Battle of Lübeck The Battle of Lübeck took place on 6 November 1806 in Lübeck , Germany between soldiers of the Kingdom of Prussia led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher and troops of the First French Empire under Marshals Joachim Murat , Jean - Baptiste Bernadotte , and Nicolas Soult . In this War of the Fourth Coalition action , the French inflicted a severe defeat on the Prussians , driving them from the neutral city . Lübeck is an old Baltic Sea port approximately northeast of Hamburg . After their shattering defeat by Emperor Napoleon I at the Battle of Jena - Auerstedt , the Prussian armies withdrew to the east bank of the Elbe River and marched northeast in an attempt to reach the Oder River . Aiming to annihilate his opponents ' forces , Napoleon launched his Grande Armée in a headlong pursuit . A large portion of the fleeing Prussians took refuge in the fortress of Magdeburg where they were surrounded . Another large segment was intercepted and destroyed in the Battle of Prenzlau . This event triggered a series of capitulations of Prussian troops and fortresses . Blocked from reaching the Oder , Blücher turned and raced to the west , chased by Murat , Bernadotte , and Soult . After a number of well - fought rear guard actions , Blücher ' s troops forced their way into the neutral city of Lübeck where they took up defensive positions . Bernadotte ' s soldiers broke through the city ' s northern defenses and overwhelmed the troops facing Murat and Soult . Blücher barely escaped from the city , though most of his staff was captured and Prussian casualties were enormous . The French brutally sacked Lübeck during and after the fighting . The next day , the French trapped the surviving Prussians against the Danish frontier and compelled Blücher to surrender . The French captured a small Swedish force during the battle . Bernadotte ' s respectful treatment of its officers and soldiers led to that Scandinavian nation offering its crown to the French marshal , almost four years after this battle . Background . Jena - Auerstedt to Prenzlau . On 14 October 1806 , Napoleon crushed the Prussian field armies in the Battle of Jena - Auerstedt . In the chaos after the debacle , the shattered remains of the armies coalesced into several major elements . General of Infantry Frederick Louis , Prince of Hohenlohe - Ingelfingen took command of one column that retreated through the Harz Mountains . General - Leutnant Blücher and General of Infantry Friedrich Adolf , Count von Kalckreuth , followed in Hohenlohe ' s wake with a 12 , 000 - man column . These forces were trailed by 12 , 000 troops under General Karl August , Grand Duke of Saxe - Weimar - Eisenach and General - Leutnant Christian Ludwig von Winning . The last - named corps missed Jena - Auerstedt . Meanwhile , the Prince of Orange surrendered at least 10 , 000 Prussians to Marshal Murat ' s Cavalry Corps in the Capitulation of Erfurt on 16 October . The 16 , 000 fresh troops of the Reserve commanded by Eugene Frederick Henry , Duke of Württemberg had remained at Halle since the 13th . On 17 October , the 20 , 600 men of Marshal Bernadotte ' s I Corps mauled Württemberg ' s force in the Battle of Halle . The Reserve retreated to Magdeburg where it joined Hohenlohe on 20 October . Marshal Soult with the IV Corps and Murat reached the outskirts of the city that day and demanded Hohenlohe ' s surrender , which he refused . On the 22nd , Soult and Marshal Michel Ney ' s VI Corps invested the fortress on the west bank of the Elbe . After leaving 9 , 000 additional troops to man the fortress , Hohenlohe marched to the northeast via Burg bei Magdeburg . He was soon joined by Kalckreuth who crossed the Elbe to the north at Tangermünde . Blücher moved northeast from Nordhausen , through the Harz Mountains , past Braunschweig , and boated across the Elbe at Sandau on 24 October . Saxe - Weimar marched from Bad Langensalza to Mülhausen , and on to Osterode . After feinting at Magdeburg to trick Soult , he successfully reached the Elbe at Sandau . Oberst Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg