1813
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1 January 1813 Russian troops cross the Nieman in pursuit of the French.
Carl Maria von Weber’s (26) cantata In seiner Ordnung schafft der Herr for solo voices, chorus and orchestra to words of Rochlitz is performed for the first time, in Leipzig.
3 January 1813 Allied troops retreating from Riga reach the comparative safety of Königsberg (Kaliningrad).
Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (21) departs Munich for Stuttgart to produce Wirth und Gast.
4 January 1813 Emperor Napoléon orders King José (Bonaparte) of Spain to evacuate Madrid and move north to Valladolid.
6 January 1813 French troops begin to evacuate the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.
Wirth und Gast, oder Aus Scherz Ernst, a Lustspiel by Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (21) to words of Wohlbrück, is performed for the first time, in the Court Theatre, Stuttgart. The presence of the composer doesn’t help the poor preparations and the opera does not fare well with the audience.
8 January 1813 Three Luddites convicted of the murder of mill owner William Horsfall are hanged at York.
11 January 1813 Emperor Napoléon calls for 100,000 new troops.
12 January 1813 Carl Maria von Weber (26) arrives in Prague from Leipzig to find that he is offered the post of Director of the Opera. He will eventually sign a three-year contract with unlimited powers.
13 January 1813 Russian forces cross the Vistula and enter Pomerania.
16 January 1813 14 more Luddites are hanged at York.
18 January 1813 US forces capture Frenchtown (Monroe, Michigan).
21 January 1813 After a trip of 55 days, Lowell Mason (21) arrives in Savannah, Georgia from his home in Medfield, Massachusetts.
22 January 1813 King Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia moves his court from Berlin, with its French troops, to Breslau (Wroclaw).
The Spanish Cortes abolishes the Inquisition.
British, colonials, and Shawnee attack the U.S. garrison at Frenchtown on the River Raisin (Monroe County, Michigan). 400 Americans are killed, 500 captured. Only 100 escape.
24 January 1813 Thirty of London’s most eminent musicians, including Muzio Clementi (61) and Henry R. Bishop (26), join to form the Philharmonic Society.
25 January 1813 Pope Pius VII is forced to sign the Concordat of Fontainebleau, making important concessions to Napoléon.
27 January 1813 Il signor Bruschino, ossia Il figlio per azzardo, a farsa giocosa by Gioachino Rossini (20) to words of Foppa after de Chazet and Ourry, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Moisè, Venice.
29 January 1813 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is published in London.
31 January 1813 A constituent assembly, known as the Assembly of the year XIII for the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, is inaugurated in Buenos Aires. They intend to declare independence and draft a constitution.
3 February 1813 Brothers John and Leigh Hunt are convicted and sentenced to a fine of £500 and two years in prison for publishing criticism of the Prince-Regent in the Examiner.
Poor Vulcan, a burletta/extravaganza with two songs by Henry R. Bishop (26) to words of Dibdin, is performed for the first time, in Covent Garden, London.
6 February 1813 Those who met on 24 January meet again in London and sign a manifesto and a set of laws for a “Philharmonic Society.” Signers include Muzio Clementi (61), Henry R. Bishop (26), Thomas Attwood, Vincent Novello, Johann Peter Salomon and George Smart.
Gioachino Rossini’s (20) melodramma eroico Tancredi to words of Rossi and Lechi after Voltaire is performed for the first time, in Teatro La Fenice, Venice. Due to the illness of the two leading ladies, the performance is stopped in the middle of Act II. It will not be performed all the way through until 12 February.
7 February 1813 Russian forces occupy Warsaw.
8 February 1813 Less than three weeks after his arrival in town, Lowell Mason (21) begins organizing a singing school in Savannah.
9 February 1813 King Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia ends all deferments from military service.
12 February 1813 Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (21) learns that he has been appointed court composer to Grand Duke Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt. The post has been secured for him by Georg Joseph Vogler (63).
Ludwig van Beethoven (42) petitions the estate of Prince Kinsky for a second time, to be paid his stipend at the revalued rate the Prince agreed to before he died.
14 February 1813 Alyeksandr Sergeyevich Dargomizhsky is born in Troitskoye, Tula District, south of Moscow, son of a wealthy landowner, himself the illegitimate son of a nobleman, and Princess Kozlovskaya, a poet.
17 February 1813 Le séjour militaire, an opéra comique by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (31) to words of Bouilly and Mercier-Dupaty, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.
18 February 1813 General Belgrano’s rebel army assaults the royalists at Salta. The entire royalist army is either killed, wounded, or captured.
19 February 1813 Andante e Rondo Ungarese for bassoon J.158 by Carl Maria von Weber (26), a reworking of a piece for viola, J.79, is performed for the first time, in Prague.
21 February 1813 La rosa bianca e la rosa rossa, a melodramma eroico by Simon Mayr (49) to words of Romani after de Pixérécourt, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Agostino, Genoa.
