Battle of Reims (1814)

• 1. Strategic Context And Prelude

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  On the 9th of March 1814, Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher defeated Emperor Napoleon's army at Laon. The French lost 4,000 killed and wounded plus 2,500 men captured. Allied forces admitted only 744 casualties while another source claimed they sustained 4,000 losses. Early on the second day after that battle, Blücher fell ill with an eye infection. He temporarily handed command to his chief of staff August Neidhardt von Gneisenau. Gneisenau cancelled orders for a new attack on the French. This decision allowed Napoleon to disengage his battered army and withdraw almost unmolested to Soissons. Without Blücher's guiding hand, Allied corps commanders began to clash with one another. Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg tried to resign his corps command but was persuaded to remain by Blücher. At dawn on the 11th of March, Napoleon's army began its retreat to Soissons where it formed for battle at 3:00 pm. Only 1,500 Russians mounted a pursuit and they were easily kept at bay by the French rearguard.

• 2. The Storming Of Reims

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  Three attacking columns assembled at Cormontreuil at 3:00 am on the 12th of March 1814. Emmanuel's column consisted of the Kiev Dragoons, Riazan Infantry Regiment and 33rd Jägers plus two Prussian battalions. Pillar's column included the rest of the Russian infantry and 50 horsemen. Jagow's column had six Prussian battalions, 150 cavalry and 10 artillery pieces. The attack was a complete surprise. Emmanuel slowly pushed a Young Guard cadre back to the Place des Arcades. Meanwhile, Pillar's troops forced their way into the city by the Châlons gate. They followed the edge of the city wall to get behind the French defenders. A body of defenders tried to get away north to Berry-au-Bac but they were intercepted by Russian cavalry. Over 200 survivors were captured. Altogether, 2,500 French infantry and 11 guns fell into Allied hands in the city. A second source stated that 100 men of the 1,356-man garrison were killed and most of the remainder captured.

• 3. Napoleons Counter Offensive

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  When Napoleon heard that Saint-Priest captured Reims he realized that he might score a cheap victory over the Allies. The emperor wrote, My intention being to attack Saint-Priest near Reims tomorrow, to defeat him and reoccupy the town. Napoleon ordered Marmont with the VI Corps and the I Cavalry Corps to march from Fismes toward Reims starting on the morning of the 13th of March. Friant began his march from Soissons at 2:00 am and arrived before Reims at 4:00 pm. Ney's infantry started from Soissons around 8:00 am and got to Reims before 4:00 pm. Napoleon set out from Soissons with the Guard cavalry service squadrons. Étienne Tardif de Pommeroux de Bordesoulle's I Cavalry Corps led Marmont's advance. After obtaining local guides, the column left the main road at Jonchery-sur-Vesle. They followed a route through Sapicourt to Rosnay. At Rosnay, they surprised several squadrons of Prussian cavalry which fled in a panic. One battalion of the 3rd Pommeranian Landwehr Regiment was at Rosny while a second battalion was at Muizon on the Vesle.

• 4. The Decisive Assault And Rout

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  In the early afternoon, Napoleon reached the battlefield. Since the infantry under Ney and Friant had not yet arrived, the French emperor instructed Bordesoulle and Defrance to withdraw a little. He ordered the cannons to cease fire. The lack of serious action satisfied Saint-Priest that he had nothing to worry about. By 4:00 pm Ney and Friant were on hand. With evening only two hours away, Napoleon ordered an immediate attack. Defrance's cavalry and Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard's infantry division led the assault. The Guard cavalry divisions advanced on Ricard's flanks. Farther south, Bordesoulle's divisions moved toward Bezannes with Christophe Antoine Merlin's division leading. Ricard's division crossed the La Muire ravine and forced its way onto the Sainte-Geneviève heights. This split the center of the Allied line and forced the Russians back toward Reims. The violence of the assault convinced Saint-Priest that he was facing Napoleon himself. He hastily ordered his second line to retreat through Reims in the direction of Laon. When Saint-Priest and his staff rode to a place between the Soissons road and Tinqueux village, they drew fire from the French artillery on the Croix-Saint-Pierre heights.

• 5. Casualty Disputes And Aftermath

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  Napoleon claimed in his battle report that the gunner who fatally wounded Saint-Priest was the same one who killed Jean Victor Marie Moreau at the Battle of Dresden. Historian Digby Smith wrote that French casualties in the recapture of Reims were about 900. The Russians lost 1,400 men and 12 guns while the Prussians suffered casualties of 1,300 men and 10 guns. George Nafziger stated that the French suffered 700, 800 casualties including a badly-wounded Ségur. Nafziger listed Allied losses as 700, 800 dead, 1,500, 1,600 wounded and 2,500, 3,500 captured. David G. Chandler asserted that the French inflicted 6,000 casualties on the Allies while sustaining losses of 700. Napoleon spent three days at Reims following his victory. With Blücher still recovering from sickness, Gneisenau did not trouble the French during that time. The French emperor sent Ney to seize Châlons-sur-Marne which was done without opposition.