19 June 1813 – Battle of Hollfeld

Tactical map of battle area

French have orders to defeat 1^st Russian army and take Hollfeld

Russians have orders to hold Hollfeld

French have two infantry brigades detached on garrison

Russians have one infantry brigade detached and a second is garrison of Hollfeld

Hollfeld commands the main road to the district capitol and major depot of Bayreuth,

4^th French Army – 10 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigade, 3 corps artillery

1^st Russian Army – 11 infantry brigades, 3 cavalry brigade, 3 corps artillery

Table at start of battle

4^th French army are deployed on the left

1^st Russian army are deployed in front of Hollfeld on the right

 

Top - 11^th French corps enter the woods on the left

Centre – 10^th Young Guard corps advance between the hill and the woods

Bottom – 12^th French corps advance either side of the fortified farm

End of move 2

French advance, but are still out of range of the Russian artillery

 

Top – 11^th French corps are advancing through the woods

Centre – 10^th Guard corps are advancing accompanied by the CinC

Bottom – Russian CinC has taken command of two brigades of cavalry

End of move 4

French advance, Russian artillery open fire

 

Top – French advance clears woods, Russian artillery fire, no casualties

Centre – French gunners receive casualties and are shaken

Centre – Russian CinC advance with cavalry division

Bottom – French advance, still out of artillery range

 

End of move 6

Russian gunners dominate French artillery

 

Top – Cavalry melee ends in rout of both brigades

Top – French artillery receive 10% casualties

Centre – French infantry advance, Russian infantry fall back

Centre – French gunners receive casualties and are shaken

Bottom – Russian infantry withdraw through woods

Bottom – French cavalry force gunners into infantry square

End of move 8

Heavy fighting in the top half of the table

 

Top – Russians withdraw, French follow up

Centre – French infantry skirmish with village garrison

Bottom – Russians withdraw, French hold their ground

 End of move 10

French take village in top

Russians counter attack in centre and bottom

Blue stars are French brigades in rout, Green are Russian

White stars are scene of extensive hand to hand fighting

 

Top – Extensive hand to hand fighting, French take village

Centre – Russians counter attack, skirmish in woods

Bottom – French fight off 1^st Russian attack

Bottom – French move to the centre, 3^rd Russian corps counter attack

End of move 12

French win north of the road

Fighting continues south of the road

Russians hold town at nightfall

White stars show main combat

Green stars are routed Russian brigades

Blue stars are routed French brigades

 

Top – both sides suffer heavy casualties, but Russians are forced to retreat

Centre – fighting continues at nightfall

Bottom – fighting continues at nightfall

 

Summary

For most of the day it looked like the Russians would win

However for last two moves things went bad for them

Fighting continue at nightfall, so the battle would be considered a draw

However the Russians had lost more than twice the casualties of the French

8 Russians brigades were in rout, 4 French brigades in rout

 

The French have lost 5 infantry, 5 cavalry and 5 artillery casualties (3000 men)

The Russians have lost 15 infantry, 5 cavalry and 1 artillery casualties (6400 men)