Global InformationBattle of Friedland information
| Battle of Friedland | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the War of the Fourth Coalition | |||||||
 Napoleon at the Battle of Friedland (1807). The Emperor is depicted giving instructions to General Nicolas Oudinot. Between them is depicted General Etienne de Nansouty and behind the Emperor, on his right is Marshal Michel Ney. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 French Empire Kingdom of Saxony[1] |
 Russian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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| Strength | |||||||
|
80,000 (65,000 engaged[2]) 118 cannons[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] |
46,000–60,000 120 cannons[3][4][6][7][8] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 8,000[10]–10,000[11] |
20,000[10]–40,000[12] killed, wounded and captured 80 guns[10] | ||||||
  class=notpageimage| Location within Europe | |||||||
125miles
The Battle of Friedland (14 June 1807) was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars between the armies of the French Empire commanded by Napoleon I and the armies of the Russian Empire led by Count von Bennigsen. Napoleon and the French obtained a decisive victory that routed much of the Russian army, which retreated chaotically over the Alle River by the end of the fighting. The battlefield is located in modern-day Kaliningrad Oblast, near the town of Pravdinsk, Russia.
The engagement at Friedland was a strategic necessity after the Battle of Eylau earlier in 1807 had failed to yield a decisive verdict for either side. The battle began when Bennigsen noticed the seemingly isolated reserve corps of Marshal Lannes at the town of Friedland. Bennigsen, who planned only to secure his march northward to Wehlau and never intended to risk an engagement against Napoleon's numerically-superior forces, thought he had a good chance of destroying these isolated French units before Napoleon could save them, and ordered his entire army over the Alle River.[13] Lannes skillfully held his ground against determined Russian attacks until Napoleon could bring additional forces onto the field. Bennigsen could have recalled the Russian forces, numbering about 50,000–60,000 men on the opposite bank of the river, and retreated across the river before the arrival of Napoleon's entire army but, being in poor health, decided to stay at Friedland and took no measures to protect his exposed and exhausted army.[13] By late afternoon, the French had amassed a force of 80,000 troops close to the battlefield. Relying on superior numbers and the vulnerability of the Russians with their backs to the river, Napoleon concluded that the moment had come and ordered a massive assault against the Russian left flank. The sustained French attack pushed back the Russian army and pressed them against the river behind. Unable to withstand the pressure, the Russians broke and started escaping across the Alle, where an unknown number of them died from drowning.[14] The Russian army suffered horrific casualties at Friedland–losing over 40% of its soldiers on the battlefield.[15]
Napoleon's overwhelming victory was enough to convince the Russian political establishment that peace was necessary. Friedland effectively ended the War of the Fourth Coalition, as Emperor Alexander I reluctantly entered peace negotiations with Napoleon. These discussions eventually culminated in the Treaties of Tilsit, by which Russia agreed to join the Continental System against Great Britain and by which Prussia lost almost half of its territories. The lands lost by Prussia were converted into the new Kingdom of Westphalia, which was governed by Napoleon's brother, Jérôme. Tilsit also gave France control of the Ionian Islands, a vital and strategic entry point into the Mediterranean Sea. Some historians regard the political settlements at Tilsit as the height of Napoleon's empire because there was no longer any continental power challenging the French domination of Europe.[16]
- ^ Everson, Robert E. (2014). Marshal Jean Lannes In The Battles Of Saalfeld, Pultusk, And Friedland, 1806 To 1807: The Application Of Combined Arms In The Opening Battle. Pickle Partners Publishing. ISBN 9781782899037. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
The Saxons also had a small division with two brigades, two cavalry regiments and two foot batteries in the French reserve Corps at Friedland.
- ^ Clodfelter 2002.
- ^ a b Chandler, 1999: 161
- ^ a b Dowling T. C. Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond. ABC-CLIO. 2014. P. 279: "Napoleon, with 80,000 men and 118 cannon".
- ^ Chandler, D. The Campaigns of Napoleon. Scribner, 1966, p. 576.
- ^ a b Tucker S. C. A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. 2009. P. 1055: "The Battle of Friedland of June 14, 1807, pits Napoleon with 80,000 men against Bennigsen with only 60,000".
- ^ a b Emsley C. Napoleonic Europe. Routledge. 2014. P. 236
- ^ a b Sandler S. Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. 2002. P. 304: "Friedland... A battle in East Prussia between French forces, ultimately numbering 80,000, commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, and Russian forces, numbering about 46,000 under Levin, Count Bennigsen".
- ^ Nicholls D. Napoleon: A Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO. 1999. P. 105: "Some 50,000 Russians under Levin von Bennigsen faced 80,000 of the Grande Armée".
- ^ a b c Chandler 1995 p. 582.
- ^ Fisher, Todd & Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. Osprey Publishing, 2004, p. 90
- ^ Fisher, 2001: 78
- ^ a b Gregory Fremont-Barnes (editor).The Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. A Political, Social, and Military History. V. I. ABC CLIO. 2006. P. 388-389.
- ^ Weigley R. F. The Age of Battles: The Quest for Decisive Warfare from Breitenfeld to Waterloo. Indiana University Press, 2004. P. 407
- ^ Roberts, Andrews. Napoleon: A Life. Penguin Group, 2014, p. 455
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 585. Bourrienne, a French diplomat and formerly Napoleon's secretary, wrote, "The interview at Tilsit is one of the culminating points of modern history, and the waters of the Niemen reflected the image of Napoleon at the height of his glory."