| Siege of Hamelin | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of TheWar of the Fourth Coalition | |||||||
 Hamelin, showing the town's defences in 1654 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 French Empire Kingdom of Holland |  Kingdom of Prussia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Édouard MortierJean SavaryJean Dumonceau | Karl von Lecoq | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| VIII Corps | Garrison of Hamelin | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 6,000[1] 12 cannons | 10,000[1] 175 cannons | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Minor | 600 capturedde facto 10,000capitulated (9,400 escaped)[1] 175 guns | ||||||
 | |||||||
In thesiege of Hamelin orsiege of Hameln (7 November 1806–22 November 1806),First French Empire forces captured the fortress ofHamelin from its garrison composed of troops from theKingdom of Prussia. The siege was begun by theVIII Corps under FrenchMarshalÉdouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier. The marshal initially leftGeneral of DivisionJean-Baptiste Dumonceau in charge of operations. General of DivisionAnne Jean Marie René Savary soon arrived to conduct negotiations with the Prussian commander GeneralKarl Ludwig von Lecoq, who was quickly persuaded to surrender. Technically, the operation from theWar of the Fourth Coalition was ablockade because a formal siege never took place. Hamelin is located 36 kilometers southwest ofHanover.
After EmperorNapoleon I smashed the main Prussian armies at theBattle of Jena-Auerstedt on 14 October, his victoriousGrande Armée chased his enemies across theElbe River. This left the Prussian force defending the formerElectorate of Hanover strategically isolated west of the river. While theGrande Armée hunted down Prussian forces between the Elbe and theOder River, subsidiary forces invaded Hanover andHesse-Kassel. The defenders withdrew into the fortresses of Hamelin andNienburg where they were blockaded and captured.
In September 1806, when KingFrederick William III mobilized the Prussian armies, a substantial force assembled in or near the former Electorate of Hanover.Lieutenant GeneralGebhard von Blücher concentrated 16 battalions of infantry and 17 squadrons of cavalry to the west atPaderborn,Osnabrück,Leer, andOldenburg. In Hanover proper were 20 battalions and 28 squadrons atCelle,Hildesheim, andBraunschweig.[2] This body became the westernmost field army and its 30,000 troops were placed under the command ofGeneral of InfantryErnst von Rüchel and Blücher.[3]
The Prussian high command understood that Napoleon's major thrust must come from the south, so the western field army marched towardErfurt at the beginning of October. General-MajorChristian Alexander von Hagken and General-MajorKarl Friedrich von Brüsewitz were left behind to defend against a French offensive from theKingdom of Holland and the lowerRhine. Taken together with the garrisons of Hamelin and Nienburg, the entire Prussian strength in the area numbered about 12,000 soldiers. The small mobile forces were assembled nearMünster and placed under the command of GeneralKarl Ludwig von Lecoq. Opposing the Prussians were KingLouis Bonaparte in Holland and MarshalÉdouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier atMainz. Louis deployed a 5,000 to 6,000-man division nearWesel and another similar-sized division atUtrecht, while Wesel itself was well-defended. Napoleon planned to hold Louis and Mortier in place until he defeated the Prussian main army, at which time they would seize Hesse-Kassel and Hanover.[4]
On 9 October, Lecoq and Hagken began advancing west in separate columns. The march was slow and on 19 October, the Prussians received news of the catastrophe of Jena-Auerstedt. Lecoq and Hagken immediately fell back on Hamelin, arriving on 23 October. From there, Lecoq set out the next day for the Elbe. Hearing a report that French forces already blocked his path, he halted his march on the 27th and returned to Hamelin where he began acquiring food and supplies to sustain a siege. He sentOberst (Colonel) Christian Friedrich von der Osten with onedragoon regiment and one infantry battalion across the Elbe, where he joined a part of Blücher's command.[5]
After hearing of Jena-Auerstedt, General-Major Karl Anton Ernst von Bila left Hanover on 20 October with one battalion, the treasure, and the archives. He managed to get safely across the Elbe but his small force was caught in the French sweep that followed theCapitulation of Stettin. He met his younger brother General-Major Rudolf Ernst Christoph von Bila atAnklam on 31 October, but the next day they and their 2,200 troops surrendered to General of DivisionNicolas Léonard Beker's dragoons.[6]
On 17 October, Napoleon dispatched orders to Louis and Mortier. The King of Holland was supposed to capture Paderborn and Münster, while the marshal was to seizeFulda and come into contact with General of DivisionHenri Jacques Guillaume Clarke at Erfurt. Once, Louis and Mortier were in position, Napoleon wanted them to converge onKassel where they would extinguish the state of Hesse-Kassel. ThoughWilliam I, Elector of Hesse maintained an official neutrality, Napoleon knew that he was hostile to France and decided to depose him.[7]
Mortier's command, known as theVIII Corps, included General of DivisionLouis Henri Loison's infantry division.[8] The 5,500-strong formation was composed of three light infantry regiments. On the morning of 1 November, Mortier's force entered Kassel from the south while Louis' troops arrived from the north soon afterward. The Hessian soldiers were disarmed without resistance and the annexation of Hesse was proclaimed. The Elector and his son escaped. Louis left the army pleading sickness on 9 November and Mortier assumed command of their combined forces. On 7 November the first French troops reached the outskirts of Hamelin, while more arrived on the 10th.[9]
