The 23rd August 1813, saw at Gross Beeren, the end of Napoleon's first drive on Berlin following the Armistice of that campaign. The instrument of the Emperor's desire on this occasion was the ill fated Army of Berlin commanded by Marshal Oudinot, and comprised of IV Corps (Bertrand), VII Corps (Reynier), XII Corps and Arrighi's III Reserve Cavalry Corps.

Owing to the nature of the terrain and the lack of suitable roads, the advance was broken up into the columns, XII Corps and Ill Reserve Cavalry Corps under Oudinot being at Trebbin, IV Corps at Blankenfelde and Reynier's VII Corps moving towards Gross Beeren. A distance of some five miles and the Diedersdorf Wood separated the IV and VII Corps, this of course means that the battle should really be treated as two separate actions as Reynier was simply operating under orders to secure Gross Beeren and to end his march there, likewise Bertrand was to secure Blankenfelde.

The Action at Blankenfelde

At Blankenfelde, Bertrand found himself faced by Tauenzien who had 13,000 men and 32 guns to hand. One would expect that Tauenzien would have dug himself in, and fortified the village, forcing Bertrand to engage in a costly assault on Blankenfelde. Not so, such was the quality of his troops, they had not been trained in village fighting, Tauenzien was forced to deploy his either side of and south of Blankenfelde.

Tauenzein's position was protected on both nanks but was to close to the woods which would allow the French to advance virtually unmolested. The action commenced at 9.00 am when Bertrand advanced towards the enemy positions. At around 10.00 am Bertrand sent Fontanelli against Tauenzein's front. Moroni's brigade took position in the woods before Diedersdorf, Martel and St. Andre's brigades occupied the woods to the front of Blankenfelde. The Italians made two attempts to advance from the woods and onto the Prussian positions. On both occasions they were driven off by the deadly close range fire of the Prussian artillery. Fontanelli maintained an ineffective fire from the woods until 2.00pm, when Bertrand decided to withdraw out of harms way, believing that Reynier's advance would turn Tauenzien's position, forcing him to withdraw from Blankenfelde.

The Action at Gross Beeren

At around 3.00pm, Reynier advanced in to Gross Beeren village, ejecting the solitary battalion of the Pornmeranian Infantry Regiment. Seeing that there were no more Prussians in view and having achieved his task for the day, Reynier set about bivouacking for the night. Sahr's Saxon division was posted West of Gross Beeren, Durutte's on Sahr's left and Lecoq to die left of Durutte.

The VII Corp's right wing was supported by Gross Beeren, on the East side of which was a ditch 5 to 6 feet deep, running North to South. This linear obstacle effectively prevented the village being turned on that side. The 'Windmill Heights', rising to a height of between 20 to 30 feet, and just West of Gross Beeren village, and would have afforded a good view of any approaching enemy forces. Unfortunately for Reynier and his Saxons the omnipresent torrential rain of the campaign, concealed the advance of Prussian forces under the command of Bulow, until he was quite close to the encamping Saxons.

Reynier's weak point was he exposed left flank. He knew it and so did Bulow. Reynier reacted by forming all of Lecoq's division into one massive square, together with a few guns to protect it. Bulow responded by formed up a massive battery of 62 guns, with the intention of destroying Lecoq. Reynier seeing the new threat unfold, gathered all of VII Corp's Artillery and rushed it forward to engage the Prussian batteries. For over an hour and a half the two batteries bombarded each other at a range of 1300 yards. The net result of this counter battery fire was to effectively neutralise the artillery of both armies. However, Reyniet's prompt action saved Lecoq. A move that was to pay dividends later in the day.

The arrival of Borstell, raised the Prussian battery to a strength of 80 guns, against at most 69 French guns. It was then that Bulow began his advance. Borstell, originally intended to act as a reserve to Bulow's attack, instead moved to the village of Klein Beeren, from which he launched an attack against the wood east of Gross Beereq. This wood was held by a lone Saxon battalion, which, owing to the rain was unable to fire it's muskets and to defend itself, fell back into the village.

Gross Beeren was now assailed by Krafft's Division from the North, Borstell from the East and Hessen-Homburg's Division advanced on the 'Windmill Heights'. The village was taken and from it an attack was launched against the East side of the heights. Before this combined assault the French began to fall back in disorder. A notable event was the heroic attempt by the two battalion of the von Low Regiment to stem the advance of Hessen-Homburg up the heights. One wonders if this action was down to an act of desperation or the contempt with which Prussian forces were viewed by the French. Either way 850 men were lost to the von Low Regiment as a result.

The divisions of Durutte and Lecoq had so far been untouched. Durutte was ordered forward to try to stem the rout, but his division disintegrated and broke when penetrated by Sahr's routing Saxons.

Lecoq's division made an unsuccessful attempt to take the heights, but was driven off by the accumulating Prussian forces. Good order was maintained within the division and Reynier was able to use it to cover his retreat, as he now realised that he would be unable to retake the heights.

The Prussians did not mount an effective pursuit, and consequently VII Corps was able to regroup at 10.00pm at Lowenbruch. There was some further action when Fournier's Cavalry Division from III Reserve Cavalry Corps at around 8.15pm. By this time the battle was over, and a pointless cavalry combat ensued, with the participants milling around in the darkness, eventually both sides broke off, almost as if by mutual agreement.

The defeat at Gross Beeren caused Oudinot to abandon his drive on Berlin. he also drew sharp criticism from Napoleon, resulting in his eventual replacement by Ney.

Gross Beeren cost the Saxons 2,000 men, 7 guns and 60 loaded wagons. It also effectively finished the Saxon Army as a viable force for the remainder of the campaign, such was the shock to their morale and confidence. Durutte and Lecoq lost 1,000 men and 6 guns. Bulow's loss was in the order of 2,000 men and 200 horses.

Gaming Gross Beeren

Gross Beeren is one of those rare battles that, from a wargaming point of view, is eminently manageable and can be divided over two days play, one for Blankenfelde, the other for Gross Beeren. It also makes for an interesting mini campaign, for if Bertrand had broken through, the action at Gross Beeren would probably not have happened.

If the Prussians can hold on at both locations, they can be deemed to be the victors. If Bertrand breaks through, or Reynier manages to defeat Bulow, then the French have won.

In the event that Bertrand is victorious in your game, then an interesting further development would be that he should be allowed to march on Gross Beeren. If the Blankenfelde action is over by 3.00pm and Tauenzein is totally defeated, i.e. not capable of hindering the IV Corps advance, Bertrand would have arrived at Blankenfelde at around 6- 7.00pm.

The Influence of Bernadotte

Bernadotte's influence on this battle is notable by it's non existence. He, with over 38,000 men, spent a goodly part of. the later stages of the Gross Beeren action, within easy striking distance and chose to do nothing. It is very likely that if the actions had gone against the Prussians, he would have continued to do nothing. As we all know, the lovable Bernadotte managed, for political reasons, to avoid serious damaged to his Swedish troops throughout the 1813 Campaign. So, when refighting these actions Bernadotte, should be totally disregarded.

Gross Beeren Order of Battle