Battle of Luckau


The Battle of Luckau was fought at Luckau in Brandenburg on the 4 June 1813 during the War of the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Allied Prussian and Russian forces under General Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow defeated part of a French-Allied corps under Marshal Nicolas Oudinot. This action was the last one until the summer armistice ended in August. Luckau is south-southeast of Berlin.

Battle

Oudinot commanded the XII Corps and brought only General of Division Michel Marie Pacthod's 13th Division into action. This unit consisted of two brigades under Generals of Brigade Bernard Pourailly and Antoine Gruyer. Pourailly led the 7th Battalion of the 6th Line Infantry Regiment, the 3rd and 4th Battalions of the 7th Line, the 4th Battalion of the 1st Light, and the 4th Battalion of the 10th Line. Gruyer directed the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions of the 101st Line Infantry Regiment, and the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 1st Neapolitan Light Infantry Regiment. Also engaged in the fight were two foot artillery batteries and two squadrons each of the Bavarian and Hesse-Darmstatt Chevau-léger Regiments.
Bülow's force consisted of 16 and a half battalions, 10 squadrons, 1 Cossack Pulk, and 58 guns. His 15,800 men included a Russian brigade led by General-major Harpe and a Prussian brigade commanded by Prince Ludwig von Hesse-Homburg. The Russians and Prussians lost about 800 killed and wounded in the action. The French and their allies suffered 1,500 killed and wounded. In addition, Bülow's soldiers captured 700 men, one cannon, and two ammunition wagons. After the combat, Oudinot withdrew southwest to Übigau near Dresden. An armistice, which was signed on the 4 June, halted the fighting.