Battle of Bergen (1799)

Ostrach - Feldkirch - Stockach I - Magnano - Adda - Cassano - Zurich I - Trebbia - Mantua - Novi - Zurich II - Bergen - Egmont - Genola - Wiesloch - Genoa - Stockach II - Meßkirch - Montebello - Marengo - Hochstadt - Hohenlinden - Mincio - Copenhagen - Algeciras I - Algeciras II

The Battle of Bergen occurred on September 19, 1799 and resulted in a French victory under - batavischem Generals Brune and Daendels. They won over the Russians and British under the Duke of York, who had landed in North Holland.

Planning and Preparation

The British and Russian commander noticed that the Batavians neglected their coverage and made an important position vacant. You could also Amsterdam undefended.

Their plan was as follows: The left wing should fight the enemy at Zuider Zee, while the right the enemy should expel from the heights of Camperdown and taking mountains.

Part of the Batavian troops was very beneficial positioned on sand hills near Petten. The terrain was difficult. There were very many channels and wet areas in the path of the invading army. There were few roads. Many important bridges were destroyed and the Batavians had secured the main paths with obstacles.

Battle Record

The battle was by Russian troops, who had taken up on September 19 at 8:00 clock position in Bergen. They expected vain support of their British allies, who were not even prepared for the fight, as the British and Russian commanders had failed to synchronize their clocks. The result of this error was that the Russian troops were quickly surrounded by the French. The Russians were driven out of the mountains and had to retreat to the nearby Schoorl what but had to give up then, too.

The village was recaptured by British troops under the command of Robert Manners. These troops, reinforced by a few Russian and other British divisions, managed to push back the French briefly, but due to lack of ammunition and increasing exhaustion of the troops they retreated back soon to Petten.

The column under Lieutenant-General Dundas attacked the village Warmenhuizen in the twilight, where the enemy was well positioned with a strong artillery battery. Three battalions of Russians under Major General Sedmoratsky stormed the village from one side, while the 1st Guards Regiment attacked from the other side at the same time. Reinforced doing so they were to march by attacks of grenadiers, who were actually intended by Schoorldam. With this support, they were able to take the village.

The British succeeded also to take the villages Hoorn and Oudkarspel. But overall, the British and Russian troops were too far spread to more effectively fight the French can. Lack of coordination between the Russians and the British and Überschwemmungenen and lack of coverage of the flanks were the biggest problems. Therefore, the Allied commanders decided to withdraw their troops.

Follow

The Russian commander Mikhail Kutuzov recently appointed, who rushed from St. Petersburg to take command of the Russian troops, learned from the debacle at Hamburg and returned with the assumption that the war was lost, returned to Russia.

The Batavian recaptured all lost positions. Their flank was secured by floods. The space between Alkmaar and Zuiderzee could be defended with a small number of troops. The rest of the army, which was reinforced with fresh troops, was concentrated between Langedijk and the sea. Schoorldam, Oudkarspel and Koedijk were also fixed. The next major battle took place on October 6 in Castricum.