page_title: Battle of Großbeeren
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Großbeeren / Battle
caption_attribution_description: English: Memorial of the battle of Großbeeren, Brandenburg, Germany Deutsch: Denkmal für die Schlacht bei Großbeeren, Brandenburg, Deutschland
context_page_description: The Battle of Großbeeren occurred on 23 August 1813 in neighboring Blankenfelde and Sputendorf between the Allied Army of the North under Crown Prince Charles John – formerly Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte – and the French under Marshal Nicolas Oudinot. Napoleon had hoped to drive the Prussians out of the Sixth Coalition by capturing their capital, but the swamps south of Berlin combined with rain and the marshal's ill health all contributed to the French defeat.
context_section_description: From its start the offensive was plagued by misfortune. On the same day as the advance began, 19 August, heavy rain storms broke out turning the roads into muddy quagmires and making it nearly impossible to move the artillery. Further hindering the advance, the area south of Berlin was crisscrossed with small lakes and swamps. In the best of weather there were only a couple of roads by which to approach the city from the south. But rain turned many of the Prussian defensive positions into fortified islands. Oudinot was forced to advance his Corps along three separate roads, with little communication between them. 
  General Bertrand's 4th Corps of 13,000 and 32 cannons to the right, on the left General Guilleminot's 12th Corps of 20,000, mainly inexperienced recent recruits, (nicknamed Marie-Louises). In the centre was the main column of General Jean Reynier's 7th Corps of 27,000 largely French allied Saxon troops. Oudinot did not expect any serious opposition and a lack of cavalry kept him unaware of the position of the enemy. 
  Berlin was defended by the Army of the North, commanded by Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden, formerly French Marshal Bernadotte. When Reynier's corps reached Großbeeren, he encountered the bulk of Prince Charles' army drawn up for battle. Acting without orders or support, he attacked Friedrich von Bülow's corps, which had just been reinforced by the Swedes to 38,000 strong, and was repulsed with heavy casualties. Oudinot, unable to concentrate his army, arrived late in the day just as Reynier's Saxons had begun to waver after that general failed to rally them for another assault. Von Bülow's Corps suffered light casualties, had fought extremely well, and petitioned to set out on an immediate pursuit of the unorganized French but was reined in by Charles John.
caption: Memorial tower in Großbeeren
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