Battle of Eylau

The Battle of Eylau took place between February 7 and February 8, 1807, and was a bloody clash between the forces of Emperor Napoleon I of France and the bulk of the Russian army. under the command of General Bennigsen.

Eylau was the first serious test for the Grande Armée, which had demolished the armies of the great European powers in the two previous campaigns in the Battle of Austerlitz (Austria, December 1805). and in the battle of Jena-Auerstädt (Prussia, October 1806).

Prelude

With the Prussian army reduced to a handful of fugitives after Jena and Auerstädt, Napoleon occupied the major German cities and marched east in pursuit of the remaining forces still opposing him: the Russians under the command of the fragile Marshal of 75 years old Mikhail Kamensky. Kamensky was not in favor of fighting and withdrew, allowing the French army to enter Poland with almost no resistance. After a series of inconclusive encounters, Napoleon's troops settled into winter quarters in Poland to recover after a victorious but exhausting campaign.

In January 1807, Russian forces now under the command of General Bennigsen, advanced rapidly westward trying to surprise the First Corps of the French Army commanded by Marshal Bernadotte. With his customary ingenuity, Napoleon turned the situation to his own advantage, ordering Bernadotte to retreat before Bennigsen's forces, and secretly maneuvering the main army to converge and cut off the Russian retreat. The French plans fell into Russian hands, although Bennigsen was ultimately only able to retreat again (this time through a series of grueling night marches) by avoiding the trap.

At the beginning of February, the two armies were once again close, and the Russians moved into the bay near Eylau. During the chase, perhaps influenced by the poor state of Polish roads, the savage winter weather, and the relative ease with which his forces had dispatched Prussia, Napoleon allowed his army a greater dispersion than usual. In contrast, Bennigsen's troops were much more concentrated. As a consequence, at the time of the general battle the Emperor would have difficulties concentrating his troops on the enemy.

First day

Marshal Soult's infantry and Marshal Murat's cavalry were the first French formations to arrive at Eylau, around 2:00 p.m. on the 7th. During the afternoon they were reinforced by Marshal Augereau's infantry and the Imperial Guard, reaching the figure of 45,000 soldiers in total. Bennigsen had 67,000 Russian troops with 460 cannons already prepared (when the French only had 200). The Russians expected to be reinforced by the Prussian detachment of L'Estocq, with 9,000 men, and the French expected reinforcements from Marshal Davout, with the 3rd Infantry (victorious at the Battle of Auerstädt, but which now only had 15 000 men), and the forces of Marshal Michel Ney, with 14,000 infantry, who followed the Prussians. Bernadotte's 1st Infantry was too far away to take part in the battle.

The battle began when French forces advanced to occupy the town of Eylau. On this point, reputable historians differ on the motives. Napoleon later said that it was done at his command. The advance had the double objective of containing the Russian forces to prevent a new retreat, and providing the troops with shelter against the terrible cold. Other evidence suggests however that the advance was not planned, but occurred due to an undisciplined skirmish that Marshals Soult and Murat had been unable to stop. According to Captain Marbot, a not entirely reliable source, ^{[citation needed]} the Emperor told Marshal Augereau that he would not like a night combat, and that he wanted to wait. until morning so that he could count on Davout's forces arriving on the right flank and Ney's on the left, and that the high ground in front of Eylau was a good and defensible position to wait for reinforcements.

Whatever the cause of the fighting on the first day, it quickly escalated into a long and bitter confrontation that continued well into the night and resulted in 4,000 casualties on each side before Bennigsen ordered the Russian forces retreat a short distance. Despite the possession of the town, most of the French spent the night in the open field, as did the Russians. Both sides were out of food: the Russians due to their usual disorganization, and the French due to problems with roads, weather, and the crush of troops rushing into battle.

The Russian troops highlighted by Bennigsen fought with great determination led by officers of the stature of Pyotr Bagration and Mikhail Barclay de Tolly. Despite being numerically outnumbered, these units managed to prolong the fight and thus gave the bulk of the Russian army valuable time to deploy west of the city. At one point, the Russians lost the town and thanks to the arrival of the Infantry Brigade led by Major General Somov they managed to recover it from the French. But in the middle of the night and with Barclay de Tolly already wounded, the Russians withdrew, leaving the town definitively in the hands of the French.

