Sunday 5 July 2009

Summary of Magdeburg Campaign

Strategic Map for the Magdeburg Campaign


General

This campaign is part of the larger 1813 Campaign. It covers the period 1 to 16 May 1813 and the fighting in northern Germany between Second French Army and the Prussians. It has been done as a separate blog in order to keep all of the relevant blogs together and to avoid making the main campaign blog too long and complicated.

If you want to read about the main campaign it can be found at http://1813campaign.blogspot.com.

Summary of the Campaign

The French were tasked to hold the line of the river Elbe from Hamburg to Magdeburg. Only half of their forces were in position at the beginning of the campaign.

The Prussians advanced from Berlin and crossed the river. They then fought two minor battles (one corps per side) at Calbe and Colbitz. The French counter attacked and fought a medium sized battle (two corps per side) at Halback. The major battle (four corps per side) of the campaign was fought at Magdeburg.

At the end of the campaign the Prussians held Magdeburg and two other bridge heads over the river Elbe. But they had been forced to withdraw to the west bank. So the Prussians won the campaign. But the French lived to fight another day.

Contents of the Blog

The blogs appear in the order they are typed. To make it easier to follow the campaign I have used the labels on the top right of this page as an index. They are as follows:

02 - Campaign Background. This explains how the Magdeburg campaign fits into the 1813 campaign.

03 - Prussian Army. This contains photographs of the Prussian headquarters, army, and corps. It also contains detailed orders of battle for each corps.

04 - French Army. This contains photographs of the French headquarters, army, and corps. It also contains detailed orders of battle for each corps.

05 - Campaign Movement. This is the day by day orders for the movement of each corps. It also contains a strategic map at the start and finish of the campaign and also for each battle.

06 - Campaign Diary. A day by day account of the progress of the campaign. It also contains a strategic map at the start and finish of the campaign and also for each battle.

07 - Calbe Battle Report. This contains the tactical map, photographs of each stage of the battle and a short description of the battle.

08 - Colbitz Battle Report. This contains the tactical map, photographs of each stage of the battle and a short description of the battle.

09 - Halback Battle Report. This contains the tactical map, photographs of each stage of the battle and a short description of the battle.

10 - Magdeburg Battle Report. This contains the tactical map, photographs of each stage of the battle and a short description of the battle.

If you want to read any of the above blogs, just click on the appropriate label above right.