20. Tactics at the Battle of Eylau were dictated by the weather
The Battle of Eylau was fought between the French and Russian armies on February 7-8, 1807. It was one of the bloodiest of the Napoleonic Wars to that time, fought largely over possession of the town of Eylau, which both sides wanted to retain as a shelter for the soldiers of their armies. The battle occurred in subfreezing temperature, in a driving blizzard. There was no other nearby town of sufficient size to provide the soldiers’ shelter from the storm. Napoleon’s troops first attacked the town in the evening hours of February 7, fighting in the dark, and blinded by the driving snow. The French captured the town, which provided shelter for some of the troops, but it also dictated Napoleon’s position for the following day, if the Russians did not retreat.
The Russians stayed, and February 8 saw heavy fighting throughout the day. Eylau saw the massed charge of over 11,000 French Cavalry, led by Marshal Murat, one of the greatest in history to that time. It also saw heavy casualties sustained by both sides. The battle lines wavered throughout the day, and both the French and Russians were reinforced as the battle went on, the latter by a Prussian corps. That evening the sides were more or less in the same positions as they had been when fighting began that morning. The fighting continued well into the dark, finally coming to a halt around 10.00 PM. The Russians declined to remain on the field for a third day of fighting, and withdrew. Altogether there were about 75,000 casualties between the two armies, in a battle fought to seek shelter from a storm.
