Battle of Craonne

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Craonne


caption=War memorial "des Marie-Louise et des Bleuets de 1914"
partof=the War of the Sixth Coalition
date=March 7, 1814
place= Craonne, France
result=French victory
combatant1=flagicon|France French Empire
combatant2=flagicon|Prussia|1803 Prussia
commander1=Napoleon I,
Michel Ney
commander2=Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
strength1=37,000
strength2=85,000
casualties1=5,400
casualties2=5,000

The Battle of Craonne was fought on March 7, 1814, and resulted in a French victory under Napoleon I against Russians and Prussians under General Blücher. [citebook|title=The Napoleonic Wars: The Fall of the French Empire 1813-1815|author=Gregory Fremont-Barnes|year=2002|publisher=Osprey Publishing|id=ISBN 1841764310]

Craonne is a village on the Chemin des Dames, in the "département" of Aisne.

Marshal Blucher had recovered from his earlier setbacks more quickly than Napoleon Bonaparte had hoped and so the French Emperor was forced to switch his attacks from Field Marshal Schwarzenberg back to the Prussian commander.

Moving with speed and aggression, the French pushed the Allies over the Aisne river and while Blucher planned his counter with some 85,000 men, Napoleon's 37,000 troops struck.

Napoleon's aim was to pin the Allies and then launch Marshal Ney, leading a mixed force heavily weighted towards cavalry, in a flanking move.

Unfortunately, for the French, the coordination was poorly timed and Ney not only suffered heavy casualties but the Allies managed to extricate themselves from a sticky situation.

Craonne cost Blucher 5,000 casualties, while Napoleon lost some 5,400.

The young French conscripted soldiers were called "Marie-Louise" (Napoleon's second wife name) because many were too young to have a beard.

References

External links

* [http://battlefieldseurope.co.uk/craonne.aspx Illustrated article on the Battle of Craonne at 'Battlefields Europe']