Siege of Torgau facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Siege of Torgau
Part of the War of the Sixth Coalition
Plan of the siege of Torgau
Date 18 October 1813 – 10 January 1814 Location Torgau, Saxony 51°34′30″N 12°55′30″E / 51.57500°N 12.92500°E / 51.57500; 12.92500 Result Prussian victory
Belligerents
Prussia	French Empire
Commanders and leaders
Bogislav von Tauntzien	Louis, comte de Narbonne-Lara Adrien Jean-Baptiste du Bosc
Strength
23,000	24,650
Casualties and losses
Minimal	24,650

The siege of Torgau (18 October 1813 – 10 January 1814) was a siege in the War of the Sixth Coalition. The French-held fortress on the Elbe was besieged by Prussian troops and forced to surrender.

Background

The fortress of Torgau was built on both sides of the Elbe as a royal Saxon main arsenal based on a design by Ernst Ludwig von Aster. In the spring of 1813 the French moved into the position. After the Battle of Dennewitz it covered the retreat of the French. During the Armistice of Pläswitz, provisions were insufficiently available to protect the Middle Elbe and to enable offensives against the Prussian heartland.

Siege

After the Battle of Leipzig, the fortress was besieged by the IV Army Corps with around 23,000 men under Bogislav Friedrich Emanuel von Tauentzien. The French trains and the civil servants fled to the fortress, so that the garrison strength grew from 6,000 to 30,000 men. In addition there were around 11,000 wounded in the hospitals. The French garrison commander Louis, comte de Narbonne-Lara died of typhus on 17 November.

After heavy bombardments, the weakened garrison under General Adrien Jean-Baptiste du Bosc surrendered unconditionally on 23 December, with about 7,200 men being taken prisoner on 10 January 1814 and 2,400 remaining in the hospitals.