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Battle of Montmirail 1814

The battle of Montmirail in 1814, by Horace Vernet
Image: Horace Vernet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date11 February 1814Wikidata
Year1814Wikidata P585 (point in time)
Era19th century (1800–1913)derived from year
LocationFranceNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentEuropeNatural Earth
War / conflictGerman campaign of 1813Wikidata P361
ParticipantsFirst French EmpireWikidata P710
Coordinates48.8958, 3.4807Wikidata P625

About the battle

The Battle of Montmirail (11 February 1814) was fought between a French force led by Emperor Napoleon and two Allied corps commanded by Fabian Wilhelm von Osten-Sacken and Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg. In hard fighting that lasted until evening, French troops including the Imperial Guard defeated Sacken's Russian soldiers and compelled them to retreat to the north. Part of Yorck's Prussian I Corps tried to intervene in the struggle but it was also driven off. The battle occurred near Montmirail, France, during the Six Days Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. Montmirail is located 51 kilometres (32 mi) east of Meaux.

After Napoleon crushed Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev's small isolated corps in the Battle of Champaubert on 10 February, he found himself in the midst of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher's widely-spread Army of Silesia. Leaving a small force in the east to watch Blücher, Napoleon turned the bulk of his army to the west in an attempt to destroy Sacken. Unaware of the size of Napoleon's army, Sacken tried to smash his way east to join Blücher. The Russians managed to hold their ground for several hours, but were forced back as more and more French soldiers appeared on the battlefield.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Montmirail (revision 1370331339), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

48.8958, 3.4807 · France

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Nearby battles

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Browse more: battles in France · Europe · 19th century battles

Further reading