conducted a skillful action at Altenzaun on the afternoon and evening of the 26th . The Prussian rear guard held off Soult ' s advance guard until Saxe - Weimar ' s troops safely reached the east bank , then Yorck also slipped away . At this time , Winning took over command of the column from Saxe - Weimar . Hohenlohe reached Neustadt an der Dosse on the evening of 24 October . After he crossed the Elbe , Blücher accepted command of Hohenlohe ' s rear guard . There was a network of canals , along with the Havel River , that ran east and west roughly between the Elbe and Oder . Hohenlohe ' s planned to send General - Major Christian Ludwig Schimmelpfennig von der Oye with a flying column to protect his right flank by destroying all the bridges along this stretch of water . By nightfall on 25 October , Hohenlohe ' s main body was between Neuruppin and Lindow , a little farther east . General - Major von Schwerin ' s cavalry and Oberst von Hagen ' s infantry brigade marched toward Wittstock . General - Major Rudolf Ernst Christoph von Bila reached Kyritz , north of Neustadt , with a cavalry - infantry brigade . Blücher ' s rear guard was near Neustadt after a clash with Bernadotte ' s leading troops . In an ominous development , French cavalry seized Oranienburg before Schimmelpfennig arrived there . On 26 October , Murat routed Schimmelpfennig ' s column at Zehdenick , sending the Prussians fleeing to Stettin after losing more than 250 cavalry from their 1 , 300 - man force . The next day , in confused fighting at Boitzenburg , Hohenlohe overcame a French road block and pressed on to the east after losing a cavalry regiment . On 28 October , Murat attacked the Prussians in the Battle of Prenzlau . One of General of Division Emmanuel Grouchy ' s dragoon brigades hewed a path through Hohenlohe ' s column . General of Division Marc Antoine de Beaumont and his 3rd Dragoon Division pounced on the now - isolated rear guard under Oberst Prince Augustus of Prussia and forced it to surrender . Murat then succeeded in bluffing Hohenlohe into capitulating , even though the Prussian was neither surrounded nor outnumbered . Not including 2 , 000 previous losses , about 10 , 000 soldiers , 64 guns , and 1 , 800 cavalry horses fell into the hands of the French . Prenzlau to Lübeck . The next day , 4 , 000 Prussians surrendered to two French light cavalry brigades in the Capitulation of Pasewalk . That night General of Brigade Antoine Lasalle and his light cavalry accepted the Capitulation of Stettin after bluffing the fortress commander into surrendering with over 5 , 000 troops . In the wake of these humiliating defeats , a number of smaller Prussian columns were mopped up . On 30 October , Major von Höpfner surrendered an artillery convoy with 600 soldiers , 25 guns , 48 wagons , and 800 horses at Boldekow south of Anklam . Bila , his older brother General - Major Karl Anton Ernst von Bila , and their 2 , 173 troops laid down their arms at Anklam to General of Division Nicolas Léonard Beker ' s dragoons on 1 November . That day also saw the fortress of Küstrin capitulate to one of Marshal Louis Davout ' s III Corps brigades . Leaving Ney to carry out the Siege of Magdeburg , Soult crossed the Elbe at Tangermünde and headed northeast . He reached Wusterhausen near Neustadt on 30 October , with his cavalry probing toward Wittstock . Farther to the east , Bernadotte captured a Prussian supply convoy and 20 field pieces on the 26th and reached Boitzenburg on the evening of 29 October . The next morning , finding that Blücher had veered northwest , he marched toward Neustrelitz . Leading one of Bernadotte ' s cavalry regiments , Colonel Étienne Maurice Gérard captured 400 troops belonging to Blücher and reported that the Prussian was making for Waren . On 31 October , the columns of Blücher and Winning met near Waren . Winning wanted to escape to the port of Rostock to the north , and had already sent General - Major Karl Georg Friedrich von Wobeser ahead to organize the evacuation . However , Blücher overruled him and proceeded with his own strategy , which was