Battle with Mormant

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Battle of Mortmant

Part of: Wars of Liberation

Position of the troops on the evening before the battle in Petre

date	February 17 , 1814
place	Mormant , Seine-et-Marne department in France
output	French victory

Parties to the conflict
France	Russia Bavaria
Commander
Napoleon Bonaparte Claude-Victor Perrin called Victor Étienne Gérard	Count Peter von Pahlen Carl von Wrede
Troop strength
50,000, including 15,000 cavalry	3,500, including 1,500 cavalry
losses
low	2,100, including 500 riders

The Battle of Mormant was a battle between French troops under the personal command of Napoleon and the troops of the vanguard of the Russian corps Wittgenstein the Bohemian army on 17 February 1814 during the winter campaign in 1814 the War of Liberation .

prehistory

After the battle of La Rothière on February 1, 1814, Napoleon delivered four successful battles on the Marne to the Silesian Army under Field Marshal Blücher from February 10, 1814 to February 14, 1814 . During this time, however, the Bohemian army under Prince Schwarzenberg had moved close to Paris along the Seine , so that Napoleon was forced to march south immediately and to turn against this threat to the French metropolis. He succeeded in one of the most brilliant and successful troop movements of his general rule.

The movements of the Napoleonic army on February 15 and 16, 1814

On February 15 and 16, 1814, Napoleon led the bulk of his troops back from the Marne to the Seine in day and night marches. This was one of the fastest troop movements of the Napoleonic Wars, which only succeeded because essential parts of the troops, namely the Friant Division of the Old Guard , could be moved over long distances on land wagons, which saved them from complete exhaustion. In order to avoid the difficult-to-pass marshes of the Petit Morin , the troops led by Napoleon personally marched on February 15, 1814 from Montmirail to Meaux . The old guard marched in the lead and covered the 50 km from 6:00 in the morning until evening. From 8:00 a.m. the next day, the troops marched further south. On this day the old guard reached Guignes, 40 km away, using land wagons . The Guard Cavalry also arrived there in the evening, only the Young Guard under Marshal Ney , who had to march the entire distance, remained a little behind and stood a few kilometers north of Guignes on the evening of February 16, 1814.

Also on February 16, 1814, a cavalry division under General Trelliard arrived at Guignes , who had left the French Army of the South under Marshal Soult in northern Spain a month earlier to rush to support Napoleon.

On the same day, on Napoleon's orders, the reserve artillery of the French army arrived 3 km north-west of Guignes from the Paris region. Their guns had not been carried on Napoleon's campaign to the Marne, as they could not be moved in the swampy terrain there.

Looking ahead, Napoleon had already ordered Marshal MacDonald , whose corps had been at Meaux after the march along the Marne, to go south a few days earlier . MacDonald arrived with his corps on February 15, 1814 north of Guignes and took up positions there.

The French marshals Victor and Oudinot , whose task it had been to hold up the coalition's Bohemian army with their corps , had also brought in their troops.

In contrast, the infantry divisions of Generals Charpentier and Allix and the cavalry under Pajol stood further south and west on the Seine to prevent the Bohemian Army from advancing there. Charpentier's crew consisted entirely of recruits who had only been drafted into the army the days before.

The positions of the French army on February 16, 1814

The positions and strengths of the French troops can be summarized as follows:

The French army on the evening of February 16, 1814

Unit	Troop strength - infantry	Troop strength - cavalry	Position on February 16, 1814 evening
Friant Division of the Old Guard	4,500	-	in Guignes and Chaumes-en-Brie
Corps Ney	3,000	-	with the Curial and Meunier divisions a few kilometers north of Guignes near La Houssaye-en-Brie
Corps Gèrard	4,500	-	with the Dufour and Jan de La Hamelinaye divisions
Corps Victor	5,000	-	with the Duhesme and Chateau division between Chaumes and Fontenay-Trésigny
Corps Oudinot	7,500	-	with the Rothembourg division and the Gauthier de Murman brigade between Guignes and Mormant
MacDonald Corps	8,000	-	with the division Albert , Brayer and Amery northwest of Guignes at Solers and Ozouer-le-Voulgis
Guard cavalry under Exelmans	-	3,000	with the Excelmans, Pacz and Laferrière divisions between Chaumes and Fontenay-Trésigny
Milhaud Cavalry Corps	-	4,400	with the divisions Piré , Briche and L'Héritier with Corps Victor
Kellermann Cavalry Corps	-	4,200	with the divisions Jacquinot , Treilhard and Roussel at the Corps Victor
Corps Pajol	5,000	1,400	with the infantry under Pacthod at Cramayel
Allix division	2,000	500	at Melun
Charpentier Division	3,500	-	on the Essonne , south of Paris
Division Boyer de Rebeval	3,300	-	still approaching Villeneuve-Saint-Georges
Leval division	4,500	-	still on the march
Saint Germain Cavalry Division	-	500	still on the march
Total combatable troops	50,800	15,300

Movements of the '' Bohemian Army '' from February 8th to 16th, 1814

After Napoleon had left Troyes on February 7, 1814 and went to Nogent-sur-Seine and the Wuerttembergians occupied Troyes on the same day, the Bohemian Army remained quiet for two days and essentially stopped moving. Their commander-in-chief, Prince Schwarzenberg , moved his headquarters to Troyes on February 8, 1814, as did Tsar Alexander and the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III.

