Battle of Reims

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Battle of Reims

Part of: Wars of Liberation

date	March 13, 1814
place	Reims , France
output	Complete dissolution of the Russian-Prussian corps

Parties to the conflict
France	Russia Prussia
Commander
Napoleon Bonaparte	Gullaume Saint-Priest Friedrich Wilhelm von Jagow
Troop strength
20,000 men	14,000 men
losses
700	3,000 dead and wounded, 3,000 prisoners

The battle near Reims took place on March 13, 1814 during the winder campaign of 1814 of the Wars of Liberation . On that day a French army under Napoleon Bonaparte attacked a Prussian-Russian corps under the command of General Saint-Priest at the gates of Reims . The corps of coalition troops was wiped out by French troops in a short time and was almost completely lost. General Saint-Priest was fatally wounded in the battle.

This was Napoleon's last impressive and convincing victory in 1814, which caused some irritation and concern, especially in the leadership of the Bohemian Army .

prehistory

Napoleon in Soissons

In the late afternoon of March 10, 1814, Napoleon and his troops had withdrawn from Laon to Soissons , where he arrived at 3:30 a.m. on the early morning of March 11, 1814. Without any further night's sleep, Napoleon immediately began to rearrange his troops and the defense of Soissons. The whole day of March 12, 1814, he devoted himself to these tasks.

Some reinforcements had arrived in Soissons: 2,400 cavalry men from Versailles, 1,000 infantry , Polish veterans who had previously helped defend Soissons, and some artillery, the majority of which were immediately sent to Fismes to Marshal Marmont's corps , to make up for his losses on March 9, 1814.

The units of those commanders who had been wounded were now disbanded and assigned to other units. After the reorganization, Marshal Mortier's corps comprised three divisions totaling 8,500 men under Generals Charpentier, Curial and Christiani and 600 cavalry men. Marshal Ney's corps comprised the Gardes d'Honneur of 800 men, the Spanish brigade of 2,250 men now commanded by General Rousseau, and another division of 2,900 men under the command of General Janssen. Under the command of General Belliard, a new cavalry corps was set up, with Roussel's dragoons of 1,880 horsemen and 1,800 cavalrymen. Napoleon himself commanded the first division of the Old Guard under General Friant and the reserve artillery under General Drouot with a total of 6,800 men, as well as the guard cavalry with 4200 riders under the commanders Colbert, Exelmans and Letort. Sebastiani, who had come up from the Seine and joined Napoleon in Soissons, became the commanding general of the entire guard cavalry. Under Napoleon's personal command there were a further 1,500 cavalry and a division of the Young Guard under General Henrion with 3,000 men. Due to the considerable losses that the French had suffered since March 7, 1814, the divisional strengths had declined sharply.

The Napoleonic Army after the reorganization on 11/12. March 1814

unit	commander	Corps commander	Troop strength
Old Guard Division	General Friant	Napoleon Bonaparte	6,800
Young Guard Division	General Henrion	Napoleon Bonaparte	3,000
Guard cavalry	General Sebastiani	Napoleon Bonaparte	4,200
Infantry Division	General Charpentier	Marshal Mortier	unknown
Infantry Division	General Curial	Marshal Mortier	unknown
Infantry Division	General Christiani	Marshal Mortier	unknown
light cavalry	General Grouvelle	Marshal Mortier	800
Gardes d'Honneur	General Defrance	Marshal Ney	800
Spanish brigade	General Rousseau	Marshal Ney	2,250
Infantry Division	General Janssen	Marshal Ney	2,900
dragoon	General Roussel	General Belliard	1,800
mixed cavalry	General Berckheim	General Belliard	1,800
Infantry Division	General Ricard	Marshal Marmont	unknown
Infantry Division	General Lagrange	Marshal Marmont	unknown
Infantry Division	General Arrighi	Marshal Marmont	unknown
cavalry	General Bordesoulle	Marshal Marmont	1,800