to recross the Elbe at Boizenburg . From there , he planned to either join with General Karl Ludwig von Lecoq in the former Electorate of Hanover or Lieutenant General Franz Kasimir von Kleist at Magdeburg . Blücher reorganized his small army into two corps . Winning led the 11 , 000 - strong I Corps , while Blücher commanded the 10 , 000 - man II Corps . Each corps was subdivided into two heavy and one light divisions . At this time , there were 47 , 252 Frenchmen hunting for Blücher . Bernadotte ' s I Corps numbered 15 , 450 , Soult ' s IV Corps counted 24 , 375 , General of Division Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc led 2 , 550 dragoons , Grouchy had 2 , 432 dragoons , Lasalle counted 785 light cavalry , and General of Division Jean - Joseph Ange d ' Hautpoul led 1 , 660 cuirassiers . Bernadotte pressed ahead with 12 , 000 of his most fit troops , leaving the rest behind . Murat and his cavalry were rapidly moving west from their victories at Prenzlau and Stettin . On the morning of 1 November , the Prussians evacuated Waren . Blücher moved to the northwest covered by a rear guard under General - Major Friedrich Gottlieb von Oswald . Winning marched due west covered by Oberst August Wilhelm von Pletz ' s rear guard . That morning the Prussians brawled near Waren with both Soult ' s and Bernadotte ' s light cavalry brigades plus General of Division Anne Jean Marie René Savary ' s 1st Hussar and 7th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments before falling back to the west . Under Yorck ' s tactical direction the three fusilier battalions , six jäger companies , and 20 squadrons of hussars gave a good account of themselves in the Battle of Waren - Nossentin . Though Bernadotte committed General of Division Jean - Baptiste Drouet , Comte d ' Erlon ' s division to the capture of Nossentin village , Yorck and Pletz drew off in good order to Alt Schwerin that night . On the morning of 2 November , Sahuc ' s 4th Dragoon Division set out from Rathenow and Murat left Demmin ( west of Anklam ) sweeping west with Lasalle , Grouchy , and d ' Hautpoul . Bernadotte was at Nossentin and Soult at Waren . That day near Granzin , Drouet ' s division caught up with the 500 men of the 2nd battalion of the " Tschammer " Infantry Regiment Nr . 27 , inflicting a loss of one cannon and 57 casualties , including Major Puttkammer captured . Away to the northeast on 2 and 3 November , the port of Wolgast surrendered to the 22nd Dragoon Regiment of General of Brigade André Joseph Boussart ' s brigade . Hohenlohe ' s baggage train with 2 , 500 mostly non - combatants thus fell into the hands of Grouchy ' s division . Oswald ' s rear guard made a stand at Crivitz on 3 November in an action called a Prussian victory . The Prussian led the Fusilier battalions " Greiffenberg " Nr . 4 , " Knorr " Nr . 12 , and " Oswald " Nr . 16 , the Grenadier battalions " Schmeling " and " Vieregg " , and one horse artillery battery . His cavalry units were the " Hertzberg " Dragoon Regiment Nr . 9 , five squadrons , and the " Rudorff " Hussar Regiment Nr . 2 , five squadrons . The French foot soldiers were from Bernadotte ' s 2nd Division under General of Division Olivier Macoux Rivaud de la Raffinière . Generals of Brigade Michel Marie Pacthod and Nicolas Joseph Maison led the 8th Light and the 45th and 54th Line Infantry Regiments . These were supported by the 2nd and 4th Hussar and 5th Chasseur à Cheval Regiments under General of Brigade Jacques Louis François Delaistre de Tilly , plus one horse and one foot artillery batteries . All told , there were 6 , 500 Frenchmen and 12 guns . Maison drove Oswald ' s troops out of Crivitz after a tough fight . At first , the Prussians fell back to high ground behind the village , then continued their retreat . General of Brigade Pierre Watier galloped forward from the village with the light cavalry . Watier summoned the Prussians to surrender , but their response was a charge by dragoons . The French horsemen unwisely opened fire with their carbines and were swept away by Oswald ' s counterattack . Gérard was captured and Bernadotte had to take shelter inside of an infantry square . The dragoons were finally halted by Pacthod ' s infantry . Later that evening , the French were able to seize the village of Meuss near Schwerin . During the action , the French cut off and wiped out the 1st battalion of the " Arnim " Infantry Regiment Nr . 