page_title: Capitulation of Pasewalk
section_title: Capitulation
hierarchical_section_title: Capitulation of Pasewalk / Capitulation
caption_attribution_description: English: 1st Regiment of Hussars. Part of a series chronicling the uniforms of Napoleon's Grande Armée.
context_page_description: The Capitulation of Pasewalk on 29 October 1806 resulted in the surrender of Oberst von Hagen's 4,200 Prussian soldiers to an inferior force of two French light cavalry brigades led by Generals of Brigade Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud and Antoine Lasalle. The Prussians were completely demoralized after a two-week-long retreat following their decisive defeat at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. Pasewalk is 110 kilometers north of Berlin and about 40 kilometers west of Szczecin, Poland.
  While retreating east toward Stettin on the Oder River, Hagen found his column trapped between Lasalle's brigade and Milhaud's brigade. Without attempting to break out, the baffled Prussian officer surrendered. The incident at Pasewalk came after a similar Prussian surrender after the Battle of Prenzlau the previous day. Within a week two fortresses would capitulate without firing a shot and a number of other Prussian columns would be hunted down one by one.
context_section_description: Moving on Murat's left flank on the 28th, Milhaud reached the village of Bandelow, about halfway between Prenzlau and Pasewalk. From there, he marched toward the sound of the guns from the Battle of Prenzlau. His brigade arrived in time to witness Prince Augustus' surrender to Beaumont. His troopers bivouacked that night in Bandelow and rode to Pasewalk the next morning. After Hohenlohe capitulated at Prenzlau, Lasalle rode northeast to Löcknitz on the Randow stream. At 4:00 PM, he arrived at the village, which was on the direct road between Pasewalk and Stettin. The French general deployed his cavalrymen in Löcknitz and in the hamlet of Bergholz facing northwest in the direction of Pasewalk.
  Appearing before the town, Milhaud sent an emissary to demand a surrender. The Prussian colonel, finding Milhaud behind him and Lasalle ahead of him, immediately capitulated with 185 officers, 4,043 rank and file, 2087 cavalry horses, one ammunition wagon, and eight artillery pieces. Hagen's force consisted of his own infantry brigade and Oberst von Podewil's cavalry brigade. The French captured colors (number in parenthesis) from the Pirch Infantry Regiment # 22 (3), Zenge Infantry Regiment # 24 (3), Treuenfels Infantry Regiment # 29 (4), Prince Ferdinand Infantry Regiment # 34 (2), Henkel Cuirassier Regiment # 1 (5), Heising Cuirassier Regiment # 8 (5), Holtzendorff Cuirassier Regiment # 9 (5), Leib Carabinier Regiment # 11 (5), and Bünting Cuirassier Regiment # 12 (5).
  The Prussian officers were released after giving their word of honor not to fight against France for the rest of the campaign. Milhaud's entire force consisted of the 1st Hussar Regiment and the 13th Chasseurs a Cheval, a total of 700 troopers. Lasalle's brigade included the 5th and 7th Hussar Regiments with 800 cavalrymen and two cannons. Another authority placed the 1st Hussars with General of Division Anne Jean Marie René Savary at Neuruppin on the 29th, and wrote that Milhaud led the 13th Chasseurs and an unnamed dragoon regiment.
  Historian Digby Smith wrote that the Pasewalk incident showed the morale of the Prussian army to be extremely low at this point in the campaign. There was no fighting. Lannes wrote, "The Prussian army is in such a state of panic that the mere appearance of a Frenchman is enough to make it lay down its arms." That night, Lasalle achieved an even more astonishing coup in the Capitulation of Stettin. Between 30 October and 3 November, the French captured Küstrin fortress, an artillery convoy, Hohenlohe's baggage train and guard, and Bila's brigade. Blücher and Winning decided to head northwest for Lübeck with their 22,000 troops. The Battle of Lübeck was fought on 6 November.
caption: France: 1st Hussar Regiment
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