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BAUTZEN (Wendish Budissin, " town ")

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 542 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BAUTZEN (Wendish Budissin, " See also:town ")  , a See also:town of See also:Germany, in the See also:kingdom of See also:Saxony and the See also:capital of Saxon Upper See also:Lusatia . Pop . (1890) 21,515; (1905) 29,412 . It occupies an See also:eminence on the right See also:bank of the See also:Spree, 68o ft. above the level of the See also:sea, 32 M . E.N.E. from See also:Dresden, on the Dresden-GSrlitz-See also:Breslau See also:main See also:line of railway, and at the junction of lines from See also:Schandau and Konigswartha . The town is surrounded by walls, and outside these again by ramparts, now in See also:great measure turned into promenades, and has extensive suburbs partly lying on the See also:left bank of the See also:river . Among its churches the most remarkable is the See also:cathedral of St See also:Peter, dating from the 15th See also:century, with a See also:tower 300 ft. in height . It is used by both Protestants and See also:Roman Catholics, an See also:iron See also:screen separating the parts assigned to each . There are five other churches, a handsome town See also:hall, an See also:orphan-See also:asylum, several hospitals, a See also:mechanics' See also:institute, a famous See also:grammar school (gymnasium), a normal and several other See also:schools, and two public See also:libraries . The See also:general See also:trade and manufactures are considerable, including woollen (stockings and See also:cloth), See also:linen and See also:cotton goods, See also:leather, See also:paper, See also:saltpetre, and See also:dyeing . It has also iron foundries, See also:potteries, distilleries, breweries, See also:cigar factories, &c . See also:Bautzen was already in existence when See also:Henry I., the See also:Fowler, conquered Lusatia in 928 .

It became a town and fortress under See also:

Otto I., his successor, and speedily attained considerable See also:wealth and importance, for a See also:good See also:share of which it was indebted to the pilgrimages which were made to the " See also:arm of St Peter," preserved in one of the churches . It suffered greatly during the Hussite See also:war, and still more during the See also:Thirty Years' War, in the course of which it was besieged and captured by the elector of See also:Brandenburg, See also:John See also:George (1620), See also:fell into the hands of See also:Wallenstein (1633), and, in the following See also:year was burned by its See also:commander before being surrendered to the elector of Saxony . At the See also:peace of See also:Prague in 1635 it passed with Lusatia to Saxony as a war See also:indemnity . The town gives its name to a great See also:battle in' which, on the 20th and 21st of May 18131 See also:Napoleon I. defeated an allied See also:army of Russians and Prussians (see NAPOLEOMC See also:CAMPAIGNS) . Battle of The position chosen by the See also:allies as that in which to Bautzen, 1813. receive the attack of Napoleon ran S.W. to N.E. from Bautzen on the left to the See also:village of Gleina on the right . Bautzen itself was held as an advanced See also:post of the left wing (Russians), the main See also:body of which See also:lay 2 M. to the See also:rear (E.) near Jenkwitz . On the heights of Burk, 22 M . N.E. of Bautzen, was See also:Kleist's Prussian See also:corps, with Yorck's in support . On Kleist's right at Pliskowitz (3 M . N.E. of Burk) lay See also:Blucher's corps, and on Blucher's right, formed at an See also:angle to him, and refused towards Gleina (7 M . N.E. by E. of Bautzen), were the Russians of See also:Barclay de Tolly . The See also:country on which the battle was fought abounded in strong defensive positions, some of which were famous as battlegrounds of the Seven Years' War .

The whole line was covered by the river Spree, which served as an immediate See also:

