Battle of Montmirail

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Montmirail


caption=Battle of Montmirail
partof=the War of the Sixth Coalition
date=February 11 1814
place= Montmirail, France
result=French victory
combatant1=flagicon|France French Empire
combatant2=flagicon|Prussia|1803 Kingdom of Prussia,
flagicon|Russia Russian Empire
commander1=Napoleon Bonaparte
commander2=flagicon|Prussia|1803 Hans David Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg
flagicon|Russia Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken
strength1=20,000
36 guns
strength2=36,000
casualties1=2,000
casualties2=4,000The Battle of Montmirail was a battle fought near Montmirail, France, during the Six Days Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. It was fought on February 11 1814, and resulted in the victory of the French under Napoleon Bonaparte over the Russians under General Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken and the Prussians under General Johann Yorck von Wartenburg.

Osten-Sacken's and Yorck's corps each numbered about 18,000, while Napoleon’s had 10,500 (later brought up to 20,000 by arrival of reinforcements) and 36 cannons.Chandler, David. Dictionary of the Napoleonic wars. Wordsworth editions, 1999. pgs.286-287.]

Striking rapidly from the south at Champaubert, Napoleon tore into the center of Blücher’s strung out column as it was pushing west to Paris in pursuit of French Marshal MacDonald. From the central position, the French then drove west with the only available troops, the Old Guard and a division of the "Marie Louise" (Young Guard), in hopes of smashing Blucher’s leading elements (Sacken and Yorck) in isolation and with their backs to the French held bridges over the Marne. Sacken turned in response to the French maneuver, seeing so few French behind him, and sought to cut his way back to Blücher through Montmirail while Yorck advocated fleeing north through Chateau Thierry. Seeing that he could not dissuade the Russian from his aggression, Yorck marched to his aid. The Allies suffered 4,000 casualties, while the French suffered 2,000 casualties.

Eduard Vogel von Falckenstein participated in the battle as a volunteer Jäger.

Footnotes

External reference

* [http://www.napoleonguide.com/battle_montmirail.htm The Napoleonic Guide to the Battle of Montmirail]

* [http://homepage.mac.com/mmmayou/autourdemontmirail/index.html La bataille de Champaubert, Montmirail-Marchais et Vauchamps]