Editing Trachenberg Plan

{{short description|1813 Napoleonic Wars Coalition campaign plan}}
{{Routemap
|title=War of the 6th Coalition: 1813
|title-bg=darkblue
|legend=no
|float=right
|bottom=
<div align="left">
<small>
Day: days gone since 5 April 1813, Battle of Möckern<br>
Losses: French soldiers killed+wounded+captured<br>
Red dot: French [[tactical victory]]
</small>
</div>
|map=
'''Napoleon's'''~~! !~~
'''battles'''~~Day! !~~Losses~~'''Battle'''~~Led by~~
~~0! !uKBHFa~~2.200~~[[Battle of Möckern|Möckern]]~~Eugène~~
[[Battle of Lützen (1813)|Lützen]]~~27! !KBHFxa~~22.000~~
[[Battle of Bautzen (1813)|Bautzen]]~~45! !KBHFxa~~20.000~~
~~51! !uKBHFxa~~1.400~~[[Battle of Haynau|Haynau]]~~Maison~~
~~56! !uKBHFxa~~2.200~~[[Battle of Luckau|Luckau]]~~Oudinot~~
~~109! !uKBHFxa~~3.000~~[[Battle of Großbeeren|Großbeeren]]~~Oudinot~~
~~112! !uKBHFxa~~30.000~~[[Battle of the Katzbach|Katzbach]]~~Macdonald~~
[[Battle of Dresden|Dresden]]~~112! !KBHFxa~~10.000~~
~~115! !uKBHFxa~~25.000~~[[Battle of Kulm|Kulm]]~~Vandamme~~
~~123! !uKBHFxa~~23.000~~[[Battle of Dennewitz|Dennewitz]]~~Ney~~
~~133! !uKBHFxa~~1.500~~[[Battle of the Göhrde|Göhrde]]~~Pécheux~~
~~145! !uKBHFxa~~2.100~~[[Battle of Altenburg|Altenburg]]~~Lefebvre~~
~~146! !uKBHFxa~~700~~[[Combat of Rosslau|Rosslau]]~~Ney~~
~~150! !uKBHFxa~~1.900~~[[Battle of Wartenburg|Wartenburg]]~~Bertrand~~
[[Battle of Leipzig|'''Leipzig''']]~~163! !uKBHFxa~~79.000~~
[[Battle of Hanau|Hanau]]~~177! !KBHFe~~4.500~~
}}

{{routemap
|title=War of the 6th Coalition: 1814
|legend=no
|float=right
|title-bg=darkblue
|bottom=
<div align="left">
<small>
Day: days gone since 24 Jan 1814, Bar-sur-Aube(1)<br>
Losses: French soldiers killed+wounded+captured<br>
Red dot: French [[tactical victory]]
</small>
</div>
|map=
'''Napoleon's'''~~! !~~
'''battles'''~~Day! !~~Losses~~'''Battle'''~~Led by~~
~~0! !uKBHFa~~700~~[[First Battle of Bar-sur-Aube|Bar-sur-Aube(1)]]~~Mortier~~
[[Battle of Brienne|Brienne]]~~5! !KBHFxa~~3.000~~
[[Battle of La Rothière|'''Rothière''']]~~8! !uKBHFxa~~4.000~~
~~9! !uKBHFxa~~?~~[[Battle of Lesmont|Lesmont]]~~Lagrange~~
[[Battle of Champaubert|Champau.]]~~18! !KBHFxa~~600~~
[[Battle of Montmirail|Montmirail]]~~19! !KBHFxa~~2.000~~
[[Battle of Château-Thierry (1814)|Thierry]]~~20! !KBHFxa~~400~~
[[Battle of Vauchamps|Vaucham.]]~~22! !KBHFxa~~600~~
[[Battle of Mormant|Mormant]]~~25! !KBHFxa~~600~~
[[Battle of Montereau|Montereau]]~~26! !KBHFxa~~2.000~~
~~35! !uKBHFxa~~3.100~~[[Battle of Bar-sur-Aube|Bar-sur-Aube]]~~Macdonald~~
~~36! !KBHFxa~~250~~[[Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes|'''Tresmes''']]~~Macdonald~~
~~37! !uKBHFxa~~1.300~~[[Battle of Saint-Julien (1814)|Julien]]~~Augereau~~
~~39! !uKBHFxa~~3.000~~[[Battle of Laubressel|Laubressel]]~~Macdonald~~
[[Battle of Craonne|Craonne]]~~43! !KBHFxa~~5.400~~
[[Battle of Laon|'''Laon''']]~~45! !uKBHFxa~~6.500~~
~~47! !uKBHFxa~~700~~[[Battle of Mâcon (1814)|Mâcon]]~~Musnier~~
[[Battle of Reims (1814)|Reims]]~~48! !KBHFxa~~600~~
~~56! !uKBHFxa~~1.000~~[[Battle of Limonest|Limonest]]~~Augereau~~
[[Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube|'''Arcis''']]~~56! !uKBHFxa~~3.000~~
~~61! !uKBHFxa~~10.000~~[[Battle of Fère-Champenoise|Champenoise]]~~Augereau~~
[[Battle of Saint-Dizier|Dizier]]~~62! !KBHFxa~~600~~
~~66! !uKBHFe~~5.000~~[[Battle of Paris (1814)|Paris]]~~Joseph~~
}}
The '''Trachenberg Plan''' was a campaign strategy created by the Allies in the [[German Campaign of 1813]] during the [[War of the Sixth Coalition]], and named for the conference held at the palace of [[Żmigród|Trachenberg]].<ref>Leggiere, Michael (2015). pp. 51–54</ref> The plan advocated avoiding direct engagement with French emperor, [[Napoleon|Napoleon I]], which had resulted from fear of the emperor's now legendary prowess in battle. Consequently, the Allies planned to engage and defeat Napoleon's [[Marshal of the Empire|marshal]]s and generals separately, and thus weaken his army while they built up an overwhelming force even he could not defeat. It was decided upon after a series of defeats and near disasters at the hands of Napoleon at [[Battle of Lützen (1813)|Lützen]], [[Battle of Bautzen (1813)|Bautzen]] and [[Battle of Dresden|Dresden]]. The plan was successful, and at the [[Battle of Leipzig]], where the Allies had a considerable numerical advantage, Napoleon was soundly defeated and driven out of Germany, back to the [[Rhine]].

