Battle of Montmirail

The Battle of Montmirail was a battle fought near Montmirail, France, during the Six Days Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. It was fought on 11 February 1814 and resulted in the victory of the French under Emperor Napoleon I over the Russians under General Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken and the Prussians under General Ludwig 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.

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 conscripts from the classes of 1814 and 1815, called up in anticipation the previous year), 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.



External reference

 * The Napoleonic Guide to the Battle of Montmirail


 * La bataille de Champaubert, Montmirail-Marchais et Vauchamps