The Battle of Dresden (26–27 August 1813) was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle took place around the city of Dresden in modern-day Germany, then the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony. With the recent addition of Austria, the Sixth Coalition felt emboldened in their quest to expel the French from Central Europe. Despite being heavily outnumbered, French forces under Napoleon scored a victory against the Army of Bohemia led by Generalissimo Karl von Schwarzenberg. However, Napoleon's victory did not lead to the collapse of the coalition, and the weather and the uncommitted Russian reserves who formed an effective rearguard precluded a major pursuit. Three days after the battle, the Coalition surrounded and destroyed a French corps advancing into their line of withdrawal at the Battle of Kulm.
Dresden lies on the banks of the Elbe. Strategically, the Dresden Augustus Bridge (the only permanent bridge in the city at that time) was a choke point for Schwarzenberg's coalition forces advancing from the south, plus French artillery parks and supplies were stockpiled in the city. In anticipation of the battle, Napoleon ordered the strengthening of Dresden's defenses, whose southern walls were in a degenerated state. Marshal Saint-Cyr erected hasty fortifications south of the city. By attacking, his corps temporarily held off Schwarzenberg's advanced Russo-Prussian units under General Peter Wittgenstein. Having bought the necessary time, Saint-Cyr was soon reinforced by Napoleon himself, whose three corps had made a rapid forced march to his aid. Napoleon thus abandoned the pursuit of Blücher's Army of Silesia, for which observation forces were left in the form of Macdonald's Army of the Bober. Schwarzenberg was a "competent soldier who was prone to moments of hesitation and tended to be overcautious"; he was further burdened with three monarchs whose opinions had to be taken into account. It was the hesitation that cost Schwarzenberg the opportunity to act in accordance with the Trachenberg Plan and defeat the French in detail. The battle occurred between the areas southwest and southeast of the city limits. The Coalition belatedly launched a massive assault on the city's outskirts, but after some successes, they were outmatched by surprise and efficient counterattacks under Napoleon himself. Thus Schwarzenberg was decisively defeated on all sectors of the battle. Marshal Murat's cavalry particularly distinguished itself by breaking through the left allied flank, which was isolated by the flooded river from the rest of the armya vulnerability that Napoleon took advantage of.
Historian Modest Bogdanovich summarized the battle and noted the following details. 'Both the city itself and its surroundings presented a picture of anxiety and devastation... Napoleon, in turn, was justifiably proud of his success. The allies had almost double the cavalry, and they also had the advantage in artillery. Napoleon's troops consisted almost exclusively of fresh conscripts, while the allies had many veterans. But these advantages could not compensate for the lack of unity of command, prompt mutual understanding, and fast execution. Many of the individual commanders, for example, Zieten and Colloredo, covered themselves with glory, and the troops fought very bravely, but at their head was Schwarzenberg, while at the head of the French was Napoleon. Neither even the experience of Moreau nor the profound knowledge of Jomini, the French apostates who participated on the Imperial-Russian side, could compensate for the shortcomings.' Historian David G. Chandler stated that owing to the Battle of Dresden, "the legend of French invincibility had been fully re-established."
Prelude On 16 August, Napoleon had sent Marshal Saint-Cyr's corps to fortify and hold Dresden in order to hinder coalition movements and to serve as a possible base for his own manoeuvres. He planned to strike against the interior lines of his enemies and defeat them in detail, before they could combine their full strength. He had a field army of 442,810 men and 1,284 guns in 559 battalions and 395 squadrons against Coalition field forces totaling 512,113 men in 556 battalions, 572 squadrons and 68 Cossack regiments, and 1,380 guns.
The Coalition avoided battle with Napoleon himself, choosing to attack his subordinate commanders as per the Trachenberg Plan. On 23 August, at the Battle of Grossbeeren, south of Berlin, Crown Prince Charles of Sweden (formerly French Marshal Bernadotte, Napoleon's own Marshal) defeated his old comrade Marshal Oudinot. On 26 August, Prussian Marshal Blücher crushed Marshal MacDonald's army at the Battle of Katzbach.
Battle
On 25 August, the three monarchs—Alexander I of Russia, Francis I of Austria, and Frederick William III of Prussia—and their staffs assembled on an overlook of the city to discuss their strategy. The city's weak defenses were clear from this vantage point: the French and Saxon garrison of 20,000 men under Marshal Saint-Cyr could not hope to hold a city of that size. The monarchs were a thorn in Schwarzenberg's side, interfering at inopportune moments and causing confusion when important decisions had to be made. "It is really inhuman," Schwarzenberg complained, "what I must tolerate and bear, surrounded as I am by fools, eccentrics, projectors, intriguers, asses, babblers, and niggling critics." The Tsar and General Jean Victor Moreau, formerly a General of France and by 1813 an adviser to the Coalition, wanted to attack at once; Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg wanted to wait until additional forces arrived.