On March 12, 1814, Napoleon learned that the city of Reims, which until then had had a small French garrison under General Corbineau, had been occupied by Russian and Prussian troops under the command of General Saint-Priest. The French occupation had fled west and General Corbineau himself was missing. On the evening of March 12th, 1814 at 6:00 p.m., Napoleon sent a courier to Marshal Marmont's corps in Fismes with the order to march on Reims immediately at dawn on March 13th, 1814. On the same evening of March 12, 1814, Marshal Ney and his corps, the division of the Old Guard, the guard cavalry and the reserve artillery left Soissons for Reims. Napoleon himself left Soissons at dawn on March 13, 1814, to follow his troops to Reims.

The distance from Soissons to Reims is 60 km, the distance from Fismes to Reims 30 km.

The movements of the Russo-Prussian troops under Saint-Priest

The Russian troops under the command of General Saint-Priest belonged to the Langeron Corps. After crossing the Rhine in the first days of January 1814, they were first moved up the Moselle from Koblenz , but were later used to block the Mainz fortress . It was not until February 15, 1814, that General Saint-Priest was able to march to Nancy with three infantry and one cavalry regiment . From there his troops moved to Châlons-en-Champagne . On February 28, 1814, General Saint-Priest received an order from Field Marshal Blücher , who subordinated him to the Prussian Landwehr troops of Major General Jagow of around 6,000 men and further instructed him to use five regiments left behind in Mainz and to establish the connection between the Bohemian and the Secure Silesian Army . To accomplish this task, General Saint-Priest ordered the Prussian troops to occupy Vitry and Saint-Dizier .

When the city of Reims was occupied again by Napoleonic troops on March 5, 1814, Saint-Priest initially gathered half of the Prussian troops with his Russian troops at Châlon and marched with them on March 7, 1814 against Reims. On March 8, 1814, Saint-Priest ordered the first indecisive attack on Reims, in which his troops were supported by Tettenborn's Cossacks . This first attack was unsuccessful. Then Saint-Priest pulled in the rest of the Prussian troops, who arrived on March 11th. On the same day the last five Russian regiments arrived from Mainz and took up positions near Beaumont, southeast of Reims. Saint-Priest now had 14-15,000 men, two thirds Russian and one third Prussian. He ordered another attack on the city of Reims for the following March 12, 1814, 5:00 a.m.

The capture of Reims by the Russo-Prussian troops under Saint-Priest on March 12, 1814

Reims Cathedral,
photo from 1914

On March 12, 1814, Reims was defended by three French infantry battalions, 100 cavalrymen and 50 gendarmes. In addition, there were around 1,000 men from the city of Reims who had been drafted into the National Guard. This small force was under the command of General Corbineau. The latter had already sent a request for help to Napoleon in Soissons the previous day, March 11, 1814, asking for support against the approaching enemy troops.

The attack of the Russian-Prussian troops was to be carried out by three separate columns. Two of the columns consisted essentially of Russian teams, the third from Prussia. The latter was to carry out a mock attack from the west against Reims in the early morning. For this purpose General Jagow gathered his men at 5:00 a.m. near the village of Cormontreuil, very close to the Paris city gate of Reims. Shortly afterwards Jagow had this gate shot at by artillery and then stormed by two battalions of Pomeranian Landwehr. After an hour the Prussians invaded the city and occupied its gates and the market square. The French defenders fled the city north or west, hid in their houses or were taken prisoner. When the Russian columns, who had lost their way in the night, arrived at Reims, the city was already occupied by the Prussians.

800 horsemen of the French Gardes d'Honneur , which Napoleon had sent ahead of all his troops at General Corbineau's first call for help, heard the artillery and rushed to support the defenders of the city. However, they were thrown back at the height of La Neuvilette by outnumbered Russian dragoons and had to retreat to a waiting position in the west. Their intervention made it possible for those French who had initially fled north to escape to the west over the bridge at St. Brice and later to unite with Napoleon's troops.

