Capitulation of Pasewalk
Encyclopedia
The Capitulation of Pacewalk on 29 October 1806 resulted in the surrender of Oberst (Colonel)
von Hagen's 4,200 Prussian
soldiers to an inferior force of two French light cavalry brigades led by Generals of Brigade Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud
and Antoine Lasalle. The Prussians were completely demoralized after a two-week-long retreat following their decisive defeat at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
. Pasewalk
is 110 kilometers north of Berlin and about 40 kilometers west of Szczecin (Stettin)
, Poland.
While retreating east toward Stettin on the Oder River, Hagen found his column trapped between Lasalle's brigade and Milhaud's brigade. Without attempting to break out, the baffled Prussian officer surrendered. The incident at Pasewalk came after a similar Prussian surrender after the Battle of Prenzlau
the previous day. Within a week two fortresses would capitulate without firing a shot and a number of other Prussian columns would be hunted down one by one.
decisively defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt. At Jena
Napoleon's 96,000 troops smashed the 53,000-man army of Generals of Infantry
Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen
and Ernst von Rüchel
, while the 26,000-man III Corps of Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout defeated Feldmarschall Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
's 49,800-strong army at Auerstedt
.
At Jena, French losses were 6,794 while Prussian losses were very large but impossible to calculate. The Saxons saved only 23 of their artillery pieces, while losing 59. The Prussians lost at least 24 guns plus 12 colors. Davout estimated his losses as 7,000 at Auerstedt while his enemies suffered 10,000 killed and wounded and 3,000 captured. The Prussians admitted losing 57 guns from their artillery batteries, not counting regimental guns. So Davout's claim to have captured 115 pieces may be accurate.
The Prussian army was so thoroughly shattered by its defeat that it had not recovered cohesion by the next day. Shot through both eyes, Brunswick expired at Altona
on 10 November. The badly wounded Rüchel made his way to Poland where he recovered. The retreating mass of Prussians resolved itself into three columns under Prince Hohenlohe, Lieutenant General
Gebhard von Blücher, and General of the Infantry Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth. These forces marched through the Harz Mountains toward Halberstadt
. Trailing behind was the 12,000-man corps of Lieutenant General Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, which missed Jena-Auerstadt.
On 16 October, French cavalry under Marshal
Joachim Murat
secured the surrender of 12,000 men and 65 guns in the Capitulation of Erfurt
. It was only the first of a series of craven Prussian surrenders. The following day, Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte drubbed Lieutenant General Eugene Frederick Henry, Duke of Württemberg
's Reserve at the Battle of Halle
, inflicting 5,000 casualties on this previously fresh body of troops for a French loss of only 800.
and joined his corps to Hohenlohe's soon afterward. He then left for an assignment in Poland. On the 20th, Soult and Murat were before Magdeburg. Murat demanded its surrender, which Hohenlohe refused. That day, Davout seized a bridgehead over the Elbe at Wittenberg
and Lannes seized a second crossing at Dessau
.
Having received orders from King Frederick William III of Prussia
to march to the Oder River, Hohenlohe's army left Magdeburg on 21 October and reached Burg bei Magdeburg
that night. He left 9,000 men to reinforce the garrison, so that, together with stragglers, there were 25,000 troops in the city. Hohenlohe reached Genthin
at night on 22 October and Rathenow
on the evening of the 23rd. To better feed his troops, he divided his command up into multiple columns.
Leaving Marshal Michel Ney
's VI Corps to begin the Siege of Magdeburg
, Napoleon ordered his right wing to march east for Berlin. The French right wing consisted of Davout's corps, Marshal Jean Lannes
' V Corps, Marshal Pierre Augereau's VII Corps, and four of Murat's cavalry units. These were the 1st Cuirassier
Division led by General of Division Etienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty
, the 2nd Cuirassier Division under General of Division Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul
, the 2nd Dragoon Division commanded by General of Division Emmanuel Grouchy, and the 3rd Dragoon Division under General of Division Marc Antoine de Beaumont
. The left wing was made up of Bernadotte's corps, Marshal Nicolas Soult's IV Corps, and General of Division Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc
's 4th Dragoon Division. Guarding the line of communications was General of Division Louis Klein
's 1st Dragoon Division.