13 at Pinnow . By 4 November Sahuc and Murat nearly caught up with Soult and Bernadotte . After receiving a false report that Soult was between him and Boizenburg , Blücher decided to fall back from Schwerin to Gadebusch , site of a battle in 1712 . On the 4th , Oberst Christian Friedrich von der Osten with a dragoon regiment , a fusilier battalion , and one company of jägers joined Blücher from Lecoq ' s corps at Hameln . Wobeser also rejoined with his column . On the 5th , Savary ' s two regiments caught up with another stray Prussian force under General - Major Friedrich Leopold Karl Bernhard von Usedom at the port of Wismar . The Frenchman claimed that he captured 700 cavalry , while the Prussians admitted surrendering 367 troopers . The Prussians belonged to the " Usedom " Hussar Regiment Nr . 10 and part of Blücher ' s wagon train under Major Panwitz . By this time , Blücher ' s force was reduced to around 16 , 000 to 17 , 000 soldiers . Though he possessed 100 artillery pieces and the Gadebusch position was strong , the Prussian declined battle because his troops were hungry and worn out by constant marching . He determined to fall back to the Hanseatic City - state of Lübeck , where he hoped to join a force of Swedes that he knew were in the area . The Prussian army appeared before neutral Lübeck on the morning of 5 November . At midday , they forced their way through the southern gate and occupied the city . Addressing the city senate in the Rathaus , Blücher demanded large amounts of food , drink , fodder , and currency for his army , but promised not to fight in the city . Meanwhile , a brigade of 1 , 800 Swedes had entered Lübeck on 31 October , hoping to secure some transport vessels to carry them home . When they finally boarded ship on the 4th , they found themselves trapped in the Trave River by contrary winds . Aiming to capture the Swedes , Bernadotte sent one battalion to the mouth of the Trave and another detachment under Maison to Schlutup , which is on the Trave downstream from the city . Also on the 5th , Soult attacked one of Blücher ' s rear guards under General - Major Karl Gerhard von Pelet at Roggendorf , driving it away to the south of Lübeck . Soult pressed on and captured 300 Prussians at Ratzeburg . He and Murat were poised to advance on Lübeck from the south . A Danish force commanded by Lieutenant General Johann Ewald marched toward Stockelsdorf . Ewald notified Blücher that he was prepared to defend his nation ' s neutrality by force . Battle . Most of Blücher ' s army spent the night in Lübeck . To protect his south flank , the Prussian general posted a dragoon regiment and half of a horse artillery battery at Moisling . General - Major Balthasar Wilhelm Christoph von ( Jung - ) Larisch with the 2nd Division of II Corps guarded the Trave north of the city . Blücher ' s rearguard under Oswald remained outside the northern gate , while a regiment of hussars stayed outside the southern gate . Lübeck was once heavily fortified , but by 1806 , its defenses were partially dismantled . Nevertheless , the wet ditches in front of its old walls presented a serious obstacle to an attacker . East of the Trave , there were three gates into the city . The northern gate , known as the Burgtor , overlooked a narrow strip of land between the Trave and Wakenitz Rivers . The southern gate was called the Mühlentor ( Mills Gate ) and the eastern gate was named the Hoxtertor . On the west bank of the Trave , there was only one gate , the Holstentor . The Wakenitz protected much of the eastern side of the town . At the Burgtor , Blücher packed eight guns into a semicircular fortification in front of the gate and added two more cannons near the gate . He placed four more guns on the Bellevue bastion on the west bank in order to