After Reims had been taken, General Saint-Priest issued the following orders: the Russian troops were to take quarters in Reims, the Prussian in the villages west of the city. General Jagow commanded 12 Prussian battalions at this time, which he distributed to the villages near Reims in the following way: two in Rosnay, one in Muizon on the Vesle , three battalions in Gueux and Thillois, two in Bezannes, one in Ormes, and one after Cormontreuil. The last battalion was sent to Sillery . Saint-Priest also ordered two services to be held the next day: one for the Russian troops in Reims Cathedral, one for the Prussian troops outside the city.

Saint-Priest had received news of the outcome of the Battle of Laon from the Silesian Army . He had been told that the coalition troops had won a great victory and that Napoleon was on a fleeting retreat. Saint-Priest sent couriers who carried this message on to the headquarters of the Bohemian army in the south. He himself was completely convinced of the correctness of this news and firmly believed that the Napoleonic troops at Soissons posed no danger to him.

The battlefield

The Vesle below Reims

The city of Reims is located east of the small river Vesle on a hill. Reims had 30,000 inhabitants in 1814 and was four to five times the size of the cities of Laon and Soissons. From ancient times, Reims was fortified by a strong city wall. This still existed in its essential parts in 1814, only in the west along the river it had been torn down and a promenade had been laid out there for the citizens of Reims. The bridge over the Vesle led directly to the Paris Gate of the city, which was heavily fortified and could be defended well. The river also made it difficult to access the city from the west: although it was not significant, it was embedded in a deep river bed with steep banks. All fighting took place west of Reims or north along the road to Berry-au-Bac .

The arrival of the French troops at Reims on March 13, 1814

In the morning hours of March 13, 1814, Marshal Marmont's corps approached the city of Reims. At the village of Rosnay and the village of Jonchery, the French cavalry encountered enemy riders for the first time, who immediately withdrew. When General Jagow received news of the appearance of the French, he immediately ordered that the battalions in Rosnay and Muizon should withdraw on Reims. But his order did not get to Rosnay in time. The two battalions of the Prussian Landwehr were having breakfast there when the French troops reached the place. Some of them were immediately killed or taken prisoner, others managed to make their way through the square to the village of Ormes and find cover there behind the walls of a cemetery. They resisted until a whole infantry divisions of the Marmont Corps advanced, then surrendered and went into captivity. As the captured Prussians were being led west on the road to Fismes , they met Napoleon, who got out of his carriage to watch the prisoners march.

The Prussian General Jagow himself was surprised by the French at Gueux and narrowly escaped on an unsaddled horse. Other Prussian troops were surprised while they were asleep in Thillois and had to fight back in their shirts. In the course of the morning the troops of the Marmont Corps positioned themselves west of the city of Reims and waited there as they were ordered for Napoleon to arrive. General Saint-Priest was informed of the arrival of enemy troops by escaped Prussians. They found the general at the service in the cathedral, where he was very annoyed by their reports. By no means did he believe that it could be a large gathering of French troops, and did not go to the Paris Gate until between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to see what was in store for him. Marshal Marmont was still inactive with his troops, but General Saint-Priest could very well see the deployment of infantry and artillery. So he gave the order to his troops to line up west of the city along the heights of Sainte Geneviève in two lines. The right wing leaned against the river Vesle at Tinqueux and, like the left, was covered by cavalry. A total of 22 battalions of infantry, 1200 horsemen and 24 cannons were brought into position. The bridge in Sillery south of Reims was occupied and guarded by a Prussian battalion, but they failed to also occupy the bridge in St. Brice in the north because it was deemed unusable at the time. As a result of these measures, the Russian-Prussian troops were trapped between the river and the city in their rear and the French forces, whose strength they did not even know, in front of them. When a captured Frenchman testified that Napoleon was expected in person, one of his generals asked Saint-Priest where his own line of retreat now ran. He replied condescendingly:

"Why should we think about retreating while we're still alive!"