Blücher crossed the Elbe at Sandau
on 24 October, while Saxe-Weimar got across there two days later. On the 26th, Oberst
Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg held off Soult's advance guard at Altenzaun
before safely crossing to the east bank. At this time Lieutenant General Johann Friedrich Winning relieved Saxe-Weimar in command. Hohenlohe marched to Neustadt an der Dosse
on the 24th. His goal was the fortress of Szczecin (Stettin)
on the Oder. To protect his right flank, he ordered General-Major Christian Ludwig Schimmelpfennig to move through Fehrbellin
, between Neustadt and Oranienburg
. Blücher took over the leadership of Hohenlohe's rear guard.
On 25 October Davout's corps marched through Berlin while one of Lannes' divisions captured the fortress of Spandau
with 920 men and 71 cannons. Hohenlohe's main body arrived near Neuruppin
that evening, with Blücher's rear guard division still at Neustadt. General von Schwerin's cavalry and Oberst von Hagen's infantry brigade bivouacked at Wittstock
. General-Major Karl Anton von Bila's light brigade reached Kyritz
north of Neustadt. Desiring to cut off the forces under Hohenlohe, Napoleon ordered Murat and Lannes to move north from Berlin. Immediately available at Oranienburg were the light cavalry brigades of Generals of Brigade Antoine Lasalle and Edouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud
, plus Grouchy's dragoons.
On 26 October, Lasalle caught up with Schimmelpfennig at Zehdenick
. Initially, the Prussians held their own, but when Grouchy's division charged into the fray, Schimmelpfennig's force scattered. The survivors fled to Stettin with Lasalle, Grouchy, and Beaumont in pursuit. The results of this clash compelled Hohenlohe to shift farther northeast from Gransee
to Lychen
. The next morning he waited in vain for Blücher and Bila to catch up before continuing toward the east. On 27 October, Milhaud's brigade reached Boitzenburg
before Hohenlohe's advance guard. After a three hour combat, the Prussians drove Milhaud's troopers off, but not before the French despoiled supplies collected for their hungry opponents at the Schloss Boitzenburg. Hearing the sounds of battle, Murat marched north with Grouchy's dragoons. At Wichmannsdorf, three French dragoon regiments got into a brawl with the Gensdarmes Cuirassier Regiment # 10. Murat wiped out the Prussian unit but Hohenlohe managed to slip past him toward Prenzlau
.
At 4:00 AM on 28 October, Hohenlohe's exhausted Prussians stumbled into Schönermark-Nordwestuckermark
eight kilometers west of Prenzlau. At a council of war it was determined to continue on into Prenzlau. At this time orders were sent to Hagen to make for Pasewalk. The Battle of Prenzlau
occurred that day. Murat with Lasalle, Milhaud, Grouchy, Beaumont, and 3,000 of Lannes' infantry intercepted Hohenlohe's column as it marched into the city. Lasalle attacked in front, followed by the two dragoon divisions. On the outskirts, one of Grouchy's brigades hewed a path through the Prussian column, capturing many prisoners and isolating the rear guard. Beaumont's dragoons drove the rear guard against the Uecker
River north of the city and forced Prince Augustus of Prussia
to surrender. Though Hohenlohe still had a clear road to Stettin, Murat bluffed him into surrendering 10,000 troops by claiming he was surrounded by 100,000 Frenchmen.
on the Randow stream. At 4:00 PM, he arrived at the village, which was on the direct road between Pasewalk and Stettin. The French general deployed his cavalrymen in Löcknitz and in the hamlet of Bergholz facing northwest in the direction of Pasewalk.
