BATTLE OF DÜBEN, (16 OCTOBER 1813)

The German town of Düben is located on the main road between Dresden and Leipzig in Mark Brandenburg along the river Elbe. The town is a historical site, and many of the buildings date from the Middle Ages, including what many have described as a "dreary palace." It was at this palace that Napoleon set up his provisional headquarters between 10 and 13 October while he pondered what to do as General Gebhard von Blücher and Feldmarschall Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg closed in on him from different directions. The year 1813 was pivotal in the War of the Sixth Coalition. The action at Düben would be a minor part of the larger Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations.

Napoleon had left Düben at the head of his forces to meet Blücher near Leipzig on 13 October. Napoleon's forces were strung out along the road to Leipzig and on both sides of the Elbe when they were attacked on the sixteenth. A French rear guard was located in Düben consisting of the understrength 9th Division commanded by General Antoine-Guillaume Mauraillhac d'Elmas de La Costa (known as Delmas).

His forces consisted of elements of the 29th Provisional Regiment, 29th Light Regiment, 136th, 138th, and 145th Line Regiments, and two batteries of foot artillery, totaling some 4,235 men.

To the north of Delmas were the 1,300 men of the Polish 27th Infantry Division commanded by General Edward Zostowski, part of Prince Józef Poniatowski's Polish forces. Zostowski's men held the twin villages of Gross Wiederitzsch and Klein Wiederitzsch, partially covering Napoleon's rear. Austrian and Hungarian grenadiers supported by Russian infantry fiercely attacked the Poles across the Elbe, and Zostowski was hard-pressed, losing control of Gross Wiederitzsch to the Russians. French forces across the Elbe could do nothing to aid Zostowski, but Delmas was in position to do so.

Delmas led his troops out of Düben, launching an attack into the flank and rear of the Russians relieving the beleaguered Poles. Delmas and Zostowski then regrouped and assaulted the woods near Klein Wiederitzsch, putting the Allied troops to flight. Delmas, with the assistance of the Poles including 700 recently arrived Polish uhlans (lancers) commanded by General Jan Dabrowski, recaptured Gross Wiederitzsch that afternoon after a sharp engagement.

Ultimately the battle swung against Napoleon when increasing pressure from Austrian, Russian, and arriving Prussian troops rendered the positions near Düben untenable. After strong resistance, both the Polish and French troops were forced to give way before their formations were shattered by repeated Allied assaults. Düben was only a small part of much larger events, but the Poles that fought there highly distinguished themselves, as did their French comrades.

References and further reading

Hofschröer, Peter. 2000. Leipzig 1813: The Battle of the Nations. Oxford: Osprey.

Nafziger, George. 1996. Napoleon at Leipzig: The Battle of Nations, 1813. Chicago: Emperor's. Petre,

F. Loraine. 1992. Napoleon's Last Campaign in Germany, 1813. London: Greenhill.

Smith, Digby. 2001. 1813, Leipzig: Napoleon and the Battle of the Nations. London: Greenhill.