defence for the left and centre, and an obstacle to any force moving to attack the right; moreover the See also:interval between the river and the position on this See also:side was covered with a network of ponds and watercourses . Napoleon's right and centre approached (on a broad front owing to the want of See also:cavalry) from Dresden by See also:Bischofswerda and See also:Kamenz; the left under See also:Ney, which was separated by nearly 40 M. from the left of the main body at Luckau, was ordered to See also:march via Hoyerswerda, Weissig and Klix to strike the allies' right . At See also:noon on the loth, Napoleon, after a prolonged See also:reconnaissance, advanced the main army against Bautzen and Burk, leaving the enemy's right to be dealt with by Ney on the morrow . He equally neglected the extreme left of the allies in the mountains, judging it impossible to move his See also:artillery and cavalry in the broken ground there . See also:Oudinot's (XII.) corps, the extreme right wing, was to See also:work See also:round by the hilly country to Jenkwitz in rear of Bautzen, See also:Macdonald's (XI.) corps was to See also:assault Bautzen, and See also:Marmont, with the VI. corps, to See also:cross the Spree and attack the Prussians posted about Burk . These three corps were directed by See also:Soult . Farther to the left, See also:Bertrand's (IV.) corps was held back to connect with Ney, who had then reached Weissig with the See also:head of his See also:column . The Guard and other general reserves were in rear of Macdonald and Marmont . Bautzen was taken without difficulty; Oudinot and Marmont easily passed the Spree on either side, and were formed up on the other bank of the river by about 4 P.M . A heavy and indecisive combat took See also:place in the evening between Oudinot and the See also:Russian left, directed by the See also:tsar in See also:person, in which Oudinot's men made a little progress towards Jenkwitz . Marmont's battle was more serious . The Prussians were not experienced troops, but were full of ardour and hatred of the See also:French .

Phoenix-squares

Kleist made a most stubborn resistance on the Burk See also:

ridge, and Bertrand's corps was called up by Napoleon to join in the battle; but See also:part of Blucher's corps fiercely engaged Bertrand, and Burk was not taken till 7 P.M . The French attack was much impeded by the ground and by want of See also:room to deploy between the river and the enemy . But Napoleon's See also:object in thus forcing the fighting in the centre was achieved . The allies, feeling there the See also:weight of the French attack, gradually See also:drew upon the reserves of their left and right to sustain the See also:shock . At nightfall Bautzen and Burk were in See also:possession of the French, and the allied line now stretched from Jenkwitz northward to Pliskowitz, Blucher and Barclay maintaining their See also:original positions at Pliskowitz and Gleina . The See also:night of the 2oth-21st was spent by both armies on the battlefield . Napoleon cared little that the French centre was almost fought out; it had fulfilled its See also:mission, and on the 21st the decisive point was to be Barclay's position . Soon after daybreak fighting was renewed along the whole line; but Napoleon lay down to See also:sleep until the See also:time appointed for Ney's attack . To a heavy See also:counter-stroke against Oudinot, which completely drove that See also:marshal from the ground won on the'2oth, the See also:emperor paid no more heed than to See also:order Macdonald to support the XII corps . For in this second position of the allies, which was far more formidable thanthe original line, the decisive result could be brought about only by Ney . That commander had his own (III) corps, the corps of See also:Victor and of See also:Lauriston and the See also:Saxons under Reynier, a See also:total force of 6o,000 men . Lauriston, at the head of the column, had been sharply engaged on the loth, but had spent the loth in calculated inaction .

See also:

Early on the 21st the flank attack opened; Ney and Lauriston moving See also:direct upon Gleina, while Reynier and Victor operated by a wide turning See also:movement against Barclay's right rear . The advance was carried out with precision; the Russians were quickly dislodged, and Ney was now closing upon the rear of Blucher's corps at the village of Preititz . Napoleon at once ordered Soult's four corps to renew their attacks in order to prevent the allies from reinforcing their right . But at the See also:critical moment Ney halted; his orders were to be in Preititz at i r A.M. and he reached that place an See also:hour earliex . The See also:respite of an hour enabled the allies to organize a fierce counter-attack; Ney was checked until the flanking columns of Victor and Reynier could come upon the See also:scene . At r P.M., when Ney resumed his advance, it was too See also:late to cut off the See also:retreat of the allies . Napoleon now made his final stroke . The Imperial Guard and all other troops in the centre, 8o,000 strong and covered by a great See also:mass of artillery, moved forward to the attack; and shortly the allied centre, depleted of its reserves, which had been sent to oppose Ney, was broken through and driven off the See also:field . Blucher, now almost surrounded, called back the troops opposing Ney to make head against Soult, and Ney's four corps then carried all before them . Preparations had been made by the allies, ever since Ney's See also:appearance,to break off the engagement, and now the tsar ordered a general retreat eastwards, himself with the utmost skill and bravery directing the rearguard . Thus the allies drew off unharmed, leaving no `rophies in the hands of Napoleon, whose success, tactically unquestionable, was, for a variety of reasons, and above all owing to the want of cavalry, a coup manqu€ strategically . The troops engaged were, on the French side 163,000 men, on that of the allies about 100,000; and the losses respectively about 20,000 and 13,500 killed and wounded .

End of Article: BAUTZEN (Wendish Budissin, " town ")
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