Capitulation of Pasewalk

Overview

The Capitulation of Pasewalk on 29 October 1806 resulted in the surrender of Oberst (Colonel) von Hagen's 4,200 Prussian soldiers to an inferior force of two French light cavalry brigades led by Generals of Brigade Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud and Antoine Lasalle. The Prussians were completely demoralized after a two-week-long retreat following their decisive defeat at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. Pasewalk is 110 kilometers north of Berlin and about 40 kilometers west of Szczecin (Stettin), Poland.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Capitulation of Pasewalk illustrates the cascading collapse of Prussian military cohesion following the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. Two weeks of continuous retreat had so thoroughly demoralized Colonel von Hagen's force that 4,200 Prussian soldiers surrendered to only 1,500 French light cavalry — a force less than a third their size. The event occurred 110 kilometers north of Berlin and roughly 40 kilometers west of Stettin, placing French power deep into northeastern Prussia and demonstrating that organized resistance had effectively dissolved across much of the kingdom. Capitulations of this kind, where numerically superior Prussian garrisons and columns yielded to small French detachments, were a defining feature of the weeks following Jena-Auerstedt and collectively stripped Prussia of its field army far faster than combat alone could have achieved.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)