Battle of Gefrees
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The Battle of Gefrees was fought on 8 July 1809 during the War of the Fifth Coalition between a joint force of Austrians and Brunswickers under the command of General Kienmayer and a French force under the command of Marshal Junot. The battle ended in victory for the Austrians who avoided being trapped by Junot and a force of Saxons and Westphalians led by Jérôme Bonaparte. After Jérôme's troops were defeated at the Battle of Hof, the Austrians effectively had control over all of Saxony. However the victory was in vain, due to the major Austrian defeat at Wagram and the Armistice of Znaim.
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[edit] Background
When Austria declared war on France on April 9, 1809, a small force of Austrians together with a force of Brunswickers under the command of Frederick William, The Black Duke were based in Theresienstadt, Bohemia (now Terezín, Czech Republic) and acted as a defensive force whilst the bulk of the Austrian army was engaged in Bavaria and Italy. Then on 25 May, a Saxon force under Colonel von Thielmann invaded Bohemia. In response Duke Frederick William invaded Saxony and took the city of Zittau, forcing von Thielmann to retreat back to Dresden.
After the battle of Battle of Aspern-Essling, Archduke Charles reinforced the Austrian troops in Bohemia to a total strength of over 12,000 men and ordered a diversionary attack into Saxony. The Austrians entered Saxony on 10 June and by the third day an Austrian force of over 6,000 men under Major Am Ende captured the capital of Saxony, Dresden. Von Thielmann and his Saxons were forced back to Gorbitz, whilst the Saxon Royal Family hurriedly fled west. Meanwhile another force of 6,000 men under Paul von Radivojevich entered Bayreuth on 14 June, threatening an invasion of the Kingdom of Württemberg and joining forces with the Tyrolean uprising.
On 22 June, in face of the worsening situation in Saxony, Napoleon's brother Jérôme (who was also King of Westphalia) left Kassel with a force of 15,000 men including his elite Guards Division. On the same day the Austrian forces had occupied Leipzig but were quickly forced to leave by the arrival of Jérôme's troops. By 26 June, Jérôme had retaken the city and two days later the Westphalians clashed with the Austrians and Brunswickers for the first time.
[edit] Arrival of Kienmayer and Junot
In late June 1809, Marshal Junot arrived in Frankfurt and took command of the Corps of Observation of the Elbe, a hastily assembled army with the purpose of guarding the Confederation of the Rhine, and began marching north. Radivojevich fell back towards am Ende's troops in the north. Jérôme's forces on the other hand had retaken Dresden and forced am Ende's troops south. However on 3 July, the Austrian and Brunswicker troops were formed into the new XI. Corps and placed under the command of General Michael von Kienmayer, who had arrived with reinforcements. On the same day, Jérôme left Dresden and headed south in pursuit. Kienmayer and his 15,000 troops now found themselves in the middle of a Franco-Westphalian pincer movement.
[edit] Battle
However, what followed was the most successful series of battles for the Austrians in over a decade. Jérôme was slow in his pursuit, allowing Kienmayer to head south and confront Junot. The Austrians first managed to stop Junot's advanced guard and then engaged Junot's main force on 8 July 1809 at Gefrees. This was the largest battle in Saxony during the whole war and ended in a decisive victory for the Austrians.
At Gefrees, the Austrians under Kienmayer had 2 regiments of regular Grenzer troops (about 5,300 men) and several hundred irregular Landwehr militia. The Black Brunswickers remained to the north guarding against any move by Jérôme and were not engaged at Gefrees. The French under Junot, on the other hand, had 2 regular line infantry regiments (about 6,000 men), a Bavarian depot battalion (about 1,000 men), and a dragoon regiment (about 500 men and horses). However, Junot's Corps of Observation of the Elbe were mainly conscripts who were poorly trained in comparison to the Austrian Grenzers. In particular, Junot's cavalry was not able charge effectively, therefore failing to exploit the lack of Austrian cavalry, and allowing the Austrians to remain in line formation. This meant the Austrians were able to deliver heavy and sustained volley fire throughout and by the end of the day, most of the French infantry had fled the field of battle. The Austrians had only suffered minimal casualties, whilst inflicting a substantial blow against the French. Junot's pursuit was not only stopped, but he was forced to retreat to Amberg.
With the southern pincer defeated, Kienmayer turned his attention to Jérôme who was still slowly advancing south. He rejoined with the rest of his forces, including the Black Brunswickers, and finally engaged Jérôme's forces on 11 July at Hof. Jérôme had been expecting to fight an Austrian army being pursued by Marshal Junot. Instead, Jérôme found himself outnumbered and facing an army buoyed by a recent victory.
Jérôme, sensing defeat was inevitable, ordered a general retreat to Schleiz and the battle was merely a rear guard engagement. Duke Frederick William and his Black Brunswickers gave chase forcing Jérôme all the way back to Erfurt and the western borders of Saxony. The Austrians retook Dresden and the whole of Saxony had been evacuated. However, by the time Jérôme and his army had arrived safely in Erfurt, news of the French victory at Wagram and the resulting armistice at Znaim had reached Saxony. The Austrians were forced to concede all their gains and Jérôme and his Westphalians headed safely back to Kassel.
[edit] Aftermath
Duke Frederick William, however, was appalled by the Armistice of Znaim. He had hoped with the help of Kienmayer and the Austrians to start a popular uprising against Napoleon in northern Germany. Refusing to agree to the peace between Austria and France, the Black Duke decided to take matters into his own hands and make for the North Sea with his 2,000 troops. He still hoped to start popular uprising and in the following weeks, the Black Duke caused Jérôme major problems, defeating his Westphalian troops twice at the battles of Halberstadt and Oelpe (now a suburb of Brunswick), as well as reinforcing his army with Westphalian deserters from both battles. The Black Brunswickers even managed to temporarily retake the city of Brunswick but Jérôme had ordered three generals to find and destroy the Duke Frederick William's forces. Despite this the Black Brunswickers still managed to reach the coast and were evacuated to the Isle of Wight in August 1809 on the ships used to land troops at Walcheren.
[edit] References
- History of the Black Band. Retrieved on 28 July 2007
- Loraine Petre F. Napoleon and the Archduke Charles, Kessinger Publishing (2003)
- Gill, J. H. With Eagles to Glory: Napoleon and His German Allies in the 1809 Campaign, Greenhill Books (1992)
