Siege of Riga (1812)

The Siege of Riga was a military operation undertaken by the Grande Armée during the French invasion of Russia in 1812.

Siege of Riga
Part of the French invasion of Russia
Date July – September 1812 Location Riga, Russian Empire (present-day Latvia) Result Russian victory
Belligerents
France  Prussia	Russian Empire  United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Jacques MacDonald Julius von Grawert Ludwig Yorck	Ivan Fyodorovich Emme Thomas Byam Martin
Units involved
X Corps

The siege, beginning in July 1812, was led by Marshal Jacques MacDonald, with a force of 30,000 men, facing Russian defenders under command of Ivan Fyodorovich Emme.[1] The defenders were aided by the British Baltic squadron under Rear Admiral Thomas Byam Martin.[2] In August, Martin led a British-Russian force on a diversionary naval raid on the major French base at Danzig.[3] The French did not try to storm Riga and eventually withdrew in September 1812.

See also

• Battle of Ekau

References

1. A. M. Gorshman. "ЭММЕ, Иван Федорович, генерал-лейтенант." In N. Mikhailovka, ed. Словарь русских генералов, участников боевых действий против армии Наполеона Бонапарта в 1812—1815 гг., vol. 7, pp. 626–627. Russian Archives, 1996. (in Russian)
2. Robson, Martin (2014). A History of the Royal Navy: Napoleonic Wars. I.B.Tauris. p. 157. ISBN 9781780765440.
3. Grainger, John D. (2014). The British Navy in the Baltic. Boydell & Brewer. p. 207. ISBN 9781843839477.

Further reading

• The Commodore by C.S. Forester includes a fictional account of the siege.