22 February 1813 British and colonials capture Ogdensburg, New York across the St. Lawrence.
28 February 1813 By the Treaty of Kalisch, Russia and Prussia ally themselves against France and the Rhenish Confederation.
3 March 1813 An alliance between Britain and Sweden is signed in Stockholm. The treaty provides for a Swedish army to be sent to Germany in return for certain territorial considerations.
4 March 1813 French forces evacuate Berlin.
6 March 1813 After abandoning Berlin, French forces reach Wittenberg, 87 km to the southwest.
Carl Maria von Weber (26) gives his first performance in Prague since becoming opera director. He enjoys a good success, but is not without enemies.
7 March 1813 The Russian army begins crossing the Elbe, moving slowly to the west.
8 March 1813 A fourth regency is set up in Spain under Luis de Borbón y Villabriga, Cardenal de Toledo to rule for King Fernando VII in opposition to the French.
The first concert of the Philharmonic Society takes place in Argyll Rooms, Regent St., London. Johann Peter Salomon is the “leader” with Muzio Clementi (61) at the piano.
10 March 1813 On his way from Bavaria to Vienna, Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (21) unexpectedly meets his old teacher Georg Joseph Vogler (63) in Linz. Vogler tells him that Grand Duke Ludwig of Hesse-Darmstadt has appointed Meyerbeer Court and Chamber Music composer.
12 March 1813 French forces evacuate Hamburg.
Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (21) arrives in Vienna from Bavaria.
16 March 1813 Prussia declares war on France.
17 March 1813 King José I of Spain (Joseph Bonaparte) departs Madrid for the last time.
Samuel Wesley’s (47) Organ Concerto in B flat is performed for the first time, in London, the composer at the keyboard.
18 March 1813 Russian troops occupy Hamburg. The independence of the city is restored.
19 March 1813 A convention is signed by Russia and Prussia at Breslau (Wroclaw). It calls for the expulsion of France from Germany, the destruction of the Confederation of the Rhine and the call of all German princes to join them. King Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia creates the Iron Cross to be awarded to deserving Germans who gain merit from their actions in this campaign.
23 March 1813 French forces retreat to Valladolid.
24 March 1813 Pope Pius VII openly opposes the concordat he signed on 25 January. He refuses to crown Empress Marie Louise and Napoléon’s son as the King of Rome.
25 March 1813 At Kalisch, Russian General Kutuzov, in the name of Tsar Alyeksandr and King Friedrich Wilhelm, calls on all Germans to rise against the French.
26 March 1813 A Triumphal March for Kuffner’s play Tarpeja by Ludwig van Beethoven (42) is performed for the first time.
27 March 1813 Carl Maria von Weber (26) arrives in Vienna to search for musicians and music for the Prague opera.
The Prussian ambassador in Paris delivers the declaration of war on France.
A combined Russian-Prussian force occupies Dresden after it is evacuated by the French and King Friedrich August I of Saxony.
28 March 1813 An army of Texas insurgents, Americans, and Indians quickly defeats a royalist force at Rosillo, southeast of San Antonio.
2 April 1813 Insurgents occupy San Antonio.
3 April 1813 Emperor Napoléon orders the conscription of 170,000 more men.
French troops attack the Russians near Möckern, 32 km east of Magdeburg, but are beaten off.
The royalist government and military commanders at San Antonio are executed.
6 April 1813 Les abenceráges, ou L’étendard de Grenade, an opéra lyrique by Luigi Cherubini (52) to words of Jouy after Florian, is performed for the first time, at the Paris Opéra. The premiere is attended by the Emperor with his wife, shortly before departing for the east. It is moderately successful.
Insurgents in control of San Antonio, Texas proclaim a República del Norte.
12 April 1813 Caspar Carl Beethoven, seriously ill with tuberculosis, signs a document appointing his brother Ludwig (42) guardian over his son Karl, in the event of his death.
15 April 1813 Emperor Napoléon departs Paris for the front.
The United States occupies the eastern part of West Florida including Mobile.
25 April 1813 Emperor Napoléon joins his army at Erfurt.
The Bavarian government announces its neutrality.
27 April 1813 United States forces under General Zebulon Pike capture York (Toronto). Pike is killed in the battle.
28 April 1813 Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, commander of the Russian armies in Europe, dies of natural causes in Bünzlau (Boleslawiec, Poland).
29 April 1813 Jacob Frederick Hummel of Philadelphia receives a patent for a “varnish of elastic gum to render water-proof” shoes and other things. It is the first US patent for a rubber product.
1 May 1813 This month, Queen Mab; A Philosophical Poem; With Notes by Percy Shelley is published privately by the author. Only 250 copies are produced in the original printing.
After looting and burning much of York (Toronto), US forces depart for Niagara.
2 May 1813 Russian and Prussian troops attack the French at Lützen, 19 km southwest of Leipzig. The battle is a limited success for Napoléon but costs 30,000-40,000 lives.
