The Battle of Memmingen was a battle at
Memmingen during the 1805 German campaign of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. It occurred on 14 October that year and culminated in the surrender of Karl Spangen to
Nicolas Soult's 4th Army Corps.
Course
After the crossing of the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
on 7 October at the
battle of Donauwörth
The Battle of Donauwörth was the first engagement of Napoleon's 1805 Austrian campaign. French forces under marshals Joachim Murat and Nicolas Soult beat an Austrian army corps under Kienmayer on 7 October at Donauwörth and crossed the Danub ...
, the
Grande Armée
''La Grande Armée'' (; ) was the main military component of the French Imperial Army commanded by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1804 to 1808, it won a series of military victories that allowed the French Empi ...
manoeuvred to the east of
Ulm to cut off
Karl Mack
Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich (25 August 1752 – 22 December 1828) was an Austrian soldier. He is best remembered as the commander of the Austrian forces that capitulated to Napoleon's '' Grande Armée'' in the Battle of Ulm in 1805.
Early ...
's force from
Mikhail Kutuzov
Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov ( rus, Князь Михаи́л Илларио́нович Голени́щев-Куту́зов, Knyaz' Mikhaíl Illariónovich Goleníshchev-Kutúzov; german: Mikhail Illarion Golenishchev-Kut ...
's Russian force to the east and
Archduke John
Archduke John of Austria (german: Erzherzog Johann Baptist Joseph Fabian Sebastian von Österreich; 20 January 1782 – 11 May 1859), a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, was an Austrian field marshal and imperial regent (''Reichsverwese ...
's Austrian force to the south. While
Michel Ney and
Jean Lannes re-crossed the Danube at the
battle of Elchingen
The Battle of Elchingen, fought on 14 October 1805, saw French forces under Michel Ney rout an Austrian corps led by Johann Sigismund Riesch. This defeat led to a large part of the Austrian army being invested in the fortress of Ulm by the arm ...
to cut off the line of advance to
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The me ...
, Soult headed towards Memmingen to cut off the route to the
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
.
By 14 October Soult and his 25,440 men and 51 cannon were in place, setting up an artillery bombardment of the town and sending two letters to its governor, Karl Spangen. Spangen believed that the French would carry out their threat to bombard the city and surrendered himself and his 4,500 men and 9 cannon, for a loss of only 16 of Soult's men. After Memmingen was captured, Ulm was completely surrounded on its right bank. Soult's corps was able to stop all Austrian attempts to unite the armies of Ulm and Tyrol, dispersing an Austrian column between
Leutkirch and
Wurzbach on 19 October.
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Memmingen, Battle of
Battles involving Austria
category:Sieges of the Napoleonic Wars
category:Battles of the War of the Third Coalition
category:Conflicts in 1805
category:October 1805 events