The Battle of Dennewitz ( took place on 6September 1813 between French forces commanded by Marshal Michel Ney and the Sixth Coalition's Allied Army of the North commanded by Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden, Friedrich Wilhelm von Bülow and Bogislav von Tauentzien. It occurred in Dennewitz, a village in the Prussian province of Brandenburg, near Jüterbog, southwest of Berlin. The battle marked a turning point in the German Campaign of 1813 as not only did the Allied victory end Napoleon's hopes of capturing Berlin and knocking Prussia out of the war, but the severity of the French defeat, inflicted by a primarily Prussian force, also led to the erosion of fidelity of German allies to the Napoleonic cause. The French losses, and consequent diplomatic reverses, that resulted from Dennewitz contributed greatly to Napoleon's defeat a month later at the Battle of Leipzig.
Prelude
In late August 1813, Napoleon decided to order a general offensive to take Berlin, the Prussian capital, with the overall goal of knocking the Prussians out of the war. Berlin and its environs was defended by the Coalition's Army of the North, composed of Prussian, Russian, North German and Swedish troops, under the command of Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden (formerly French Marshal Bernadotte). Marshal Oudinot's three corps advanced towards this objective along three separate roads. The Army of the North was prepared for battle and well positioned along an east–west axis. The heavy fighting that took place on 23 August was essentially three isolated actions at Blankenfield, Grossbeeren, and Sputendorf, but is known as the Battle of Grossbeeren. In each case the Allies prevailed and Oudinot retreated to Wittenberg. At this point Napoleon appointed Marshal Michel Ney to command.
Battle
Ney, with around 60,000, renewed the advance on Berlin on 6 September, but moving first eastwards in order to advance on Berlin from the Southeast. This was because he mistakenly expected Napoleon, away to the southeast near Dresden, to support him from this direction. Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden, learning from Oudinot's first attack at Großbeeren, wherein the French were strung out on the few north–south roads south of Berlin, laid a trap. Coalition forces were established in a defensive disposition wherein any Allied corps that came into contact with the main French thrust were to engage and hold them in order to gain time for the rest of the army to arrive and administer the killing blow via the plentiful east–west roads and open terrain of the region. Ney had decided to move his entire army down a single road and was shadowed to the north by Bülow's III Corps where they collided at Dennewitz. While this allowed Ney to maintain communications with his entire army, the single road stacked his army for miles as Bernadotte had anticipated. As a result, the battle swayed back and forth with the arrival of fresh French and Allied reinforcements throughout its course.
The Prussian General Tauentzien was at Jüterbog, blocking Ney's route to Berlin. Ney's troops reached Dennewitz as Bülow was approaching Jüterbog along an eastward route to their north. To keep Tauentzien and Bülow from uniting, the French occupied the heights north of Dennewitz, now known as the Denkmalsberg (Monument Hill). Despite early damage done to Tauentzien's Corps, Bülow saved the situation by taking the hill. This was followed by a charge of the Brandenburg Dragoons down the hill. This gave time for the Prussian units which had earlier wavered to regroup.
There were signs that all was not well in the French army at this time. The French Empire, bogged down and losing the Peninsular War in Spain, was seriously short of cavalry troops and mounts since the 1812 Russian campaign. As a result, there was a lack of screening and reconnaissance. The French command situation was also strained, as Oudinot was angered at being placed under Ney's command. Marshal Ney was determined to advance with all haste to Berlin and this, combined with the poor reconnaissance, allowed the French army to walk right into an assembled Allied defense. Initially forced back, Tauentzien's Corps was reinforced by Bülow's Corps and recovered the lost ground. Bülow would now assume command of the two Prussian corps for the remainder of the day.