4 May 1813 The Piano Concerto by Samuel Wesley (47) is performed for the first time, at his benefit in London.
5 May 1813 An attempt by Kentucky militia to relieve besieged US troops at Fort Meigs (Perrysburg, Ohio) has mixed results but the fort is reinforced.
8 May 1813 French troops enter Dresden.
9 May 1813 British and colonials around Fort Meigs (Perrysburg, Ohio) abandon their siege.
10 May 1813 As the anti-French alliance gives up Dresden, King Friedrich August I of Saxony decides to place his lot with Napoléon.
11 May 1813 Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson, and William Charles Wentworth begin an expedition west from South Creek, New South Wales, seeking a passage through the Blue Mountains to the western plains.
12 May 1813 Behold, how good and joyful for three voices and organ by Samuel Wesley (47) to words of Psalm 133 is performed for the first time, at the installation of the Duke of Sussex as the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of All England (Masonic).
14 May 1813 Detlev, Count Einsiedel becomes Prime Minister of Saxony.
16 May 1813 Lord William Bentinck, British Minister in Sicily, tells King Joachim Murat that Great Britain will favor his remaining King of Naples until another kingdom is found for him.
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (34) marries Elisabeth Röckel, a vocalist, in Vienna.
17 May 1813 An army led by Simón Bolívar departs La Grita heading west to reconquer Venezuela. This will become known as “La Campaña Admirable.”
20 May 1813 French troops attack a Russian-Prussian force near Bautzen, 50 km east of Dresden, and capture the town. Both sides lose about a quarter of their force killed or wounded.
21 May 1813 After two days of fighting at Bautzen, Russians and Prussians are forced to withdraw, but they do so in good order. The battle leaves 40,000 casualties.
22 May 1813 Wilhelm Richard Wagner is born in Leipzig, the ninth child of Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Wagner, a police actuary, and Johanna Rosine Pätz, daughter of a baker. It is possible that Wagner is the illegitimate child of Ludwig Geyer, who will become the boy’s stepfather upon the death of Carl Friedrich Wagner in November 1813.
At Bautzen, a cannonball narrowly misses Napoléon but kills General Kirgener and mortally wounds General Gérard-Christophe Duroc, the Emperor’s closest confidant. He will die tomorrow. Napoléon is so shaken that he calls off the pursuit of the Russians defeated yesterday.
British and Portuguese forces under Viscount Wellington begin their final offensive against the French.
L’italiana in Algeri, a dramma giocoso by Gioachino Rossini (21) to words of Anelli, is performed for the first time, in Teatro San Benedetto, Venice. The work is met with great enthusiasm.
23 May 1813 The rebel army under Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, Venezuela in triumph.
24 May 1813 The 13th Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. Voting for the House of Representatives took place between August 1812 and May 1813. In a house expanded after the 1810 census, the Federalists gained 32 seats while the Republicans gained seven. However, President Madison’s Republicans hold a 114-68 seat advantage. In the Senate their advantage is 28-8.
Le prince troubadour, ou Le grand trompeur de dames, an opéra comique by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul (49) to words of Duval, is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.
25 May 1813 American gunboats begin bombarding Ft. George (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario).
27 May 1813 United States land and naval forces combine to capture Queenstown Heights and Ft. George (Niagara-on-the-Lake), Upper Canada (Ontario), 15 km north of Niagara Falls, causing the British to abandon the Niagara frontier.
29 May 1813 France annexes Hamburg again.
News of the French victory at Bautzen reaches Vienna. Count von Metternich persuades Emperor Franz to move to the castle at Gitschin (Jicin) roughly halfway between Emperors Napoléon and Alyeksandr.
United States forces repel a British and colonial attack at Sackets Harbor on Lake Ontario near Watertown, New York.
The Brazen Bust, a melodrama with music by Henry R. Bishop (26) to words of Kemble, is performed for the first time, in Covent Garden, London.
31 May 1813 The expedition of Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson, and William Charles Wentworth reaches the summit of a high hill (Mount Blaxland), about 90 km northwest of Sydney, and can view the western plain.
1 June 1813 French troops occupy Breslau (Wroclaw) and Katzbach.
Austrian Emperor Franz and Count von Metternich, on their way from Vienna to Gitschin, run into the Russian Count Nesselrode looking for them. The Russians want Austria to commit to their cause. Franz tells him that he will side with Russia in the absence of a favorable peace agreement with Napoléon.
HMS Shannon captures USS Chesapeake about 30 km off Boston.
2 June 1813 Emperors Napoléon and Alyeksandr agree to a cease-fire.
4 June 1813 The opposing armies in Germany agree to an armistice at Pleiswitz which will be extended to 10 August.
5 June 1813 The Giaour: a Fragment of a Turkish Tale by George Gordon, Lord Byron, is published.
6 June 1813 British forces take Sackets Harbor, New York capturing 50 American soldiers and 400 Indians.
British forces attack an American force five times their size at Stoney Creek, Upper Canada (Ontario), inflict casualties and retreat. The US invasion force is required to withdraw.
