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Battle of Bornhöved (1813)

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See also: Battle of Bornhöved (798) and Battle of Bornhöved (1227)
Battle of Bornhöved
Part of the Dano-Swedish War (1813-1814)

Battle of Bornhöved by Per Krafft the younger
Date7 December 1813
Location
Bornhöft, Schleswig-Holstein, present-day Germany
54°4′N 10°12′E / 54.067°N 10.200°E / 54.067; 10.200
Result Disputed (see Aftermath)
Belligerents
Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway  Sweden
Commanders and leaders
Denmark–Norway Frederik of Hesse Sweden Anders Skjöldebrand
Sweden Bror Cederström
Strength
1,000 cavalry
2,000–3,000 infantry[1]		 900 cavalry[1][2]
Casualties and losses
120–300 killed, wounded and captured[3]
3 guns[2]		 21 killed
55 wounded
128 horses[3]
Battle of Bornhöved (1813) is located in Europe
Battle of Bornhöved (1813)
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Location within Europe
German campaign
Napoleon: 3-4-9-16-17
Map
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200km
125miles
Hamburg
19
Siege of Hamburg at Hamburg, from 24 December 1813 to 12 May 1814
Sehested
18
Battle of Sehested at Sehested, from 10 December 1813
Hanau
17
Battle of Hanau at Hanau, from 30 to 31 October 1813
Leipzig
16
Battle of Leipzig at Leipzig, from 16 to 19 October 1813
Wartenburg
15
Battle of Wartenburg at Wartenburg, on 3 October 1813
14
Combat of Roßlau at Rosslau, on 29 September 1813
13
Battle of Altenburg at Altenburg, on 28 September 1813
12
Battle of the Göhrde at Goehrde, on 16 September 1813
11
Battle of Dennewitz at Dennewitz, on 6 September 1813
10
Battle of Kulm at Kulm, from 29 to 30 August 1813
9
Battle of Dresden at Dresden, from 26 to 27 August 1813
Katzbach
8
Battle of the Katzbach at Katzbach, on 26 August 1813
7
Battle of Großbeeren at Grossbeeren, on 23 August 1813
6
Battle of Luckau at Luckau, on 4 June 1813
5
Battle of Haynau at Haynau, on 26 May 1813
4
Battle of Bautzen (1813) at Bautzen, from 20 to 21 May 1813
3
Battle of Lützen (1813) at Luetzen, on 2 May 1813
2
Battle of Möckern at Moeckern, on 5 April 1813

The Battle of Bornhöved or Bornhöft took place on 7 December 1813 between a Swedish cavalry regiment,Mörner's Hussar Regiment later Kronprinsens husarregemente or Crown Prince's Hussar Regiment) under Bror Cederström and Prince Frederik of Hesse's Danish troops reinforced by smaller numbers of Polish cavalry and German infantry. The clash occurred at the small village of Bornhöft in what is now Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. The engagement occurred during the War of the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, and was one of the last time Swedish and Danish forces met on the battlefield.

Background

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Crown Prince Charles John led a division of the northern armies, including the Mörner's Hussar Regiment, under the command of the commander of the Swedish cavalry Anders Fredrik Skjöldebrand, to pursue the retreating Danish army. The idea was for the Swedish cavalry to advance in parallel to the Danes until general Wallmoden could cut off their retreat and force the outmanoeuvred Danes to surrender.

Battle

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Charles John had been very economical with Swedish forces throughout the war and deliberately held back to allow the allies to take huge losses whilst he held onto the Swedish forces for future use. The Swedish cavalry thus felt left out of all the war's previous major battles. This, in addition to their regiment not seeing combat in the 1808–09 war that lost Finland, made them disobey their orders and ride straight against the Danish forces. It then clashed with the Danish rearguard (made up of Polish ulans, an elite force sent out by Napoleon to cover the Danish retreat) throughout the day until in the evening the Swedes met the main Danish force gathered at Bornhöved.

This force consisted of between 5,000 and 8,000 men, of which 1,000 cavalry and 2,000 to 3,000 infantry would take part in the fighting.[1][2]

It would not normally have considered the advance guard of the Swedish cavalry as a major threat (since in such difficult terrain and so close to nightfall a frontal cavalry assault on the massed infantry with artillery support would be pure folly), but since their rearguard was still embroiled in fighting with Swedish patrols the Danes formed up in ranks and waited.

The Swedish cavalry force consisted of 1,200 men, of which 900 would be engaged.[1][2]

First came the Danish rearguard, still harried by some Swedish squadrons under major Fritz von der Lancken and finally dispersed by the Swedish assault. The attackers then turned on the main Danish force and the Danes staked all their forces at once, with a Swedish reconnaissance beaten off and von der Lancken in retreat. In the meantime the main Swedish force began to form up. With seven squadrons totalling 471 men, commanded by Colonel Bror Cederström, the Swedish cavalry immediately moved to the attack, broke up the Danish formations and drove them into retreat.

Aftermath

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The Danish losses in the battle are unknown; the official Danish report admitted to 11 killed, 35 wounded and 75 missing.[3] A subsequent Danish bulletin, on the other hand, attested to 200 killed.[1] The Swedes claimed to have captured 200[2] to 300 Danes,[3] and killed and wounded many more. Two cannons and one howitzer were also captured. Some 400 Danes were captured in the following days as the Swedes pursued.[2] The Swedish losses were 21 men killed, 55 wounded, and 128 horses killed or wounded.[3]

The result of the battle is disputed.[4][5] The people who claim it as a Danish victory emphasise that the attack was repulsed, the Danes kept the battlefield, the Danes had less dead and wounded, and the Danes could continue marching to Kiel.[6][4] Contrary, many people also describe it as a Swedish victory.[7][8][9][10][11] Kronprinsens husarer carried Bornhöft 1813 as a battle honour on its standard.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Palmblad & Wieselgren 1847, p. 365.
  2. ^ a b c d e f von Beskow 1852, pp. 293–294.
  3. ^ a b c d e Griese 2012, p. 84.
  4. ^ a b Denman, Henrik (2013). Det danske Auxiliærkorps i Nordtyskland 1813 (PDF) (in Danish). Dansk Militærhistorisk Selskab. p. 26.
  5. ^ Brunn, Holger (1869). Gamle danske Minder eller Skildringer, Fortaellinger og Sagn om Danmarks Byer, Kirker og Klostre ... (in Danish). Pio. p. 571.
  6. ^ "3 betydningsfulde slag ved Bornhöved (798-1227-1813)". Krigsvidenskab.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  7. ^ "Slaget vid Bornhöft". Phaleristica (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  8. ^ "Anders Fredrik Skjöldebrand". National Archives of Sweden (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  9. ^ Harrison, Dick (2021-12-07). "Då hade historien tagit andra vägar". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). ISSN 1101-2412. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  10. ^ "Illustrerad Tidning för Kvinnan och Hemmet Grundlagd af Frithiof Hellberg" (PDF). Göteborgs Universitet (in Swedish). 21 March 1909.
  11. ^ CRUSENSTOLPE, Magnus Jacob (1863). Historiska personligheter. Enligt authentiska och förtroliga källor framställda af M. J. Crusenstolpe [Historical personalities. According to authentic and confidential sources produced by MJ Crusenstolpe] (in Swedish). p. 315.

Bibliography

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Preceded by
Battle of Nivelle 		Napoleonic Wars
Battle of Bornhöved (1813) 		Succeeded by
Battle of Sehested
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