Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube

Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube
Part of War of the Sixth Coalition
File:Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube map.jpg Map of the battle
Date 20–21 March 1814 Location Arcis-sur-Aube, France Result Tactical French victory; Successful French disengagement and retreat; Strategic Austrian victory
Belligerents
French Empire	Austria Russian Empire Kingdom of Bavaria Württemberg
Commanders and leaders
Napoleon I Michel Ney Nicolas Oudinot Horace Sébastiani	Karl Schwarzenberg Peter Wittgenstein Karl von Wrede Crownprince William
Strength
20,000 rising to 28,000	43,000 rising to 80,000
Casualties and losses
3,000 dead or wounded	4,000 dead or wounded

The Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube (20–21 March 1814) was Napoleon’s penultimate battle before his abdication and exile to Elba (the last was the Battle of Saint-Dizier). Encountering Field Marshal Schwarzenberg's larger Austrian force, Napoleon Bonaparte withdrew his French army after confused fighting.

Background

Faced with converging Allied Armies, Napoleon decided to attack Field Marshal Schwarzenberg's Austrian troops before attacking General Blücher’s lines of communications on the upper Marne.

Battle

Early on 20 March Napoleon set out for Arcis-sur-Aube (believed to be weakly held by the Austrians) in order to break out towards the Marne. By 11:00 a.m. on 20 March, Marshal Ney and General Sébastiani with 20,000 troops had forced Field Marshal Wrede’s 43,000 troops out of the Town of Arcis in bitter fighting. By 1:00 p.m. Napoleon arrived along the northern bank of the Aube River and crossed the bridge. A bitter cavalry action developed in the late afternoon and into the night. On one occasion the Emperor, protected only by a single company of the Polish 1st Light Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard barely avoided being taken prisoner. During the night Schwarzenberg brought up and deployed 80,000 troops to face the French. Napoleon received reinforcements during the night, including units of the Imperial Guard, two cavalry formations, and one division from VIIth Corps commanded by Marshal Oudinot, giving 28,000 total troops. Schwarzenberg, suspecting a trap and yet unaware of his numerical advantage, did not attack until 3:00 p.m. on 21 March, by which time Napoleon realized he was not facing a small Allied force, broke contact with the enemy and ordered most French troops to recross the Aube River. A French rear guard commanded by Marshal Oudinot, bitterly held off the Austrians until 6:00 p.m., before falling back in good order and blowing the bridge over the Aube River behind them. The Austrians made no effort to pursue the retreating French, overnight the French were able to link up near Ormes with other French forces.

Conclusion

The battle cost the French 3,000 casualties and the Austrians 4,000 casualties. On 25 March the Allies defeated Marshal Marmont and Marshal Mortier at the Battle of Fère-Champenoise, and three days later linked up with Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher at Meaux. The Allies ignored Napoleon’s attempts to attack their lines of communications, and marched on Paris, which the Allies occupied on 31 March.

References

• Chandler, David. Dictionary of the Napoleonic wars. Wordsworth editions, 1999.
• Chandler, David G. The Campaigns of Napoleon. Scribner, 1966.
• Taylor, Brian. The Empire of the French. Spellmount, 2006.