14 June 1813 The first Treaty of Reichenbach is signed between Great Britain and Prussia. It calls for Britain to pay a substantial subsidy to maintain the Prussian army in return for the Principality of Hildesheim being ceded to Hanover.
The rebel army under Simón Bolívar reaches Trujillo, Venezuela.
15 June 1813 The second Treaty of Reichenbach is signed between Great Britain and Russia. Britain will pay a substantial subsidy to Russia to maintain its army in Europe and a fleet.
16 June 1813 A new royalist army sent to subdue the Texas insurgents is set upon and destroyed at Alazán Creek, south of San Antonio.
19 June 1813 Count von Metternich of Austria, Baron Karl Hardenberg and Wilhelm von Humboldt of Prussia and Count Nesselrode of Russia meet at Ratiborzitz, Bohemia and in a stormy meeting, work out what will be the third Treaty of Reichenbach, signed on 27 June.
21 June 1813 British forces under Viscount Wellington defeat a French force at Vitoria, 50 km southeast of Bilbao, forcing them to retreat in disarray over the Pyrenees. The battle will inspire Ludwig van Beethoven (42) to compose Wellington’s Victory.
24 June 1813 British forces and their Native American allies defeat United States forces at Beaver Dam, Upper Canada (Ontario).
26 June 1813 Austrian Count von Metternich meets with Emperor Napoléon for nine hours at the French headquarters near Dresden. He presents the four points of mediation: the dismantling of the Duchy of Warsaw, the enlargement of Prussia, the return of the Adriatic provinces to Austria and the renewed independence of Hamburg and Lübeck. Napoléon refuses and threatens war.
27 June 1813 The third Treaty of Reichenbach (Dzierżoniów, Poland) is signed by Austria, Prussia and Russia. Austria agrees to declare war on France by 20 July if Napoléon rejects an offer of mediation. This will later be extended to 10 August.
28 June 1813 King José I Napoléon (Joseph Bonaparte) of Spain, leaves Spanish soil for the last time.
29 June 1813 Allied forces close in around San Sebastián on the Bay of Biscay.
Le nouveau seigneur de village, an opéra comique by Adrien Boieldieu (37) to words of Creuzé de Lesser and Favières, is performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris.
30 June 1813 Emperor Napoléon at Dresden agrees to Count von Metternich’s conditions: accepting the armed mediation of Austria, a meeting of all belligerents at Prague with negotiations to last not past 10 August, suspension of all military activity until 10 August.
1 July 1813 The trade monopoly of the British East India Company is abolished.
2 July 1813 Harry-le-Roy, an heroic pastoral burletta with music by Henry R. Bishop (26) to words of Pocock after Dodsley, is performed for the first time, in Covent Garden, London.
10 July 1813 Unable to gain concessions on the status of Norway from Britain and Russia, King Frederik of Denmark renews his alliance with Napoléon.
11 July 1813 Antonio Cano Manuel y Ramírez de Arellano replaces Pedro Gómez-Labrador Avelo as First Secretary of State of the resistance government of Spain.
Joseph Bonaparte is removed as commander in chief of French armies in Spain.
13 July 1813 Johann Friedrich Peter dies in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania aged 67 years, one month and 24 days.
21 July 1813 An act to allow Unitarianism is granted Royal Assent.
25 July 1813 After a siege of almost a month, British troops attack the French defenders of San Sebastián but are thrown back.
27 July 1813 Whites attack Creek Indians at Burnt Corn Creek, Alabama (one km south of the Conecuh County Line), in the first fighting of the Creek War. The whites are repulsed but manage to outrun their pursuers.
28 July 1813 French troops attempting to advance towards Pamplona attack an allied (Great Britain-Portugal-Spain) army blocking its path. In bloody fighting, the French can make no headway.
30 July 1813 The same soldiers who defeated them two days ago attack the French at Sorauren, north of Pamplona, sending them reeling.
31 July 1813 The rebel army led by Simón Bolívar defeats royalists at the Taguanas Plain west of Caracas.
British and Indians attack Fort Stephenson (Menominee County, Michigan) but are repulsed.
1 August 1813 British troops attack Fort Stephenson (Fremont, Ohio) but are beaten off by the American defenders.
2 August 1813 The rebel army of Simón Bolívar enters Valencia, Venezuela in triumph.
6 August 1813 The rebel army led by Simón Bolívar enters Caracas. Widespread reprisals against royalists ensue.
7 August 1813 Simón Bolívar declares the Second Republic of Venezuela in Caracas.
10 August 1813 The Congress of Prague closes having found no basis for peace. Austria is now firmly in the allied camp.
12 August 1813 After secretly rearming, Austria declares war on France, joining the sixth coalition along with Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and the German principalities.
