==Aftermath==
==Aftermath==
The defeat at the [[Battle of Großgörschen]] rendered the victory in this engagement virtually meaningless.{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=449}} Thus, von Bülow very soon had to withdraw his troops to protect the Margraviate of Brandenburg and Berlin from the advancing French, who crossed the Elbe at Torgau and Wittenberg. However, a French offensive against the Margraviate never materialized. Marshal Michel Ney withdrew to Bautzen to reinforce Napoleon.
The defeat at the [[Battle of Großgörschen]] rendered the victory in this engagement virtually meaningless.{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=449}} Thus, von Bülow very soon had to withdraw his troops to protect the Margraviate of Brandenburg and Berlin from the advancing French, who crossed the Elbe at Torgau and Wittenberg. However, a French offensive against the Margraviate never materialized. Marshal Michel Ney withdrew to Bautzen to reinforce Napoleon.
== References ==
== References ==
The Battle of Halle was a spring campaign battle of the German War of Liberation, which took place on 2 May 1813[1], at Halle on the Saale River in Germany. In this battle, a mobile corps of Prussian army of 4,500 men under the command of General Friedrich Wilhelm von Bülow won against the garrison of the French Imperial army at Halle, taking 432 prisoners and 3 cannons.
Background
Wittgenstein’s army moved to join Blücher. The Battle of Möckern distracted the French and allowed Wittgenstein’s engineering units to cross the Elbe at Rosslau . On April 25, Wittgenstein’s troops, including Yorck’s Prussian corps and Berg’s Russian, having crossed the Elbe, positioned themselves on the Dessau–Köthen line, coming into contact with Wintzingerode and Blücher’s troops. Bülow and Borstel’s troops (12,000 men) were left on the right bank of the Elbe. Borstel’s brigade blocked the approaches to Magdeburg, awaiting the arrival of Vorontsov’s detachment. Bülow established his headquarters in Dessau. On May 1, Bülow’s troops, reinforced by Harpe’s Russian detachment (3,000 men, 24 guns) and Thümel’s brigade, blocked the approaches to Wittenberg and guarded the crossing at Roslau. Kleist’s allied troops were forced to cede Halle to the French and retreat to Leipzig. Upon learning the news, Bülow decided to “drive the enemy out of Halle.” The city garrison, under the command of Rochambeau, consisted of troops from the 4th division, Lauriston’s 5th corps, several marching battalions, and also had 4 guns. On May 2, by 3 a.m, near the village of Oppin (halfway from Zörbig to Halle), Bülow concentrated troops numbering 4,500 men with 24 guns. By 5 a.m, the troops approached Halle. The French blocked four of the five gates. Four guns were stationed at the Merseburg outpost.
Prelude
Following the defeat of the Grande Armée in the Russian campaign of 1812, Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, at the urging of his officers, concluded an agreement with the Russian General Diebitsch on December 30, 1812, in the Convention of Tauroggen, which meant Prussia’s withdrawal from the war against Russia. This occurred without having obtained the requested consent of King Frederick William III . On February 27, 1813, the Prussian-Russian military alliance of Kalisz was concluded. Field Marshal Ludwig Adolf Peter zu Sayn-Wittgenstein then joined forces with the Prussian army corps under Yorck von Wartenburg. Wittgenstein entered Berlin on March 11, followed by Yorck on March 17. From there, after Kutuzov’s death, Wittgenstein was recalled to the main allied army, which remained at Kalisz until April 7, at which time he assumed supreme command.
After capturing Berlin, the Russians under Wittgenstein liberated Hamburg, Lübeck, and the territories along the Lower Elbe. The approximately 10,000-strong corps of Friedrich Wilhelm Bülow von Dennewitz fought separate engagements during the spring campaign. His troops were initially tasked with the siege of Magdeburg. After Wittgenstein crossed the Elbe, the corps was ordered to cover the Elbe crossing at Roßlau and the roads to Berlin, as well as to maintain communication between the besieging forces of Wittenberg and Magdeburg. Furthermore, it was tasked with capturing Halle (Saale), which was occupied by the French. On April 28, the 10,000-strong French corps under General Lauriston launched an attack on Halle, which was garrisoned by Lieutenant General Friedrich von Kleist with approximately 5,000 men. The attacks were repulsed that day. After a French attack on neighboring Merseburg ended in victory for the French following fluctuating battles, and they captured the city, Kleist also had to evacuate Halle, as otherwise it would be encircled. Halle was then immediately occupied by Lauriston’s troops.
Battle
The French garrison, which entered on April 30, 1813, consisted of four battalions of the 135th Line Infantry Regiment of the 19th Rochambeau Division of Lauriston’s 5th Army Corps, as well as six cannons. The Prussian attacking force comprised four and a half East Prussian battalions, a rifle company, nine squadrons of cavalry, and three artillery batteries with 24 cannons, a force of 5,000 men, which numerically superior to the French troops.
After an hour’s respite, the assault on the city began. Bülow decided to launch one attack on the right wing, along the Saale River, with two fusilier companies, one jäger company, and three squadrons of hussars with four guns. The other attack was to be carried out on the left wing, with three battalions of the 3rd East Prussian Regiment and two squadrons of West Prussian dragoons with four guns. A grenadier battalion, four squadrons of the Queen’s dragoons, and a battery of guns were left in reserve.
In the northern outskirts of the city, the French offered strong resistance. However, on the left flank, the allied forces were successful: Major Uttenhofen with three battalions of the 3rd East Prussian Regiment and Lieutenant Tresckow with two squadrons of West Prussian Dragoons attacked the enemy at the Merseburg outpost and, “on the shoulders of the French,” broke into the city, capturing three guns. Bülow himself led the battalion’s attack, and by 9:00 a.m. the French had been driven out of the city and onto the road to Merseburg.
The cavalry pursued the French and inflicted heavy losses. The enemy’s losses amounted to 400 men captured, approximately 400 men killed and wounded. Losses in Bülow’s detachment were 150 men killed and wounded. According to another account, the French suffered approximately 700 casualties, while the Prussians lost 8 officers and 225 soldiers in this battle.
Aftermath
The defeat at the Battle of Großgörschen rendered the victory in this engagement virtually meaningless. Thus, von Bülow very soon had to withdraw his troops to protect the Margraviate of Brandenburg and Berlin from the advancing French, who crossed the Elbe at Torgau and Wittenberg. However, a French offensive against the Margraviate never materialized. Marshal Michel Ney withdrew to Bautzen to reinforce Napoleon.
References
Bibliography
- Leggiere, Michael V. (2002). Napoleon and Berlin: The Franco-Prussian War in North Germany, 1813. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-52588-9.
- Brand, Theodor (1842). Der Befreiungskrieg 1813, 1814 und 1815 (in German). Vol. 1 (3 ed.). Breslau: E. Jaekel. OCLC 1068884853.
- von Prittwitz, Karl Ludwig Wilhelm Ernst (1843). Beiträge zur Geschichte des Jahres 1813 (in German). Vol. 1 (1 ed.). Potsdam: Ferdinand Riegel.
- Bogdanovich, Modest Ivanovich (1863). Istoriya voyny 1813 goda za nezavisimost’ Germanii (in Russian). Vol. I. Saint Petersburg: Tipografiya Shtaba Voenno-Uchebnykh Zavedeniy.
