Raid at Altenburg
Raid at Altenburg | |||||||
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Part of the War of the Sixth Coalition | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
French Empire |
Saxony Russia | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Johann von Thielmann | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
6,500 | 1,500 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2,100 dead, wounded and captured | 200 dead or wounded |
The raid at Altenburg on 28 September 1813 took place during the War of the Sixth Coalition's .[1] The raid was carried out by the Streifkorp under the command of Saxon General Johann von Thielmann commanding seven regiments of Cossacks, a squadron each of and , and a detachment of numbering about 1,500 cavalry. The objective of the raid was to attempt harassment of the French lines of communication 25 miles (45 km) south of Leipzig shortly before the Battle of Leipzig.
Thielmann completely and routed a larger force of , including and a small force of 2nd Regiment (Infanterie-Regiment No.2 ‘Markgraf Wilhelm’) nominally under the command of Lefebvre-Desnouettes numbering some 6,500. The French, completely surprised, broke and fled from Altenburg losing a third of their number (2,100), in the process running over the Baden infantry which was taken prisoner despite attempting to resist.[2] Thielmann's force lost about 200 in casualties.
References[]
Sources[]
- Riley, J.P., Chandler, David G., (forward), Napoleon and the World War of 1813: Lessons in coalition warfighting, Frank Cass, London, 2000
- Anonymous, translated and edited by Geert van Uythoven, “Notizen über die Theilnahme der Groβherzogl. Badischen Truppen an der Schlacht bei Leipzig 1813”, in ‘Militair-Wochenblatt’, 15. Jahrgang, Berlin 1830
- Battles of the Napoleonic Wars
- Battles involving Russia
- Battles involving Saxony
- Battles involving France
- Conflicts in 1813
- 1813 in Europe
- Military raids
- Altenburg
- September 1813 events
- Battles in Thuringia