Battle of Allenstein

{{Short description|1807 battle during the War of the Fourth Coalition}} {{distinguish|Siege of Allenstein}} {{Use shortened footnotes|date=June 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox military conflict |conflict=Battle of Allenstein |image=Combat d'infanterie entre les troupes françaises et les troupes russes sur le pont de Bergfried, 3 février 1807 à trois heures de l'après midi.jpg |image_size=300px |caption=''Infantry combat between French troops and Russian troops on the Bergfriede bridge, 3 February 1807 at 3 in the afternoon'' by Constant Bourgeois, 1807 |partof=the War of the Fourth Coalition |date=3 February 1807 |place= Allenstein, Kingdom of Prussia |coordinates= {{coord|53|46|40|N|20|28|45|E|region:PL}} |result=French victory |combatant1={{flagicon|France|1794}} French Empire |combatant2={{flagicon|Russia}} Russian Empire |commander1={{flagicon|France|1794}} Napoleon Bonaparte {{flagicon|France|1794}} Joachim Murat {{flagicon|France|1794}} Jean-de-Dieu Soult |commander2={{flagicon|Russia}} Levin Bennigsen {{flagicon|Russia}} Nikolay Kamensky |strength1=IV Corps Milhaud's dragoon div.{{sfn|Pigeard|2004|pp=34-35}} |strength2=Kamensky's division{{sfn|Pigeard|2004|pp=34-35}} |casualties1=Unknown |casualties2=800 dead and wounded 300 captured 6 cannons captured {{sfn|Hourtoulle|2007|pp=46-47}} }} {{Campaignbox Fourth Coalition}} {{OSM Location map | coord = {{coord|52.7|15.5}} | zoom = 5 | float = right | nolabels = 1 | width = 304 | height = 180 | title = War of the Fourth Coalition | caption = {{legend|white|text=⬤|textcolor=#228833|current battle}}{{legend|white|text=⬤|textcolor=#4477aa|Napoleon not in command}}{{legend|white|text=⬤|textcolor=#aa3377|Napoleon in command}}

| label1 = | mark-coord1 = {{coord|50.58|11.82}} | mark-title1 = Battle of Schleiz on 9 October 1806

| label2 = | mark-coord2 = {{coord|50.65|11.37}} | mark-title2 = Battle of Saalfeld on 10 October 1806

| label3 = Jena–Auerstedt | mark-coord3 = {{coord|50.93|11.59}} | mark-title3 = Battle of Jena–Auerstedt on 14 October 1806 | label-pos3 = right | label-offset-y3 = -4 | shape-color3 = #aa3377 | label-color3 = #aa3377

| label4 = | mark-coord4 = {{coord|50.98|11.03}} | mark-title4 = Capitulation of Erfurt on 16 October 1806

| label5 = | mark-coord5 = {{coord|51.47|11.97}} | mark-title5 = Battle of Halle on 17 October 1806

| label6 = | mark-coord6 = {{coord|52.13|11.62}} | mark-title6 = Siege of Magdeburg (1806) from 25 October to 8 November 1806

| label7 = Berlin | mark-coord7 = {{coord|52.52|13.41}} | mark-title7 = Fall of Berlin (1806) on 27 October 1806 | shape-color7 = #aa3377 | label-color7 = #aa3377

| label8 = | mark-coord8 = {{coord|53.32|13.87}} | mark-title8 = Battle of Prenzlau on 28 October 1806

| label9 = | mark-coord9 = {{coord|53.5|14}} | mark-title9 = Capitulation of Pasewalk on 29 October 1806

| label10 = | mark-coord10 = {{coord|53.43|14.55}} | mark-title10 = Capitulation of Stettin from 29 to 30 October 1806

| label11 = | mark-coord11 = {{coord|53.52|12.68}} | mark-title11 = Battle of Waren-Nossentin on 1 November 1806

