11. The French General Who Bluffed a City Into Surrender
After his victory in the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt in 1806, Napoleon ordered a vigorous pursuit of the retreating Prussians. The Prussians were demoralized, when a cavalry brigade under General Antoine Lasalle approached the port city of Stettin, with 500 hussars under his command, and 2 light field guns. Stettin was well fortified, with a garrison of nearly 10,000 men and 281 cannons, commanded by General Friedrich von Romberg. Romberg had over 50 years’ experience, and a career that stretched back to the Seven Years’ War, during which he’d fought under Frederick the Great. The city was well provisioned by the British Royal Navy, whose supply-laden ships sailed in and out of the port with no hindrance. On the afternoon of October 29th, 1806, Lasalle sent a subordinate under flag of truce to demand Stettin’s surrender, promising to treat its garrison with all the honors of war.
Romberg refused, vowing to defend the city to the last man. An hour later, the emissary returned, this time with a more ominous message: “If by 8 AM you have not surrendered, the town will be bombarded by our artillery and stormed by 50,000 men. The garrison will be put to the sword, and the town will be plundered for 24 hours”. An alarmed Romberg consulted with the town leaders, who urged capitulation. That night, the details of the surrender were negotiated and finalized. The following morning, the garrison marched out in perfect order, and filed past the French to throw their arms down at their feet in a steadily growing pile. Lasalle became a national hero, while von Romberg became a laughingstock. The Prussian general was tried by court-martial in 1809, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment for surrendering without a fight. He died two months later.