Battle Of Mohrungen

In the Battle of Mohrungen on 25 January 1807, most of a First French Empire corps under the leadership of Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte fought a strong Russian Empire advance guard led by Major General Yevgeni Ivanovich Markov. The French pushed back the main Russian force, but a cavalry raid on the French supply train caused Bernadotte to call off his attacks. After driving off the cavalry, Bernadotte withdrew and the town was occupied by the army of General Levin August, Count von Bennigsen. The fighting took place in and around Morąg in northern Poland, which in 1807 was the East Prussian town of Mohrungen. The action was part of the War of the Fourth Coalition in the Napoleonic Wars.

After demolishing the army of the Kingdom of Prussia in a whirlwind campaign in October and November 1806, Napoleon's Grande Armée seized Warsaw. After two bitterly fought actions against the Russian army, the French emperor decided to place his troops into winter quarters. However, in wintry weather, the Russian commander moved north into East Prussia and then struck west at Napoleon's left flank. As one of Bennigsen's columns advanced west it encountered forces under Bernadotte. The Russian advance was nearly at an end as Napoleon gathered strength for a powerful counterstroke.

Background

After the Battle of Czarnowo on 23 December 1806 and the bloody battles of Pułtusk and Gołymin on 26 December, the opposing Russian and French armies went into winter quarters. Emperor Napoleon wanted time to reorganize the Grande Armée's logistical arrangements after their long autumn campaign. In addition, his veteran French troops had expressed displeasure at having to fight in Poland during the harsh winter weather.

In late 1806, Field Marshal Mikhail Kamensky's Russian army in Poland constituted two major wings under Generals Bennigsen and Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden (Buxhöwden). Bennigsen commanded Lieutenant General Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy's 2nd Division, Lieutenant General Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken's 3rd Division, Lieutenant General Dmitry Golitsyn's 4th Division, and Lieutenant General Alexander Karlovich Sedmoratsky's 6th Division. The initial strength of Bennigsen's force, before the December battles, was 49,000 infantry, 11,000 regular cavalry, 4,000 cossacks, 2,700 artillerymen, 900 pioneers, and 276 guns. Of these, from 55,000 to 60,000 were able to take the field.

Buxhöwden led Lieutenant General Nikolay Tuchkov's 5th Division, Lieutenant General Dmitry Dokhturov's 7th Division, Lieutenant General Peter Kirillovich Essen's 8th Division, and Lieutenant General Heinrich Reinhold von Anrep's 14th Division. Buxhöwden's four divisions fought at the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805 and had not made up all the losses suffered at that engagement. Consequently, his troops numbered only 29,000 infantry, 7,000 cavalry, 1,200 gunners, and 216 artillery pieces in December 1806. Not counting garrisons, the Prussians could put only 6,000 men into the field in that month.

In 1806, the Russian field army consisted of 18 divisions. Each division included six 3-battalion infantry regiments, ten squadrons of heavy cavalry, ten squadrons of light cavalry, two heavy foot artillery batteries, three light foot artillery batteries, and one horse artillery battery. Since the foot batteries contained 14 guns apiece and the horse batteries 12 guns, each Russian division nominally controlled as many as 82 field pieces. Typically, the heavy batteries were made up of eight 12-pound cannons, four heavy howitzers, and two light howitzers. The light batteries had the same establishment except that they substituted 6- for 12-pound cannons. Horse batteries were entirely formed from 6-pound cannons.

"Old and worn out in body and mind", the 75-year-old Marshal Kamensky exhibited clear signs that he was no longer fit to command. Around the time Pułtusk was fought, Kamensky left the front. The next day, he appeared in the streets of Grodno without his shirt on and called for a surgeon. Pointing out his many wounds, he demanded that the doctor give him a written statement that he was no longer able to serve. During December, his two lieutenants, of whom Buxhöwden was senior, began to intrigue against one another for the army command. After Pułtusk and Gołymin, the 8th and 14th Divisions remained with Bennigsen, who was not anxious to return them to their rightful wing commander. On 1 January 1807, Bennigsen's wing lay at Nowogród on the south bank of the ice-floe choked Narew River, while Buxhöwden's wing was to the northeast on the north bank. Around this time, Kamensky appeared at the front but his orders were ignored and he permanently withdrew from the campaign. His unstable and violent temperament eventually led to his murder at the hands of a peasant.