Carl Maria von Weber (26) begins rehearsals for the first production in Prague with his reconstituted company: Gaspare Spontini’s (38) Fernand Cortez. It is the first of 62 operas Weber will produce in Prague.
13 August 1813 Austrian rule is restored in Carinthia.
16 August 1813 Wilhelm Richard Wagner is christened in the Thomaskirche, Leipzig.
17 August 1813 A royalist force destroys Texas insurgents (mostly Americans and Indians) at Atascoso.
18 August 1813 The royalist army captures San Antonio as the rebel leaders flee to the United States, effectively ending the Texas insurgency.
20 August 1813 After a siege of several months, the royalist garrison of Acapulco surrenders to a rebel army.
23 August 1813 Troops of the anti-French alliance reach the outskirts of Dresden.
Prussian troops oust the French from Grössbeeren, just south of Berlin.
25 August 1813 A hurricane strikes Dominica and Martinique killing 3,000 people.
26 August 1813 Napoléon enters Dresden. With a 2-1 majority, the Austrian army attacks but the French successfully counterattack. The Allies make initial advances but the French eventually regain all lost territory.
French troops pursuing the Prussians over the River Katzbach are turned upon by their prey and are badly defeated.
27 August 1813 Napoléon, newly reinforced, takes the initiative at Dresden and the Allies are forced to withdraw towards Bohemia. The Dresden fighting causes 48,000 casualties.
29 August 1813 Allied troops turn on their pursuers at Priestena, Bohemia, 45 km south of Dresden, and beat off the French.
30 August 1813 Quite by accident, the Allies manage to surround the French at Kulm (Chlumec) and Priestena (Prestanov), about 80 km northwest of Prague, forcing the French commander and 13,000 troops to surrender.
Creek Indians overrun Fort Mims (Baldwin County, Alabama), 65 km north of Mobile. 50 of the 500 defenders escape.
31 August 1813 After a two-month siege, British and Portuguese forces assault and capture the city of San Sebastián, within 18 km of the French border. The victors run amok through the town, murdering, raping and looting, their officers powerless to stop them. The French defenders retreat to the fortress.
French troops attempting to force their way to San Sebastián are stopped by Spanish and British at the heights of San Marcial near Irun. The French retreat across the border into France.
3 September 1813 Because Russia supports Sweden’s claim to Norway, Denmark declares war on Russia.
5 September 1813 USS Enterprise captures HMS Boxer off the coast of Maine.
6 September 1813 Swedes and Prussians trap a French army near Dennewitz, 66 km southwest of Berlin, throwing them back with heavy losses. Total casualties number 17,000.
8 September 1813 The French defenders of the fortress of San Sebastián surrender to the British and Porturguese after holding out for a week.
9 September 1813 A treaty is signed at Töplitz bringing Austria in as an equal participant with Russia and Prussia against France. All sides pledge 60,000 troops.
Georg Friedrich Heinrich replaces Georg as Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont.
Carl Maria von Weber (26) conducts his first performance with the Estates Theatre in Prague with a performance of Spontini’s (38) Fernand Cortez.
10 September 1813 In the Battle of Lake Erie, an American fleet under Commodore Oliver Perry defeats a British naval force off Put-in-Bay, 23 km north of Sandusky, Ohio.
22 September 1813 Denmark declares war on Sweden over Norway.
24 September 1813 André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry dies in Montmorency, Seine-et-Oise, aged 72 years, seven months and 16 days.
25 September 1813 As Cossacks approach Kassel, King Jérôme Bonaparte of Westphalia leads a small contingent against them and manages to chase them away. But when reinforcements don’t appear, he flees.
29 September 1813 United States forces reoccupy Detroit.
30 September 1813 Abandoned by their King Jérôme Bonaparte, Westphalian troops surrender Kassel to invading Russians. The victors dissolve the Kingdom of Westphalia and remove the absent king from power. At the same time, Jérôme reaches the Rhine.
Republicans decisively defeat a royalist army at Bárbula, near Caracas.
1 October 1813 Royalists attack Belgrano’s Argentine army at Vilcapugio. The rebels almost achieve victory but the royalists are saved by newly arrived cavalry and the insurgents retreat.
3 October 1813 Prussian troops inflict heavy losses on the French at Wartenburg.
4 October 1813 Two works by Franz Schubert (16) are performed for the first time, at the Schubert home in Vienna for the name day of the composer’s father: Kantata zur Namensfeier des Vaters D.80 for male voices and guitar to words of the composer, and the String Quartet in D, D.74.
5 October 1813 Viscount Wellington resigns as commander in chief of the Spanish army.
In the Battle of the Thames, United States forces under General William Henry Harrison capture Ft. Malden, 38 km south of Detroit at the entrance to Lake Erie. Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, a British ally, is killed.
