La Bataille de Bautzen 1813

Between 600,000 and 650,000 French and allied controlled troops had invaded Russia in June of 1812. When the French finally evacuated Russia in December, there were less than 80,000 troops still standing, mostly Austrians and Prussians on the wings of the French Central Army Group. The French; Polish; and other German contingents were practically wiped out. As the retreat from Russia was winding down to its miserable conclusion, and after much debate, the Marshals agreed that Napoleon should leave for Paris to address both the increasingly perilous political situation and attempt to build a new army. There had been a failed coup d’etat in November 1813 revealing the need to address political concerns at home immediately. The Emperor left the pitiful remnants of La Grande Armée for Paris on December 5, 1812. When he left the command to Murat, the King of Naples could barely muster 15,000 French and allied troops in the Central Army Group. Murat slowly moved the army westward, reaching Konigsberg on December 19, and then Posen on January 16, 1813. There, Murat decided he needed to address his own delicate political problems back in Naples, and he left Prince Eugene Beauharnais in command of the French army in Germany and Poland east of the Elbe. The Viceroy was commanding the shattered and far-flung army while also defending against Cossack raids and widespread Prussian insurrection. Napoleon, in the mean-while, had arrived in Paris at midnight on December 18. He immediately went to work. He had much to do in many areas, but his most important task was raising another army. Perhaps the Emperor’s long sled ride from Russia to Paris gave him plenty of time to put together a plan worthy of the challenge and it was nothing, if it was not comprehensive. Of course, Napoleon had a reputation for intense and extended periods of study, so it was no surprise that the Emperor was able to complete his masterful plan in a relatively short period of time. Napoleon Implements His Masterful Plan Napoleon’s plan was to put together another army of 650,000 troops by mid-1813 and be ready to hold Central Germany. Napoleon had already called up the recruit class of 1813 in the summer of 1812 in anticipation of a need to replace the heavily anticipated casualties. He also called up some previously underreported or overlooked draft-classes. Finally in February of 1813, Napoleon called up the class of 1814. In fact, much of Eugene’s army in Poland and Germany were the last bits of the Russia assigned invasion force which was only in late 1812 and early 1813 making an appearance with the French forces. Eugene had access to a Young Guard Division just arriving in Stettin and some other small forces; while General Rapp would receive two good-sized divisions to command at Danzig. Napoleon reestablished the Imperial Guard and other veteran units for use in Germany by taking 20,000 men from the existing forces in Spain. He used other clever means to restore the French forces. He also took 3500 municipal gendarmes (and their horses) and made them

La Bataille de Bautzen 1813

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