Napoleon deployed his corps in a wide arc on the east side of the Vistula River covering Warsaw. He posted Bernadotte's I Corps on the left flank with headquarters at Osterode (Ostróda). In order from left to right came Marshal Michel Ney's VI Corps at Mława, Marshal Nicolas Soult's IV Corps at Gołymin, Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout's III Corps at Pułtusk, and Marshal Jean Lannes at Serock. Marshal Pierre Augereau's VII Corps stood in a reserve position behind the arc at Płońsk. Marshal Joachim Murat's Reserve Cavalry took up winter quarters in districts to the rear except for General of Division Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc's 4th Dragoon Division, which reported to Bernadotte, and General of Division Antoine Lasalle's Light Cavalry Division which patrolled Soult's front.

Russian offensive

In a council of war on 2 January 1807, Buxhöwden and Bennigsen determined to take the offensive against the French. They intended to move north into East Prussia with seven divisions before turning west to attack Napoleon's left flank. The plan called for one division to remain northeast of Warsaw to distract the French. This division would soon be joined by two more that were due to arrive from Moldavia under the command of Lieutenant General Ivan Essen. Lieutenant Generals Dmitri Mikhailovich Volkonski (9th Division) and Petr Ivanovich Meller-Zakomelski (10th Division) led the two units. The Russian leaders hoped to damage Napoleon's left wing and force the French army to fall back to the west bank of the Vistula. The positions gained would be used to launch a spring campaign that might drive the French back to the Oder River.

Still jealous of his rival Buxhöwden, Bennigsen withdrew east to Tykocin with his six divisions rather than join his troops to the right wing of the army. He marched north for Goniądz where he found, to his delight, that Czar Alexander had appointed him army commander and recalled Buxhöwden. From there, he moved west to Biala Piska, arriving there on 14 January. Bennigsen left the 6th Division at Goniądz. Screened from Soult's cavalry screen by the Johannisburg Forest, Bennigsen's northward move into Masuria remained hidden from the French. The Prussian field force under General-Leutnant Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq withdrew northward to Rastenburg (Kętrzyn).

Meanwhile, Ney, finding his sector devoid of food and forage, disobeyed Napoleon's orders and advanced far northward in the direction of Königsberg. On the 11th his advance guard repulsed a Prussian attack on Schippenbeil (Sępopol). Three days later, Ney estimated that L'Estocq had 9,000 troops while General of Infantry Ernst von Rüchel garrisoned Königsberg with another 4,000. Livid at Ney for his insubordination, Napoleon nevertheless began to take measures in case the Russians reacted to the VI Corps leader's advance. He alerted Augereau to concentrate the VII Corps in readiness to march. The emperor also ordered Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre and the X Corps to protect Thorn (Toruń) and the lower Vistula.

On 19 January, the Russians finally appeared out of the forests, driving Ney's troops from Schippenbeil. After detaching 3,000 men to link with the 6th Division, Bennigsen commanded about 63,000 troops, while L'Estocq had 13,000 in the area. On the 21st, Bennigsen's advance elements were in Heilsberg (Lidzbark Warmiński) with L'Estocq on his right flank. The three Russian advance guards were led by Major Generals Markov, Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, and Karl Gustav von Baggovut. Though his cavalry under General of Brigade Auguste Francois-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais was roughly handled, Ney managed to escape southward to Neidenburg (Nidzica).

Having brushed aside Ney, the Russians bore down on Bernadotte's corps. On 24 January, Markov mauled a French unit at Liebstadt (Miłakowo), capturing 300 Frenchmen. Bernadotte quickly assembled General of Division Pierre Dupont's division and General of Brigade Jacques Léonard Laplanche's dragoons at Preussisch Holland (Pasłęk) on his left flank in the northwest. On his own initiative, Bernadotte's chief of staff General of Brigade Nicolas Joseph Maison

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases