After the great Battle of Dresden (26–27 August 1813), the Battle of Kulm took place here on 29–30 August, between the French Empire under Dominique Vandamme and an allied army of Austrians, Prussians, and Russians. The French were defeated and Vandamme surrendered with his army of 10,000 men. The heights above Chlumec were the site of the Second Battle of Kulm, 17 September 1813.