The battle on the Ardusson on February 10, 1814

On February 10, 1814, there was a battle between French troops of Corps Victor and coalition troops of Corps Wrede and Wittgenstein near Saint-Aubin south of Nogent-sur-Seine, the so-called battle on the Ardusson . The following night, the French troops withdrew north, crossing the Seine at Nogent-sur-Seine.

The conquest of Sens on February 11, 1814

The old city wall of Sens

On February 10, 1814, the Württemberg vanguard reached the city of Sens on the Yonne . Sens had about 9,000 inhabitants at the time and was defended by 2,400 French soldiers under the command of General Allix . The defenders held a strong position, as the old town, which lies on the very eastern bank of the river, was enclosed by a strong wall with five fortified gates and a moat.

On February 10, 1814 and the following day, the people of Württemberg tried to force the defenders of the city to surrender using artillery fire, which did not succeed. It was only when Austrian pioneers, under fire, managed to break a barely meter wide breach in a wall that had only recently been built to close a gate in the city wall that a Württemberg storm troop was able to enter the first buildings on the city wall man by man penetration. General Allix now felt that he had to pull his men together at this point, and so neglected the defense of the city gates, two of which were broken open by the attackers. Now the Württembergers invaded the city in greater numbers and the French had to leave it via the Yonne Bridge. They defended the bridge all the following night, while General Allix retreated to Villeroy with the bulk of his men . He also had Pont-sur-Yonne , further north on the river, evacuated. He managed to pull in two more brigades, an infantry brigade and a cavalry brigade.

Both sides had lost about 200 men in the fighting.

Trivia

Relief on the anniversary column on the Schloßplatz in Stuttgart , erected for the 25th anniversary of the government and the 60th birthday of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg

On the anniversary column on Schloßplatz in Stuttgart , one of the reliefs on the base of the column describes the capture of the city of Sens.

The capture of Nogent-sur-Seine on February 12, 1814

On February 11, 1814, the vanguard of the Russian corps Wittgenstein under Count Pahlen came from the south to the town of Nogent-sur-Seine , which itself lies completely south of the Seine. Nogent was defended by French under Brigadier General Bourmont from 1400 to 1700 . The city's fortifications had not been completed, which is why the defenders had holed up in the houses. On that day, Count Pahlen received support from the Austrian Hardegg division of the Bavarian-Austrian Corps Wrede. But even together, the Russians and Austrians could not prevail against the determined defenders.

On February 12, 1814, the Hardegg division was replaced by parts of the Rechberg division of the Wrede corps in front of Nogent. In addition, the Bavarian La Motte division of the Wrede Corps marched to Bray-sur-Seine , further downstream, drove away the few defenders of the bridge there, which was partially destroyed, and put several battalions in barges across the river to bring Nogent from north To reach west. At the same time, the Russian division Rüdiger of the Wittgenstein corps set up in Pont-sur-Seine across the Seine to enclose Nogent from the east.

Medieval fortress of Provins

Towards evening the Bavarians attacked Nogent from the south and drove the defenders from house to house towards the river. When they finally had to leave the city, they withdrew to the north over the bridge, which they blew up behind them and the debris flying around killed some Bavarian soldiers.

The French lost 400 men in three days, the coalition troops 1,200. The wounded General Bourmont was promoted to division general by Napoleon.

On the same day the Russians, under General Rüdiger, occupied Villenauxe . The next day, February 13, 1814, the whole of Wittgenstein's Russian corps passed over to the north bank of the river at Pont-sur-Seine. The Russians reached Sourdun and Léchelle that day just before Provins , which had been evacuated by the French Corps Victor on the same day. The French withdrew along the road to Nangis .

In Nogent-sur-Seine, the Russians built a ship bridge over the Seine on February 13, 1814.

