VI Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée)
| VI Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée) | |
|---|---|
| Active | February to April 1814 |
| Country |
 First French Empire
|
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Army Corps |
| Size | Corps |
| Engagements | Napoleonic Wars |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
François Étienne de Kellermann |
The VI Cavalry Corps of the Grande Armée was the name of a French military formation that had an ephemeral existence during the Napoleonic Wars. The corps was created on 9 February 1814 and François Étienne de Kellermann was appointed as its commander. The corps was formed by combining a newly arrived dragoon division from the Spanish front, a second dragoon division and a light cavalry division made up of hussars and chasseurs à cheval. The latter two divisions included units from the former III Cavalry Corps. Kellermann led the VI Cavalry Corps in actions at Mormant, Troyes, Second Bar-sur-Aube, Laubressel and Saint-Dizier. After Emperor Napoleon abdicated in early April 1814, the corps ceased to exist.
On 1 February 1814, 80,000 Coalition troops led by Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher defeated 45,000 French soldiers led by Napoleon. The Coalition sustained 6,000–7,000 casualties while the French lost 5,600 men and 73 artillery pieces. After the battle, the French army retreated to Nogent-sur-Seine, where Napoleon reorganized his cavalry into the I Cavalry, II Cavalry, V Cavalry and VI Cavalry Corps, an independent division led by Jean-Marie Defrance and three divisions of Imperial Guard cavalry. François Étienne de Kellermann was appointed commander of VI Cavalry Corps, which was to include cavalry under Anne-François-Charles Trelliard that transferred from the Spanish front. The necessary orders were issued on 9 February, but the organization of Kellermann's corps was not fully carried out until 20 February. In July 1813 during the Battle of the Pyrenees, Trelliard's 2,300-strong division consisted of the 4th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 21st and 26th Dragoon Regiments. After the Battle of the Nive in December 1813, all of Trelliard's dragoons and some of Pierre Benoît Soult's cavalry were transferred from the Spanish frontier to the Campaign in northeast France.
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