- General Saint-Priest, an hour before his retreat

The battle in front of Reims

Around 4:00 p.m. on March 13, 1814, Napoleon arrived at Reims. In view of the unfavorable Russian-Prussian position, he made the following remark:

"The ladies of Reims will have an uncomfortable quarter of an hour"

- Napoleon on March 13, 1814 in front of Reims

Then he ordered the frontal attack of the Marmont Corps against the enemy position, both flanks of which were also attacked by cavalry, especially the left, southern, against which Napoleon had 8,000 horsemen advance. The French deployed 40 guns. The Russian-Prussian troops immediately came under pressure from the forced French attack, and Saint-Priest began issuing the first orders to withdraw: he ordered the second line to pass through the Paris Gate and then on the road to Berry-au- Bac should withdraw. The first line, however, should cover this part of the retreat and hold back the enemy. Immediately afterwards, General Saint-Priest's right shoulder was shattered by shrapnel and he was sidelined as the commanding general. Without direct leadership, his troops became even more disordered.

Today's "Paris Gate" has little in common with the heavily fortified city gate from 1814

A Russian regiment at least managed to bring the wounded Saint-Priest, under the protection of a square and with vigorous defense against French attacks, to the Paris gate of Reims, from where he could later be brought to safety in the city. The French cavalry made repeated violent attacks during this time and individual squadrons managed to advance to the river and the city wall of Reims. At the same time, the Prussian and Russian associations tried to get to temporary security through the only available gate in the city, the Paris Gate, and suffered heavy losses. The crowd on the bridge over the Vesle, in front of the city gate and in the city increased by the minute and the streets were soon completely clogged. Many Prussian cavalrymen simply left their horses in front of the city gate to escape through the city on foot. Their horses were caught by the French the next morning.

Later, the heavily fortified Paris Gate was closed and then defended by five Russian regiments while the rest of the Russo-Prussian troops marched through the city trying to escape on the road to Barry-au-Bac. The French did not succeed in conquering the Paris Gate by midnight, as Russian snipers from the city wall inflict significant losses on the French troops, especially their artillerymen. After midnight, the first French were able to enter the city, where the fighting continued until 2:00 a.m. Only then was it possible for Napoleon to enter the city himself, whose citizens greeted him enthusiastically that night. At this time, the old garrison of Reims came out again, as far as they had hidden in the houses, including General Corbineau, who had since disappeared.

The French had already succeeded in seizing the bridge in St. Brice, northwest of Reims, and repairing it at short notice. Polish Uhlans and the Excelmans cavalry division crossed the Vesle there and penetrated the Russian and Prussian troops who were retreating along the road to Barry-au-Bac. These were driven apart and quite a few of them forced to continue their flight to the north or south-east. Many of these were still lost because the forests north of the Marne were occupied by armed rural people who fusilated any enemy fighters they came across . Of those who managed to continue north, including General Jagow, the first reached Barry-au-Bac at 5:00 the next morning; However, those who had been pushed further east did not reach the Aisne until later in Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne, east of Barry-au-Bac.

General Saint-Priest was brought to Laon by his most loyal Russians, where he died 16 days later and was buried in the cathedral.

On the French side, only 4,000 infantry and 4,000 horsemen were actually deployed during the entire battle. These were enough to drive over 14,000 Russians and Prussians from Reims.

The days after

Napoleon stayed in Reims for three days, on March 14th, 15th and 16th, 1814 and used the time to further organize his troops. On the first day he ordered that Marshal Marmont and his troops should pursue the fleeing Russians and Prussians northwards, in the direction of Barry-au-Bac, while Marshal Ney should pursue the refugees along the roads to Châlon and Epernay. While Marshal Ney soon reached and occupied Châlon, whose Russian garrison withdrew to Vitry without resistance, Marmont met strong Prussian troops at Barry-au-Bac.