6 October 1813 The Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society is founded in Leeds.
7 October 1813 British, Portuguese and Spanish forces, led by Viscount Wellington, cross the Bidassoa into France.
8 October 1813 By the Treaty of Ried, Bavaria leaves the Confederation of the Rhine and joins the Allies against France.
10 October 1813 20:00 Giuseppe Fortunio Francesco Verdi is born at Le Roncale near Busseto, 30 km northwest of Parma, eldest of two children born to Carlo Verdi, a tavern owner and Luigia Uttini, daughter of tavern owners. Unknown to a world preoccupied with the fortunes of Napoléon Bonaparte, the two giants of the 19th century musical stage have been born within the space of five months.
Juan O’Donojú O’Ryan is named First Secretary of State (Prime Minister) of Spain.
12 October 1813 By the Treaty of Gulistan, Russia acquires northern Azerbaijan from Persia.
A setting of Psalm 23, Gott ist mein Hirt, for solo voices and chorus by Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (22) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
13 October 1813 The invention of the chronometer, an early metronome, by Johann Nepomuk Maelzel is announced in the Wiener Vaterländische Blätter. It also includes endorsements of the device by several composers, including Ludwig van Beethoven (42).
14 October 1813 Bavaria declares war on France.
Napoléon enters Leipzig at the head of 200,000 men.
The City of Caracas names Simón Bolívar as El Libertador.
US General William Henry Harrison signs an armistice with Pottawatomie, Wyandotte, Miami, and Chppewa at Detroit.
16 October 1813 Allied (Austria-Prussia-Russia) forces begin an attack on the French near Leipzig. Allied advances in the morning dissipate by noon, followed by a French counterattack which is checked in turn.
17 October 1813 In a lull at Leipzig, both sides are reinforced.
Fernando de Salerna replaces Juan O’Donojú O’Ryan as First Secretary of State of Spain.
18 October 1813 Allied forces make encircling advances at Leipzig but the French hold on to increasingly untenable positions. Two Saxon units defect to the Allies.
The principal shareholders of the Boston Manufacturing Company meet for the first time. They will soon begin the industrial revolution in the United States by building the first integrated factory, in Waltham, Massachusetts.
19 October 1813 The French begin a retreat from Leipzig through the city. A rear guard holds off the advancing Allies until a nervous corporal left in charge of destroying the causeway blows it up with French troops still on it. The rear guard is trapped in the city and all will eventually surrender. Total casualties in the Battle of the Nations reach 92,000, not to mention thousands of civilians in and around Leipzig. Among those killed in action is Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski. Württemberg and the rest of the Confederation of the Rhine now join the Allies against France. Saxony is occupied. Prussian troops occupy Frankfurt-am-Main. The French empire east of the Rhine is destroyed.
20 October 1813 King Friedrich August of Saxony is arrested in Leipzig by the allies. He will be transported to Berlin by the Prussians and interned at the castle of Friedrichsfelde.
Austrian Foreign Minister Count Klemens Lothar von Metternich is given the title of Prince by Emperor Franz.
21 October 1813 The Miller and his Men, a melodrama with music by Henry R. Bishop (26) to words of Pocock, is performed for the first time, in Covent Garden, London.
22 October 1813 The Meerfeld Endowment, by Imperial decree, is awarded to Franz Schubert (16).
24 October 1813 Incidental music for Das österreichische Feldlager, a play by Schmidt after Schiller, by Carl Maria von Weber (26), is performed for the first time, in Prague.
26 October 1813 Austrian forces defeat the French at Valsarno, thus returning Austrian arms to Italy.
British troops and their Native American allies defeat a United States force that outnumbers them 7-1 on the Chateauguay River, Quebec. The United States is forced to give up its invasion of Quebec.
28 October 1813 An allied administration takes over in Saxony and Stolberg-Wernigerode.
A Prussian administration takes over in Quedlinburg.
29 October 1813 An allied occupation administration takes over in Hannover and Hildesheim.
Nicolò Paganini (31) performs for the first time in Teatro alla Scala, Milan. He presents the first performance of his Le streghe, variations on a theme from Süssmayr’s Il noce di Benevento.
30 October 1813 An Austrian-Bavarian force places itself at Hanau, 17 km east of Frankfurt-am-Main, directly on the line of French retreat. The French inflict heavy losses on them.
An allied occupation administration takes over in Brunswick. The Kingdom of Westphalia is dissolved. Wilhelm I resumes his throne as Landgrave of Hesse.
31 October 1813 French troops occupy Hanau.
The French garrison at Pamplona surrenders to the British and Portuguese.
2 November 1813 The main French army reaches Frankfurt-am-Main and comparative safety.
King Friedrich I of Württemberg signs a treaty with Foreign Minister Metternich of Austria at Fulda in Hesse, in which Württemberg withdraws from the Confederation of the Rhine.
