Battle of Saint-Dizier
The Battle of Saint-Dizier, fought on the 26th of March 1814, holds a peculiar place in military history: it was a French victory that helped lose a war. Napoleon Bonaparte won the field that morning, but the three days it cost him sealed the fate of Paris and of his empire. How does a general win a battle and lose a capital in the same week? The answer lies in a masterful deception, a hesitating Allied commander, and one ferocious charge by a thousand horsemen against tens of thousands of French troops.
Field marshals Blucher and Schwarzenberg made a decision in late March 1814 that their own commanders might have called reckless. Rather than retreat before Napoleon and keep their separate armies out of his reach, they agreed to unite behind him and drive straight for Paris. On the 24th of March, Schwarzenberg reached Vitry, where he met King Frederick William III of Prussia and Tsar Alexander I of Russia in person. The three men decided together to leave only General Ferdinand Wintzingerode's cavalry and horse artillery behind to shadow Napoleon, while the main Allied armies turned west toward the French capital.
The risk was real. The Allied armies were marching deeper into France, further from their supply lines, through what the source describes as a desolate country offering no fallback point. Behind them, the whole country was in a state of insurrection. Marshal Augereau commanded large forces at Lyon. Maison, in the Netherlands, had already joined with Carnot, who was threatening Brussels. Napoleon, for his part, had access to numerous garrisons in his fortified towns and could potentially concentrate a formidable force against an overextended enemy.
Yet the Allies pressed on. On the 25th of March, near Fere-Champenoise, their forces ran into the combined troops of Marshals Marmont and Mortier, who had been marching from Soissons to link up with Napoleon. After a short but bloody engagement, both French marshals were beaten and their troops, in the source's words, utterly destroyed. The road to Paris lay open.
While the main Allied armies wheeled toward Paris, Wintzingerode's force moved out from Vitry on the evening of the 24th of March, riding toward Saint-Dizier. The advance guard was placed under Tettenborn, who had five regiments of Cossacks, one regiment of Hussars, and eight pieces of horse artillery at his disposal. His orders were to harass Napoleon's troops, not to fight a pitched battle.
The French had withdrawn from near Vitry that afternoon. The Allies only caught up with them at nightfall, in the village of Thieblemont, where a sharp skirmish broke out with French infantry. Pursuit resumed the following day with increased vigor. At Saint-Dizier, the Allies found a larger French division holding the town with infantry, covering the crossing of other French troops back over the Marne.
Tettenborn brought his guns close to the riverbank and opened a murderous fire of cannonballs and grenades on the nearest French troops. A regiment of Cossacks crossed the Marne and threatened to cut off the Saint-Dizier garrison, which fled to the woods. But French artillery positioned on the heights of Valcourt, commanding a narrow gorge in the road, silenced the Allied guns before long. The French held those heights until evening, then pulled back toward Wassy. Tettenborn followed and drove them out of Humbecourt, but the adjoining villages were packed with infantry offering obstinate resistance. Through the night, the Allies could see watch-fires stretching across the landscape between them and Wassy, reaching far to their right along the woods almost to their own headquarters. Tettenborn spent the night at Eclaron; Wintzingerode fixed his headquarters in Saint-Dizier itself.
Early on the morning of the 26th of March, roughly 30,000 French troops advanced against the Allied force from all sides. Considerable bodies of cavalry appeared on both flanks. Tettenborn immediately told Wintzingerode that the entire French army had turned and was bearing down on them. Wintzingerode hesitated; he was not yet certain Napoleon was approaching with his whole force.
The terrain worked against the Allies. The ground was flat but cut up with vineyards and hedges, hemmed in by woods and low-lying areas that made their large cavalry arm nearly useless. A rapid retreat was still possible, and Tettenborn urged it. But Wintzingerode delayed. He had only 700 Russian chasseurs as infantry, and he could not bring himself to abandon them inside Saint-Dizier. He ordered Tettenborn to defend the road to Vitry while he held the town, with Bar-le-Duc as a fallback.
The French crossed the Marne in force between Valcourt and Saint-Dizier, with cavalry, infantry, and artillery, moving unimpeded toward the Vitry road. A body of at least 10,000 French cavalry crossed over and drove between Tettenborn's position and Wintzingerode's. Tettenborn, standing his ground with about 1,000 horsemen, including four squadrons of hussars and the rest Cossacks, could see the massive French formations about to deploy and break his command apart.