Appearing before the town, Milhaud sent an emissary to demand a surrender. The Prussian colonel, finding Milhaud behind him and Lasalle ahead of him, immediately capitulated with 185 officers, 4,043 rank and file, 2087 cavalry horses, one ammunition wagon, and eight artillery pieces. Hagen's force consisted of his own infantry brigade and Oberst von Podewil's cavalry brigade. The French captured colors (number in parenthesis) from the Pirch Infantry Regiment # 22 (3), Zenge Infantry Regiment # 24 (3), Treuenfels Infantry Regiment # 29 (4), Prince Ferdinand Infantry Regiment # 34 (2), Henkel Cuirassier Regiment # 1 (5), Heising Cuirassier Regiment # 8 (5), Holtzendorff Cuirassier Regiment # 9 (5), Leib Carabinier Regiment # 11 (5), and Bünting Cuirassier Regiment # 12 (5).
The Prussian officers were released after giving their word of honor not to fight against France for the rest of the campaign. Milhaud's entire force consisted of the 1st Hussar
Regiment and the 13th Chasseurs a Cheval, a total of 700 troopers. Lasalle's brigade included the 5th and 7th Hussar Regiments with 800 cavalrymen and two cannons. Another authority placed the 1st Hussars with General of Division Anne Jean Marie René Savary
at Neuruppin on the 29th, and wrote that Milhaud led the 13th Chasseurs and an unnamed dragoon regiment.
Historian Digby Smith
wrote that the Pasewalk incident showed the morale of the Prussian army to be extremely low at this point in the campaign. There was no fighting. Lannes wrote, "The Prussian army is in such a state of panic that the mere appearance of a Frenchman is enough to make it lay down its arms." That night, Lasalle achieved an even more astonishing coup in the Capitulation of Stettin
. Between 30 October and 3 November, the French captured Küstrin
fortress, an artillery convoy, Hohenlohe's baggage train and guard, and Bila's brigade. Blücher and Winning decided to head northwest for Lübeck
with their 22,000 troops. The Battle of Lübeck
was fought on 6 November.
Oberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
von Hagen's 4,200 Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
soldiers to an inferior force of two French light cavalry brigades led by Generals of Brigade Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud
Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud
Édouard Jean-Baptiste Milhaud was a French politician, Général de Division, and comte d'Empire.-French Revolutionary wars:...
and Antoine Lasalle. The Prussians were completely demoralized after a two-week-long retreat following their decisive defeat at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
Battle of Jena-Auerstedt
The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia...
. Pasewalk
Pasewalk
Pasewalk is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. Located on the Uecker river, it is the capital of the former Uecker-Randow district, and the seat of the Uecker-Randow-Tal Amt of which it is not part.Pasewalk became a town during the 12th...
is 110 kilometers north of Berlin and about 40 kilometers west of Szczecin (Stettin)
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
, Poland.
While retreating east toward Stettin on the Oder River, Hagen found his column trapped between Lasalle's brigade and Milhaud's brigade. Without attempting to break out, the baffled Prussian officer surrendered. The incident at Pasewalk came after a similar Prussian surrender after the Battle of Prenzlau
Battle of Prenzlau
In the Battle of Prenzlau or Capitulation of Prenzlau on 28 October 1806 two divisions of French cavalry and some infantry led by Marshal Joachim Murat intercepted a retreating Prussian corps led by Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen. In this action from the War of the Fourth...
the previous day. Within a week two fortresses would capitulate without firing a shot and a number of other Prussian columns would be hunted down one by one.
Background
On 14 October 1806, the Grande Armée of Emperor Napoleon I of FranceNapoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
decisively defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt. At Jena
Jena
Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
Napoleon's 96,000 troops smashed the 53,000-man army of Generals of Infantry
General of the Infantry (Germany)
General of the Infantry is a rank of general in the Imperial Army, Reichswehr or Wehrmacht - the second-highest regular rank. The same rank spread to the Imperial Russian Army and the Defence forces of Finland between the world wars...
Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen
Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen
Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen was a Prussian general and the eldest son of Prince John Frederick of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen....
and Ernst von Rüchel
Ernst von Rüchel
Ernst von Rüchel, born 21 July 1754 – died 14 January 1823, fought in the army of the Kingdom of Prussia during the French Revolutionary Wars. Afterward he held various appointments as a diplomat and a military inspector. In 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars he held an important army command...