take any attackers under a crossfire . In addition to Oswald ' s rear guard , other infantry were available to defend the position . Blücher put the Burgtor sector under the command of General - Major Frederick William , Duke of Brunswick - Wolfenbüttel . He defended the Mühlentor with four or five battalions plus a 6 - pounder battery . The Hoxtertor was held by an infantry regiment , two horse artillery guns , and four regimental pieces . Other troops remained in reserve under General - Major Hans Christoph von Natzmer , so that a total of 17 battalions and 52 guns defended Lübeck . When a delegation of city fathers reminded Blücher of his promise not to do battle in the city , the Prussian brushed them off , vowing that he would fight . Natzmer ' s 1st Division included the Infantry Regiments " Tschammer " Nr . 27 , " Kauffberg " Nr . 51 , " Natzmer " Nr . 54 , and " Manstein " Nr . 55 , two battalions each , the " Hertzberg " Dragoon Regiment Nr . 9 , five squadrons , one foot artillery battery , and half of a horse artillery battery . Larisch ' s 2nd Division contained the Infantry Regiments " Kalckreuth " Nr . 4 , " Owstein " Nr . 7 , and " Jung - Larisch " Nr . 53 , two battalions each , the 2nd battalion of the " Brunswick " Infantry Regiment Nr . 21 , the " Heyking " Dragoon Regiment Nr . 10 , five squadrons , and a horse artillery battery . Oswald ' s command comprised ten squadrons of the " Blücher " Hussar Regiment Nr . 8 , the " Schmeling " and " Vieregg " Grenadier battalions , elements of several fusilier battalions , and half of a horse artillery battery . After beginning its march at 2 : 00 AM , Bernadotte ' s corps bumped into an enemy column at Selmsdorf , east of Lübeck . The French quickly enveloped the Prussian force , a convoy marching from Wismar , and secured the surrender of 1 , 000 troops and 300 wagons . Meanwhile , General of Brigade Marie François Rouyer intercepted some Swedish transports near Schlutup . After a brief cannonade , 600 Swedes surrendered . Bernadotte ' s I Corps included Pierre Dupont de l ' Etang ' s 1st Division , Rivaud ' s 2nd Dvision , Drouet ' s 3rd Division , Tilly ' s light cavalry , and General of Division Jean Baptiste Eblé ' s artillery reserve . Dupont had three battalions of the 9th Light Infantry and two battalions each of the 32nd and 96th Line Infantry Regiments . Rivaud ' s division and Tilly ' s brigade were the same as at the action of Crivitz ( see above ) . Drouet ' s division contained the 27th Light Infantry and the 94th and 95th Line Infantry Regiments , a total of seven battalions . The artillery train included three foot and four horse artillery batteries . Soult ' s IV Corps comprised three infantry divisions . General of Division Louis Vincent Le Blond de Saint - Hilaire ' s eight - battalion 1st Division included the 10th Light , 35th , 45th , and 55th Line Infantry Regiments . General of Division Jean François Leval ' s 10 - battalion 2nd Division was made up of the 24th Light , 4th , 28th , 46th , and 57th Line Infantry Regiment s . General of Division Claude Juste Alexandre Legrand ' s nine - battalion 3rd Division was composed of the 26th Light , 18th and 75th Line Infantry Regiments , and the " Tirailleurs Corses " and " Tirailleurs du Po " . Supporting units were General of Brigade Pierre Margaron ' s light cavalry brigade , consisting of the 8th Hussar Regiment , the 11th , 16th , and 22nd Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments , and eight foot and two horse artillery batteries . At 6 : 00 AM , Murat with Soult ' s cavalry and Lasalle ' s brigade fell upon the " Pletz " Hussar Regiment Nr . 