The period of the Napoleonic Wars affected Bolesławiec in a particularly severe way. As early as the war between France and Prussia in 1806–1807, the city was burdened with war costs, while the damage amounted to more than 5,000 thalers.
A contingent of Württembergers and a Saxon regiment were quartered in Bolesławiec. In December 1807, a Polish cavalry unit was quartered in the city for several days.
Between 1808 and 1812, Prussia carried out a series of reforms in Silesia, including reforms that affected Bolesławiec.
In 1809, local government elections were held in accordance with the royal regulation of 1808—the city was divided into six districts (constituencies), which had positive consequences for the development of crafts in Bolesławiec after the wars. The royal edict of 1810 ordered the secularization of all monasteries in Prussia, resulting in the conversion of the Dominican monastery buildings into a Protestant school.
The renewed war of 1812–1813 brought greater destruction to the city. French troops destroyed parts of the defensive walls, as well as the library and printing house. Prussian, French and Russian troops swept through the city in waves, and on 13 December 1812 Napoleon Bonaparte himself stayed in Bolesławiec.
After the defeat of the French troops, their units again returned through the city in the spring of 1813, followed later by Russian troops. A unit of Cossacks and dragoons was stationed in Bolesławiec for some time, and the city had to provide grain, hay, bread and beer. A military field hospital was located in the former monastery building. At the beginning of April 1813, the headquarters of the Russian army arrived in the city with its commander-in-chief, Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, who died of pneumonia in April 1813.
In the summer of 1813, Prussian troops were again stationed in the city, followed in December by Russian troops under the command of General Count Tolstoy. Once again, the city had to provide meat, flour, vodka, oats and cloth.
In January 1814, groups of French prisoners passed through Bolesławiec, followed once again by Russian troops heading east. The movement of these troops continued until the autumn of 1815, and its consequences were extremely burdensome.
(based on the study by J. Kawalec, “Bolesławiec in Prussian Times”)