, while the 26,000-man III Corps of Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout defeated Feldmarschall Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
Charles William Ferdinand , Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, was a sovereign prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and a professional soldier who served as a Generalfeldmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia...
's 49,800-strong army at Auerstedt
Auerstedt
Auerstedt is a municipality in the Weimarer Land district of Thuringia, Germany. It lies northeast of Weimar. On October 14, 1806, the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, a decisive victory for Napoleon I of France, took place near Auerstedt. As a result, the leader of the victorious French forces,...
.
At Jena, French losses were 6,794 while Prussian losses were very large but impossible to calculate. The Saxons saved only 23 of their artillery pieces, while losing 59. The Prussians lost at least 24 guns plus 12 colors. Davout estimated his losses as 7,000 at Auerstedt while his enemies suffered 10,000 killed and wounded and 3,000 captured. The Prussians admitted losing 57 guns from their artillery batteries, not counting regimental guns. So Davout's claim to have captured 115 pieces may be accurate.
The Prussian army was so thoroughly shattered by its defeat that it had not recovered cohesion by the next day. Shot through both eyes, Brunswick expired at Altona
Altona, Hamburg
Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...
on 10 November. The badly wounded Rüchel made his way to Poland where he recovered. The retreating mass of Prussians resolved itself into three columns under Prince Hohenlohe, Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Gebhard von Blücher, and General of the Infantry Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth. These forces marched through the Harz Mountains toward Halberstadt
Halberstadt
Halberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....
. Trailing behind was the 12,000-man corps of Lieutenant General Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, which missed Jena-Auerstadt.
On 16 October, French cavalry under Marshal
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
secured the surrender of 12,000 men and 65 guns in the Capitulation of Erfurt
Capitulation of Erfurt
In the Capitulation of Erfurt on 16 October 1806 a large body of troops from the Kingdom of Prussia under Lieutenant General the Prince of Orange surrendered to Marshal Joachim Murat at the city of Erfurt. The Prussian soldiers were demoralized by their shattering defeat at the Battle of...
. It was only the first of a series of craven Prussian surrenders. The following day, Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte drubbed Lieutenant General Eugene Frederick Henry, Duke of Württemberg
Eugene Frederick Henry, Duke of Württemberg
Duke Eugen of Württemberg was a German nobleman. He was brother of Frederick I of Württemberg-Life:Duke Eugen was born at Schwedt, Margraviate of Brandenburg, third child of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg , and his wife, Margravine Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt...
's Reserve at the Battle of Halle
Battle of Halle
In the Battle of Halle on 17 October 1806 a French corps led by Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte fought the Prussian Reserve under Eugene Frederick Henry, Duke of Württemberg. The French defeated their opponents, forcing the Prussians to retreat northeast toward Dessau after suffering heavy losses. The...
, inflicting 5,000 casualties on this previously fresh body of troops for a French loss of only 800.
Long retreat
The columns of Hohenlohe and Württemberg rendezvoused at Magdeburg on 20 October. Kalckreuth crossed the Elbe River at TangermündeTangermünde
Tangermünde is a town in the district of Stendal, in the northeastern part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Elbe river in the Altmark region.-History:Tangermünde can look back at an 1000-year history...
and joined his corps to Hohenlohe's soon afterward. He then left for an assignment in Poland. On the 20th, Soult and Murat were before Magdeburg. Murat demanded its surrender, which Hohenlohe refused. That day, Davout seized a bridgehead over the Elbe at Wittenberg
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
and Lannes seized a second crossing at Dessau
Dessau
Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...
.
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
to march to the Oder River, Hohenlohe's army left Magdeburg on 21 October and reached Burg bei Magdeburg
Burg bei Magdeburg
Burg bei Magdeburg is a town of about 24,700 inhabitants on the Elbe-Havel-Canal in Germany, northeast of Magdeburg. It is situated around a former weir, the Sachsenschleusen...
that night. He left 9,000 men to reinforce the garrison, so that, together with stragglers, there were 25,000 troops in the city. Hohenlohe reached Genthin
Genthin
Genthin is a town in the Jerichower Land district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Elbe-Havel Canal, approx. 50 km northeast of Magdeburg, and 27 km west of Brandenburg....
at night on 22 October and Rathenow
Rathenow
Rathenow is a town in the district of Havelland in Brandenburg, Germany, with a population of 26,433 .-Overview:The Protestant church of St. Marien Andreas, originally a basilica, and transformed to the Gothic style in 1517-1589, and the Roman Catholic Church of St...
on the evening of the 23rd. To better feed his troops, he divided his command up into multiple columns.
