page_title: Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen
section_title: Lomitten
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen / Battle / Lomitten
caption_attribution_description: English: Count Claude Carra de Saint-Cyr Français&#160;: Comte Claude Carra de Saint-Cyr
context_page_description: In the Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen on 5 and 6 June 1807, troops of the Russian Empire led by General Levin August, Count von Bennigsen attacked the First French Empire corps of Marshal Michel Ney. The Russians pressed back their opponents in an action that saw Ney fight a brilliant rearguard action with his heavily outnumbered forces. During the 6th, Ney successfully disengaged his troops and pulled back to the west side of the Pasłęka River. The action occurred during the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Dobre Miasto is on Route 51 about 20 kilometers southwest of Lidzbark Warmiński and 24 kilometers north of Olsztyn. The fighting occurred along Route 580 which runs southwest from Guttstadt to Kalisty on the Pasłęka.
  At the beginning of June, Bennigsen launched an offensive against the forces of Emperor Napoleon I in East Prussia. The Russian commander planned to trap Ney's corps between several converging columns.
context_section_description: At 6:00 AM on the 5th, Dokhturov began driving in Soult's outposts after marching southwest from Wormditt via Wojciechowo (Albrechtsdorf). General of Division Claude Carra Saint-Cyr's division of the IV Corps defended the Lomitten bridgehead. Two redoubts which stood on the east bank of the Pasłęka were connected by a line of breastworks. These fieldworks were defended by the 1st Battalion of the 57th Line Infantry Regiment and four cannons. Off to the left, the 2nd Battalion of the 57th defended a wooded area surrounded by abatis. One battalion of the 24th Light Infantry Regiment held the west bank in direct support, while a second battalion of the 24th Light watched the river farther north at Podągi (Sporthenen) and Olkowo (Alken). Carra Saint-Cyr posted the rest of his division to the rear near Miłakowo (Liebstadt)
  Dokhturov launched three attack columns at the French works at 8:00 AM on 5 June. At about the same time, a detachment of Russian cavalry crossed the Pasłęka near Sporthenen and a force of infantry and artillery probed at Alken. The battalion of the 24th Light charged the Russians at Sporthenen and drove them back to the east bank. Meanwhile, at Lomitten, Dokhturov's troops fought their way through the abatis in their initial rush only to be thrown back. They charged again and nearly captured the wood when Carra Saint-Cyr's reinforcements arrived and restored the line. The 2nd/57th reoccupied the wood and held it for four hours.
  By this time, single battalions of the 46th Line and 24th Light were committed to defend the Lomitten bridgehead. The action lasted eight hours, at the end of which, the Russians attempted to storm the position in one massive column. This assault came to naught when two French battalions counterattacked. Orders arrived from Soult permitting Carra Saint-Cyr to evacuate the bridgehead. Since the Russian artillery had nearly leveled the earthworks and set the village of Lomitten on fire, the division commander exercised his discretion and pulled back. Even so, the French still blocked the bridge and the Russians fell back toward Wormditt at 8:00 PM.
  The French reported losing 106 killed and 1,079 wounded, and claimed that they inflicted 800 killed and 2,000 wounded on the Russians. Historian Digby Smith called the action a Russian victory. While part of his command battered at Lomitten, Dokhturov took the rest south to the bridge near Elditten. The local French commander, General of Division Louis-Vincent-Joseph Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire defended the crossing in strength and the Russian leader did not try to attack.
caption: Claude Carra Saint-Cyr
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