Pultusk

a city in Poland, on the Narew River, in Warsaw Województwo. During the war between Russia, Prussia, and France in 1806–07, a battle was fought between French and Russian troops near Pułtusk on Dec. 14 (26), 1806. After capturing Warsaw and the crossings over the Vistula, Napoleon decided to encircle the Russian troops. Thinking that the main group of the Russian forces was at Gołymin, northwest of Pułtusk, he sent his main forces there. At the same time Marshal J. Lannes’ corps of 20,000 men was dispatched to Pułtusk to capture crossings and cut off the Russian Army from the rear.

On December 14 (26) Lannes’ corps ran into General L. L. Bennigsen’s corps of 45,000 men, which on December 13 (25) had taken up positions along the right bank of the Narew River in an attempt to slow down the enemy advance. The repeated attacks of Lannes’ corps, supported by a division of 5,000 men from Marshal L. Davout’s corps, were repulsed, and the Russian troops succeeded in throwing the enemy back from Pułtusk. Napoleon’s attempt to turn the left flank of the Russian Army was foiled. On the morning of December 15 (27), in view of the threat posed by the main forces of Napoleon’s army from the northwest, Bennigsen withdrew to Ostrołęka.