The Italians in 1813
Battle of Lahn
by A. Ricciadello, Poland
 |
Around midday the enemy attacked Ziebeneiken where the 6th French Line were reinforced by the 4th battalion 2nd Light and pushed them back. Langeron attacked before Lowenberg and the next day occupied Lahn. Despite these and other movements, which had started a few days before Blucher's anticipation of the end of the armistice, little was achieved. The next day Macdonald decided to retake Lahn, which was taken in obviously open violation of previous agreements. The Italians were entrusted with the task. At 6 a.m. the brigade minus 3/5th (left in front of Lowenberg) with 2 guns and a detachment of Neapolitan Chasseurs under Neri set off. They headed for Ziebeneiken, where they left 3 companies of the 2/5th to guard the bridge there, leaving about 2500 men with the brigade. Moving onto Metzdorf they met around 400 Cossacks a mile from the town. These they easily pushed aside. At this point though, Zucchi could see that the heights north of Lahn were well supplied with enemy infantry and so left a further 3 companies to guard the bridge and crossroads of Schmottseiffen and Ziebeneiken. He dallied no further and attacked the enemy who didn't stay long and they retired to Lahn. Zucchi advanced onto Lahn and found himself up against 6000 infantry and 2 guns firing from the town walls. The firefight became intense and then Zucchi charged the defenders chasing them through the town to the Bober, taking 100 prisoners. On the other side of the river 8 guns opened up and under this cover they tried to recross the river and take back the town. This attempt failed so they started to bombard the town and set it ablaze, destroying almost all of it. During the bombardment 200 Cossacks and a number of infantry tried to ford the river on Zucchi's right, but the 2 companies of voltigeurs forced them back. This was the last action of a day of combat that ran from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The brigade lost 105 dead and 400 wounded. In the evening the Russians retired east. More Italians in 1813
Battle of Mockern Battle of Weissig Battle of Konigswartha Battle of Pilgramsdorf Reorganization of 15th Division Battle of Lahn Battle of Wartenburg Repatriation Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #55 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |
16 August saw Zucchi getting orders to burn the bridges over the Bober connecting Zobten and Ziebeneiken and guard the area with cavalry. In fact Zucchi's two regiments (2nd Light and 5th Line) were broken up into their respective battalions to watch the whole area from Lowenberg to LahnHaus.