The battle at Barry-au-Bac on March 14, 1814

The place Barry-au-Bac is almost completely north of the Aisne, only a few houses south of the river. There on the road to Reims a post of Prussian hussars with 60 riders was positioned. Around noon on March 14, 1814, they noticed the approach of a larger French cavalry contingent. They reported this immediately to the Prussian cavalry, which was located north of the Aisne at Barry-au-Bac and also at Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne. Now the situation was such that the damaged bridge in Barry-au-Bac had only been temporarily repaired and the riders of the cavalry could only pass individual ones, whereby they had to lead their horses by the reins. So it was initially only possible to bring individual escadrons across the river to reinforce them. Three squadrons of body hussars were still on their way south of the Aisne on the road to Fismes. In the course of the next hour 10 squadrons of French cavalry gathered south of the Aisne in front of Barry-au-Bac. The numerically inferior Prussian horsemen managed to keep the upper hand through skillful and ingenious maneuvers, take 200 prisoners, including many injured, and drive the French far south. From there, however, a whole infantry division of the Marmont Corps advanced and forced the Prussian cavalrymen to return man by man across the Aisne. Before evening the French infantry and artillery occupied the southern bank of the Aisne and began to bombard Barry-au-Bac, whereupon large parts of the town soon went up in flames. By the next morning, almost the whole place was in ashes. The fire forced the Prussians to leave Barry-au-Bac, which enabled the French to seize the bridge the next day and to set up explosive mines there. When they left a few days later, they completely destroyed this bridge.

Marshal Marmont appeared with his troops before Barry-au-Bac that day and took his headquarters in Cormicy.

The Battle of Epernay on March 15, 1814

In the morning until March 15, 1814, French troops marched down the Marne valley on the road from Reims to Epernay. In Epernay there were some Cossack pulks under the command of General Tettenborn and two Escadron Prussian Landwehr. A total of 300 French, accompanied by three squadrons of cavalry, approached the Marne Bridge in Epernay. Two Cossack pulks attacked them north of the Marne, drove away the French riders and took the infantry prisoners. At the same time, the Marne Bridge was badly damaged by an accidental detonation. The Cossacks reached the southern bank with difficulty. There they brought the only two guns they had into position and defended the remnants of the bridge against the French, who would soon be advancing en masse, until their artillery drove them from the banks of the Marne. Without further losses, the Cossacks and the Prussian Landwehr withdrew to the southeast, avoiding Châlon, which was occupied by Marshal Ney and his troops. But already on March 19, 1814, it was the same Cossacks who appeared in the morning at the locked gates of Châlon and forced their way into the city. The city had been left on March 18, 1814 by the French troops Neys, who reunited further south on the Aube with the troops led by Napoleon.

The movements of the troops led by Napoleon from March 17-19, 1814

During the three days that Napoleon spent in Reims, reinforcements arrived from the Lorraine fortresses, most of which were incorporated into the corps of Marmont and Mortier. In addition, several thousand men of the National Guard from the surrounding region arrived in Reims, some of which were used, but some had to be sent back home because there were not enough rifles available to arm them. Napoleon left Reims on March 17th, 1814 with no more than 10,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalrymen and reached Epernay that day, where he spent the night. The next day he reached Fère-Champenoise , and on March 19, 1814, Plancy an der Aube.

The battle at Barry-au-Bac and Pontavert on March 18, 1814

When it became known at the headquarters of the Silesian army during March 17, 1814 that Napoleon had left Reims to the south, the courage was taken to send the Prussian corps under York and Kleist to take Barry-au-Bac. At the same time cavalry of the Russian corps Wintzingerode was to cross the Aisne near Asfeld and harass the French troops of the Marmont corps, which ruled the south bank of the Aisne , from the east.

The capture of Barry-au-Bac was by no means easy for the Prussians. Because the south bank of the river was higher than the north bank, the French artillery, which was advantageously positioned there, was able to keep the Prussians away from the north bank.