Mortier left Dumonceau 6,000 men and 12 cannons to blockade Hamelin,[8] while he continued on toward the city of Hanover, which he seized on 12 November.[10] Dumonceau's Dutch Division was organized into four brigades. General of Brigade Crass led the 1st Brigade, made up of the 1st battalions of the 2nd and 3rdJäger Regiments. General of Brigade von Heldring commanded the 2nd Brigade, which consisted of two battalions each of the 2nd and 3rd Line Infantry Regiments and one battalion of the 4th Line Infantry Regiment. General of Brigade von Hasselt's 3rd Brigade included two battalions of the 7th Line Infantry Regiment and one battalion of the 8th Line Infantry Regiment. The 3rd Hussar Regiment, four squadrons strong, was the only unit in the 4th Brigade of General of Brigade Mascheck.[11]
Lecoq commanded approximately 10,000 troops and 175 guns in Hamelin. General-Major von Schöler's 3,058-man garrison consisted of the 3rd battalions of theSchenck Infantry Regiment # 9,Tschammer Infantry Regiment # 27,Hagken Infantry Regiment # 44, andHessen Infantry Regiment # 48. The 75-year-old Schöler also commanded two battalions of theOranien Infantry Regiment # 19. The remainder of Lecoq's force consisted of four Invalid companies fromSchenck,Tschammer,Hagken, andHessen regiments, 181 gunners, 40 hussars, 1,000 refugees from Jena-Auerstedt, and recruit drafts from theTreuenfels Infantry Regiment # 29 andStrachwitz Infantry Regiment # 43. The fortress had ample stocks of food and munitions.[11]
Mortier applied continuous pressure on Lecoq in order to get him to capitulate, but at first the Prussian refused.[11] Meanwhile, Napoleon was negotiating an armistice withGirolamo Lucchesini, the ambassador of King Frederick William III. One proposal included the surrender of all Prussian fortresses. Though the document had Lucchesini's approval, it was shortly to be rejected by his sovereign. Nevertheless, Napoleon sent Savary to see if he might use the information to induce the Hamelin garrison to surrender. Savary arrived at Hamelin on 19 November and received an audience with Lecoq and his generals. The Frenchman reminded his enemies that there were no Prussian forces within 400 kilometers, then dropped his bombshell, the armistice agreement reached with Lucchesini. Though he outnumbered his adversaries almost two to one, Lecoq consented to capitulate the next day under the same terms as thesurrender of Prenzlau. That is, the officers were to be paroled while the rank and file became prisoners of war.[12]
Two differing accounts exist of the surrender, which occurred on 22 November.<[11]In one version, when the Prussian troops found out about the capitulation, they mutinied. The soldiers burst into the wine-shops and soon became drunk. They rioted through the streets, robbing and shooting at the people of Hamelin and one another. The officers demanded that the soldiers be sent home instead of being treated as prisoners of war. In order to enforce the terms of surrender, Savary unleashed his cavalry into the streets. The horsemen herded the Prussian garrison outside the city where they were encircled and disarmed.[10] In the second version, only 600 Prussians were captured.[8] The rest of the garrison, approximately 9,000 men, escaped from Hamelin in the confusion attending the mutiny and scattered into the countryside.[11][13]
Leading Dumonceau's division, Savary marched to Nienburg which was already being blockaded by a small force. General-Major von Christian Georg Ludwig Strachwitz commanded a 2,911-man garrison made up of the 3rd battalions of theWedell Infantry Regiment # 10,Prince Ferdinand Infantry Regiment # 34, andLettow Infantry Regiment # 41. In addition, there were 168 gunners, 54 hussars, three Invalid companies, and one company ofGravenitz Infantry Regiment # 57. On 26 November, the garrison capitulated. The officers gave their parole while thenon-commissioned officers and married men were allowed to go home. The men fromWestphalia were marched toMinden and released, while only a handful were sent to France as prisoners.[14]
On 25 November, the impregnable fortress ofPlassenburg capitulated without a shot being fired. The place, which is nearHof, was invested by a Bavarian force[15] on 11 October at the beginning of the war. General Mezzanelli's command included the 13th Bavarian Line Infantry Regiment. The day before the surrender, the 13th was relieved by the 6th Line Infantry Regiment. The garrison of 629 fusiliers and men unfit for field duty was under the leadership of General-Major von Johann Adam Siegmund Uttenhoven.[11]
HistorianFrancis Loraine Petre asserted that it was Lecoq's duty to hold out to the last. His early surrender made it easier for Napoleon to devote resources to the winter campaign inPoland and Eastern Pomerania.[10]Digby Smith called the Hamelin surrender "shameful".[11]
A few days before the final surrenders, on 16 November, Napoleon issued a bulletin. He claimed that of the 145,000 men in the Prussian and Saxon armies, only "the King, the Queen,General Kalckreuth, and 10 or 12 officers are all that escaped." Petre noted that, for once, Napoleon's bulletin was not a wild exaggeration. Hundreds of captured horses would be used to remount the French cavalry. Aside from the enormous losses in men and horses, the Prussians lost 275 field pieces, 236 battalion guns, 12 wagon train columns, and three pontoon trains.[16]
For surrendering Hamelin, Lecoq was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 1809. However, he was allowed to spend most of his confinement in the city ofSpandau rather than the fortress prison and was allowed to visit his estate in 1812. From 1813 he was permitted to live inOranienburg and in 1814 he received a pardon. The talented cartographer continued to make maps until he went blind, and he died in 1829.[17]
Media related toSiege of Hamelin at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Greater Poland uprising (1806) | Napoleonic Wars Siege of Hamelin | Succeeded by Battle of Czarnowo |
