The Russian History of the War of 1813 Volume 2

The Russian military campaign of 1813, from August battles to Leipzig and Hanau, shows Europe’s pivotal liberation.

Available for the first time in English, Bogdanovich’s Russian History of the War of 1813 continues where the History of the War of 1812 left off. In describing the events of 1813, the author strives to give an accurate portrayal of one of the most important years in European history and pays tribute to the service of the Russian army in the liberation of Germany. Russia, of course, could not defeat Napoleon alone. But the Russians, having begun the war in Prussia and the Duchy of Warsaw without the assistance of allies, managed to draw Prussia into their cause, and eventually Austria, Sweden and Britain.

This book will appeal to those interested in Napoleonic military history, as well as to wargamers and gives a fascinating insight into the surprisingly cosmopolitan Russian army officers of that era. Although Bogdanovich had access to Russian state archives and private papers, he also makes extensive use of published German and French memoirs and histories in order to provide additional context and balance. Volume 1 covered the period from the Russian invasion of the Duchy of Warsaw up to the Armistice of June 1813. Volume 2 covers from the resumption of hostilities in August 1813 until the Coalition advance to the Rhine by December 1813, from the Battle on the Katzbach to the climactic Battle of Leipzig and on to the Battle of Hanau.

Born in Sumy, Ukraine, in 1805, Bogdanovich was initially educated in the Noble Regiment, being commissioned into the artillery in 1823. He saw combat in the Polish campaign of 1831 and upon his return in 1833, he entered the Imperial Military Academy, becoming its Director of Operations until 1839. Thereafter, he served on committees of the General Staff. He died in August 1882 in Oranienbaum. General Bogdanovich is famed for a number of major works, making an invaluable contribution to Russian military historiography. His History of the Patriotic War of 1812 won the Demidov Prize for History in 1861.