26 August
The following day, 26 August, Schwarzenberg sent the Coalition force of over 200,000 men to attack Saint-Cyr. The Army of Bohemia was divided into three parts: the Left Wing consisted of Austrians and commanded by Schwarzenberg himself and included the 9 divisions of infantry, 3 divisions of cavalry and 128 guns; the Right Wing consisted of Russians and Prussians under Wittgenstein and included 2 Russian infantry divisions and von Kleist's Prussian corps and 158 guns; the Reserves behind the center consisted of the best Russian and Prussian troops under Barclay de Tolly and included 2 Russian grenadier divisions, 4 Russian Guard cavalry divisions, the Prussian Royal Guard and about 150 guns. The monarchs stayed with the reserves.
In Dresden, Saint-Cyr's XIV Corps manned the various redoubts and defensive positions. From 6:00am to noon, the coalition probed the French defenses. Napoleon arrived from the north about 10:00am with the Guard Infantry and Murat's I Cavalry Corps arriving shortly afterwards, covering in forced marches over three days. His charisma instilled all ranks, "from Saint-Cyr to the lowest private, with newfound confidence in their ultimate triumph." Napoleon's Guard consisted of 2 Young Guard Corps and the Old Guard Division.
Shortly after 11:00am, the Coalition monarchs noticed the stream of French troops hurrying into Dresden from the north. There was a lull in the battle between noon and 3:00pm while the French reinforcements took positions and the Coalition leaders pondered whether they should fight Napoleon or withdraw. The Coalition finally began a bombardment and general assault starting about 3:00 pm against the southern suburbs of the city. Wittgenstein's Russians, despite some local successes, suffered heavy losses, particularly from artillery, and were stopped by the French in defensive positions. Soon, together with the Prussians, the Russians launched new attacks and were able to oust the French from local urban fortified footholds, including Großer Garten, which the Prussians of Zieten's van and Pirch's brigade captured, but in the end they were stopped on the outskirts, forced to retreat and also suffered heavy losses. Despite the losses, the Austrians of Colloredo-Mansfeld's corps managed to dislodge the French from the lunette. Then the Austrians assaulted a garden wall and could not break through, but their artillery from the covering forces was able to suppress some French guns. When the Austrians knocked the French out of the lunette and the Prussians captured Großer Garten, Kleist tried to capture the barrier. His advance in columns was covered by an embankment from the Kaitzbach, but when his skirmishers were ten paces from the barrier, the French opened a "fierce" cannonade from the batteries at the entrance to the suburb. This, coupled with rifle fire, forced the Prussians to withdraw. Gyulay's Austrians also steadily advanced, pushing the French out of the townships, but were unable to break through to another suburb.
Napoleon once again demonstrated his tactical mastery,as the Coalition forces made progress, Bonaparte swiftly dispatched reinforcements to the threatened areas the I Cavalry Corps to the French right, Ney and the II Young Guard Corps to the center and Mortier and the I Young Guard Corps to the French left. At 5:30 pm, Napoleon launched his riposte. Napoleonic counteroffensive was organized in a classically coordinated and energetic manner, formidably combining infantry and cavalry actions and flanking maneuvers; gradually the French recaptured all their positions. By nightfall, the French thus had regained almost all of Saint-Cyr's original positions and, moreover, Wittgenstein was pushed back even further by . As night fell on 26 August, a torrential downpour started that lasted throughout the night. The streams became swollen with water and the ground turned to mud.
27 August
After being reinforced overnight with Victor's II Corps, Marmont's VI Corps and the Guard Cavalry, Napoleon attacked the following morning on 27 August in a steady rain, destroyed the coalition left flank, and won an impressive tactical victory. The flooded Weisseritz, impassable at the battle site, cut off a large portion the left wing of the Coalition army, commanded by Johann von Klenau and Ignaz Gyulai (or Gyulay), from the Coalition's main body in the center. Marshal Joachim Murat took advantage of this isolation and inflicted heavy losses on the Austrians. A French participant observed, "Murat... cut off from the Austrian army Klenau's corps, hurling himself upon it at the head of the carabineers and cuirassiers. ... Nearly all his [Klenau's] battalions were compelled to lay down their arms, and two other divisions of infantry shared their fate." Of Klenau's force, Lieutenant Field Marshal Joseph, Baron von Mesko de Felsö-Kubiny's division of five infantry regiments was surrounded and captured by Murat's cavalry, which amounted to approximately 13,000 men, and 15 colours. Mesko was wounded, and retired the following year. Gyulai's divisions also suffered serious losses when they were attacked by Murat's cavalry supported by Victor's II Corps during a rainstorm. With damp flints and powder, their muskets would not fire and many battalions became an easy prey to the French cuirassiers and dragoons.