On the extreme harshness of the fighting of this first day, which would be a harbinger of those that would occur the next day, Sir Walter Scott (in “The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French”, Volume IX, 1827) I would point out:

“Crossing Landsberg, to reach the designated site, the Russian rearguard, heavily attacked by the French, would have suffered great losses without the courage of Prince Bagration, who compensated with the force of arms for the imprudence they had had in committing themselves to the narrow streets of a town in the presence of a warned and enterprising enemy. The Russians lost three thousand men on this occasion. On February 7, the same prince achieved with the Russian rearguard, over the French vanguard, advantages that rescued the misfortune of Landsberg, and gave the entire army the time to cross the city of Preuss Eylau and take up position behind that city. Bennigsen had intended to occupy that place himself, and with this design he had left troops there; But in the midst of the inevitable confusion in the movements of such a numerous army, the general's orders were misunderstood, and the body that had remained in the city evacuated it after he crossed the rear.

A Russian division was ordered to re-enter Preuss Eylau; He found the French owners of it, evicted them and was in turn evicted by another French column to whom Buonaparte had promised to sack the square. The Russians made a third attempt; because Bennigsen wanted to occupy the enemy at that point until the arrival of his heavy artillery, which was coming from another route. Then he would have wanted the struggle to seize Preuss Eylau to cease; But it was impossible to moderate the ardor of the Russian columns, which continued advancing with a beating drum, rushed into the city, surprised the French at the moment of the sack and killed many with bayonets. Preuss Eylau, despite this, did not offer a military guarantee; No work defended the avenues. The French approached, favored by the inequalities of the surrounding terrain, they directed their fire on the houses, and caused the Russians to suffer some losses. General Barclay de Toll was wounded and withdrew his troops again, and the city was definitively in the power of the French. The night put an end to the combat, which was renewed the next day with three times more fury than the day before.”

Jean Thiry, in "Eylaud, Friedland, Tilsit" (published in 1964), gives an account of the case: the confusion prevailing during the actions of that afternoon in the surrounding area and within the city. According to the versions he collected, Barclay de Tolly had managed to recover the city cemetery, but the 26th line regiment had resisted in the town until the brigade commanded by Viviés recaptured the cemetery.

Second day

First confrontations

With dawn came the first lights, although there was little heat and almost no visibility: dense storm clouds continued throughout the day. The enemy forces occupied two parallel ridges, and shortly after 8:00 they began the artillery duel, where the French, despite having less than half the number of pieces than their opponents, had the better part due, above all, to the greater dispersion of its troops and the greater skill of its artillerymen. Without sufficient forces to develop a better plan, Napoleon on the second day ordered the infantry to fight a frontal attack led by Soult and Augereau supported by as much artillery as they could muster. Certain that it would be costly, he had calculated it to slow the Russian attack until Davout's infantry had time to arrive on the right.

In response, Bennigsen launched a major attack on the French left flank, which soon forced Soult's overwhelmed forces to retreat, and a series of cavalry actions against Davout's vanguard, which was beginning to arrive far behind. right. Napoleon advanced the 7th. Augereau's Corps, joining it with Saint-Hilaire's division (from Soult's corps) and throwing them on the Russian left flank with the intention of allowing Davout to deploy and reduce pressure on Davout's troops.

Augereau was very ill, and had to be helped onto his horse. Perhaps that is why he used a complex formation that soon found itself hopelessly lost in the snow. In the midst of the snow storm that broke out (and that faced the French) the columns of 7o. Corps mistakenly turned further north and advanced towards the center of the Russian army. This storm even caused them to fall under fire from the French artillery. These columns landed directly in front of the massive Russian batteries with 70 guns. Meanwhile, Saint-Hilaire's division, moving in the right direction, failed to have much success.

