Reports of the Weather, Politics, Religion and Other Matters of Significance

27th to 30th April 1813

Weather is dry and overcast with mild temperatures.

The King of Saxony has returned to his palace in Dresden and there are reports that he has accepted official visits from Tsar Alexander of Russia and King Frederick Wilhelm of Prussia. If these reports are true it would seem the Saxon alliance with France may be not as strong as it was.

In Bohemia Austrian forces have mobilised but are remaining in their fortresses. Feldmarschall Schwarzenberg on behalf of the Emperor Francis has announced his nation's neutrality.

The gates of Torgau fortress remain closed to Coalition troops. The Saxon general Thielmann commands at this place.

There is news of a state militia or "landwehr" being mobilised in Prussia, principally about Berlin and towns north of there. The most recent news is of raw peasants, without uniforms or shoes and armed only with farm implements or whatever firearms their landowners can supply to them.

The armies are on the march!

All orders have been received by the various corps staffs and march tables and routes arranged. The troops have moved out.

Early reports from screens advise that opposing forces have come into contact at Magdeburg and Halle. Patrols and picquets are in contact between Naumburg and Weimar, around Saalfeld and near Hof-Bayreuth-Zwickau.

The screens and skirmish lines will send reports up the chain of command and the respective corps commanders will be advised soonest. The most likely possibility of combat is at Halle though battle may be refused by either side.

More details to come.

Opposing forces have come into contact at Bernburg.

There have been no significant battles in the last few days of April, merely a skirmish between Prussian hussars and some rearguard troops of a French corps that withdrew from Bernburg. At Halle a Russian and French corps made contact but both refused battle.

1st to 4th May 1813

It is 1st May, weather is cooler and cloudy but dry.

The meeting between Frederick Augustus the King of Saxony and the Tsar of Russia and King of Prussia was cordial but cool. The Saxon monarch was clearly uncomfortable and in a delicate political position and it would seem he was acting out of honour and formal protocol rather than showing willing to be a partner in alliance. His forces continue to profess neutrality.

The Austrian ministry of war has remained silent and the Austrian ambassador in Berlin has declined a visit from the Prussian Foreign Minister.

King Maximilian of Bavaria is in residence at his palace of Nymphenburg in Munich. He has announced, via his Minister of Foreign Affairs, that his nation will support and remain a member of the Confederation of the Rhine. It is understood that Bavarian troops are moving north to join the French in Germany.

During the last few days the first blood has been shed in a series of small scale contacts between the opposing armies. On the Lower Saale near Bernburg first a French corps advanced east over the river only to be thrown back by the arrival of a Prussian force at the town. The Prussians followed up with a push towards Ascherlseben and on 4th May attacked the French defending the town. Initial success was followed by indecision and finally withdrawal as more French troops came up from Eisleben. Losses were modest on the French side and light on the Prussian. Ascherlseben is significant in being only the second time, since Mockern in early April, that the newly allied Prussian army has fought its erstwhile oppressors and allies.

With the Prussian corps of General Yorck now back in Bernburg, the opponents glower at each other across the river.

More significantly a powerful column of French troops, including the Imperial Guard and led by Napoleon in person, pressed up the main road from Erfurt towards Leipzig. Winzingerode's Russian cavalry corps attempted to halt this implacable enemy at Naumberg and was roughly handled, retiring through Leutzen as the French followed up. Though losses were light the strategic situation resulting from this thrust has thrown the campaign wide open.

How the Coalition armies respond to this attack towards the one good road that leads to Dresden we shall no doubt learn in the coming days.

5th to 7th May 1813

It is 5th May, the weather is warmer and sunnier.

At Stralsund Swedish soldiers are reported to be landing ashore to reinforce their garrison in the fortress.

In Vienna it is reported that the British Plenipotentiary has been in closed talks with advisers to Emperor Francis. British fingers in Coalition pies can only mean one thing - money.

Bavarian troops are said to be at Augsburg and marching on Ansbach and Forsheim.

German spies report a new French cavalry corps is forming at Metz.

==================================================

Turn 3 is open for orders gentlemen.

The campaign continues to gain ferocity along the River Saale. At Bayreuth the French IV Corps under General de Division Bertrand, with an attached garrison division of Bavarians, has been attacked by a cavalry corps of Generalleutnant Miloradovich from Hof. Bertrand had ordered a march upon Zwickau but these orders were cancelled when the Russian cavalry moved onto the French left flank.