3 on the southern approaches , capturing 200 troopers and chasing them inside Lübeck . The guns defending the Mühlentor repulsed the pursuing French cavalry . Soult ' s corps and Sahuc ' s dragoons arrived and their artillery began pounding the Prussians at the southern gate . Soon after , Bernadotte ' s advance guard pushed Oswald ' s rear guard back toward the northern gate . Drouet ' s " tirailleurs " soon secured the Galgenburg , a hill east of the Burgtor , and cannons were massed on the height . Bernadotte deployed the division of Drouet on the left and Rivaud on the right , with Dupont supporting the right . General of Brigade François Werlé led the 27th Light Infantry Regiment of Drouet in the center against the St . Gertrude Church . At first , the French were stopped , but the commander of the Prussian battery was wounded and this lowered its effectiveness . A second effort carried the churchyard , but then Werlé ' s men were enfiladed by the Bellevue battery , which inflicted heavy losses . Drouet ' s 94th Line Infantry Regiment then rushed forward on the left . Meanwhile , Brunswick decided to supervise the battle from the Bellevue bastion , so he crossed to the Trave ' s west bank . Undetected in the battle smoke , the 94th Line overran a small redoubt . Then the regiment stormed the semicircular position , seizing the entire battery . At about 1 : 00 PM , the Prussian defenders fled through the Burgtor , followed by the victorious French . Bernadotte directed Drouet to the right to take the bridge over the Trave , while sending Rivaud to the left to take the Mühlentor ' s defenders in reverse . Other French troops boated across the Trave and forced the Bellevue battery to withdraw . Believing his northern defenses secure , Blücher retired to his headquarters at the Golden Angel Inn near the Mühlentor . He was surprised there by Rivaud ' s skirmishers and barely escaped with his son and Karl Freiherr von Müffling , though his chief of staff , Gerhard von Scharnhorst and the rest of his staff became prisoners . Meanwhile , the French pushed through the market - place and the Königstrasse amid vicious street fighting in which Yorck was wounded and many other Prussians were killed or wounded . At the head of a troop of cuirassiers , Blücher tried without success to rescue his staff . Then the group cut their way to the bridge over the Trave and safety . Soult sent Leval to take the Hoxtertor , Legrand to attack the Mühlentor , while holding Saint - Hilaire in reserve . The Prussians defending the Mühlentor were taken in rear by Rivaud ' s division , though they fought back furiously . Hit by fire from all directions , the defenders sustained heavy losses , including 300 in one regiment alone . Finally , 2 , 000 Prussians surrendered and Murat ' s horsemen surged through the gate and into the streets . The next victims were the Hoxtertor ' s defenders , the " Owstein " Regiment . Engulfed by cavalry and infantry , the regiment formed square but was soon forced to surrender after suffering heavy losses . By 3 : 30 PM , the French firmly controlled Lübeck , though sporadic fighting continued . Hearing the racket as the French stamped out resistance at the eastern and southern gates , Blücher tried to organize another attack . He sent the " Kuhnheim " Regiment Nr . 1 to attack the Holstentor , but Drouet ' s troops already occupied the bridge and the western defenses . The French repulsed the Prussians with heavy losses and forced them back to Bad Schwartau . Numbers of French troops emerged from the city in pursuit . Results . The French marshals estimated Prussian losses in Lübeck as 3 , 000 killed and wounded , plus 5 , 000 to 6 , 000 captured . Historian Digby Smith gave the Prussian losses at Lübeck as 2 , 000 killed and wounded , plus a further 4 , 000 captured out of 15 , 000 troops . The Infantry Regiments " Owstein " , " Tschammer " , and " Natzmer " were wiped out and 22 guns lost . The French employed between 30 , 000 and 35 , 000 men in the battle . In addition to 2 , 000 Prussians killed and wounded and 4 , 000 captured , French historian Alain Pigeard also noted that the Prussians and Swedes lost 24 flags , two standards and at least 50 artillery pieces . According to the same source , overall French losses amounted to 1 , 500 killed and wounded , including the IV Corps artillery chief , Colonel Pierre - Elisabeth Peytes de Montcabrié , who died on 8 November , following the wounds he had received two days earlier . However , the French were not finished for the day . At Paddeluge , Soult ' s cavalry captured four infantry companies and two guns under Captain Witzleben . Grouchy ' s dragoons trotted through the city to capture Major Friedrich Albrecht Gotthilf von Ende ' s force before ending the day at Vorwerk . At Krempelsdorf , Ende surrendered 360 men and four guns , including five squadrons of the " Köhler " Hussar Regiment Nr . 