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Battle of Champaubert
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Battle of Champaubert
The Battle of Champaubert (10 February 1814) was the opening engagement of the Six Days' Campaign. It was fought between a French army led by Emperor Napoleon and a small Russian corps commanded by Lieutenant General Count Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev. After putting up a good fight, the Russian formation was destroyed; the survivors escaped into the woods while Olsufiev became a French prisoner.
After defeating Napoleon at the Battle of La Rothière nine days earlier, the two main Allied armies under Austrian Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg and Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher separated. Schwarzenberg's southern advance was slow while the Prussian field marshal's march represented a more serious threat to Paris. Leaving part of his forces to hold off Schwarzenberg, Napoleon massed 30,000 troops to deal with Blücher, who allowed his 57,000-man army to become badly spread out. Allied lapses in communication and Blücher's overconfidence left Olsufiev's corps isolated near Champaubert when Napoleon's army lunged from the south to deal it a crushing blow.
Champaubert is located in France, 22 kilometres (14 mi) southwest of Épernay and 85 kilometres (53 mi) east of Paris.
On 1 February 1814, Prussian field marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher with 80,000 Allied troops from his own Army of Silesia and Austrian field marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg's Army of Bohemia defeated Napoleon and 45,000 French soldiers in the Battle of La Rothière. This setback seriously shook the French army's morale. Each side suffered about 6,000 casualties but the Allies captured 50–60 artillery pieces. The Allies were delighted by their victory, though it might have been more complete if all their reserves had been committed to the battle. At this time, the Allied generals made the questionable decision to separate their armies. Blücher's army would advance from Châlons-sur-Marne toward Meaux while Schwarzenberg's army operated on a more southerly route from Troyes toward Paris.
On 3 February, Napoleon's army reached Troyes after completely breaking contact with the Allies the previous day. On 4 February, Schwarzenberg wrote his colleague Blücher that he was moving farther south in order to turn Napoleon's right flank. The next day, Russian General Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly ordered Alexander Nikitich Seslavin's scouting force from Schwarzenberg's right flank to the left flank without notifying Blücher. Since the Prussian field marshal did not have a liaison officer with Seslavin's force he did not realize that no one was watching for French forces in the space on his left flank. Also on 5 February, Napoleon decided to abandon Troyes and fall back to Nogent-sur-Seine. He planned to contain Schwarzenberg with part of his army while attacking Blücher.
Having prepared for a grand assault on Troyes, Schwarzenberg found the place empty of French troops on 7 February. He decided to let his troops rest for the next two days. Meanwhile, Napoleon reorganized his cavalry into the I Cavalry Corps under Étienne Tardif de Pommeroux de Bordesoulle, II Cavalry Corps led by Antoine-Louis Decrest de Saint-Germain, V Cavalry Corps commanded by Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud, VI Cavalry Corps directed by François Etienne de Kellermann and an independent division under Jean-Marie Defrance. The French emperor created a new VII Corps from two divisions transferred from the Spanish front and put Marshal Nicolas Oudinot in charge.
At the end of January a 10,000–11,000-man French corps under Marshal Jacques MacDonald approached from the north. Supposing that Schwarzenberg's maneuvers would draw Napoleon away from his Army of Silesia, Blücher focused on destroying MacDonald's corps. During the first week of February, the Prussian field marshal ordered Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg's corps to pursue MacDonald along the main highway in the Marne River valley. Hoping to trap the French corps, Blücher sent Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken's corps along the more direct road through Montmirail and La Ferté-sous-Jouarre. Trying to accomplish two strategic goals at once, the Prussian army commander hung back to allow the newly arrived corps of Peter Mikhailovich Kaptzevich and Friedrich von Kleist to catch up with him. Blücher utilized Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev's small corps to link the two parts of his army.
On 8 February, Sacken's cavalry reached Viels-Maisons while his infantry was to the east at Montmirail. Olsufiev's corps was 12 miles (19 km) farther east at Étoges while Blücher established his headquarters another 9 miles (14 km) east at Vertus. Kaptzevich and Kleist were 16 miles (26 km) east of their army commander in Châlons-sur-Marne. Yorck's corps was in the Marne valley at least 12 miles (19 km) to the north, separated by bad roads. The Army of Silesia was now spread across a front of 44 miles (71 km). Blucher assumed that Seslavin would report any danger coming from the south. That night, when his Cossacks were driven out of Sézanne, Sacken did not bother to report the incident to Blücher. In fact, it was Napoleon's leading corps under Marshal Auguste de Marmont.