Augereau's troops were practically wiped out. Bennigsen gained complete combat advantage, falling on this corps and Saint-Hilaire's division with more cavalry and leading his reserve infantry to attack the devastated French center. Augereau and the few thousand survivors of his corps returned to Eylau, where they were attacked again by a column of Russian infantry. At one point, Napoleon himself, using the church tower as a command post, was nearly captured, but members of his personal escort held off the Russians just long for the Imperial Guard brigades to arrive. to help them. At this moment the French Emperor launched a squadron of Guard cavalry on the left and a part of the Guard on foot charging with the bayonet against this column that was annihilated.

But the French center was almost broken. In a desperate move, Napoleon drew on his only reserves: he ordered a frontal charge by Murat and his 11,000 reserve cavalry, assisted by the Imperial Guard, the last remaining unscathed body of French troops.

Murat's cavalry

Thus began one of the greatest cavalry charges ever remembered. Murat's squads swept away the Russian infantry around Eylau, then split into two wings. One charged the flank of the Russian cavalry attacking St. Hilary's division, and the other charged the Russian infantry in the area where Augereau's troops had made a fort. Not content with these two strong gales, the cavalry regrouped and charged straight into the Russian center, regrouped again, turned and attacked again, charging at the gunboats that had destroyed the 7th Corps, before retreating under the protection of the cavalry. of the Imperial Guard. Murat lost 1,500 well-trained cavalrymen, but they relieved pressure on Augereau, Saint-Hilaire, and Soult, and prevented the Russian victory long enough to allow Davout to take part in the battle.

Never before has French cavalry been so relevant. In part, this was because Murat's men were riding some of the finest horses in Europe in the first place, recently requisitioned following the plundering conquest of Prussia.

Davout's troops were now in position to begin applying heavy pressure on the Russian right wing. Despite the significant tear in the center of the Russian ranks, Napoleon declined to follow Murat's charges with a Guard advance. A move like this could have given him victory in the battle, but Napoleon was well aware of the 9,000 Prussians who, under the command of L'Estocq, were not yet in combat, and wisely decided to retain the Guard as a reserve. During the afternoon, Soult, Augereau and Murat tried to hold their positions while Davout, assisted by Saint-Hilaire, repeatedly defeated the Russians and drove them back. At 15:30, it seemed that the cohesion of the Russian army was about to break.

The reinforcement of the Prussian troops of L'Estocq

Meanwhile, L'Estocq's Prussian forces had approached and passed behind the Russian positions, gathering strength by collecting the scraps of the Russian troops and adding them to the 9,000 Prussian soldiers. At 16:00, L'Estocq fell on Davout's exposed flank, and the animated Russians soon launched a new attack on the opposite wing. For the next three hours, Davout was forced to retreat to his original position and again it seemed that Napoleon might be defeated unless he managed to muster more help.

For unexplained reasons, the Emperor failed to notify Marshal Michel Ney the night before, and only sent a messenger at 8:00 on the 8th. Although a short distance from the battle, the dense snow had attenuated the sound of cannon shots, and Ney was completely uninformed about what was happening until the messenger arrived around 2:00 p.m. Ney's elite division arrived on the battlefield at around 19:00, and immediately attacked the right wing of the Russian forces. The bitter fighting continued until 10:00 p.m., when both sides gradually withdrew.

Result

After 14 hours of continuous battle, there was no result other than a huge loss of life. Authoritative voices differ in the figures, although it is estimated that the Russian casualties were approximately 25,000 men, and the French casualties were around 20,000 men. At 23:00, Begnissen decided to withdraw and, covered by the Cossacks, the Russian army began to withdraw stealthily. The exhausted French did not have news of this until 3:00 and were in no condition to begin the chase. Technically, the French had gained possession of the battlefield: nothing more than a vast field of snow stained by the blood of thousands of frozen corpses. They had suffered enormous losses, and had failed in their objective of destroying the Russian army.

Current name

The city was renamed Bagrationovsk in 1945, in honor of the general who had commanded the Russian army during the campaign, Pyotr Bagration. Currently this city belongs to the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast.

Bibliography and recommended readings

• Chandler, David (2005). The Campaigns of Napoleon: An Emperor in the Battlefield of Tolon to Waterloo (1796-1815). Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros. ISBN 978-84-9734-335-0.