Battle of Montmirail

• 1. Introduction

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  The Battle of Montmirail, fought on the 11th of February 1814, was one of Napoleon's most daring gambles. With only 70,000 soldiers facing roughly 200,000 Allied troops pressing toward Paris, the French emperor chose not to defend but to attack. He found a seam in the enemy lines and drove straight through it. On one side stood Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken's Russian corps, on the other Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg's Prussians. The question was whether Napoleon could destroy each before the other could arrive to help. What unfolded near the small town of Montmirail, 51 kilometers east of Meaux, would be remembered as a masterpiece of the central position. The battle raises questions that carry weight far beyond a single winter's day: how does an army outnumbered nearly three to one find a path to victory, and when do boldness and timing combine to make the impossible merely improbable?

• 2. A Coalition Out of Step

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  On the 1st of February 1814, Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, commanding 80,000 Allied soldiers drawn from his own Army of Silesia and Austrian Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg's Army of Bohemia, defeated Napoleon at La Rothière. The victory was real, but it bred overconfidence. Schwarzenberg advanced toward Paris from Troyes while Blücher pushed on a more northerly axis from Châlons-sur-Marne toward Meaux. On the 5th of February, Schwarzenberg quietly shifted Alexander Nikitich Seslavin's scouting force from the right flank to the extreme left flank without telling Blücher. Because Blücher lacked a liaison officer with Seslavin, a dangerous gap opened on his left flank and he had no idea. Blücher's 57,000 soldiers were now spread across a front of 44 miles: 18,000 under Yorck at Château-Thierry, 20,000 under Sacken near La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, and 19,000 under Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev and his colleagues at Champaubert and nearby villages. Peter Wittgenstein's corps, which was meant to link the two Allied armies, had already been pulled south by the cautious Schwarzenberg. That separation would cost the Allies dearly in the days that followed.

• 3. Champaubert Sets the Stage

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  Napoleon's plan snapped into focus on the 6th of February, when he learned that Blücher's army was moving on Paris via Meaux. Marshal Jacques MacDonald was too weak to stop the Army of Silesia alone, so Napoleon sent Marshal Auguste de Marmont with 8,000 troops to Sézanne. By the 8th of February those troops were reinforced by part of the Imperial Guard and a large cavalry force. That same day, MacDonald's patrols reported that Yorck was near Épernay with 18,000 men, and on the morning of the 9th, Marmont relayed word that Sacken was near Montmirail with roughly 15,000 troops. Napoleon's striking force of 30,000 men and 120 guns began to move. The guns consisted of Marshal Michel Ney's two Young Guard divisions, Marshal Édouard Mortier's two Old Guard divisions, the I Cavalry Corps, the Guard Cavalry, and Jean-Marie Defrance's independent cavalry division. Mortier was ordered to bring up the rear, a detail that would determine when and where his veterans reached the field. The first blow fell on Olsufiev. With only 5,000 men and 24 guns, the Russian general held his ground and ended the day of the 10th of February as a French prisoner. His corps was nearly destroyed, and the 1,500 survivors were reorganized into three or four improvised battalions. Blücher, near Fère-Champenoise when he heard the news, immediately ordered Yorck to march to Montmirail.

• 4. Sacken's Fateful Choice

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  Sacken's situation on the morning of the 11th of February was precarious before a shot was fired. He had destroyed the bridge at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre to the west, cutting off his own line of retreat in that direction. By 9:00 am his leading elements were clashing with French patrols east of Viels-Maisons, and French forces had already driven his Cossacks under Akim Akimovich Karpov out of Montmirail. Yorck sent a staff officer to warn Sacken that the Prussians would arrive late. That messenger recommended that Sacken retreat north to Château-Thierry. Sacken refused. Against the advice of his own staff, who urged him to move closer to Yorck, the Russian commander deployed his army with its main weight to the south and determined to smash his way east through Montmirail. He was following his orders strictly, but those orders had been written before Napoleon inserted himself between the two Allied corps. At the battle's start, Napoleon could deploy only 5,000 Old Guard infantry, 4,500 cavalry, Ricard's division, and 36 guns. Sacken's own strength was disputed by historians after the battle: David G. Chandler placed it at 18,000 men and 90 guns, George Nafziger at 14,000 soldiers and 80 guns, and Francis Loraine Petre also at 18,000 soldiers. Karl Freiherr von Müffling, a Prussian staff officer present, credited the Russians with 20,000 troops. Whatever the precise number, Sacken held a numerical advantage at the outset. Napoleon was taking a calculated risk that his reinforcements would arrive before Yorck did.

