1 November 1813 – Central Germany– Halle 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 thirty fourth campaign phase of the 1813 Campaign and the seventh phase in Central Germany

All Germany

All twenty one previous campaign phases are shown.  

A blue star indicates a French victory and grey, green or yellow an Allied 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.

Central Germany

All 24 previous battles fought are shown.    A blue star indicates a French victory, a red star a British victory and one white start is a drawn battle.   Each square on this map covers the same area as one 2x2 foot scenic square on our wargames table.

Summary of the campaign in Central Germany

At the start of February 1813 Napoleon believed that the Russian Army was held on the eastern bank of the river Oder by his allies the Prussians.   He was unaware of the secret treaty signed by the allies on 1 January 1813 which agreed that Prussia, Russia, Austria, England and Spain would all declare war on France.   Or that the Russians had crossed the river Oder on 20 January 1813

On 15 February he received reports that the Russians had not only crossed the river Oder, but had entered Dresden a week earlier.

He immediately ordered Marshal Davout to form Second French Army at Dusseldorf and prepare to march east to confront the Russians.   On 28 February Davout confirmed that his Army was operational and ready to advance.

5 March 1813 – Kassel Campaign.  The Russians advanced west and defeated the French at the battles of Kassel and Warburg.   The French recovered and beat the Russians at Second Kassel, but lost four days later again at Kassel.   The Russians again won at Friedland.   However the French fought back and won at the third battle of Kassel.   The Russians were forced to retreat east.

19 March 1813 – Gotha Campaign.   The Russians again attacked and beat the French at Suhl.  However the French quickly recovered and won at both Gotha and Suhl.   Once more the Russians retreated east.

5 April 1813 – Armistice.   The Russians accepted the seven day truce offered by Napoleon.   Second French Army would concentrate at Kassel.  The Russian Army would retreat to Gotha.

12 April 1813 – Second Gotha Campaign.   The French opened the campaign and won at First Meiningen.  However the Russians recovered and defeated them at Second Meiningen and again at Barchfeld.   The French retreated to Kassel.

24 May 1813 – Eisenbach Campaign.   Davout lost the first battle at Kassel.   He defeated the Russians at Meiningen, but lost again at Friedland.   He won at Gotha and again at Dolstadt.   The final battle of Meiningen was a draw.   The battered Russian Army retreated to Erfurt and the French won the campaign.

         

16 July 1813 – Erfurt Campaign.   Davout won the first battle at Amstadt, forcing the Russians to retreat and abandon Erfurt.   He was surprised and defeated as he tried to cross the river Saale, but when the Russians tried the same tactic again they were defeated at Weissensee.   The final battle was fought at Rudolstadt.   The Russians still held the town at the end of the battle and claimed a victory.  However with two of their four corps in rout they had to retreat during the night leaving the French winners of the campaign.

                                                   

26 August 1813 – Bayreuth Campaign.   The French opened the campaign by crossing the southern Saale bridge and taking Eschenbach.   They were defeated when they attacked Kulmbach, but won a major victory at Bayreuth.   They also won the final battle at Kulmbach and won the campaign.  

Introduction to the Halle Campaign

Having won five of the six previous campaign phases, Davout is confident that he can drive the Russians back to Leipzig and secure he river Saale.

Wittgenstein retreated to Halle after his defeat in the Bayreuth campaign.   From there he holds a vital bridge over the river Saale, and is determined to hold it and keep his options open

Halle Campaign Map

This map shows the area covered by the Halle campaign.  Each square is 7 miles.  It shows all terrain features.   Green areas are high ground.     Red roads are main supply, yellow connect main towns and broken are local tracks.   It also shows the location of French and Russian corps at the start of the campaign, plus the four supply depots per side.

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

            

At the start of the campaign the two armies are deployed as shown on the map above.

Halle Campaign Objective

The Russian objective is to hold Halle and the bridge over the river Saale

The French objective is to take Halle and force the Russians to retreat to the east

Halle 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.

Second French Army

Marshal Davout

2^nd Young Guard corps

5^th French corps

6^th French corps

14^th Westphalian corps

Reserve corps

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

The reserve corps has four infantry brigades and will provide depot garrisons

80000 infantry, 4000 cavalry, 120 artillery

Russian Army

General Wittgenstein

1^st Russian corps

2^nd Russian corps

3^rd Russian corps

4^th Russian corps

Reserve corps

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

The reserve corps has four infantry brigades and will provide depot garrisons

80000 infantry, 4000 cavalry, 120 artillery

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

20 - Introduction to the campaign in Central Germany

21 – 2^nd French Army order of battle

22 - Russian Army order of battle

23 - Daily diary for the campaign in Central Germany

24 - Battle reports of all battles fought in Central Germany

25 - Summary of campaign in Central Germany