Battle of Kulm
The Battle of Kulm was a battle of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle was fought on August 30 1813 between French troops (44 000 men commanded by General Dominique Vandamme) and allied Austrian-Russian-Prussian forces commanded by Field-Marshal Barclay de Tolly.
After French victory in the Battle of Dresden, Napoleon sent Vandamme, and Marshalls Gouvion Saint Cyr and Auguste Marmont to pursue the retreating allies. Vandamme's corps marched in advance; Saint Cyr's and Marmont's corps brought up the rear. Vandamme caught up with Alexander Ostermann-Tolstoy's forces near the town of Kulm (today Chlumec, 8 km N.W. of Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic).
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Battle
At 6:00, Vandamme successfully attacked Russian formations under the command of Prince Wittgenstein, capturing Russian troops and artillery. Vandamme then crossed Ore Mountains and at about 12:00 attacked Austrian troops located in Kulm. Initially, the Austrians were forced to withdraw to Teplice. However, Prussian corps commanded by General Kleist attacked Vandamme's rear guard. Kleist then received help from a combined Russian and Austrian attack on Vandamme's front, under the command of General Ostermann-Tolstoy. In an attempt to repulse simultaneous attacks on his front and rear, Vandamme ordered his forces to form squadrons. The inexperienced French troops were unable to fend off the allies, and soon had to escape from the battlefield, with heavy losses.
Losses
The French lost about 5000 soldiers killed or wounded. Between 7000 and 13000 French soldiers were taken prisoner, including Vandamme. The allies lost approximately 10000 soldiers killed or wounded.
In Vandamme's corps were two Polish regiments of Uhlans, part of cavalry divisions under the command of general Jean Corbineau. All these regiments were used by Vandamme to defend against enemy cavalry charges. One regiment was commanded by Colonel Maximilian Fredro (brother of Alexander Fredro, the author of the play "Vengeance") was attacked after withdrawal in defile and was forced to surrender. The other regiment of Uhlans, under command of count Tomasz Łubieński (generally known in English as Thomas Łubieński) successfully withdrew.
After the battle Vandamme was accused by Tsar Alexander I of being a brigand and plunderer. He retorted "I am neither a plunderer nor a brigand but in any case, my contemporaries and history will not reproach me for having soaked my hands in the blood of my father."
References
- Jadwiga Nadzieja "Lipsk 1813" historical battles serie published in Warsaw by Bellona 1998 ISBN 83-11-08826-8 pages 57-59