On the night of March 18, 1814, General Kleist sent two battalions and a pioneer unit to Pontavert west of Barry-au-Bac to build a bridge over the Aisne again. The old wooden bridge that once stood there had been burned and could not be restored. However, the pioneers did not find any building materials for a bridge. The only solution was to cover the surrounding houses and loot the wood of the roof trusses. Progress in building the bridge was slow, however, and when, on March 18, 1814, at 10:30 a.m., French artillery brought six artillery pieces into position on the south bank and fired at the pioneers while building the bridge, this could not be continued. French snipers, who simultaneously established themselves on the south bank, also prevented any approach to the construction site.

The Prussians had no choice but to wait for the appearance of the Russian Cossacks under their leader Chernyshev . However, these did not appear until late afternoon: Since the French had destroyed the bridge in Asfeld the night before, the Cossacks had to move further east to Balham before they found a crossing over the Aisne. The appearance of the Cossacks, however, was the signal for Marshal Marmont to retreat. It had been clear to him that he would not be able to hold out long against the bulk of the Silesian army, which he had been observing for three days on the north bank of the Aisne. He withdrew with his troops via Roucy to Fismes and took up a favorable position south of the town on a ridge called Mont-Saint-Martin. Earlier, the French set fire nor adopted by them explosive mines on the remains of the bridge in Barry-au-Bac, so that the Prussian corps under York, like all Prussian corps had no pontoon bridge, had to wait for that of the Russian corps Langeron brought in was. It arrived that evening and the bridge was completed by the morning of the next day.

The Prussian corps under Kleist was finally able to cross the Aisne when his pioneers had completed the bridge in Pontavert that evening. Only the hussars had found a flat ford through the Aisne underground through which their horses could wade without fear of harm to the animals in the winter cold. They pursued the French, took some men of the rear guard prisoner and were driven back by heavy artillery fire in front of Fismes. In the evening Blücher moved his headquarters to Corbeny .

The movements of the Russian Corps of the Silesian Army until March 23, 1814

While the corps of the Silesian army had moved little by March 18, 1814, Blücher and his general staff ordered the first major movements again for March 19, 1814: the Wintzingerode corps was commissioned to follow the Prussian Yorck corps near Barry- au-Bac to cross the Aisne and then to march on Reims. The cavalry was left to use the same crossing or to restore the bridge in Asfeld for their purposes. The latter was put into practice and Reims, which had been left by all French troops by the evening, was reoccupied. The other two Russian corps Sacken and Langeron advanced, the Sacken corps to Pontavert and the Langeron corps to Barry-au-Bac. Blücher himself moved his headquarters to Barry-au-Bac.

March 20, 1814 passed again with building bridges: The Sacken Corps moved the pontoon bridge at Barry-au-Bac to a point west of Pontavert and the Langeron Corps built a new temporary bridge at Barry-au-Bac. The Wintzingerode Corps held Reims and advanced its vanguard over Châlon to Vatry south of Châlon. The Prussian Corps Bülow, which until then had covered the line of retreat at Laon, marched to Soissons and began its siege.

On March 21, 1814, a second auxiliary bridge was built at Barry-au-Bac, the Russian corps Sacken and Langeron crossed the Aisne and occupied the entire south bank of the river from Barry-au-Bac to Soissons, with individual units advancing to Fismes.

On March 22, 1814, the Langeron corps occupied the town of Fismes and the Russian Sacken corps stood west of it as far as the Olchy area. Wintzingerode was still in Reims, his cavalry occupied Epernay. The Prussian Corps Bülow enclosed Soissons and began to bombard the city. Blücher moved his headquarters to Fismes.

On March 23, 1814, the headquarters of the Silesian army decided to advance its Russian troops further south: the infantry of the Wintzingerode corps marched to Châlon, the Langeron corps passed Reims and moved towards Epernay, the Sacken corps was via Fismes to the Relocated around Reims. Blücher took his headquarters in Reims.

