Battle Of Bornhöved (1813)

The Battle of Bornhöved or Bornhöft took place on 7 December 1813 between a Swedish cavalry regiment, Mörner's Hussar Regiment (later Kronprinsens husarregemente or Crown Prince's Hussar Regiment) under Bror Cederström and Prince Frederik of Hesse's Danish troops reinforced by smaller numbers of Polish cavalry and German infantry. The clash occurred at the small village of Bornhöft in what is now Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. The engagement occurred during the War of the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, and was one of the last times Swedish and Danish forces met on the battlefield.

Background

Crown Prince Charles John led a division of the northern armies, including the Mörner's Hussar Regiment, under the command of the commander of the Swedish cavalry Anders Fredrik Skjöldebrand, to pursue the retreating Danish army. The idea was for the Swedish cavalry to advance in parallel to the Danes until general Wallmoden could cut off their retreat and force the outmanoeuvred Danes to surrender.

Battle

Charles John had been very economical with Swedish forces throughout the war and deliberately held back to allow the allies to take huge losses whilst he held onto the Swedish forces for future use. The Swedish cavalry thus felt left out of all the war's previous major battles. This, in addition to their regiment not seeing combat in the 1808–09 war that lost Finland, made them disobey their orders and ride straight against the Danish forces. It then clashed with the Danish rearguard (made up of Polish ulans, an elite force sent out by Napoleon to cover the Danish retreat) throughout the day until in the evening the Swedes met the main Danish force gathered at Bornhöved.

This force consisted of between 5,000 and 8,000 men, of which 1,000 cavalry and 2,000 to 3,000 infantry would take part in the fighting.

It would not normally have considered the advance guard of the Swedish cavalry as a major threat (since in such difficult terrain and so close to nightfall a frontal cavalry assault on the massed infantry with artillery support would be pure folly), but since their rearguard was still embroiled in fighting with Swedish patrols the Danes formed up in ranks and waited.

The Swedish cavalry force consisted of 1,200 men, of which 900 would be engaged.

First came the Danish rearguard, still harried by some Swedish squadrons under major Fritz von der Lancken and finally dispersed by the Swedish assault. The attackers then turned on the main Danish force and the Danes staked all their forces at once, with a Swedish reconnaissance beaten off and von der Lancken in retreat. In the meantime the main Swedish force began to form up. With seven squadrons totalling 471 men, commanded by Colonel Bror Cederström, the Swedish cavalry immediately moved to the attack, broke up the Danish formations and drove them into retreat.

Aftermath

The Danish losses in the battle are unknown; the official Danish report admitted to 11 killed, 35 wounded and 75 missing. A subsequent Danish bulletin, on the other hand, attested to 200 killed. The Swedes claimed to have captured 200 to 300 Danes, and killed and wounded many more. Two cannons and one howitzer were also captured. Some 400 Danes were captured in the following days as the Swedes pursued. The Swedish losses were 21 men killed, 55 wounded, and 128 horses killed or wounded.

The result of the battle is disputed. The people who claim it as a Danish victory emphasise that the attack was repulsed, the Danes kept the battlefield, the Danes had less dead and wounded, and the Danes could continue marching to Kiel. Contrary, many people also describe it as a Swedish victory. Kronprinsens husarer carried ''Bornhöft 1813'' as a battle honour on its standard.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bornhöved 1813
German campaign of 1813
Battles of the War of the Sixth Coalition
Battles of the Dano-Swedish wars
Battles in 1813
December 1813
1813 in Denmark
1813 in Sweden
Military history of Schleswig-Holstein
19th century in Schleswig-Holstein
Cavalry charges of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Charles XIV John
Battles of the Napoleonic Wars involving Denmark–Norway
Battles of the Napoleonic Wars involving Sweden