Leaving Marshal Michel Ney
Michel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
's VI Corps to begin the Siege of Magdeburg
Siege of Magdeburg (1806)
The siege of Magdeburg was a siege of the city that took place during the war of the Fourth Coalition...
, Napoleon ordered his right wing to march east for Berlin. The French right wing consisted of Davout's corps, Marshal Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes, 1st Duc de Montebello, was a Marshal of France. He was one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant"...
' V Corps, Marshal Pierre Augereau's VII Corps, and four of Murat's cavalry units. These were the 1st Cuirassier
Cuirassier
Cuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armoured knights...
Division led by General of Division Etienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty
Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty
Count Étienne-Marie-Antoine-Champion de Nansouty was a French cavalry commander during the French Revolutionary Wars who rose to the rank of General of Division in 1803 and subsequently held important military commands during the Napoleonic Wars. Of noble Burgundian descent, he was a student at...
, the 2nd Cuirassier Division under General of Division Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul
Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul
Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul was a French cavalry general of the Napoleonic wars. He came from an old noble family of France whose military tradition extended for several centuries....
, the 2nd Dragoon Division commanded by General of Division Emmanuel Grouchy, and the 3rd Dragoon Division under General of Division Marc Antoine de Beaumont
Marc Antoine de Beaumont
Marc Antoine Bonnin de la Bonninière de Beaumont, born 23 September 1763 – died 4 February 1830, a French nobleman, became a page to the king and joined the army of the Old Regime. He stayed in the army during the French Revolution and narrowly escaped being executed...
. The left wing was made up of Bernadotte's corps, Marshal Nicolas Soult's IV Corps, and General of Division Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc
Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc
Louis-Michel-Antoine Sahuc, born 7 January 1755 – died 24 October 1813, joined the French Royal Army and spent 20 years there before fighting in the French Revolutionary Wars. He rose to command a French cavalry regiment and later became a general officer...
's 4th Dragoon Division. Guarding the line of communications was General of Division Louis Klein
Louis Klein
Louis Klein served in the French military during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars as a general of cavalry....
's 1st Dragoon Division.
Blücher crossed the Elbe at Sandau
Sandau
Sandau is a town in the district of Stendal, in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, approx. 5 km south of Havelberg. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Elbe-Havel-Land....
on 24 October, while Saxe-Weimar got across there two days later. On the 26th, Oberst
Oberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg held off Soult's advance guard at Altenzaun
Altenzaun
Altenzaun is a village and a former municipality in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2009, it is part of the municipality Hohenberg-Krusemark....
before safely crossing to the east bank. At this time Lieutenant General Johann Friedrich Winning relieved Saxe-Weimar in command. Hohenlohe marched to Neustadt an der Dosse
Neustadt an der Dosse
Neustadt an der Dosse is a town in the district of Ostprignitz-Ruppin, Brandenburg, Germany with a population of 4013 . It has a total area of 75.62km², and lies close to the river Dosse.-History:...
on the 24th. His goal was the fortress of Szczecin (Stettin)
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
on the Oder. To protect his right flank, he ordered General-Major Christian Ludwig Schimmelpfennig to move through Fehrbellin
Fehrbellin
Fehrbellin is a municipality in Germany, located 60 km NW of Berlin. It has 9310 inhabitants as of 2005.-History:In 1675, the Battle of Fehrbellin was fought there, in which the troops of Brandenburg defeated those of occupying Sweden...
, between Neustadt and Oranienburg
Oranienburg
Oranienburg is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel.- Geography :Oranienburg is a town located on the banks of the Havel river, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin.- Division of the town :...