The movements of the French corps under Marshals Marmont and Mortier and their pursuit by the Prussian corps of the Silesian army

On March 17, 1814, Marshal Mortier's corps had moved from Soissons to Fismes. Only one division under Charpentier remained at Soissons and one brigade protected Compiègne. On March 18, 1814, Mortier had moved on to Reims and had his troops there in the direction of Barry-au-Bac. On March 19, 1814, however, the Mortier corps marched back to Fismes via Jonchery in order to unite with the Marmont corps. The Belliard cavalry division was the last to leave Reims as darkness fell, after its artillery had resisted the advancing Russians for several hours. On the same day there were some encounters between Prussian cavalry and troops of the Marmont Corps at Fismes south of the Vesle.

The Charpentier division of the Mortier corps left Soissons and also took up positions south of Fismes. A crew of 3,190 men with 39 guns remained in Soissons and stubbornly defended their city over the following days. A crew of 620 remained in Compiègne .

On March 20, 1814, the Marshals Marmont and Mortier received an order from Napoleon to move their troops south to unite with the other Napoleonic troops. On the morning of March 21, 1814, the French first cleared Fismes and later also the heights of Mont-Saint-Martin. Most of the French troops moved to Oulchy-le-Château, the smaller part to Fère-en-Tardenois , and both parts continued to Château-Thierry on the Marne, which was reached on the evening of March 21, 1814. The distance covered via Fère-en-Tardenois was 43 kilometers, via Oulchy 49 kilometers.

The Prussian troops of the Yorck and Kleist corps followed immediately: on the morning of March 21, 1814, they crossed the Vesle, occupied Fismes and pursued the retreating French. During the day, Prussian cavalry tried to interfere with the French troops crossing the Ourcq , which failed. Strong French artillery secured the bridge over the river. The Prussians returned the artillery fire, but still had to let the French withdraw. Other Prussian troops occupied Fère-en-Tardenois on March 21, 1814.

The French corps repaired the bridge in Château-Thierry and marched on March 22, 1814 on various routes to the southeast, after they had destroyed the bridge over the Marne again behind them. On the morning of March 23, 1814, they met again in Étoges and took up positions east of it. They took a Russian Cossack outpost by surprise and took 100 prisoners.

On the morning of March 22, 1814, the Prussian vanguard occupied Château-Thierry, which was almost completely deserted by its inhabitants. During these days the Prussians found almost all places north of the Marne deserted, but met snipers here and there who inflicted individual losses on them. Wherever this happened, the Prussians set the abandoned houses and entire villages on fire.

In Château-Thierry, the Prussians needed 36 hours to set up a makeshift bridge next to the destroyed old stone bridge. There was no alternative, as there were no pontoons available to them. By the time the auxiliary bridge was ready, the two Prussian corps Yorck and Kleist had fully assembled in and around Château-Thierry.

Blücher moved his headquarters to Châlon on March 23, 1814.

The most important people of the event

• the French Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte
• the French Marshal Michel Ney
• the French Marshal Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont
• the French general Jean-Baptiste Juvénal Corbineau
• the general in the Russian service Guillaume Emmanuel Guignard de Saint-Priest
• the Russian general Gregorji Arsenyevich Emanuel

