- Battle of the Göhrde
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict = Battle of the Göhrde
partof = theWar of the Sixth Coalition
caption =
date =16 September 1813
place = nearGöhrde inNiedersachsen
territory =
result = Allied victory
status =
combatant1 =
combatant2 =
combatant3 =
commander1 = Pécheux
commander2 = Wallmoden
commander3 =
strength1 = 3,000 men
strength2 = 12,300 men
strength3 =
casualties1 = 1,000 men
casualties2 = ?
casualties3 =
notes = The battle of the Göhrde was a battle of theWar of the Sixth Coalition on 16 September 1813 between Napoleonic and Allied troops at Göhrde in Germany. The Napoleonic troops were defeated and withdrew toHamburg .ite
It occurred near what is now the site of the National Forest of Göhrde (Staatsforst Göhrde), near Dannenburg, near Lüneburg. At that time this area belonged to the electorate of Braunschweig-Lüneburg (Hanover), which had been occupied by the French since 1803. The battlefield lies on the border between the modern-day districts of Lüneburg and
Lüchow-Dannenberg , between Oldendorf an der Göhrde andGöhrde .Context
In spring 1813, Russian troops under
Friedrich Karl von Tettenborn forced the French out of Hamburg and some northern areas of Hanover. In the wake of Prussia's reentry into the war against France, the eastern areas of Hanover also rose against Napoleon. Wallmoden then received overall command of all the Allied troops on the lower Elbe: troops from Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Hanover, Hamburg, Mecklenburg and Sweden, including theRussian German legion , theLützow Free Corps , theHanseatic Legion and a part of theKing's German Legion , under the overall command of GeneralleutnantLudwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn .The Free Corps such as that from Lützow again and again attacked French supply lines and bases in the area around
Mecklenburg , south of the Elbe. The XIII Corps there, under marshal Davout, had up to this point behaved quite passively, restricting itself to holding Wallmoden's corps in check. As an anti-skirmishes measure, in September Davout sent general Pécheux on the western Elbufer with a brigade of 50th infantry division and moved on Lüneburg with 3,000 troops. After completing his mission, Pécheux was ordered to rejoin the French troops inMagdeburg . Wallmoden's corps advanced onDömitz on 15th September with 12,300 men, crossed the Elbe, marched toward the Frenchmen and set up camp inDannenberg .Course
The French division under Pechaux decided to attack the allies. On the early afternoon of 16th September 1813, it reached the Steinker Höhen (Steinker Heights) in Nahrendorf and gave battle. Wallmoden's units arrived one after the other and attacked the poorly-coordinated French force, though these single attacks were all repulsed until in the evening
Hugh Halkett 's Hanoverian brigade managed to force the French troops to withdraw.Results
The battle was the first victory over the French troops garrisoning Germany, and interrupted the link between XIII Corps under general Davout (with its headquarters in
Hamburg ) and Napoleon's main army (then inSaxony ) and the Napoleonic armies' supply-lines across Hanover from France to Magdeburg and Berlin. This result was critical for the outcome of theBattle of Leipzig soon afterwards.Commemorations
A large stone monument stands as a memorial to the battle in 1839, at a site now north of Bundesstraße 216 about 2 km behind Oldendorf in Richtung Dannenberg.
1000 dead soldiers from both sides were buried in a mass grave in the forest, 100m from where the memorial is sited. This grave was rediscovered in 1985.
Rudolf von Bennigsen 's father Karl von Bennigsen fought in this battle (as a lieutenant), as did the famous freedom fighterEleonore Prochaska . She had disguised herself as a man and joined theLützow Free Corps . During the battle she was wounded and soon afterwards succumbed to her injuries in the hospital at Dannenberg.A reconstruction of the battle occurs every two years at
Dahlenburg . At the Heimatmuseum in the town a diorama of the battle is on permanent display, with 1500 tin soldiers.External links
* [http://www.hamburg1813.de/ hamburg1813.de]
* [http://www.dahlenburg-online.de/museum.htm Diorama of the battle]
* [http://www.fuhrmann-figuren.de/museen/hauptteil_gohrde_1.html Examination of the battlefield]
* [http://www.norbert-weise.de/goehrde1.htm Course of the battle]
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