3 November 1813 United States troops attack Tallussahatchee, a Creek village (Etowah County, Alabama). 186 men are killed, 80 women and children are imprisoned. The village and crops are burned.
4 November 1813 Having abandoned Napoléon in Erfurt, King Joachim Murat reaches Naples.
British Foreign Minister Viscount Castlereagh writes directly to US President Madison offering peace talks. Madison will accept.
5 November 1813 By the Treaty of Gulestan signed today, Russia receives all Persian territory north of the Aras River. This includes Abkhazia, Dagestan, Baku and Georgia.
6 November 1813 Bremen is returned to the status of a free city.
The Duchy of Brunswick is restored. Duke Friedrich Wilhelm is returned to his throne.
The Electorate of Hannover is restored. Georg III, (King George III of England) is restored to the throne.
An allied occupation administration takes over in Frankfurt-am-Main.
8 November 1813 By the Frankfurt peace proposals, the Allies offer Napoléon borders on the Pyrenees and the Alps.
Austria takes control of Venetia.
Russian forces occupy East Frisia, Knyphausen and Jever.
9 November 1813 Emperor Napoléon reaches St. Cloud from the German front.
The allied administration in Osnabrück hands over power to an administration from Hannover.
Advance units of the Russian army cross the border into the Netherlands.
The Tennessee militia defeats Creek Indians at Talladega, Alabama. 300 people are killed.
10 November 1813 An allied administration takes over in Berg.
The Spanish Cortes affirms the rights of the nobility over their property, thus quashing any hope for land distribution.
Zur Namensfeier des Herrn Andreas Siller D.83 for solo voice, violin and harp by Franz Schubert (16) is performed for the first time, in the Vienna home of the dedicatee.
11 November 1813 The French garrison at Dresden surrenders to the Allies.
British and colonial troops defeat American forces at Chrysler’s Farm, near Montreal.
12 November 1813 Cossacks in the Russian Army capture Zwolle, Netherlands.
13 November 1813 An allied occupation administration takes over in Essen.
14 November 1813 Emperor Napoléon informs the French Senate that the Grand Empire no longer exists.
A royalist army under Viceroy Joaquín de la Pezuela y Sanchez virtually annihilates General Belgrano’s Argentine force at Ayohuma (Bolivia). Belgrano escapes but will be replaced as commander next January.
15 November 1813 Cossacks of the Russian army capture Groningen, Netherlands.
Dutch citizens rise against their French occupiers.
16 November 1813 British ships begin a blockade of Long Island Sound.
17 November 1813 The Dutch rebellion succeeds in expelling the French from their country.
18 November 1813 United States troops from Fort Strother raid a settlement of Hillabee Indians at Ten Islands on the Coosa River (Talladega County, Alabama). The soldiers are apparently unperturbed by the fact that the Hillabee are currently in peace negotiations with the United States. 60 people are killed, 250 captured.
19 November 1813 The allies agree on the military plan for the invasion of France.
British forces capture Fort Niagara, New York.
20 November 1813 Hugues Bernard Maret, duc de Bassano replaces Pierre Bruno, comte Daru as Secretary of State (chief minister) of France.
21 November 1813 A provisional government is established in the Netherlands to replace the French authority.
King Wilhelm I of Hesse is restored to his throne.
The French garrison of Stettin (Szczecin) surrenders to the allies.
23 November 1813 An epidemic of typhus in Leipzig, possibly caused by the dead and wounded from the Battle of Leipzig littering the streets of the city and suburbs (including the Gewandhaus), claims the life of the acting Police Commissioner, Carl Freidrich Wilhelm Wagner.
24 November 1813 The allied occupation administration in Bentheim is handed over to Hanover.
28 November 1813 French forces evacuate Utrecht.
Simon Mayr’s (50) melodramma tragico Medea in Corinto to words of Romani after Euripides, is performed for the first time, at Teatro San Carlo, Naples.
29 November 1813 French chemist Charles-Bernard Désormes and his son-in-law Nicolas Clément announce the discovery of Iodine to a meeting of the Imperial Institute. Iodine was actually discovered by accident by Bernard Courtois, a saltpeter manufacturer, in May of 1811. Because he had no money to further investigate what he produced, Courtois gave it to Désormes and Clément, as well as Louis-Joseph Gay-Lussac and André-Marie Ampère. Ampère sends it to Humphry Davy.
Whites and their Indian allies attack Autosee, a Creek settlement on the south bank of the Talapoosa River. 200 people are killed, 400 homes burned.
30 November 1813 Willem of Orange returns to the Netherlands after 18 years in exile.
Charles-Valentin Morhange is born in Paris, the second of six children born to Alkan Morhange, proprietor of a boarding school, and Julie Abraham. All of the children will become musicians under their father’s first name, Alkan.
1 December 1813 In the Declaration of Frankfurt, the Allies resolve to invade France.
The Duchy of Holstein-Oldenburg regains its independence. Part of northern Münster is attached to Oldenburg.