. Blücher took over the leadership of Hohenlohe's rear guard.
Spandau
Spandau is the fifth of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is the fourth largest and westernmost borough, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and along the western bank of the Havel, but the least populated.-Overview:...
with 920 men and 71 cannons. Hohenlohe's main body arrived near Neuruppin
Neuruppin
Neuruppin is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. Located on the shore of Ruppiner See , it is the capital of the district of Ostprignitz-Ruppin. Population: 32,800 .-Overview:...
that evening, with Blücher's rear guard division still at Neustadt. General von Schwerin's cavalry and Oberst von Hagen's infantry brigade bivouacked at Wittstock
Wittstock
Wittstock is a town in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in north-western Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Dosse, 20 km east of Pritzwalk, and 95 km northwest of Berlin. It was the location of the 1636 Battle of Wittstock between Sweden and an alliance of the Holy Roman...
. General-Major Karl Anton von Bila's light brigade reached Kyritz
Kyritz
Kyritz is a town in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 28 km west of Neuruppin and 28 km southeast of Pritzwalk.There are 9,900 inhabitants .-Overview:...
north of Neustadt. Desiring to cut off the forces under Hohenlohe, Napoleon ordered Murat and Lannes to move north from Berlin. Immediately available at Oranienburg were the light cavalry brigades of Generals of Brigade Antoine Lasalle and Edouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud
Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud
Édouard Jean-Baptiste Milhaud was a French politician, Général de Division, and comte d'Empire.-French Revolutionary wars:...
, plus Grouchy's dragoons.
On 26 October, Lasalle caught up with Schimmelpfennig at Zehdenick
Zehdenick
Zehdenick is a town in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Havel, 26 km southeast of Fürstenberg/Havel, and 51 km north of Berlin .-Subdivision:Zehdenick includes the following villages:...
. Initially, the Prussians held their own, but when Grouchy's division charged into the fray, Schimmelpfennig's force scattered. The survivors fled to Stettin with Lasalle, Grouchy, and Beaumont in pursuit. The results of this clash compelled Hohenlohe to shift farther northeast from Gransee
Gransee
Gransee is a town in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 20 km south of Fürstenberg/Havel, and 55 km northwest of Berlin....
to Lychen
Lychen
Lychen is a town in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 24 km southeast of Neustrelitz, and 12 km east of Fürstenberg/Havel. This is the town where the thumbtack was created....
. The next morning he waited in vain for Blücher and Bila to catch up before continuing toward the east. On 27 October, Milhaud's brigade reached Boitzenburg
Boitzenburger Land
Boitzenburger Land is a municipality in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany....
before Hohenlohe's advance guard. After a three hour combat, the Prussians drove Milhaud's troopers off, but not before the French despoiled supplies collected for their hungry opponents at the Schloss Boitzenburg. Hearing the sounds of battle, Murat marched north with Grouchy's dragoons. At Wichmannsdorf, three French dragoon regiments got into a brawl with the Gensdarmes Cuirassier Regiment # 10. Murat wiped out the Prussian unit but Hohenlohe managed to slip past him toward Prenzlau
Prenzlau
Prenzlau , a city in the Uckermark District of Brandenburg in Germany, had a population of about 21,000 in 2005.-International relations:Prenzlau is twinned with: Uster, Switzerland Barlinek, Poland Świdwin, Poland...
.
At 4:00 AM on 28 October, Hohenlohe's exhausted Prussians stumbled into Schönermark-Nordwestuckermark
Nordwestuckermark
Nordwestuckermark is a municipality in the Uckermark district, in Brandenburg, Germany....
eight kilometers west of Prenzlau. At a council of war it was determined to continue on into Prenzlau. At this time orders were sent to Hagen to make for Pasewalk. The Battle of Prenzlau
Battle of Prenzlau
In the Battle of Prenzlau or Capitulation of Prenzlau on 28 October 1806 two divisions of French cavalry and some infantry led by Marshal Joachim Murat intercepted a retreating Prussian corps led by Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen. In this action from the War of the Fourth...
