21 September 1813 – North Germany – Salzwedel Campaign

1813 Campaign Areas

There are five campaign areas in the 1813 Campaign, three in Germany and two in Spain.   The campaign is divided into campaign phases, each lasting about ten campaign days.  This is the 31^st campaign phase of the 1813 Campaign and the seventh phase in North Germany.

All Germany

All eighteen previous campaign phases in Germany are shown.  

Blue star - French victory

Grey star - Prussian victory

Green star - Russian victory

Yellow star - Austrian victory

         

There are three campaign areas in Germany.

Northern Germany - 1^st French army v Prussian army

Central Germany - 2^nd French army v Russian army

Southern Germany - 3^rd French army v Austrian army

Each square on the map is 7 miles, it is also one square on the wargames table

A corps can march 21 miles in one day, which is also the area of a wargames table

Northern Germany

All 21 previous battles fought are shown.    

Blue star – French victory

Grey star – Prussian victory

Green star – Russian victory

Yellow star – Austrian victory

White star – Draw

Each square on this map covers the same area as one 2x2 foot scenic square on our wargames table.

Summary of the campaign in Northern Germany

Campaign History

At the start of February1813 Napoleon considered the Prussians to be allies, and they had agreed to hold the Russian Army east of Berlin at the river Oder, whilst he reorganized the French Army behind the river Rhine.   He was unaware of the secret allied treaty which agreed that the Prussia, Russia, Austria, England and Spain would all declare war on France.    He was also unaware that the Russians had crossed the river Oder on 20 January 1813.

On 10 February 1813 Generalfeldmarschall Blucher took command of the Prussian Army, which was concentrated to the west of Berlin.   He issued orders for them to move west, cross the river Elbe and secure Magdeburg.   They entered Magdeburg on 20 February 1813.

Napoleon had ordered the First French Army to be formed at Hannover.   On 26 February 1813 he arrived there and took command.   He was determined to teach the Prussians a lesson for their betrayal.

1 March 1813 – Brunswick campaign.   The Prussian army attacked the French and won the battles of Girhorn, Brunswick and Wolfenbuttel.   The French lost the campaign and were forced to retreat west.

17 March 1813 – Hannover campaign.   The Prussians again advanced and again won the first and second battles of Hannover.   The result was another victory for Blucher.   Once more Napoleon was forced to retreat west.

27 March 1813 - Magdeburg campaign.   The Prussians won the battle of Stendel, but lost first and second battles of Magdeburg.   Napoleon had won the campaign.

5 April 1813 – Armistice.   After a month of non stop marching and fighting both armies were in a poor shape.   Both needed time to regroup, resupply and reinforce.  Napoleon offered a seven day truce and Blucher eagerly accepted.  The terms of the truce was that the Prussian Army would retreat to Brunswick and the French Army would hold Hannover

12 April 1813 – Brunswick Campaign.   Napoleon dominated this campaign and defeated the Prussians at Celle and Hildesheim.   The Prussian army was in such a state that Blucher retreated rather than fight a third battle at Brunswick

21 April 1813 – Magdeburg Campaign.   Blucher defeated the French attack at Helmstedt.  He then attacked and won the battle of Eilseben.   Running short of supplies Napoleon ordered a general retreat.

18 June 1813 – Wolfsburg Campaign.   Napoleon dominated this phase.  He won the first four battles, lost the first battle of Gardelengen but won the second and had a decisive victory at the last, and largest battle at Walbeck.   Blucher had no choice but to retreat east.

 

Introduction to the Salzwedel Campaign

Having won four of the six previous campaign phases, Napoleon is determined to drive the Prussian army back over the river Elbe.  He has directed his army to move north towards Salzdorf to avoid the strong defensive position of Magdeburg.

Blucher has deployed his army south of Salzwedel along the line Dahre-Kuhfelde-Kleinau.  

Salzwedel Campaign Map

This map shows the area covered by the Salzwedel campaign.  Each square is 7 miles.  It shows all terrain features.   Green areas are high ground.     Yellow connect main towns and broken are local tracks.   It also shows the location of French and Prussian troops at the start of the campaign, plus supply depots.

This map is used for all campaign movement and on the campaign diary blog.

Salzwedel Campaign Objective

The French objective is to defeat the Prussian army and take Salzwedel

The Prussian objective is to hold Salzwedel

Salzwedel Wargames Map

This map covers the same area as the campaign map, but actual size of hills are shown.   Each square is the same as one 2x2 foot square used on the wargames table, and shows the exact terrain feature.   The number shown in the top right of each square is the number of the scenic terrain square to be used on the table.   When a battle is declared this map is used to prepare the wargames table.

First French Army

Emperor Napoleon

1^st Old Guard corps

13^th Polish corps      

 4^th French (Reserve) corps

Each corps has four infantry brigades, one cavalry brigade and corps artillery

64000 infantry, 4000 cavalry, 120 guns

Prussian Army

General Blucher

1^st Prussian corps

2^nd Prussian corps

3^rd Prussian corps

4^th Prussian corps

Each corps has four infantry brigades, one cavalry brigade and corps artillery

64000 infantry, 4000 cavalry, 120 guns

                                                  

Reference

The campaign diary contains comprehensive details of the whole campaign.   The labels on the right are an index to various parts of the campaign.

01 - Introduction to the1813 campaign

02 - Five campaign areas

10 - Introduction to the campaign in Northern Germany

11 – 1^st French Army order of battle

12 -  Prussian Army order of battle

13 - Daily diary for the campaign in Northern Germany

14 - Battle reports of all battles fought in Northern Germany

15 - Summary of campaign in Northern Germany