Battle of Brienne 1814
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 29 January 1814 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1814 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | German campaign of 1813 | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 48.3914, 4.5208 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Brienne (29 January 1814) saw an Imperial French army led by Emperor Napoleon attack Prussian and Russian forces commanded by Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. After heavy fighting that went on into the night, the French seized a château, nearly capturing Blücher. However, the French were unable to dislodge the Russians from the town of Brienne-le-Château. Napoleon himself, making his first appearance on a battlefield in 1814, was also nearly captured. Very early the next morning, Blücher's troops quietly abandoned the town and retreated to the south, conceding the field to the French.
In late December 1813, two Allied armies initially numbering 300,000 men smashed through France's weak defenses and moved west. By late January, Napoleon personally took the field to lead his armies. The French emperor hoped to cripple Blücher's army before it could combine with the main Allied army under Austrian field marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg. Napoleon's gamble failed, and Blücher escaped to join Schwarzenberg. Three days later, the two Allied armies combined their 120,000 men and attacked Napoleon in the Battle of La Rothière.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Brienne (revision 1370108181), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of La Rothière 1814 · 6 km
- First Battle of Bar-sur-Aube 1814 · 20 km
- Battle of Bar-sur-Aube 1814 · 22 km
- Battle of Laubressel 1814 · 25 km
- Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube 1814 · 32 km
- Siege of Saint-Dizier 1544 · 42 km
Other battles of the German campaign of 1813
- Battle of Leipzig 1813
- Battle of Lützen (1813) 1813
- Battle of Möckern 1813
- Battle of the Göhrde 1813
- Battle of the Katzbach 1813
- Battle of Bar-sur-Aube 1814
- Battle of Champaubert 1814
- Battle of Château-Thierry (1814) 1814
- Battle of Craonne 1814
- Battle of Fère-Champenoise 1814
All 20 battles of the German campaign of 1813 →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · 19th century battles