Battle of Eylau
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- Date:
- February 7, 1807 - February 8, 1807
- Location:
- East Prussia
- Russian Empire
- Participants:
- Austria
- France
- Prussia
- Russia
- Third Coalition
- Context:
- Napoleonic Wars
- Third Coalition
Battle of Eylau, (Feb. 7–8, 1807), an engagement in the Napoleonic Wars. After a succession of victories to 1806, Napoleon was fought to a standstill, the first major deadlock he ever suffered, in a bitter engagement with the Russians at Eylau (modern Bagrationovsk, Russia), 23 miles (37 km) south of Königsberg (Kaliningrad). The unrelenting winter conditions added to the horror of the fighting, as the wounded froze to death in the battle’s aftermath.
The 76,000 Russians and Prussians under Leonty Leontyevich Bennigsen confronted 75,000 men under Napoleon shortly after the Russians launched an unexpected winter offensive. An initial unplanned battle on February 7 cost each side about 4,000 casualties without accomplishing anything. On the morning of the 8th, Napoleon had only 41,000 men to the Russians’ 63,000, and he fought a delaying action until his reinforcements arrived. Napoleon tried to stem the Russian advances by cavalry attacks. The first of these was beaten back in a blinding snowstorm, with heavy losses. Meanwhile, three Russian columns headed for the weak French lines, threatening to overwhelm them.
Napoleon ordered a 10,700-man cavalry reserve under Joachim Murat to charge the advancing columns and the Russian centre. In one of the greatest cavalry charges in history, they halted the Russian attack, slashed through the Russian centre in two columns, re-formed in a single column in the Russian rear, and plunged through the re-forming lines again. This attack enabled Napoleon to hold his centre and overcome the crisis. During the next six hours both sides received reinforcements.
The fighting continued after dark, with the arrival of Ney’s corps on the French left finally giving the French rough numerical parity with the allies. The stalemate continued until exhaustion ended the fighting at 10 pm. During the night, Bennigsen withdrew from the battlefield; the French were in no state to pursue their opponents.
Losses: Allied Russian-Prussian, 15,000 casualties of 76,000; French, at least 15,000 casualties of 75,000.