Siege of Hamburg 1813
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1813 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Germany | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| Coordinates | 53.5500, 10.0000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Hamburg took place from December 1813 to May 1814, at the end of the wars of the War of the Sixth Coalition. The French garrison of Hamburg, commanded by Marshal Davout, resisted the coalition forces of Prussia, the Russian Empire, and Sweden for nearly six months.
Isolated from the main theatre of war of the German Campaign of 1813 by the defeat of Marshal Oudinot at the Battle of Grossbeeren, Marshal Davout's 13th Corps withdrew to the Hamburg region, which the French had fortified during the summer. After the Battle of Leipzig and the retreat of the Grande Armée to the Rhine, the uprising in the Netherlands and the Russian occupation of Bremen severed communications between Hamburg and France.
Initially separated by the natural defenses formed by the lower reaches of the Elbe and the Bille, the French garrison and the besieging army engaged in psychological warfare throughout December. In January, the branches of the Elbe froze over, allowing Russian forces to launch several assaults against the city. Despite the loss of a few advanced positions, the French garrison managed to retain the strategic positions of Harburg and Wilhelmsburg. From 23 March, the thaw ended the assaults and marked a return to psychological warfare.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Hamburg (revision 1371009014), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Browse more: battles in Germany · Europe · 19th century battles