The battle at Cuterelles on February 13, 1814

By 5 a.m. on the morning of February 13, 1814, the pioneers of the Wrede Corps had made the bridge in Bray-sur-Seine passable again and in the following hours essential parts of the Corps crossed this bridge to the north bank of the Seine. There they met French troops from Marshal Oudinot near the village of Saint-Sauveur , who was not ready for a quick retreat. Wrede's troops managed to drive the French out of Saint-Sauveur and also to occupy Les Ormes . But at Cutrelles the French infantry Marshal Oudinots were able to establish themselves in favorable positions. Count Wrede tried to encompass the French position, had the village of Vimpelles occupied and sent strong forces to the north-east to take the village of Luisetaines . Marshal Oudinot saw through this plan and also sent troops to Luisetaines, with the result that an hour-long violent and loss-making battle broke out around this place, in which both sides repeatedly sent new forces.

At 4:00 p.m. the Austrian troops of the Wrede Corps, who had crossed the Seine in Nogent, approached from the east. They soon got into a battle with French troops of the Corps Victor at Paroy , who were already retreating to Nangis.

The early winter twilight ended the fighting. Both sides had lost around 600 men. During the night the Oudinot corps withdrew, was noticed by the Bavarian cavalry and followed through the night. As early as 2:00 a.m. on the morning of February 14, 1814, the Bavarians occupied Donnemarie . The two French corps were at Nangis that morning .

On February 13, 1814, the Württemberg corps moved from Sens via Pont-sur-Yonne along the Yonne to the Seine. The Austrian corps Bianchi and Gyulay reached Sens on the same day. The Russian and Prussian guards and the Russian cuirassiers stood around Pont-sur-Seine. Tsar Alexander and the Prussian king had taken quarters nearby. Prince Schwarzenberg's headquarters were in Nogent.

The French general Pajol vacated Montereau on February 14, 1814 and withdrew to Le Châtelet-en-Brie .

The battle at Montmirail on February 15, 1814

When on February 11th the rumor arose of the defeat of the Silesian Army near Champaubert , the leadership of the Bohemian Army sent a smaller contingent of Russian troops under General Diebitsch to the north to establish a new connection with the Silesian Army . At 5:00 p.m. on the same day a courier from Blücher reached Prince Schwarzenberg 's headquarters and confirmed the defeat. Thereupon Diebitsch was again instructed to push forward northwards.

Diebitsch and his men first moved to Plancy , where they could cross the Aube , and then in the following days via Anglure to Sézanne and from there via the better road directly to Montmirail .

On February 15, 1814, they attacked French cavalry under Marshal Grouchy near Montmirail . Grouchy withdrew with his horsemen and called the French corps under Marshal Marmont to help. This corps stood a little further to the west, with the task of covering Napoleon's troop movements against the Silesian army , which was reassembling at Châlons-en-Champagne . When Marmont's soldiers arrived at Montmirail, Diebitsch's Russians had reached Marchais-en-Brie and Fontenelle-en-Brie . In both places they were attacked by superior French forces of one brigade each. Succeeded Diebitch with emergency to rally his men at Fontenelle to bypass Montmirail and the French and after Champaubert eke from where it across the bridge at Saint-Prix moved and then the barely passable route through the swamps of the Petit Morin back to Sezanne had to take. Diebitsch's troops ran into a large number of dispersed Russian and Prussian soldiers from the Silesian Army , who reported on the events and battles of the previous days. Diebitsch immediately sent a courier to the headquarters of the Bohemian Army , who was the first to bring news of the defeat of Blücher and the Silesian Army at Vauchamps and Étoges on February 14, 1814.

The capture of Fontainebleau on February 15, 1814

On February 15, 1814, Austrian troops of the Bianchi Corps occupied Fontainebleau , which had been abandoned by the French General Montbrun . A retreat that cost the latter his command when Napoleon found out about it.

On the same day the Austrian hussars of the corps occupied Wrede Nangis .

The positions of the Bohemian Army on February 16, 1814

In the course of February 16, 1814, Count Wittgenstein ordered that the vanguard of his corps under Count Pahlen should move further north. These troops still reached Mormant and cavalry were sent to scout along the roads to Paris and Meaux. But then the Russians were surprised by a U-turn by the French troops, which had been withdrawing further and further and now attacked unexpectedly. The Russians first had to turn back and some of their troops went back to Bailly to regroup.

