1809 battle during the War of the Fifth Coalition
200km
125miles
Olper
3
Halberstadt
2
Gefrees
1
The color black indicates the current battle.
The
Battle of Olper
took place on 1 August 1809 in
Olper
, currently a district of the town of
Brunswick
, as part of the
War of the Fifth Coalition
. It pitched troops of the
Kingdom of Westphalia
against the
Black Brunswickers
under
Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel
, but ended in a tactical draw.
History
[
edit
]
In the
Battle of Jena and Auerstedt
,
Duke Charles William Ferdinand of Brunswick
was mortally wounded. On his deathbed he nominated his son
Frederick William
as his successor. Although the
Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel
had remained neutral in the conflict against
France
,
Napoleon
declared in 1807 that the
House of Brunswick
had ceased to reign, broke up the duchy and made it a part of the
Kingdom of Westphalia
, named the
Departement Oker
.
Resisting this, Frederick William, equipped 2,000 troops at his own expense and offered them and his services to
Emperor Franz I of Austria
in the
Convention of Vienna
on 25 February 1809. Due to their black uniform these troops were called the
Black Brunswickers
. After the
Battle of Wagram
,
Austria
had made peace with Napoleon, Frederick William decided to pull his troops on their own through northern
Germany
to embark on the
North Sea
to
England
and on the side of England continue to struggle against Napoleon. After defeating a Westphalian infantry regiment at the
Battle of Halberstadt
on 29 July, the Black Brunswickers and their leader reached
Braunschweig
on 31 July. The troops were joyfully welcomed by the population, but on the morning following their arrival Frederick William received word that a 5,000-strong Westphalian
division
commanded by
General Reubell
was approaching from the north of the city.
The battle
[
edit
]
The Black Brunswickers were outnumbered and were also threatened by an invading Dutch division from Halberstadt. In order not to fall between the two divisions, the Duke decided to face the Westphalians north of Brunswick, near the village of Olper, to attempt to break through to the north.
At 14:00 the "Black Horde" moved toward Olper, reinforced by about 200 citizens of Braunschweig, who were equipped with material looted from Halberstadt. Major Korfes destroyed the crossings over the
Oker
, in order to prevent flank attacks by the enemy.
An hour later, Reubell's troops appeared at Olper; the lead Westphalian
cuirassiers
were immediately fired upon and retreated. The First Infantry Regiment of Westphalia now advanced on the village of Olper. Friedrich Wilhelm left and withdrew his troops to the south and stationed artillery on a hill. From there they could counter the Westphalian infantry attack.
Now Brunswick continued with their Duke at the head of the counter-attack; Friedrich Wilhelm's horse was killed, but he himself remained unhurt. However, Captain von Rabiell, commander of the advancing companies, fell. The Black Brunswickers progressively withdrew, without having recaptured Olper.
A direct attack on the Westphalians that followed, failed. The bold counterattack against the Hussars under Major Schrader did do damage to them and caused great confusion in the Westphalian ranks.
An artillery battle finally destroyed one of Brunswick's guns, but further attacks never came. Although the Duke was planning a night attack, Reubell had presciently already cleared the village of Olper.
Losses
[
edit
]
The casualty figures for the numerically far superior Westphalian troops were estimated to be between 200 and 500 men. Estimates for losses of Black Brunswicker troops vary from 40 (22 dead and 18 missing) and 86 (24 dead and 62 wounded), but these are believed to be understated.
Results and consequences
[
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]
Although Friedrich Wilhelm is believed to have made some tactical errors in evacuating Olper and then attempting its recapture, having an insufficient perspective on his overall position and commanding only a small portion of his troops, the Brunswick troops fought bravely against a numerically superior enemy. This was due in part to the greater fighting experience of the Brunswick troops and their high morale, as they had previously defeated a Westphalian Regiment at Halberstadt, but also due to the hesitancy of General Reubell. At the end of the day the Westphalians had taken the battlefield, but they withdrew from Olper after nightfall and did not defeat the "Black horde", nor stop their further movement to the North Sea. On 2 August the Brunswick Corps broke through and marched on through
Celle
,
Hanover
,
Nienburg
and Delmas, while pursued by Reubell's troops. On 7 August they reached
Elsfleth
, from which they were shipped to Helgoland and later to the Isle of Wight. Duke Friedrich Wilhelm's troops entered British service, and they fought from 1810 to 1814 under the command of
Wellington
in the
Peninsular War
. General Reubell was dismissed from his post by Napoleon because of his failure, but fled to America before he could be brought to justice.
In 1824 and 1833
Duke Charles II
and
Duke William
, sons of the Black Duke, donated a Cross of Honor for 1809, which they awarded to the participants.
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
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]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Wenzlik, Detlef (2002).
Unter der Fahne des Schwarzen Herzogs
(in German). Hamburg.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- Smith, Digby; Pivka, Otto von (1973).
The Black Brunswickers
. Oxford: Osprey Men-at-Arms.
- Kortzfleisch, Gustav von (1896).
Geschichte des Herzoglich Braunschweigischen Infanterie-Regimentes und seiner Stammtruppen 1809?1902. 3 Bande
(in German). Braunschweig.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- Kortzfleisch, Gustav von (1894).
Des Herzogs von Braunschweig Zug durch Norddeutschland im Jahre 1809
(in German). Berlin.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- Muller, Willi (1924).
Das Gefecht bei Olper am 1. August 1809
(in German). Vol. 1. Niedersachsisches Jahrbuch fur Landesgeschichte.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- Voges, Hermann (1926).
Zur Geschichte des Gefechtes bei Olper am 1. August 1809
(in German). Vol. 3. Niedersachsisches Jahrbuch fur Landesgeschichte.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
External links
[
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]
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