==Development==
[[File:Karl XIV Johan, king of Sweden and Norway, painted by Fredric Westin.jpg|180px|left|thumb|Former Marshal of the Empire Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, later Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden, co-author of the Trachenberg Plan]]
The plan held elements of a number of other plans developed over the past two years by men such as Russian generals [[Karl_Wilhelm_von_Toll| Karl Wilhelm von Toll]], [[Michael_Andreas_Barclay_de_Tolly| Barclay de Tolly]] and former French General, and Napoleon's erstwhile rival, [[Jean_Victor_Marie_Moreau|Jean Victor Moreau]], who was in correspondence with Charles John and en route to Sweden in summer 1813. However, the final plan was primarily an amalgam of two prior works that had been developed in parallel: the Trachenberg Protocol and the Reichenbach Plan,<ref>Leggiere, Michael (2015). pp. 51–60</ref> created by Crown Prince [[Charles XIV John of Sweden|Charles John]] of Sweden (formerly Napoleon's Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte) whose experience with the tactics and methods of the ''Grande Armée'', as well as personal insight on Napoleon's strategies, proved invaluable, and the Austrian chief of staff of the Sixth Coalition, [[Joseph Radetzky von Radetz]]. 

Charles John had given a great deal of military advice to Tsar [[Alexander I of Russia]] during the 1812 Russian Campaign (after having turned down Alexander's offer of generalissimo of the Russian armies) on how to defeat the French invasion, and was able to see the successful practical outcomes of some of his theories and strategies that had been used by the Russians.<ref>Barton, Dunbar Plunkett (1925) pp. 40-43. John Murray, London.</ref> Charles John refined his strategies over the next year, applied them to the probable theater of operations of Northern Germany, and presented them to Alexander and [[Frederick Wilhelm III]] of Prussia at the Trachenberg Conference held on July 9-12, 1813 during the [[Truce of Pläswitz]]. The Allied sovereigns, after modifications to take into account the various policy considerations necessary to keep the disparate coalition partners happy, adopted Charles John's proposals as the basis of the general Coalition campaign plan.<ref>Scott, Franklin D. (1935) Bernadotte and the Fall of Napoleon. Pp. 88-90. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.</ref> Meanwhile, Radetzky and the Austrians had been developing their own campaign plan in parallel, despite not officially joining the Sixth Coalition until August 12, 1813, based on the presumed theater of Saxony and Northeast Germany with a final decisive battle as its climax, the details of which folded well into the protocol agreed to at Trachenberg. The combined, modified version of the two prior campaign plans became known as the Trachenberg Plan.<ref>Leggiere, Michael (2015). p. 62</ref><ref>Barton, Dunbar Plunkett (1930) pp. 283–284</ref><ref>Scott, Franklin D. (1935) Bernadotte and the Fall of Napoleon. P. 90. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Attrition warfare against Napoleon]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
* Barton, Sir Dunbar Plunket (1930). ''The Amazing Career of Bernadotte 1763–1844'', Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. {{ISBN?}}
* Barton, Sir Dunbar Plunket (1925). ''Bernadotte: Prince and King 1810-1844,'' John Murray, London.
* Chandler, David G (1966). ''The Campaigns of Napoleon Volume II'', Macmillan Company, New York. {{ISBN?}}
* Las Cases, Emmanuel-Auguste-Dieudonné (1890). ''Memoirs of the Life, Exile, and Conversations of the Emperor Napoleon, Volume III'', Worthington Company, New York. {{ISBN?}}
* Leggiere, Michael V (2015). ''Napoleon and the Struggle for Germany: The Franco-Prussian War of 1813 Volume II'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. {{ISBN?}}
* Leggiere, Michael V (2014). ''Blücher: Scourge of Napoleon'', University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. {{ISBN?}}
* Palmer, Alan (1990). ''Bernadotte: Napoleon's Marshal, Sweden's King'', John Murray, London. {{ISBN?}}
* Scott, Franklin D. (1935) ''Bernadotte and the Fall of Napoleon, '' Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

[[Category:German campaign of 1813]]
[[Category:Military plans]]
[[Category:Charles XIV John]]