At Weimar a single division of French troops has been attacked by a combined force of Prussians and Russians in some strength from the south-east. It is unclear which Coalition formations these are though French cavalry at Arnstadt is aware that a Russian mixed corps had come via Saalfeld. French cavalry have advanced to occupy Saalfeld, cutting a Russian communications route that crossed the Saale here along the road to Hof.

On the lower Saale the Prussians of Generalleutnant Yorck moved again across the river to attempt to seize Ascherlseben. A French corps there refused battle and fell back in a timely manner upon Egeln. Locals provided further information to the Prussians that a powerful force of several French corps had gone away north towards Magdeburg. It is clear to Yorck however that he now sits astride the main road that allows communication between Magdeburg and Erfurt.

In the region around Leipzig there is alarming news of French soldiers having entered Dessau and Mockern. These reports are unconfirmed. It has been announced in German newspapers that a Prussian garrison division at Potsdam is mobilising and putting their defences in order.

A strong body of French troops are at Leutzen. They have not moved in the last two to thee days though Cossacks operating along the Leipzig road have reported they have been joined by other forces that came up via Naumberg. French guard cavalry, working with German light horse in French service are keeping the Cossacks at arms length and denying any further gathering of information.

8th to 11th May 1813

It is 8th May, the weather is warm with partial cloud. Rain showers are forecast on the Upper Saale region and Bavaria.

At Bayreuth French IV Corps has defended the city against an attack that, it is now learned, was made by Generalleutnant Lavrov and his Russian 5th (Guards) Corps. General of Infantry Miloradovich led a cavalry corps from Hof. The Allies failed to capture the city and fell back whence they came. The defenders suffered much from the heavy bombardment of the Russian guns but no assault was made on the town. The Allied casualties are now known to be light. Following this failure Generalleutnant Tormassow has been removed from command of the Allied Left Wing Armies and His Majesty Tsar Alexander has personally taken direct control of the troops operating from Dresden on the southern flank of the Allied theatre of operations. Many at the Royal Headquarters are aghast at this development as the Tsar has no military experience at all and his court is well spiced with various courtiers and would-be military advisers who may sway his judgement with plans of their own concoction that favour princes and generals of their own cliques.

The news of the victory has encouraged the Bavarians who are assembling a small corps at the fortress of Forsheim. King Maximilian has again renewed his alliegance to Emperor Napoleon.

A Saxon diplomatic party has also reached Erfurt apparently seeking an audience with the Emperor though by now the Imperial Headquarters has moved east. The Saxons are enjoying fine French hospitality in the fortress and appear to be very relaxed in company with a state with whom they are technically not in alliance.

There has been no response from General Thielmann at Torgau on these developments. There the fortress gates and the crossings of the Elbe guarded by the Saxon garrison remain closed to troops of both sides.

At Weimar a strong Allied force now known to comprise General of Cavalry von Blucher's Prussian corps and the Russian Avantgard Corps of General St Priest has secured the town. In a most bloody battle General of Division Charpentier's 36th Division which was located there as garrison was almost destroyed, and the powerful French III Corps of Marechal Ney which advanced from Erfurt was also turned back with heavy loss, particularly among its artillery. In the later stages of the battle at Weimar a brigade of Cossacks got among the French artillery park, killing many gunners and drivers and capturing several guns.

This battle, the bloodiest of the campaign so far, has left Napoleon's main column at Leutzen isolated and without supplies. However in return, French cavalry under General Sebastiani has moved to occupy Saalfeld and the crossings of the river at that town. This development has caused the supply route for St Priest's corps to be cut.

The chaos of problems attendant on severed communications continues further north. At Ascherlseben Generalleutnant Yorck has secured the town, the French there marching north towards Magdeburg but on 7th May French troops occupied the town of Dessau capturing a long column of Prussian grain carts that was parked in the marketplace. Seized paperwork and quartermasters records have revealed that the supply route of Generalleutnant Wittgenstein's Army of the Right Wing passes through Dessau; therefore all the corps of this army are severed from their supplies. This state of affairs will doubtless cause much hat stomping near Leipzig.

There is news in the regions around the Lower Oder that more Russian columns are moving west from Poland into Germany.

Cossack bands further north report a French force at Mockern though there are no details on its strength. Potsdam fortress is on a high state of alert with Landwehr regiments mustering in haste to form its garrison.