Battle of Eylau: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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| strength2 = '''76,000-83,000:'''{{sfn|Chandler|1966|p=536}}{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=380}}<br>{{flagicon|Russia}} Bennigsen: 67,000<br>{{flagicon|Prussia|1803}} L'Estocq: 9,000<br>400 guns

| casualties1 = 15,000–29,643{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=380}}{{efn|Chandler suggests that casualties may have been as high as 25,000 but concedes the actual number cannot be determined;{{sfn|Chandler|1966|p=548}} Franceschi gives 14,000;{{sfn|Franceschi|Weider|2007|p=118}} Connelly suggests probably over 15,000.{{sfn|Connelly|2005|p=137}} Other sources suggest that their losses approached almost 30,000.{{sfn|Murphy|2014}}{{sfn|Petre|2001|p=205}}{{sfn|Dwyer|2013}} According to the estimates of the German historian Horst Schulz, the French lost 4,893 men killed, 23,598 wounded and 1,152 missed in action, which makes a total of 29,643.{{sfn|Schulz|1983|p=99}}}}

| casualties2 = 15,000{{sfn|Chandler|2009|p=1119}}{{sfn|Petre|2001|p=XI}}–26,000{{sfn|Asprey|2008|p=58}}{{sfn|Franceschi|Weider|2007|p=118}}{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=380}}

| units1 = * {{flagdeco|France|1794}} [[Garde Impériale|Imperial Guard]]▼

* {{flagdeco|France|1794}} [[III Corps (Grande Armée)|III Corps ]]

* {{flagdeco|France|1794}} [[IV Corps (Grande Armée)|IV Corps ]]

* {{flagdeco|France|1794}} [[VI Corps (Grande Armée)|VI Corps ]]

* {{flagdeco|France|1794}} [[VII Corps (Grande Armée)|VII Corps ]]

* {{flagdeco|France|1794}} [[Reserve Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée)| Reserve Cavalry Corps]]

| units2 = * {{flagdeco|Russian Empire}} [[2nd Infantry Division (Russian Empire)|2nd Division ]]

* {{flagdeco|Russian Empire}} [[3rd Infantry Division (Russian Empire)|3rd Division ]]

* {{flagdeco|Russian Empire}} [[4th Infantry Division (Russian Empire)|4th Division ]]

* {{flagdeco|Russian Empire}} [[5th Infantry Division (Russian Empire)|5th Division ]]

* {{flagdeco|Russian Empire}} [[6th Infantry Division (Russian Empire)|6th Division ]]

* {{flagdeco|Russian Empire}} [[7th Infantry Division (Russian Empire)|7th Division ]]

* {{flagdeco|Russian Empire}} [[8th Infantry Division (Russian Empire)|8th Division ]]

* {{flagdeco|Russian Empire}} [[14th Infantry Division (Russian Empire)|14th Division ]]

* {{flagdeco|Prussia|1803}} [[L'Estocqs Corp|East Prussian Corps ]]

| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Fourth Coalition}}▼

}}

▲| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox

Fourth Coalition}}

| units1 = {{plainlist|

▲* {{flagdeco|France|1794}} [[Garde Impériale|Imperial Guard]]

| map_type = Europe

| map_relief = 1

| map_size = 300

}}

{{Campaignbox Fourth Coalition}}

{{OSM Location map

| coord = {{coord|52.7|15.5}}

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}}

The '''Battle of Eylau''', or '''Battle of Preussisch-Eylau''', was a bloody and strategically inconclusive battle on 7 and 8 February 1807 between [[Napoleon]]'s {{lang|fr|[[Grande Armée]]}} and the [[Imperial Russian Army]] under the command of General [[Levin August von Bennigsen]] near the town of [[Bagrationovsk|Preussisch Eylau]] in [[East Prussia]].{{sfn|Haythornthwaite|1996|loc=Chapter 3}} Late in the battle, the Russians received timely reinforcements from a [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] division of [[Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq|von L'Estocq]]. After 1945, the town was renamed [[Bagrationovsk]] as part of [[Kaliningrad Oblast]], [[Russia]]. The engagement was fought during the [[War of the Fourth Coalition]], part of the [[Napoleonic Wars]].

Napoleon's armies had smashed the army of the [[Austrian Empire]] in the [[Ulm Campaign]] and the combined Austrian and Russian armies at the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] on 2 December 1805. On 14 October 1806, Napoleon crushed the armies of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] at the [[Battle of Jena–Auerstedt]] and hunted down the scattered Prussians at [[Battle of Prenzlau|Prenzlau]], [[Battle of Lübeck|Lübeck]], [[Capitulation of Erfurt|Erfurt]], [[Capitulation of Pasewalk|Pasewalk]], [[Capitulation of Stettin|Stettin]], [[Siege of Magdeburg (1806)|Magdeburg]] and [[Siege of Hameln|Hamelin]].

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Augereau was very ill and had to be helped onto his horse. Fate intervened to turn the attack into a disaster. As soon as the French marched off a blizzard descended, causing all direction to be lost. Augereau's corps followed the slope of the land and veered off to the left, away from Saint-Hilaire. Augereau's advance struck the Russian line at the junction of its right and centre, coming under the fire of the blinded French artillery and then point-blank fire of the massive 70-gun Russian centre battery. Meanwhile, Saint-Hilaire's division, advancing alone in the proper direction, was unable to have much effect against the Russian left.

Augereau's corps was thrown into great confusion with heavy losses,{{sfn|Petre|1976|p=178}} gives Augereau's official tally{{who|date=July 2021}} of 929 killed and 4,271 wounded. One regiment, the 14th Ligne, was unable to retreat and fought to the last man, refusing to surrender; its eagle was carried off by [[Marcellin Marbot|Captain Marbot]]. Its position would be marked by a square of corpses.{{sfn|Petre|1976|p=197}} Bennigsen took full advantage by falling on Saint-Hilaire's division with more cavalry and bringing up his reserve infantry to attack the devastated French centre. Augereau and 3,000 to.4,000 survivors fell back on Eylau, where they were attacked by about 5,000 Russian infantry. At one point, Napoleon himself, using the church tower as a command post, was nearly captured, but members of his personal staff held the Russians off for just long enough to allow some battalions of the Guard to come up. Counterattacked by the Guard's bayonet charge and [[Jean Pierre Joseph Bruguière|Bruyère]]'s cavalry in its rear, the attacking Russian column was nearly destroyed.{{sfn|Petre|1976|p=180}} For four hours, the French centre was in great disorder, virtually defenceless and in imminent danger.{{sfn|Petre|1976|p=202}}

With his centre almost broken, Napoleon resorted to ordering a massive charge by Murat's 11,000-strong cavalry reserve. Aside from the Guard, that was the last major unbloodied body of troops remaining to the French.