2 December 1813 Willem of Orange is installed as “sovereign prince” of the Netherlands.
The County of Hanau is attached to Hesse-Kassel.
3 December 1813 José Luyando replaces Fernando de Salerna as First Secretary of State of Spain
8 December 1813 A benefit for wounded Austrian and Bavarian soldiers at the University of Vienna features the first performance of two works by Ludwig van Beethoven (42): the Symphony no.7 and Wellington’s Victory. The works cause ecstatic applause and critical raves. The concert is so successful it will be repeated 12 December. Wellingtons’s Victory is directed by Beethoven with the assistance of Ignaz Moscheles, and Antonio Salieri (63). The violins include Louis Spohr (29), Ignaz Schuppanzigh, and Joseph Mayseder. Playing bass drum are Meyer Beer (Giacomo Meyerbeer) (22) and Johann Nepomuk Hummel (35). Besides the Beethoven works, the concerts also include two marches, one by Jan Ladislav Dussek (†0), one by Ignace Joseph Pleyel (56), performed by Mälzel’s Mechanical Trumpeter with orchestral accompaniment.
9 December 1813 A chorus for a production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet by Carl Maria von Weber (27), is performed for the first time, in Prague.
10 December 1813 British forces occupy Lucca.
French defenders of Bayonne attack south against the British and Portuguese approaching the city. Three battalions of Germans fighting with the French go over to the allies on orders of the Duke of Nassau.
Humphry Davy sends a paper to the Royal Society of London describing the new substance found by Bernard Courtois and naming it Iodine after the Greek word meaning violet colored.
11 December 1813 Soprano Caroline Brandt arrives in Prague. She is the first outside musician hired by Carl Maria von Weber (27) for his new company, and his future wife.
By the Treaty of Valençay, Napoléon reinstates Fernando VII to the Spanish throne.
12 December 1813 Great Britain claims the District of Columbia (British Columbia) against a similar United States claim.
After three days of fighting against the British and Portuguese, French forces retreat back into Bayonne.
13 December 1813 French troops attack out of Bayonne again but are routed by the allies.
15 December 1813 An offer arrives in Paris from Russia, Austria and Great Britain offering peace if Napoléon would retire behind the “natural frontiers” of France.
For England, Ho!, a melodramatic opera by Henry R. Bishop (27) and Welsh to words of Pocock, is performed for the first time, in Covent Garden, London.
17 December 1813 US President James Madison signs a new Embargo Act designed to halt exports, primarily with Canada. All US merchant ships and goods are forbidden from leaving port. Import of goods customarily produced in the British Empire (including rum) is banned. There is also a ban on most foreign ships in US ports.
18 December 1813 The new Teatro Re in Milan opens with a performance of Tancredi by Gioachino Rossini (21).
19 December 1813 British forces capture Fort Niagara on the US side of the Niagara River.
20 December 1813 Hannover annexes Bentheim, Osnabrück and Lüneburg.
21 December 1813 Austrian troops occupy Basel, thus violating Swiss neutrality.
22 December 1813 Austrians and Bavarians cross the Rhine and lay siege to Hunigen (Huninge).
24 December 1813 Royalists attack out of Valladolid, Mexico catching the surrounding insurgents by surprise. In extreme confusion, the rebels run away.
25 December 1813 Rev. Samuel Marsden gives the first Christian service in New Zealand, at the Bay of Islands. It is the first of seven evangelizing missions that Marsden and his fellows will make to New Zealand.
British and Indians attack Fort Niagara across the river during Christmas celebrations. 67 people are killed before the Americans surrender.
26 December 1813 A force of French, Germans, and Poles surrenders to the Allies at Torgau. Aureliano in Palmira, a dramma serio by Gioachino Rossini (21) to words of Romani after Sertor, is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Unfortunately, the effort meets with a cool reception.
British Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh departs London for the continent.
28 December 1813 The new Legislative Body of France demands an end to the arbitrary authority of the Emperor and the reinstitution of political freedoms.
29 December 1813 After a siege of over eleven months, the French and Germans in Danzig (Gdansk) surrender to Russians and Prussians.
Pressured by the presence of Austrian troops, the Swiss Diet revokes the 1802 Act of Mediation and restores the old constitution.
At the final vote of the General Committee of the Foundling Hospital to hire an organist, Samuel Wesley (47) finishes tied for third.
30 December 1813 Hannover annexes Hildesheim.
British and Indians defeat the defenders of Buffalo, New York. They then plunder the town and burn it to the ground.
31 December 1813 Prussians and Russians commanded by Field Marshal Blücher cross the Rhine near Mannheim.
In raids over the last week, Indians allied to the British have destroyed Buffalo and six other western New York towns.
©2004-2015 Paul Scharfenberger
7 June 2015
Last Updated (Sunday, 07 June 2015 04:25)