maupeou’s retreat to Halle, and only then insists on being received by Schwartzburg personally. The three days at Leipzig cost over 24,000 casualties across both armies and nearly 30,000 Alliance men captured.
Dobrovosky’s march to Halle proves to be an unproductive endeavor. While his pursuit does convince Maupeau to withdraw further, rather than regroup for a second attempt at Leipzig, French rear and cavalry units savage the Russian vanguard, already exhausted from days of fighting. The
Battle of Halle successfully screens the French retreat from Leipzig, ensuring that their army will be able to rest and regroup. On 20 July Maupeou musters his army to march southwest from Halle to Weimar, which he finds more suitable ground for an active defense, abandoning the idea of capturing Leipzig in the current campaign. The Coalition dispatches Cossacks to harass the French on their way, prompting several grueling cavalry fights near Weißenfels and Droyßig, but the French successfully reach Weimar by 27 July, where they strategize a defense that will hopefully set up further offensives in the future.
The Coalition finally moves on Weimar, reaching the French position on 4 August. Maupeou has two additional fresh corps from France at his disposal, while the Coalition also has reinforcements from Prussia. The
Battle of Weimar lasts for a week, as Maupeou conducts an active defense shifting the French position at night and surprising the Coalition with new lines in the morning. Though exhausting for his soldiers, the tactic works at frustrating the coalition and bleeding their forces considerably until Dobrovolsky countenances ending the engagement. Dubbed “Maupeou’s Revenge” in the French papers, the “seven days at Weimar” severely reduce the Coalition’s capabilities to advance without significant reinforcements.
News of the defeat at Leipzig is not welcome in France. Coupled with worsening news from the Italian front, the war is seeming to shape into an embarrassment for the ambitious Franco-Spanish King. While Weimar softens the blow, expectations had been high to capture Leipzig and hold it until an advance on Prussia could be mounted. Henri begins discussing higher mobilization with his cabinet–a levee en masse–to ensure that the French are prepared for battle on multiple fronts. Despite his disappointment with the 1838 campaign, Henri has faith in his ultimate victory. He starts to pressure the Rhineland to officially enter the war and contribute their armies to the effort. He also makes plans for a sweeping blockade of the Baltic and Adriatic to cut off the Coalition from maritime trade. Despite an early end to campaigning, both sides are bloodied. Tensions within Coalition command are heightened after the loss at Weimar, and both sides are eager to reinforce, reassess, and strategize for the next major thrust.