BATTLE OF KULM

The 'Battle of Kulm' was a battle near the town Kulm (Chlumec) and the village Přestanov in northern Bohemia. It was fought on August 30 1813, during the War of the Sixth Coalition. 32,000 French troops under Dominique Vandamme attacked an army of 54,000 Austrians, Russians, and Prussians under Barclay de Tolly, but were defeated with heavy losses on both sides.

Contents

Background

Battle

Casualties

Aftermath

References

Images

External links

Background

Following the French victory at Dresden, Vandamme pursued the retreating allies. Napoleon I of France sent Marshals Gouvion Saint Cyr and Auguste Marmont to support Vandamme's corps. With Vandamme in advance, Saint Cyr's and Marmont's corps brought up the rear. Vandamme caught up with Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy's forces near the town of Kulm, eight kilometres northwest of Aussig (Ústí nad Labem) (now in the Czech Republic).

Battle

At 6:00, Vandamme attacked Russian formations under the command of Peter Wittgenstein, capturing Russian troops and artillery. Vandamme then crossed the Ore Mountains and at about 12:00 attacked Austrian troops located in Kulm. Initially, the Austrians were forced to withdraw to Teplitz (Teplice). However, Prussian corps commanded by Friedrich von Kleist attacked Vandamme's rear guard. Kleist then received help from a combined Russian and Austrian attack on Vandamme's front, under the command of General Ostermann-Tolstoy. In an attempt to repulse simultaneous attacks on his front and rear, Vandamme ordered his forces to form squadrons. The inexperienced French troops were unable to fend off the allies, and soon withdrew from the battlefield, with heavy losses.

Casualties

The French lost about 5,000 soldiers killed or wounded. Between 7,000 and 13,000 French soldiers were taken prisoner, including Vandamme. The allies lost approximately 11,000 soldiers killed or wounded.
In Vandamme's corps there were two Polish regiments of Uhlans, part of cavalry divisions under the command of general Jean Corbineau. These regiments were used by Vandamme to defend against enemy cavalry charges. One regiment, commanded by Colonel Maximilian Fredro (brother of playwright Alexander Fredro), was attacked after withdrawal in defile and surrendered. The other regiment of Uhlans, under command of count Tomasz Łubieński (generally known in English as Thomas Lubienski) successfully withdrew.

Aftermath

After the battle, Vandamme was accused by Tsar Alexander I of Russia of being a brigand and plunderer. He retorted, "I am neither a plunderer nor a brigand but in any case, my contemporaries and history will not reproach me for having soaked my hands in the blood of my father." This statement apparently hinted at the widespread belief that Alexander I was implicated in the murder of his father, Tsar Paul I.

References

★ Jadwiga Nadzieja "Lipsk 1813" historical battles serie published in Warsaw by Bellona 1998 ISBN 83-11-08826-8 pages 57-59

Images

External links

★ Battle of Kulm

★ Memoirs of the Duke Rovigo