Battle of Champaubert
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Champaubert (now Giffaumont-Champaubert
) was the opening engagement of the Six Days Campaign
. It was fought on February 10, 1814 by a French force under Napoleon I
against Russian
s and Prussians
under General Olssufiev. The battle was a French
victory.
The battle of Champaubert was one of the few times during the War of the Sixth Coalition that France was able to take to the field with a considerable numerical advantage.
Napoleon Bonaparte moved against an over-extended Prussian army in the hope of whittling it down by a series of battles. On 10 February, he caught General Olssufiev's five thousand Russians just south of Champaubert, a town located in the valley of the Marne, east of Paris.
French strength consisted of 30,000 hungry and tired men, including many raw conscripts, and 120 cannons. The French, nonetheless, enjoyed a six-to-one advantage. They were commanded in the field by the marshal, Auguste Marmont
, under the direction of Napoleon himself.
Badly outnumbered, Olssufiev decided to fight rather than retreat. His decision was based on the mistaken hope that he would get reinforcements from Field Marshal Blücher in time to prevent a disaster. He was wrong, and Marmont crushed him.
After five hours of fighting, the Russians were surrounded by French cavalry. They suffered three thousand killed, wounded, and captured. One of the prisoners was Olsufiev himself, who dined that very evening with Napoleon.
The French lost about three hundred men, among whom was General Lagrange.
Historian Digby Smith
wrote that the French lost 600 killed and wounded out of the 13,300 infantry and 1,700 cavalry that were engaged in the action. The Russians lost 2,400 men and nine guns out of the 3,700 soldiers and 24 guns that were present. Captured were General-Leutnant Olssufiev and General-major Poltaratzky, who led a brigade. The second brigade under General-major Kornieloff fought its way out.
Giffaumont-Champaubert
Giffaumont-Champaubert is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France....
) was the opening engagement of the Six Days Campaign
Six Days Campaign
The Six Days Campaign was a final series of victories by the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte as the Sixth Coalition closed in on Paris....
. It was fought on February 10, 1814 by a French force under Napoleon I
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
against Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
s and Prussians
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
under General Olssufiev. The battle was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
victory.
The battle of Champaubert was one of the few times during the War of the Sixth Coalition that France was able to take to the field with a considerable numerical advantage.
Napoleon Bonaparte moved against an over-extended Prussian army in the hope of whittling it down by a series of battles. On 10 February, he caught General Olssufiev's five thousand Russians just south of Champaubert, a town located in the valley of the Marne, east of Paris.
French strength consisted of 30,000 hungry and tired men, including many raw conscripts, and 120 cannons. The French, nonetheless, enjoyed a six-to-one advantage. They were commanded in the field by the marshal, Auguste Marmont
Auguste Marmont
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, 1st Duke of Ragusa was a French General, nobleman and Marshal of France.-Biography:...
, under the direction of Napoleon himself.
Badly outnumbered, Olssufiev decided to fight rather than retreat. His decision was based on the mistaken hope that he would get reinforcements from Field Marshal Blücher in time to prevent a disaster. He was wrong, and Marmont crushed him.
After five hours of fighting, the Russians were surrounded by French cavalry. They suffered three thousand killed, wounded, and captured. One of the prisoners was Olsufiev himself, who dined that very evening with Napoleon.
The French lost about three hundred men, among whom was General Lagrange.
Historian Digby Smith
Digby Smith
Digby Smith is a British military historian. The son of a British career soldier, he was born in Hampshire, England, but spent several years in India and Pakistan as a child and youth. As a "boy soldier," he entered training in the British Army at the age of 16...
wrote that the French lost 600 killed and wounded out of the 13,300 infantry and 1,700 cavalry that were engaged in the action. The Russians lost 2,400 men and nine guns out of the 3,700 soldiers and 24 guns that were present. Captured were General-Leutnant Olssufiev and General-major Poltaratzky, who led a brigade. The second brigade under General-major Kornieloff fought its way out.