7 , one squadron of the " King of Bavaria " Dragoon Regiment Nr . 1 , and a half horse battery . The " Bailliodz " Cuirassier Regiment Nr . 5 laid down its weapons at Steckenitz . At Schwartau that evening , Oberst Löben surrendered to Bernadotte with 1 , 500 troops . These included the " Bila " Fusilier battalion Nr . 2 , the " Kuhnheim " , " Jung - Larisch " , and " Manstein " Infantry Regiments , plus the " Osten " Dragoon Regiment Nr . 12 . Having stormed the city , the French troops thoroughly plundered Lübeck amid crimes of " pillage , rape , and murder " . Bernadotte and other superior officers tried to restrain their men , but the French soldiers ran completely amok . That the troops were guilty of atrocities was admitted by contemporary writers such as Antoine - Henri Jomini and Guillaume Mathieu , comte Dumas . Historian Francis Loraine Petre noted that Blücher ' s decision to fight a pitched battle in a neutral city made him at least partly culpable for the sack of Lübeck . At daybreak , Blücher stood at Ratekau , north - northeast of Lübeck , with the remnant of his army . The Prussian general commanded only 4 , 050 infantry and 3 , 760 cavalry out of a force that numbered 21 , 000 on 1 November . In his immediate front were three French marshals with as many as 35 , 000 soldiers . To his left was the Trave , to his rear was the Baltic Sea , and to his right was the Danish frontier , defended by Ewald ' s force . Since resistance was obviously hopeless , Blücher requested terms and was told he must surrender his soldiers as prisoners of war . He dispatched a document that announced his surrender to Bernadotte and complained that he was out of food and ammunition . Murat refused to accept it , pointing out that the Prussians must capitulate to all three marshals and that stating his reason for surrendering was irregular . Blücher thereupon surrendered to Bernadotte , Soult , and Murat , though he was allowed to append a statement at the end of the document . He wrote , " I capitulate , since I have neither bread nor ammunition - BLUCHER . " Pigeard stated that Blücher surrendered with a total of 8 , 000 to 9 , 000 men , with 80 artillery pieces , which constituted all that was left of his army corps . The Prussian foot units that lost flags ( in parentheses ) were the Infantry Regiments " Kuhnheim " Nr . 1 ( 4 ) , " Kalckreuth " Nr . 4 ( 4 ) , " Alt - Larisch " Nr . 26 ( 2 ) , " Borcke " Nr . 30 ( 4 ) , and " Kauffberg " Nr . 51 ( 4 ) . The cavalry regiments losing standards were the " Beeren " Cuirassiers Nr . 2 ( 5 ) , " Katte " Dragoons Nr . 4 ( 2 ) , " Königin " Dragoons Nr . 5 ( 1 ) , " Hertzberg " Dragoons Nr . 9 ( 5 ) , " Heyking " Dragoons Nr . 10 ( 5 ) , and " Wobeser " Dragoons Nr . 14 ( 1 ) . On 8 November , the Prussian detachment at Travemünde surrendered to Rivaud . Drouet was sent to the lower Elbe to hunt down Pelet ' s force , which was included in the capitulation . When Drouet caught up with him , Pelet surrendered with 420 men and half of a horse artillery battery at Boizenburg on the 12th . Four squadrons of the " King of Bavaria " Dragoons and one squadron of the " Köhler " Hussars laid down their arms . Bernadotte first came to the notice of the Swedish authorities with his courteous treatment of captured General Carl Carlsson Mörner and his officers . Jean Baptiste Antoine Marcellin de Marbot wrote in his memoirs that Bernadotte , " was especially desirous to earn the character of a well - bred man in the eyes of these strangers . " In 1810 he was elected Crown Prince of Sweden by the Riksdag of the Estates and in 1818 ascended the throne as King Charles XIV John of Sweden . External references . " The following are excellent sources for the full names of French and Prussian officers . "