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Battle of Champaubert
The Battle of Champaubert (10 February 1814) was the opening engagement of the Six Days' Campaign. It was fought between a French army led by Emperor Napoleon and a small Russian corps commanded by Lieutenant General Count Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev. After putting up a good fight, the Russian formation was destroyed; the survivors escaped into the woods while Olsufiev became a French prisoner.
After defeating Napoleon at the Battle of La Rothière nine days earlier, the two main Allied armies under Austrian Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg and Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher separated. Schwarzenberg's southern advance was slow while the Prussian field marshal's march represented a more serious threat to Paris. Leaving part of his forces to hold off Schwarzenberg, Napoleon massed 30,000 troops to deal with Blücher, who allowed his 57,000-man army to become badly spread out. Allied lapses in communication and Blücher's overconfidence left Olsufiev's corps isolated near Champaubert when Napoleon's army lunged from the south to deal it a crushing blow.
Champaubert is located in France, 22 kilometres (14 mi) southwest of Épernay and 85 kilometres (53 mi) east of Paris.
On 1 February 1814, Prussian field marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher with 80,000 Allied troops from his own Army of Silesia and Austrian field marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg's Army of Bohemia defeated Napoleon and 45,000 French soldiers in the Battle of La Rothière. This setback seriously shook the French army's morale. Each side suffered about 6,000 casualties but the Allies captured 50–60 artillery pieces. The Allies were delighted by their victory, though it might have been more complete if all their reserves had been committed to the battle. At this time, the Allied generals made the questionable decision to separate their armies. Blücher's army would advance from Châlons-sur-Marne toward Meaux while Schwarzenberg's army operated on a more southerly route from Troyes toward Paris.
On 3 February, Napoleon's army reached Troyes after completely breaking contact with the Allies the previous day. On 4 February, Schwarzenberg wrote his colleague Blücher that he was moving farther south in order to turn Napoleon's right flank. The next day, Russian General Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly ordered Alexander Nikitich Seslavin's scouting force from Schwarzenberg's right flank to the left flank without notifying Blücher. Since the Prussian field marshal did not have a liaison officer with Seslavin's force he did not realize that no one was watching for French forces in the space on his left flank. Also on 5 February, Napoleon decided to abandon Troyes and fall back to Nogent-sur-Seine. He planned to contain Schwarzenberg with part of his army while attacking Blücher.
Having prepared for a grand assault on Troyes, Schwarzenberg found the place empty of French troops on 7 February. He decided to let his troops rest for the next two days. Meanwhile, Napoleon reorganized his cavalry into the I Cavalry Corps under Étienne Tardif de Pommeroux de Bordesoulle, II Cavalry Corps led by Antoine-Louis Decrest de Saint-Germain, V Cavalry Corps commanded by Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud, VI Cavalry Corps directed by François Etienne de Kellermann and an independent division under Jean-Marie Defrance. The French emperor created a new VII Corps from two divisions transferred from the Spanish front and put Marshal Nicolas Oudinot in charge.
At the end of January a 10,000–11,000-man French corps under Marshal Jacques MacDonald approached from the north. Supposing that Schwarzenberg's maneuvers would draw Napoleon away from his Army of Silesia, Blücher focused on destroying MacDonald's corps. During the first week of February, the Prussian field marshal ordered Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg's corps to pursue MacDonald along the main highway in the Marne River valley. Hoping to trap the French corps, Blücher sent Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken's corps along the more direct road through Montmirail and La Ferté-sous-Jouarre. Trying to accomplish two strategic goals at once, the Prussian army commander hung back to allow the newly arrived corps of Peter Mikhailovich Kaptzevich and Friedrich von Kleist to catch up with him. Blücher utilized Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev's small corps to link the two parts of his army.
On 8 February, Sacken's cavalry reached Viels-Maisons while his infantry was to the east at Montmirail. Olsufiev's corps was 12 miles (19 km) farther east at Étoges while Blücher established his headquarters another 9 miles (14 km) east at Vertus. Kaptzevich and Kleist were 16 miles (26 km) east of their army commander in Châlons-sur-Marne. Yorck's corps was in the Marne valley at least 12 miles (19 km) to the north, separated by bad roads. The Army of Silesia was now spread across a front of 44 miles (71 km). Blucher assumed that Seslavin would report any danger coming from the south. That night, when his Cossacks were driven out of Sézanne, Sacken did not bother to report the incident to Blücher. In fact, it was Napoleon's leading corps under Marshal Auguste de Marmont.
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