With no room left to retreat and French cavalry massing on both flanks, Tettenborn made a choice that should not have worked. He formed his 1,000 horsemen into a compact body and charged directly into the French masses just as they were preparing to deploy. The hussars and Cossacks broke the first French line, then the second. The contest, in the source's words, was most bloody.
Fresh French cavalry deployed on both sides of Tettenborn's force, and more troops continued to pour across the river from behind. Tettenborn eventually withdrew after French reinforcements arrived in overwhelming numbers. The Allied troops came within range of the French guns, broke, and were routed along the Vitry road. Baggage and loose horses flying in all directions caused what the source calls indescribable confusion.
Tettenborn, who had been in great personal danger alongside his officers, managed to rally his men at the village of Perthe. He skirmished again with the French that evening and retreated overnight through Marolles to Vitry. His total loss was only forty men. The rest of Wintzingerode's cavalry, which had waited passively on the plains outside Saint-Dizier rather than taking the initiative, suffered far heavier casualties and lost several artillery pieces. Wintzingerode himself evacuated Saint-Dizier that evening and fell back to Bar-le-Duc, beating off French pursuers who pressed him too closely.
From the Allied perspective, a tactical defeat at Saint-Dizier turned into a strategic triumph. Wintzingerode had made certain Napoleon would draw exactly the wrong conclusion. He hired rooms at Saint-Dizier for the Tsar of Russia and the King of Prussia, and spread word that his cavalry force was merely the advance guard of the main Allied army. Napoleon, learning this from loyal informants in the town, believed Schwarzenberg's whole army was on his heels.
Napoleon halted at Vassy. He recalled troops who had already moved forward and prepared to fight a battle on ground of his choosing. Even the day after the action, he could not be convinced he was chasing a shadow. He continued advancing on Vitry, where the small garrison braced to receive him. Only then did word reach him of Marmont's and Mortier's destruction at Fere-Champenoise and of the Allied advance on Paris itself.
Napoleon had wasted three days. He gathered his exhausted, half-starved troops and force-marched through Troyes, Sens, and Fontainebleau in a desperate bid to save his capital. He arrived too late. The surrender of Paris followed, and with it came Napoleon's abdication. Saint-Dizier, a French battlefield victory, had become the last one he would ever win, and the deception staged in its aftermath by Wintzingerode made it more damaging to France than any outright defeat.
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Common questions
When was the Battle of Saint-Dizier fought?
The Battle of Saint-Dizier was fought on the 26th of March 1814. It took place during Napoleon's Campaign of France, which was part of the War of the Sixth Coalition.
Who commanded the forces at the Battle of Saint-Dizier?
Napoleon Bonaparte commanded the French forces, numbering roughly 30,000 men. The Allied force was under General Ferdinand Wintzingerode, with the advance guard led by Tettenborn, who had five regiments of Cossacks, one regiment of Hussars, and eight pieces of horse artillery.
Why was the Battle of Saint-Dizier significant for Napoleon?
The Battle of Saint-Dizier was Napoleon's last military victory before the surrender of Paris and his subsequent abdication. Despite winning the battle, Napoleon was deceived into believing the main Allied army was behind him, which delayed him three days and allowed the Allies to capture Paris.
How did Wintzingerode deceive Napoleon after the Battle of Saint-Dizier?
Wintzingerode hired rooms at Saint-Dizier for the Tsar of Russia and the King of Prussia and spread word that his cavalry was merely the advance guard of the main Allied army. Napoleon believed Schwarzenberg's whole force was pursuing him and halted at Vassy, wasting three critical days while Paris fell.
What happened to the Allied cavalry at the Battle of Saint-Dizier?
Tettenborn led about 1,000 horsemen, including four squadrons of hussars and Cossacks, in a charge against the French and broke two French lines before being forced to withdraw. His total losses were only forty men. The rest of Wintzingerode's cavalry, which waited passively, suffered far heavier casualties and lost several artillery pieces.
What was the outcome of the Battle of Fere-Champenoise near the same time as Saint-Dizier?
On the 25th of March 1814, Allied forces met the combined troops of Marshals Marmont and Mortier near Fere-Champenoise. After a short but bloody engagement, both marshals were beaten and their troops were, in the contemporary account, utterly destroyed, leaving the road to Paris open to the Allies.