occurred that day. Murat with Lasalle, Milhaud, Grouchy, Beaumont, and 3,000 of Lannes' infantry intercepted Hohenlohe's column as it marched into the city. Lasalle attacked in front, followed by the two dragoon divisions. On the outskirts, one of Grouchy's brigades hewed a path through the Prussian column, capturing many prisoners and isolating the rear guard. Beaumont's dragoons drove the rear guard against the Uecker
Uecker
The Uecker or Ucker is a river in the northeastern German states of Brandenburg, where it is known as the Ucker, and of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its source lies in the Uckermark district, near the village Alt-Temmen. It flows north through Lake Oberuckersee, Lake Mollensee and Lake Unteruckersee,...
River north of the city and forced Prince Augustus of Prussia
Prince Augustus of Prussia
Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich August of Prussia , known in English as Prince Augustus, was a Prussian general...
to surrender. Though Hohenlohe still had a clear road to Stettin, Murat bluffed him into surrendering 10,000 troops by claiming he was surrounded by 100,000 Frenchmen.
Capitulation
Moving on Murat's left flank on the 28th, Milhaud reached the village of Bandelow, about halfway between Prenzlau and Pasewalk. From there, he marched toward the sound of the guns from the Battle of Prenzlau. His brigade arrived in time to witness Prince Augustus' surrender to Beaumont. His troopers bivouacked that night in Bandelow and rode to Pasewalk the next morning. After Hohenlohe capitulated at Prenzlau, Lasalle rode northeast to LöcknitzLöcknitz
Löcknitz is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, located 12 km west of the German-Polish border and 25 km west of Szczecin .- Cross-border contacts :...
on the Randow stream. At 4:00 PM, he arrived at the village, which was on the direct road between Pasewalk and Stettin. The French general deployed his cavalrymen in Löcknitz and in the hamlet of Bergholz facing northwest in the direction of Pasewalk.
The Prussian officers were released after giving their word of honor not to fight against France for the rest of the campaign. Milhaud's entire force consisted of the 1st Hussar
Hussar
Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
Regiment and the 13th Chasseurs a Cheval, a total of 700 troopers. Lasalle's brigade included the 5th and 7th Hussar Regiments with 800 cavalrymen and two cannons. Another authority placed the 1st Hussars with General of Division Anne Jean Marie René Savary
Anne Jean Marie René Savary
Anne Jean Marie René Savary, 1st Duc de Rovigo , French general and diplomat, was born at Marcq in the Ardennes.-Biography:...
at Neuruppin on the 29th, and wrote that Milhaud led the 13th Chasseurs and an unnamed dragoon regiment.
Historian Digby Smith
Digby Smith
Digby Smith is a British military historian. The son of a British career soldier, he was born in Hampshire, England, but spent several years in India and Pakistan as a child and youth. As a "boy soldier," he entered training in the British Army at the age of 16...
wrote that the Pasewalk incident showed the morale of the Prussian army to be extremely low at this point in the campaign. There was no fighting. Lannes wrote, "The Prussian army is in such a state of panic that the mere appearance of a Frenchman is enough to make it lay down its arms." That night, Lasalle achieved an even more astonishing coup in the Capitulation of Stettin
Capitulation of Stettin
In the Capitulation of Stettin on 29–30 October 1806, Lieutenant General Friedrich Gisbert Wilhelm von Romberg surrendered the garrsion and fortress to a French light cavalry brigade led by General of Brigade Antoine Lasalle...
. Between 30 October and 3 November, the French captured Küstrin
Küstrin
Before 1945 Küstrin was a town in the former Prussian province of Brandenburg in Germany, situated on both sides of the Oder river...
fortress, an artillery convoy, Hohenlohe's baggage train and guard, and Bila's brigade. Blücher and Winning decided to head northwest for Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
with their 22,000 troops. The Battle of Lübeck
Battle of Lübeck
The Battle of Lübeck took place on 6 November 1806 in Lübeck, Germany between soldiers of the Kingdom of Prussia led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher and troops of the First French Empire under Marshals Joachim Murat, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, and Nicolas Soult...
was fought on 6 November.