The battle of Eylau, fought from February 7 to 8, 1807, was an important battle in the Napoleonic War of the Fourth Coalition. The Emperor personally led the French in this battle. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte fought a dramatic war with the Russo-Prussian alliance led by General Levin August, Count von Bennigsen, and General Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq, with the result of Napoleon's Pyrrhic victory.
Although Napoleon I controlled the battlefield, his army suffered very heavy losses without achieving any goals. It is possible that the heavy blockade of the Russian-Prussian coalition at Eylau was also the first battle that was fought. Napoleon and his Grande Armée have been defeated. At the Battle of Eylau, the forces of the Prussian Army retained their splendor. This was also Napoleon I's most unsuccessful battle since the invasion of Egypt. The Battle of Eylau is regarded as a triumph for Prussian Staff Officer Gerhard von Scharnhorst, who defeated Napoleon I's desire to terminate the war quickly.
Bennigsen was stationed in the plain north of Eylau on the first day of the war, while Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration led the Russian army to assault the French, but the French conquered the town of Preußisch Eylau on the eastern border. Prussia. The next day (February 8), Russian infantry units fought courageously in difficult conditions, and Russian artillery swept away the French.
Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult's unit was also repulsed, suffering heavy losses. Snow covered the battlefield, while a blizzard plagued both armies. During the fierce combat, the Russian soldiers set up an artillery barricade at Eylau, and Napoleon I, who had not intended to attack, was repeatedly repelled in his first steps. The French army fell into disaster, and Napoleon I himself almost fell into the hands of Russian soldiers. But while the Russians prevailed, General Joachim Murat arranged a cavalry offensive to save Napoleon I, with Marshals Michel Ney and Louis Nicolas Davout assisting.
The Russians were at a disadvantage, but Prussian reinforcements led by General L'Estocq pushed Davout's French troops back to a few villages. The Prussian soldiers fought valiantly under the guidance of a skilled general. Michael Ney assaulted him but failed, forcing him to retreat. Napoleon I was unable to vanquish the Russians because neither side could prevail. Fearing reinforcements from the French, Bennigsen ordered a retreat at midnight, and Napoleon I controlled the frozen battlefield, which was only filled with frozen bodies.
This battle also demonstrated Napoleon I's Mamluk forces' effectiveness. Unlike the spectacular victory of Austerlitz (1805), the French army's turning point in the Battle of Eylau failed. The armies of France and Russia both claimed victory. Both sides suffered significant losses in this engagement (30.6% of the French army and 27.7% of the Russian army). Napoleon I must have been alarmed by this sight. However, the French were more miserable because most of their units were destroyed; The battle also demonstrated the terrible firepower of the Russian artillery force at that time. Even the French Army's eloquent proclamations could not hide the savagery of this conflict.
Meanwhile, both armies' fatigue prevented them from planning large campaigns for the next few months. French soldiers became hungry and lacked support. And, the tragedy of the Grande Armée at the Battle of Eylau has little to do with Napoleon I's defeat in the invasion of Russia in 1812 Another significance of this brutal battle is the Prussian Army's influence in Napoleon's wars: their rapid response spared the Russian Army from defeat. The old feudal Prussian army showed bravery even in terrible times and achieved their first triumph for their recovery since the Battle of Jena (1806).
Historical Background
In July 1806, Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III joined forces with Russian Emperor Alexander I to oppose Napoleon I's French First Empire. When Field Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout smashed another Prussian army in the Battle of Auerstädt that day, before the Prussians could approach the Russians, Napoleon I crushed a Prussian army at the Battle of Jena.
Napoleon I triumphantly seized Berlin in October 1806, and the French then crushed the remaining Prussian armies in turn. For a few months, only the Prussian fortresses of Kolberg, Danzig, and Königsberg resisted, refusing to surrender to the invaders. King Friedrich Wilhelm III and the lovely Queen Louise were forced to retreat to Königsberg. Meanwhile, General Anton-Wilhelm von L'Estocq joined the Russian Army with 15,000 soldiers.
In late 1806, Napoleon I's allies, Bavaria and Württemberg, attacked Prussian Poland and incited the Polish population to rebel against Prussian dominance. On December 11, 1806, Napoleon I was joined by the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich August, a Prussian ally. As a result, after assisting the Poles in establishing the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, Napoleon I appointed Friedrich August as Grand Duke of Warsaw. Despite Napoleon I's the desire to crown a member of the Bonaparte Dynasty as King of Poland, the Polish people greeted him and his troops as liberation heroes.
Napoleon I began his love affair with Countess Maria Walewska, a gorgeous Polish noblewoman, after entering Poland. However, the situation would force him to leave the army in Poland during the winter of 1806–1807: Friedrich Wilhelm III was still under the influence of Empress Louise, so he was adamant about not negotiating with the invader while the army was present. In December 1806, Russia also moved closer to the French.
Furthermore, the French Army's morale collapsed: they were all frustrated and marched slowly. They didn't have a rotational structure: French soldiers were only sent home if they were gravely wounded, and an entire unit could only be repatriated to France if their incompetence was plainly shown. Food was scarce.
Meanwhile, in December 1816, the 70-year-old Russian Marshal Count Mikhail Fedotovich Kamensky led 70,000 Russian forces to Warsaw, alongside L'Estocq's 15,000 Prussians. Napoleon I was still in Prussia, preparing to trap Coalition troops on the Narew River northeast of Warsaw. However, due to a serious lack of morale, the French army was unable to battle and win quickly. Then, on December 26, 1806, Field Marshal Jean Lannes' Corps was on the verge of defeat at the Battle of Pultusk, but was saved by Davout's reinforcements.
Kamensky had also resigned from command by this point. Bennigsen, now 62 years old, took command of the Allied forces in Poland and planned a strategy to invade the north in January 1807. This march had a good chance of succeeding because Napoleon I believed that no one should fight in inclement weather; therefore, he gave his troops a winter respite. Field Marshals Michel Ney and Bernadotte were farther north, with Bernadotte controlling the majority of the territory and reinforcing the sieges of Danzig and Königsberg.
Ney and Bernadotte retreated to the south before the Russian-Prussian vertical formations advanced. On January 27, 1807, Napoleon ordered a general counterattack. However, Bernadotte had not received any orders to assemble before February 3, so when Napoleon fought the battle of Eylau, he was on a two-day march. Furthermore, the Russians were also notified of the French attack.
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