• 5. The Fight for Marchais

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  Sacken organized a task force of 2,360 men under General-major Heidenreich, built around the Pskov, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Tambov Infantry Regiments, two companies of the 11th Jägers, the Lukovkin Cossack Regiment, and six guns. At about 11:00 am, Heidenreich's troops seized the village of Marchais, though the guns could not cross the stream to join them. Napoleon ordered Ricard to attack Marchais at noon. A bitter two-hour struggle followed, and the Russians held on. Napoleon called up an artillery bombardment while he waited for Claude-Étienne Michel's Old Guard division to arrive from Montmirail. At 2:00 pm he ordered a flanking attack. Four of Louis Friant's Old Guard battalions marched west along the highway toward Haute-Épine dairy farm, supported by seven squadrons of Gardes d'Honneur. At the same time, Claude-Étienne Guyot led four Guard cavalry squadrons around the Russian left flank. These combined strikes broke Sacken's first line and forced him to commit his second line and shift his cavalry left to maintain contact with the Prussians. Napoleon then ordered Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty to charge straight down the highway with all three of his cavalry divisions. The charge scattered some Russian formations into the Viels-Maisons woods. Ilarion Vasilievich Vasilshikov's cavalry counterattacked and restored the link with the Prussians. Marchais changed hands repeatedly through the afternoon. Meunier's Young Guard division joined Ricard's men in the fighting, and the French captured the village twice before being driven out again when Sacken's 18th Division retook it. It was not until 5:00 pm that the Russians were finally forced to abandon Marchais for good.

• 6. Yorck Arrives Too Late

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  At either 3:00 pm or 3:30 pm, Otto Karl Lorenz von Pirch's 1st Infantry Brigade and Heinrich Wilhelm von Horn's 7th Infantry Brigade reached Fontenelle-en-Brie on the Château-Thierry highway. The muddy roads had stripped the Prussians of their heavy artillery; only brigade Batteries Nrs. 2 and 3, armed with 6-pounders, made it through. Yorck sent his remaining infantry brigade back to hold Château-Thierry, fearing the appearance of MacDonald's forces in his rear. Pirch deployed in two lines between Fontenelle and the hamlet of Tourneux and began pushing toward the Bailly and Plenois woods. Sacken ordered his reserve heavy batteries to support the Prussian advance, and Michel's Old Guard division was thrown into the fight against Yorck at the same moment. Pirch's first line included the 1st East Prussian and West Prussian Grenadier Battalions and the 5th Silesian Landwehr Regiment. When French skirmishers threatened to envelop one flank, the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Silesian Landwehr charged with the bayonet to cut its way clear. Yorck himself went up to the skirmish line and reportedly told his men, "I want to die if you cannot stop the enemy." After Michel counterattacked with ten battalions, Pirch led a bayonet charge that briefly halted the French, but he was badly wounded and replaced by Colonel Losthin. The Prussians ended the day between Fontenelle and Viffort, having bought time for Sacken's Russians but unable to change the outcome.

• 7. Retreat Through Fire and Rain

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  When Defrance's cavalry charged into the Russian brigades of Dietrich and Blagovenzenko as they pulled back across the ravine west of Marchais, the losses were heavy. Several hundred Russian skirmishers near Marchais were cut down or captured. The Sophia Regiment was completely engulfed by French cavalry but fought its way clear. By evening the Polish Lancers of the Guard had pushed as far west as Viels-Maisons. Sacken was almost trapped. The Russian retreat through marshes and woods was guided by a line of bonfires lit in the darkness. To save the artillery, 50 cavalrymen were detailed to help pull each gun through the mud using ropes; even so, eight disabled pieces were abandoned. After an all-night march, Sacken's troops reached Viffort on the main road and continued north toward Château-Thierry. The cost was significant. Francis Loraine Petre estimated the French sustained 2,000 casualties while inflicting 2,000 killed and wounded on the Russians and capturing 800 soldiers, six colors, and 13 guns. The Prussians suffered an additional 900 casualties. David G. Chandler's figures were similar on the French side, placing Allied losses at 4,000 in total. George Nafziger noted that the 1st Prussian Brigade alone lost 877 officers and men, while the 7th Brigade's losses remained unrecorded. Among the French wounded were Generals Nansouty, Michel, and Boudin de Roville. The Battle of Château-Thierry, fought the following day on the 12th of February, would be the next act in Napoleon's relentless pursuit.