| label12 = | mark-coord12 = {{coord|53.87|10.69}} | mark-title12 = Battle of Lübeck on 6 November 1806

| label13 = | mark-coord13 = {{coord|52.1|9.37}} | mark-title13 = Siege of Hamelin from 7 to 22 November 1806

| label14 = | mark-coord14 = {{coord|52.48|20.77}} | mark-title14 = Battle of Czarnowo on 23 December 1806

| label15 = | mark-coord15 = {{coord|52.82|20.87}} | mark-title15 = Battle of Golymin on 26 December 1806

| label16 = | mark-coord16 = {{coord|52.72|21.1}} | mark-title16 = Battle of Pułtusk (1806) on 26 December 1806

| label17 = | mark-coord17 = {{coord|53.49|18.78}} | mark-title17 = Siege of Graudenz from 22 January to 11 December 1807

| label18 = | mark-coord18 = {{coord|53.92|19.93}} | mark-title18 = Battle of Mohrungen on 25 January 1807

| label19 = | mark-coord19 = {{coord|53.78|20.48}} | mark-title19 = Battle of Allenstein on 3 February 1807 | label-color19 = #228833 | shape-color19 = #228833

| label20 = Eylau | mark-coord20 = {{coord|54.4|20.63}} | mark-title20 = Battle of Eylau from 7 to 8 February 1807 | label-pos20 = left | label-offset-x20 = 2 | label-offset-y20 = -2 | shape-color20 = #aa3377 | label-color20 = #aa3377

| label21 = | mark-coord21 = {{coord|53.08|21.58}} | mark-title21 = Battle of Ostrołęka (1807) on 16 February 1807

| label22 = | mark-coord22 = {{coord|54.17|15.57}} | mark-title22 = Siege of Kolberg (1807) from 20 March to 2 July 1807

| label23 = | mark-coord23 = {{coord|54.37|18.63}} | mark-title23 = Siege of Danzig (1807) from 19 March to 24 May 1807

| label24 = | mark-coord24 = {{coord|54.31|13.08}} | mark-title24 = Great Sortie of Stralsund from 1 to 3 April 1807

| label25 = | mark-coord25 = {{coord|53.98|20.4}} | mark-title25 = Battle of Guttstadt-Deppen from 5 to 6 June 1807

| label26 = | mark-coord26 = {{coord|54.12|20.58}} | mark-title26 = Battle of Heilsberg on 10 June 1807

| label27 = Friedland | mark-coord27 = {{coord|54.45|21.02}} | mark-title27 = Battle of Friedland on 14 June 1807 | label-pos27 = top | label-offset-x27 = -5 | label-offset-y27 = 2 | shape-color27 = #aa3377 | label-color27 = #aa3377 }}

The '''Battle of Allenstein''' (or ''Olsztyn''), also known as the '''Battle of Jonkowo''' (or ''Jankowo, Inkowo, Jonkendorf'')<ref>[http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_jonkowo.html Battle of Jonkowo, 3 February 1807] historyofwar.org</ref> and the '''Battle of Bergfriede''',<ref>Бергфриде // Sytin Military Encyclopedia. Vol. 4: "Б — Бомба", pp. 476—477</ref> was a military engagement during the early stages of the 1807 Fourth Coalition Napoleonic campaign. While the battle resulted in a French field victory and allowed for a successful pursuit of the Russian army, it failed to produce the decisive engagement that Napoleon was seeking.{{sfn|Pigeard|2004|pp=34-35}}{{sfn|Hourtoulle|2007|pp=46-47}}

==Context== thumb|The Eylau campaign map. thumb|The Eylau campaign. Positions on 3 February 1807. After crushing the Prussian forces in 1806, Napoleon and his Grande Armée advanced east into the eastern provinces of Prussia, with the aim of bringing the Russian there army to give decisive battle. However, the arrival of winter led the Emperor to order his army to winter quarters, thinking that the Russians will do the same. In order to exploit this misapprehension, the Russian commander Levin August von Bennigsen decided to take the initiative and, towards the end of January set his troops in motion to attack the weak French left, crush it and fall behind the French army.{{sfn|Hourtoulle|2007|p=45}}