The positions of the Bohemian Army on the evening of February 16, 1814 were:

The Bohemian Army before the battle at Mormant

Unit	position
Corps Gyulay (Austria)	at Pont-sur-Yonne
Corps of Crown Prince Wilhelm (Württemberg)	at Montereau
Wittgenstein Corps (Russia)	at Provins and Nangis
Corps Wrede (Bavaria, Austria)	at Donnemarie and Provins
Corps Bianchi (formerly Colloredo ) (Austria)	at Moret-sur-Loing and Montereau
The Russian grenadiers	at Pont-sur-Seine and Nogent-sur-Seine
The Russian cuirassiers	at Pont-sur-Seine and Nogent-sur-Seine
The Russian and Prussian Guards	at Pont-sur-Seine and Nogent-sur-Seine

The battle at Mormant on February 17, 1814

The French attack in the morning

Napoleon personally led his troops south from Guignes on the road to Nangis at dawn on February 17, 1814 . The French came across the first Russian scouts at L'Etang . Most of the Russian troops under Count Pahlen stood at the height of the village of Pecqueux and, in view of the vastly superior masses of French troops, immediately began to retreat, the artillery on the road, the infantry in front, behind and next to it, the cavalry on both sides. When the Russians had to march through Marmont, they were overtaken by the French cavalry, which could bypass the place in the east as in the west. Some time passed during which the French cavalry dispersed the Russian. The Russian riders had the squares of their own infantry as the only refuge. Soon after, the French artillery had brought their guns through Mormant and began to fire from them at the Russians.

At the height of the town of Grandpuits , the French cavalry went en masse to attack the Russian infantry. The Russians were able to fend off the first wave, then their squares broke apart and a general escape began.

Count Pahlen's adjutant von Löwenstern describes this hour in his memoir:

“Then suddenly the earth seemed to open and spew death and ruin. The enemy's trumpeters blew on all sides to attack, an enormous mass of cavalry developed in the field and galloped upon us. [...] Panic broke out and everyone only thought of saving their own life. It went on mercilessly. Everyone who ran ours and who fell was lost. "

- Eduard von Löwenstern

Count Pahlen had counted on the support of a Russian infantry brigade that had been standing at Bailly that morning . Now it became clear that this had already left via Nangis on the road to Provins. In the morning Count Wittgenstein had gone to his troops in Mormant, had witnessed the French advance, had escaped to his brigade at Bailly and had fled under their protection.

Two Austrian cavalry regiments, which stood between Bailly and Nangis, got caught in the storm of the French cavalry and could only save themselves after significant losses.

The Austrian Hardegg division of the Wrede Corps, which was still in Nangis, was asked by Count Pahlen for support by a courier, but refused under a pretext and left on the road via Valjouan to Donnemarie .

Count Pahlen's Russians escaped total annihilation only because the French stopped their pursuit in Nangis. The survivors who were not captured marched on Provins. The Russian cuirassier division Duca was transferred there to reinforce it the following night. Most of Wittgenstein's corps had already withdrawn as far as Sordun .

The battle at Valjouan

When Napoleon arrived in Nangis at noon on February 17, 1814, he divided his army:

• Marshal Victor had to go to Montereau with his troops ,
• Marshal MacDonald had to march to Donnemarie with his contingent and
• Marshal Oudinot and his corps had to march against Provins.

Marshal Oudinot only covered half the distance to Provins that day, Marshal MacDonald came to Meigneux , where several divisions of the Wrede corps of the Bohemian Army faced him.

Marshal Victor's corps reached the small town of Valjouan around 3:00 p.m. on February 17, 1814 , where they met again with parts of the Austrian Hardegg division and a Bavarian brigade of the Wrede corps. The French immediately attacked Villeneuve to block the road to Donnemarie. The first attack failed due to the resistance of the Bavarians, who had established themselves in Villeneuve. A second attack drove the Bavarians out of the place, which now had to retreat eastwards across an open field, pursued by French cavalry. The coalition troops moved together to Donnemarie and the French did not obey them as their orders were to go to Montereau.

Both sides lost a few hundred men in this battle on the afternoon of February 17, 1814 near Villeneuve, and the French took 300 more prisoners. The two Austrian cavalry regiments, which had already suffered at Bailly, were caught in the storm of the French cavalry again and lost another 200 men.

Marshal Victor and his corps reached Salins that day just before Montereau, where the Wuerttemberg corps stood, which was attacked and driven out the next morning.

Further troop movements on February 17, 1814

The French general Allix marched from Melun to Fontainebleau and drove out the Austrian troops who had occupied the place two days earlier.

General Pajol moved with his cavalry from Saint-Germain-Laxis , north of Melun, north of the Seine to Montereau, and drove 3 Wuerttemberg escadrons from Le Châtelet and Les Ecrennes . The advance of the French only stopped that day before Valence , where Adam von Württemberg's division offered them sufficient resistance.

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Notes and individual references

1. ↑ cf. the commentary in Uffindell, p. 71.
2. ↑ cf. Damitz, Petre
3. ↑ or battle at La Chapelle ; La Chapelle-Godefroy is now a district of Saint-Aubin . The Ardusson is a small stream near Saint-Aubin
4. ↑ cf. Damitz, Plotho
5. ↑ today D619
6. ↑ see Eduard von Löwenstern: With Count Pahlen's cavalry against Napoleon, Berlin 1910.
7. ↑ today D213
8. ↑ today D605