The coordinates of the most important places of the event

• the city of Soissons on the Aisne: 49 ° 23 ′  N , 3 ° 20 ′  E
• The place Barry-au-Bac on the Aisne: 49 ° 24 '  N , 3 ° 54'  E
• the place Beaumont sur Vesle southeast of Reims 49 ° 10 '23.5 "  N , 4 ° 11' 3.6"  E
• the village of Cormontreuil immediately west of Reims: 49 ° 13 ′ 21.1 ″  N , 4 ° 2 ′ 31 ″  E
• The village of Rosnay west of Reims: 49 ° 15 ′ 17.3 "  N , 3 ° 51 ′ 39.6"  E
• The village of Muizon on the Vesle: 49 ° 16 ′ 36 ″  N , 3 ° 53 ′ 21 ″  E
• The place Jonchery west of Reims on the Vesle: 49 ° 17 ′ 21.5 ″  N , 3 ° 49 ′ 0.1 ″  E
• The village of Ormes west of Reims: 49 ° 14 ′ 21.6 "  N , 3 ° 57 ′ 26.9"  E
• The place Gueux before Reims: 49 ° 14 ′ 53.7 ″  N , 3 ° 54 ′ 28.7 ″  E
• The village of Thillois near Rheims: 49 ° 15 ′ 24.6 ″  N , 3 ° 57 ′ 9.6 ″  E
• The village of Bezannes west of Reims: 49 ° 13 ′ 23.5 ″  N , 3 ° 59 ′ 23.1 ″  E
• The bridge over the Vesle in St.Brice: 49 ° 15 '29 "  N , 3 ° 59' 2.7"  O
• The elevation of La Neuvilette north of Reims: 49 ° 17 ′ 12.2 ″  N , 4 ° 0 ′ 59.5 ″  E
• The heights of Sainte Geneviève south of Avenue de Paris: 49 ° 14 ′ 52 ″  N , 4 ° 1 ′ 1.7 ″  E
• The village of Tinqueux west of Reims: 49 ° 14 ′ 51.5 ″  N , 3 ° 59 ′ 56.5 ″  E
• The bridge in Sillery south of Reims: 49 ° 11 ′ 43.4 ″  N , 4 ° 7 ′ 53.6 ″  E
• Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne east of Berry-au-Bac on the Aisne: 49 ° 25 ′ 57.4 ″  N , 4 ° 1 ′ 53.9 ″  E
• Asfeld on the Aisne east of Berry-au-Bac: 49 ° 28 ′ 18.1 ″  N , 4 ° 6 ′ 50.5 ″  E
• Balham on the Aisne east of Berry-au-Bac: 49 ° 29 ′ 19.1 ″  N , 4 ° 9 ′ 47.3 ″  E
• Pontavert on the Aisne west of Berry-au-Bac: 49 ° 24 ′ 12.2 ″  N , 3 ° 49 ′ 13.5 ″  E
• Roucy southwest of Pontavert: 49 ° 22 ′ 17.1 ″  N , 3 ° 48 ′ 52.8 ″  E
• Cormicy, south of Berry-au-Bac: 49 ° 22 ′ 18.7 "  N , 3 ° 53 ′ 50.1"  E
• The place Fismes on the Vesle, halfway between Soissons and Reims: 49 ° 18 ′  N , 3 ° 41 ′  E
• Mont-Saint-Martin south of Fismes: 49 ° 16 ′ 55.3 "  N , 3 ° 38 ′ 21.5"  E
• The transition between Coulandon and Magneux over the Vesle: 49 ° 18 ′ 42.1 ″  N , 3 ° 44 ′ 6.6 ″  E
• Oulchy-le-Château north of the Ourcq: 49 ° 12 ′  N , 3 ° 22 ′  E
• Fère-en-Tardenois north of the Marne: 49 ° 12 ′ 4.4 ″  N , 3 ° 30 ′ 48.2 ″  E
• Château-Thierry on the Marne: 49 ° 2 ′  N , 3 ° 24 ′  E

Supplements and individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} cf. Houssaye
2. ↑ cf. Houssaye
3. ↑ after Houssaye
4. ↑ this battalion later escaped to Châlons
5. ↑ cf. Houssaye, Mikhailofsky-Danilefsky, Damitz, Koch
6. ↑ See Damitz, Plotho, Sporschil, Marmont.
7. ↑ cf. Sporschil, Damitz, Koch
8. ↑ cf. Marmont, Chandler, Dictionary ...

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