1806: A Precis

Prussian Defiance
at the End of the Year

by James Gaite, UK

With the rapid destruction of the Prussian army, the occupation of two-thirds of the Prussian state and the slow approach of the Russians, morale in the Prussian government in Königsberg plummeted and calls were heard for Frederick William III to come to a peaceful agreement with Napoleon. A delegation was sent to Napoleon, then in Berlin, to obtain terms for peace; the results were not promising - Prussia must surrender all her territory west of the Elbe river and allow French garrisons to occupy key Silesian fortresses. Despite the harshness of the terms, the majority of Frederick William’s ministers voted for ratification - they had little faith in Russian help and wanted peace before Prussia suffered even greater humiliation. However, to everyone’s surprise, the Prussian King, always for peace and neutrality, refused to follow the advice of his ministers and rejected Napoleon’s terms. Prussia, with the aid of Russia, would fight on until the very end. 1807 and More War The war continued for another seven months before Napoleon could bring Tsar Alexander and King Frederick William to the peace table. The Treaty of Tilsit officially ended hostilities and for the next four years, Russia would ally herself to France. Prussia, however, was completely humiliated by the Tilsit agreement - she lost all the territory west of the Elbe, all her Polish territories to the newly formed Duchy of Warsaw, had to suffer and support French garrisons in numerous Silesian fortresses and was required to pay a indemnity of up to 140 million francs. In many ways, 1806 can be seen as the watershed of Napoleon’s achievements, but further discussion along these lines is, unfortunately, beyond the scope of this précis. It is only necessary to end with one last fact - the Prussian campaign of 1806, and the subsequent Polish campaign of 1807, was the last time Napoleon would lead his veteran Grand Armée into battle. The campaigns of 1809 and 1812 were fought with forces largely made up of contingents of his German and Polish allies, while the armies of 1813 and 1814 were composed mainly of conscripts and National Guard. Footnotes [1] The Third Coalition was formed by the allied nations of Austria, Russia, Britain, Turkey and Naples in July 1805. Prussia joined their ranks in November. [2] The first front was in Germany, where the Austro-Russian army faced Napoleon’s Grand Armée, while the second was on the Elbe. [3] Years of Victory 1802-1812 by Arthur Bryant, p.191. England’s “most famous soldier” was Lord Cornwallis who had died shortly after taking up the post of Governor of India. [4] Figures given by contemporary historians differ; Chandler gives a figure of 63,000 while Alan Schom quotes a figure as high as 88,400 men. Figures from Jean Tulard’s Dictionnaire Napoléon state that, prior to 1808, the Confederation provided approximately 78,000 troops for active service. [5] He did not receive his Marshal’s baton until 1809. [6] Lieutenant General Craig had returned to Britain through ill-health and his replacement, Lieutenant General Fox, had to serve out his time as Governor of Gibraltar before he could replace him. [7] Despite the fact that Willaumez was still at large during 1806, the violent storm and desertion of Jerome Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, had severely weakened his command. [8] Although the Russians would be allowed to keep a nominal garrison on Corfu. [9] Notable General Kutusov and Admiral Cichagov. [10] These included Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Saxony and the Mecklenburg principalities. [11] Which he had. [12] From the “Memoirs of Baron de Marbot, Volume I, Chapter XXIV” [13] He had failed to appear on either battlefield. [14] Against convention, Blücher insisted that it was stated on the terms of capitulation that he had only ceased fighting on account of his running out “of bread and ammunition”. [15] The Prussian casualty figures vary from account to account. These figures are a rough average of figures taken from a number of historical works. 1806: A Precis Introduction The Collapse of the Third Coalition Napoleon, France and the Building of an Empire The Turning of the Tide The Lightning Campaign Prussian Defiance at the End of the Year Related Prussians in 1806 Prologue Introduction A Discussion on Strategy The Traditional Theories The Prussian Commanders Footnotes and Bibliographical Notes Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #59 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 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