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1813 siege during the War of the Sixth Coalition
The
siege of Torgau
(18 October 1813 ? 10 January 1814) was a siege in the
War of the Sixth Coalition
. The French-held fortress on the
Elbe
was besieged by Prussian troops and forced to surrender.
Background
[
edit
]
The fortified city of
Torgau
was built on both sides of the
Elbe
as a royal Saxon main arsenal based on a design by
Ernst Ludwig von Aster
. Its defenses consisted of a strong outer wall, fosses, and external works. There were seven
bastion fronts
along the perimeter of the wall.
[1]
In the spring of 1813, the French moved into the position. After the
Battle of Dennewitz
it covered the retreat of the French. During the
Armistice of Plaswitz
, provisions were insufficiently available to protect the Middle Elbe and to enable offensives against the Prussian heartland.
Siege
[
edit
]
After the
Battle of Leipzig
, the fortress was besieged by the IV Army Corps with around 23,000 men under
Bogislav Friedrich Emanuel von Tauentzien
. The French trains and the civil servants fled to the fortress, so that the garrison strength grew from 6,000 to 30,000 men. In addition, there were around 11,000 wounded in the hospitals. The French
garrison
commander
Louis, comte de Narbonne-Lara
died of typhus on 17 November.
Narbonne attempted to negotiate
surrender
from 4 to 7 December, but
Tauentzien
did not accept his proposals. Further talks were held that month, before agreement for a
ceasefire
was finally reached on 20 December.
[3]
General Adrien Jean-Baptiste du Bosc surrendered on the 26th of December, with about 7,200 men being taken prisoner on 10 January 1814 and 2,400 remaining in the hospitals.
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Rickard, J. (2021).
"Siege of Torgau, 8 October 1813-10 January 1814"
. Retrieved
4 September
2021
.
External links
[
edit
]
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