Quite fortuitously, the French of Michel Ney's Corps, who had disobeyed orders and overextended his foraging array, encountered the Russian advance guard. Thus Napoleon was able to read into Bennigsen's intentions and set up what was supposed to be the decisive manoeuvre of the campaign. Ordering his left wing to fall back in order to pull in the Russian army westwards, the Emperor directed the bulk of his forces northwards, towards Allenstein, in a bid to outflank the unsuspecting enemy and fall behind it with superior forces.{{sfn|Hourtoulle|2007|p=45}}

The Russians intercepted a crucial dispatch, in which the Chief of Staff, Louis Alexandre Berthier, was explaining the entire plan to the commander of the left wing corps, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. This allowed Bennigsen to realize the mortal danger in which his army lay and begin a precipitated retreat northeast.{{sfn|Hourtoulle|2007|p=45}}

==Battle==

thumb|right|Battle of Allenstein or Jonkowo

Meanwhile, oblivious of the Russian retreat, the French pursued their intended manoeuvre, pushing their advance guard, elements of the Reserve Cavalry Corps of Joachim Murat, supported by Jean-de-Dieu Soult's Corps, towards the Alle river.{{sfn|Pigeard|2004|pp=34-35}}

On February 3, these troops arrived at Allenstein and the Inkowo plateau, where they discovered a portion of the retreating Russian army. Napoleon himself arrived that morning, and seeing an opportunity for a major battle, ordered four more army corps to march to the battlefield.<ref name="Chandler1">{{cite book |last=Chandler|first=David G.|date=1966|title=The Campaigns of Napoleon|chapter=THE TRAP THAT FAILED—IONKOVO}}</ref> He detailed Murat to delay his attack in order to wait for reinforcements and, as soon as these reached the battlefield, attack the Russians frontally using Louis-Vincent-Joseph Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire's division, while Soult would march to flank the enemy.{{sfn|Pigeard|2004|pp=34-35}}

On the Russian side, General Nikolay Kamensky was forced to accept battle rather than retreat, in order to protect the strategic Liebstadt road and the bridges over the Alle in Bergfriede, which were key for the successful retreat of the rest of the army. He was helped in his task by the fact the French only attacked towards 15:00 hours, a delay caused by Napoleon's orders to Murat. When the French eventually attacked, the Russians were prepared and used their fifteen cannon and musketry to inflict heavy losses to the advancing enemy. Nevertheless, the Russian tactical disposition, defending a defilé rather than occupying high ground, soon forced them to give ground under the pressure.{{sfn|Hourtoulle|2007|pp=46-47}}

Towards the end of the afternoon, Soult, with the 24th Light and 4th Line regiments began his flanking attack and, after some ferocious combat, pushed the Russians beyond the Alle, capturing an intact Bergfriede bridge. With night falling and his position completely compromised, Bennigsen decided to hasten his retreat and ordered Kamensky to extricate his force and withdraw to Deppen. Both sides suffered relatively high losses, with the Russians forced to abandon six cannon and three hundred prisoners on the field of battle.{{sfn|Pigeard|2004|pp=34-35}}

==Result== Despite this tactical success, Napoleon failed to bring the Russians to give decisive battle, requiring a further exhausting wintertime pursuit. Nevertheless, the French did capture the intact strategic bridges over the Alle, which the Russians omitted to blow up.{{sfn|Tulard|1999|p=68}}

French pursuit resumed the next day, resulting in the capture of sixteen cannon, while the day after Soult captured no less than 1200 prisoners. A series of skirmishes led to the Battle of Hoff on February 6, followed by the Battle of Eylau, one of the bloodiest engagements of the entire Napoleonic Wars.{{sfn|Hourtoulle|2007|pp=46-47}}

