Battle of Reims (1814)

Battle of Reims

"The Last Victory", by Maurice Orange, 1814.

Date	12–13 March 1814
Location	Reims, France
Result	French victory

Belligerents

French Empire

Russian Empire

Kingdom of Prussia

Commanders and leaders

Napoleon I

E. de Saint-Priest †

Friedrich von Jagow

Strength

20,000–25,000

7,800

5,600

Casualties and losses

12 March:

1,200–2,500, 11 guns
13 March:

700–900

12 March: unknown
13 March:

1,400, 12 guns

1,300, 10 guns

The Battle of Reims (12–13 March 1814) was fought at Reims, France between an Imperial French army commanded by Emperor Napoleon and a combined Russian-Prussian corps led by General Emmanuel de Saint-Priest. On the first day, Saint-Priest's Russians and General Friedrich Wilhelm von Jagow's Prussians easily captured Reims from its French National Guard garrison, capturing or killing more than half of its defenders. On the second day, an overconfident Saint-Priest carelessly deployed his forces west of the city, not grasping that Napoleon was approaching with 20,000 troops. Too late, Saint-Priest realized who he was fighting and tried to organize a retreat. In the battle that followed, the French army struck with crushing force and the Allies were routed with serious losses. During the fighting, Saint-Priest was struck by a howitzer shell and died two weeks later.

On 9–10 March 1814, a 100,000-strong Allied army led by Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher defeated Emperor Napoleon's 39,000-man Imperial French army in the Battle of Laon. The French lost 4,000 killed and wounded plus 2,500 men, 45 guns and 130 caissons captured. The Allies admitted only 744 casualties. Another source stated that the Allies sustained 4,000 casualties while inflicting 7,500 on the French. Early on the second day, Blücher was so ill with an eye infection that he temporarily handed over command to his chief of staff August Neidhardt von Gneisenau. Though Blücher had issued orders to attack the French that day, the new commander cancelled them. Consequently, Napoleon was able to disengage his battered army and withdraw almost unmolested to Soissons. Without Blücher's guiding hand, the Allied corps commanders began to clash with one another. Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg tried to resign his corps command and was only persuaded to remain by Blücher.

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