page_title: Battle of Arnhem (1813)
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Arnhem (1813) / Battle
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of General Henri François Marie Charpentier Français&#160;: Portrait du début du XIXe siècle
context_page_description: The Battle of Arnhem saw Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow's Prussian corps fight an Imperial French division under Henri François Marie Charpentier at Arnhem. Attacking under the cover of fog, the Prussians broke into the city at several points and forced the French to retreat to Nijmegen after hard fighting in this War of the Sixth Coalition clash. Arnhem is a city in the Netherlands located on the Rhine River 100 kilometres southeast of Amsterdam.
  In late November 1813, Bülow's III Prussian Corps invaded the Netherlands, sparking a Dutch rebellion against the French. Marshal Jacques MacDonald commanding the defending French XI Corps ordered Charpentier to evacuate Arnhem, but that general chose to ignore his instructions and suffered a defeat. After winning the battle, Bülow continued west in order to liberate Utrecht and support the Dutch revolt. The Prussian general's forces were soon joined by a British expedition led by Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch. Nevertheless, friction between the Prussians and their Russian and Swedish allies resulted in a pause in the effort to liberate Holland and Belgium from the French.
context_section_description: After finding the French defending an entrenched camp outside Arnhem, Oppen withdrew to Velp, leaving a screen of outposts. The French attacked Oppen's pickets on 26 November, temporarily forcing them back to Velp. Later in the day, Oppen was reinforced by Sydow with three Landwehr cavalry regiments and two fusilier battalions and Friedrich August Peter von Colomb's Streifkorps. On 28 November Krafft's brigade arrived, giving Oppen 12 infantry battalions and three artillery batteries. At first the Prussian wanted to attack Arnhem, but he was dissuaded by the nearby movement of enemy troops and artillery and intelligence that 3,000–4,000 French troops defended the city. MacDonald hoped to patch together a defensive line using Molitor's troops, 3,000 French National Guards under Antoine-Guillaume Rampon at Gorinchem and the XI Corps. The French marshal and Charpentier reached Arnhem on 28 November with 2,500 men from Jean Baptiste Simon Marie's 2nd Brigade of the 31st Division plus one battalion of Auguste Julien Bigarré's 1st Brigade. MacDonald decided that Arnhem was not defensible against a numerically greater force and returned to Nijmegen, leaving Charpentier and 4,000 troops to hold the city.
  On the morning of 29 November the French began shelling the Prussian positions from artillery pieces sited on the south bank of the Rhine. Oppen soon launched a heavy assault on the French entrenched camp, but after initial success the Prussians were driven back. Charpentier then launched a counterattack and drove Oppen's troops back to Velp. A second attack at noon overran a Prussian outpost at Lichtenbeek House, inflicting 50 casualties. Amey reinforced the French positions outside the entrenched camp. Fearing that MacDonald might launch an attack from Arnhem against his supply line, Bülow ordered Oppen to assault Arnhem the following morning. That day MacDonald returned to Arnhem and saw the size of the Prussian force. He deduced that he would soon face superior forces at Arnhem and that Charpentier was in danger of being trapped. Learning that Molitor abandoned Utrecht and realizing that holding the line of the Ijssel was hopeless, MacDonald knew that there was no longer a good reason to hold Arnhem. He instructed Charpentier to withdraw his troops from the city and then returned to Nijmegen.
  For unknown reasons, Charpentier defied his superior's orders and remained in Arnhem on the morning 30 November. In an even greater blunder, he failed to post sentries at the city gates. Meanwhile, Bülow arrived in the pre-dawn darkness and personally organized a five-column attack. The operation was delayed by a blanket of fog during which the Prussians heard horses and wagons crossing the Rhine bridge. Colomb's Streifkorps plus two extra battalions and two guns were to attack on the far left (east) flank. William Ernst von Zastrow led two columns on the right (west) flank under Majors Zglinitzki and Schmidt. Zglinitzki was directed to attack a large redoubt near the Rhine gate while Schmidt's command assembled at Oosterbeek and assaulted the Rhine gate. Oppen commanded the two left-center columns which were directed against the northern Jans gate and the northeastern Velp gate. After breaking through the gate, each column was ordered to divide into three sections, the first to guard the gate, the second to help outflank the adjacent gate and the third to press ahead into the city. The Leib Hussars and two Landwehr cavalry regiments were held back in order to repulse a French sortie.
  As the fog lifted, Oppen gave the order for all columns to attack at 11:00 am. Shortly before this time four battalions of Thümen's brigade arrived and were used to reinforce the attacking columns. The first assault against the entrenched camp failed, but a second charge drove Marie's four battalions back into the city. Because Charpentier was unable to grasp where the Prussians were attacking, the French reaction was slow and ineffective. One Prussian column rapidly seized the Velp gate which was defended by a few soldiers. Colomb's horse artillery blew o
caption: Henri Charpentier
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