6 March 1813 - Central Germany

The French have moved east and occupied Warburg

Due to poor staff work there is a bottle neck at Willingen

6^th corps was unable to complete their march to C06 due to difficult terrain

This prevented 2^nd corps marching towards Kassel.

The Russians have concentrated in the centre to take Kassel

In doing so they have left their depots at Gottingen and Kaufungen isolated

Both are a days march from the nearest corps

If the French push on to take either, they will also capture the stores held in the depots.

5 March 1813 - Southern Spain - Almarez Campaign

Strategic map of Southern Spain

Almarez is the first phase of the 1813 campaign in Southern Spain.   The while square is the tactical area for the Almarez campaign.

Tactical Map of the Almarez Campaign

Giron left Badajoz on 20 February 1813 on the road to Madrid.   They made good progress for a Spanish Army and reached Cacares ten days later

On the same day Marshal Suchet arrived at Talavera with his Fourth French Army.

On the evening of 5 March the two armies approached Almarez

The map shows the location of each corps and detachment at midnight on that day.  The larger blocks are corps, the smaller are brigades.   The three militia brigades at the top of the map have abandoned their towns as the French occupied them, and moved into the surrounding countryside.

5 March 1813 - North Germany

Both armies halt, resupply and reorganise

3^rd and 4^th French corps have run out of supplies

5 March 1813 – South Germany

The Austrians retreat to the east bank of the river Lech

This allows the French to occupy Augsburg

The French have achieved the main objective of this campaign

However to claim victory they have to defeat the Austrian Army.

The Austrian Army is far from defeated

By withdrawing to the east bank of the river Lech they are safe to regroup

However they have abandoned Augsburg, which is the campaign objective

Both armies rest and resupply

The Austrians are now faced with a difficult task

To avoid defeat they will have to recross the river Lech and attack the French