1. The Prussian Guard Fusiliers storm Kaja. On a direct order from Blücher, Major von Block of the Prussian Guard Fusiliers led his men in a bayonet charge on the village of Kaja. The French battalion defending it held their fire to point blank range. When their volley did not halt the Prussian advance, the French infantry abandoned their positions rapidly, and fierce hand-to-hand fighting followed as they fell back through the village. A counter-attack by the Young Guard threw the Prussians back and recaptured the village.
2. Oudinot’s Advance, 21 May 1813. On the second day of battle at Bautzen, Ney’s flanking move forced the entire allied army to withdraw. The Russians under Miloradovich struggled to delay Oudinot, buying time to allow them to retire down the road towards Görlitz. The retreat was covered by Jäger and Cossacks shown here drawn up on the flat ground between Mehltheuer and Hochkirch.
3. Division at Hainau, 26 May 1813. Although he enjoyed the advantage of numbers, Napoleon was severely handicapped by a lack of cavalry. He could still win battles, as he showed at Lützen and Bautzen, but he was unable to destroy the beaten army on the retreat with a close and effective pursuit. On the contrary, as the Allies had the larger amount of cavalry, they were able on occasion to turn the tables on the pursuer. The ambush of Maison’s Division at Hainau, just a few days after Bautzen, showed that the Allies were far from demoralised. Dolffs, leading several Prussian cavalry regiments, including the Guard Light Cavalry, the East Prussian and Silesian Cuirassiers and the West Prussian Uhlans, rode down a number of French squares, some after a hard fight, some while still in the process of forming. Dolffs fell mortally wounded, but not before having destroyed Maison’s Division.