== Gallery == <gallery> File:Zamek_w_Olsztynie.jpg|The medieval Olsztyn Castle, the headquarters of the French command in 1807. Napoleon visited the Castle on February 3 File:Olsztyn,_stary_ratusz..jpg|The Market Square in Olsztyn, place of receipt of reports by Napoleon File:Kamień Napoleona w Olsztynie.jpg|Napoleon's Stone in Olsztyn, next to Łyna (Alle) river, with a bilingual Polish and French inscription File:Plac Trzech Krzyży w Olsztynie.jpg|Three Crosses Square in Olsztyn, place of burial of French and Russian soldiers who died in 1807<ref>[http://www.polskaniezwykla.pl/web/place/36608,olsztyn-plac-trzech-krzyzy.html Plac Trzech Krzyży w Olsztynie], polskaniezwykla.pl</ref> File:Olsztyn-_kościół_św._Wawrzyńca.jpg|The historic wooden church tower in Gutkowo (now part of Olsztyn), Napoleon's observation point File:Battle of Jonkowo Village of Jonkowo 2014.jpg|Jonkowo, the location of the Russian Army, present view File:Kosciol_w_Jonkowie1.JPG|Historic church in Jonkowo. Napoleon visited the parsonage in Jonkowo the day after the battle<ref>Adam Gąsior [https://napoleon.org.pl/index.php/varia-napoleonskie/turystyka-historyczna/736-obiad-na-plebanii-w-jonkowie Obiad na plebanii w Jonkowie], napoleon.org.pl</ref> File:Barkweda_stara_lyna.JPG|The new bridge in Barkweda (Bergfriede), the place of fierce fighting File:Barkweda mlyn1.JPG|Water mill in Barkweda, present view File:Skwer Napoleona w Barkwedzie.jpg|The square with a memorial banner in Barkweda File:Barkweda szlak napoleonski.JPG|Napoleonic hiking trail in southern Warmia File:Deby Napoleona Barkweda.jpg|Napoleon's Oaks in Barkweda, in Old Prussian hillfort File:Trakt Gutkowo Jonkowo.jpg|Old road from Gutkowo to Jonkowo File:Równina pod Jonkowem.jpg|The plateau near Jonkowo, the place of the general French attack File:Mątki Warmia.jpg|Mątki (Mondtken), the location of Kamensky's division, present view File:Kajny widok-ogolny.JPG|Kajny (Kainen), present view File:Droga Mątki - Kajny.jpg|The road from Mątki to Kajny File:Napoeloniada 2008.jpg|The inscenization of the battle in Jonkowo in 2008 </gallery>

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * {{cite book | last=Chandler | first=David G. | year=1966 | title=The Campaigns of Napoleon | publisher=Simon and Schuster | isbn=978-1-4391-3103-9}} * {{cite book | last=Hourtoulle | first=Francois-Guy | year=2007 | title=D'Eylau à Friedland, 1807 la campagne de Pologne | publisher=Tallandier | isbn=978-2-84734-073-0}} * {{cite book | last=Pigeard | first=Alain | year=2004 | title=Dictionnaire des batailles de Napoléon: 1796-1815 | publisher=Tallandier | isbn=2-84734-073-4}} * {{cite book | last=Tulard | first=Jean | title=Dictionnaire Napoléon: A - H | year=1999 | isbn=978-2-213-60485-5}} * "Бергфриде". ''Military Encyclopedia:'' ''In 18 Volumes''. 1911–1915.

==External links== *{{commons-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allenstein 1807}} Category:Battles of the War of the Fourth Coalition involving Russia Category:1807 in France Category:1807 in Prussia Category:Conflicts in 1807 Category:Battles involving the Kingdom of Prussia Category:History of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Category:Olsztyn Category:February 1807 Category:Joachim Murat Category:Battles commanded by Napoleon Category:Poland in the Napoleonic Wars