Siege of Hamburg

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Siege of Hamburg
Part of the German campaign of the Sixth Coalition
Hamburg.Karte.1813 neddermeyer 300dpi.jpg
1830s map of Hamburg during the siege (1813–14)
Date24 December 1813 to 12 May 1814 [1]
Location 53°33′N9°59′E / 53.550°N 9.983°E / 53.550; 9.983
Result French victory [1] [2]
Belligerents
Flag of France (1794-1815).svg French Empire Flag of Russia.svg Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Flag of France (1794-1815).svg Louis-Nicolas Davout Flag of Russia.svg Levin August von Bennigsen
Flag of Russia.svg Dmitry Dokhturov
Flag of Russia.svg Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn
Strength
40,000 initially (25,000 men later left for France) [1] 56,000 [1]
120,000 at the time of January 1814 [3]
Casualties and losses
6,000 killed or wounded [1] 6,000 killed or wounded [1]
Siege of Hamburg
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180km
112miles
19
18
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17
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16
Leipzig
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15
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14
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13
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12
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11
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10
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9
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8
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7
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6
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5
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4
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3
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  current battle
  Napoleon in command
  Napoleon not in command

The siege or blockade of Hamburg [1] was a military engagement of the War of the Sixth Coalition fought between French and Sixth Coalition forces in Hamburg. After being freed from Napoleonic rule by advancing Cossacks and other following Coalition troops it was once more occupied by Marshal Davout's French XIII Corps on 28 May 1813, at the height of the German Campaign of the war. Ordered to hold the city at all costs, Davout launched a characteristically energetic campaign against a similar numbered Army of the North made up of Prussian and other Coalition troops under the command of Count von Wallmoden-Gimborn, winning a number of minor engagements. Neither force was decidedly superior and the war ground to a halt and resulted in a rather stable front line between Lübeck and Lauenburg and further south along the Elbe river, even after the end of the cease-fire of the summer 1813. In October 1813 a French column's movement towards Dannenberg resulted in the only major engagement in Northern Germany, the Battle of the Göhrde. The defeated French troops retreated back to Hamburg.

Contents

Despite steadily shrinking manpower, food and ammunition supplies, Davout's forces displayed no signs of abandoning Hamburg. When French armies withdrew west after the lost Battle of Leipzig at the end of the year, the Allies deployed a large portion of Bernadotte's Army of the North to watch the city during the 1814 campaign for France. Davout was still in control of Hamburg when the War of the Sixth Coalition ended in April, and eventually capitulated to Russian forces under General Bennigsen on 27 May 1814, obeying orders delivered by General Gérard from the new king of France, Louis XVIII.

Strengths

French forces are estimated to 42,000 (Including 10,000 Danes [4] and 8,000 wounded [3] )
Allied forces are estimated to 52,000 [2] in the start (Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn's corps) to 120,000 in the seat area, [3] in January 1814, when Levin August, Count von Bennigsen took command. Dmitry Dokhturov supervised the siege works from January to May. [5]

Other

During Davout's defense of Hamburg, one type of silver coin was issued. The design of the 32 schilling coin of 1809 was reused, and the date was not changed, but the mintmaster's initials were changed from HSK (for Hans Schierven Knoph) to CAIG (for C. A. J. Ginquembre, who was the French director of the mint in 1813). The coins were issued in 1813, and are listed in the Standard Catalog of World Coins 1801-1900 by Krause Publications as type number KM242 for Hamburg.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bodart 1908, p. 483.
  2. 1 2 Smith 1998, p. 582.
  3. 1 2 3 Hourtoulle 1975, p. 407.
  4. Hulot 2003, p. 265.
  5. Zalessky K. A. Наполеоновские войны 1799–1815. Биографический энциклопедический словарь, Москва, 2003. pp. 280–282

References

Further reading