Editing Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube (section)

== Background ==
{{Main|Campaign in north-east France (1814)}}

=== Operations in the north ===
At the end of February 1814, Napoleon discovered that the Allied armies of Schwarzenberg and Blücher had separated and that Blücher's army was making a lunge at Paris with 53,000 soldiers.{{sfn|Chandler|1966|p=984}} Only 10,000 men under Marshals [[Auguste de Marmont]] and [[Édouard Mortier]] stood in Blücher's path. The French emperor left 42,000 troops under marshals MacDonald and [[Nicolas Oudinot]] to contain Schwarzenberg's main army and headed northwest with 35,000 soldiers to deal with the Prussian field marshal.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=101}} Marmont and Mortier repulsed Blücher in the [[Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes]] on 28 February.{{sfn|Smith|1998|p=505}} However, Napoleon failed to catch Blücher who slipped out of the trap. At this time, the French emperor adopted a plan to first drive Blücher far away to the north, then to gather up the French frontier garrisons and finally to swoop down on Schwarzenberg's supply line to Germany.{{sfn|Petre|1994|pp=106–107}}

As Napoleon's 48,000-man army chased Blücher's army to the north, the Allies absorbed many reinforcements. These were led by Russian general [[Ferdinand von Wintzingerode]] and Prussian general [[Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow]]. The French emperor believed that his opponent had 70,000 soldiers, but in fact, Blücher's army numbered 110,000.{{sfn|Petre|1994|pp=115–116}} On 7 March, Napoleon fought against [[Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov]]'s Russians in the [[Battle of Craonne]]{{sfn|Smith|1998|pp=507–508}} which one authority called a French [[Pyrrhic victory]].{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=131}} On 9–10 March Blücher defeated Napoleon's much weaker army in the [[Battle of Laon]]. Marmont's corps was routed, but Napoleon bluffed the Allies into not pursuing his beaten army.{{sfn|Smith|1998|p=510}} On 12 March an Allied corps under [[Emmanuel de Saint-Priest]] seized [[Reims]] from its French garrison. Napoleon immediately ordered his army to march to that city{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=148}} where he won the [[Battle of Reims (1814)|Battle of Reims]] the next day. Saint-Priest was mortally wounded and his corps routed with a loss of 3,000 men and 23 guns.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=150}}

=== Napoleon strikes south ===
[[File:EB1911-19-0232-a-Napolonic Campaigns, Campaign of 1814.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|alt=Black and yellow map of the Campaign of 1814 in 1:2,000,000 scale|Arcis-sur-Aube is shown north of Troyes at map center.]]

Napoleon spent three days resting his troops at Reims while Marshal [[Michel Ney]] reoccupied [[Châlons-sur-Marne]]. Ney was joined by a 3,000-man division that [[Jan Willem Janssens]] brought in from the [[Ardennes]] garrisons. The French emperor desired to move east to gather up other garrisons, but Schwarzenberg's offensive to the south compelled him to march in that direction. While Napoleon operated against Blücher in the north, the main Allied army pressed MacDonald back toward Paris.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=153}} On 27 February, Schwarzenberg defeated Oudinot in the [[Battle of Bar-sur-Aube]],{{sfn|Smith|1998|p=500}} forcing MacDonald to withdraw to the west.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=158}} The Allies overpowered MacDonald on 3–4 March at the [[Battle of Laubressel]].{{sfn|Smith|1998|pp=506–507}} Schwarzenberg occupied Troyes but halted there until 12 March in a welter of indecision.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=158}} Encouraged by news of Blucher's victory at Laon, the main Allied army crossed the River [[Seine]] and drove MacDonald beyond [[Provins]] by 16 March. Schwarzenberg's offensive came to a sudden halt when tidings of Napoleon's success at Reims arrived in the Allied camp.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=159}}

Napoleon decided to move against Schwarzenberg with 24,000 soldiers plus reinforcements, while Marmont and Mortier with 21,000 troops observed Blücher's army. The French emperor determined to march toward Arcis-sur-Aube, hoping to reach Troyes in the rear of the Allied main army.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=156}} On 17 March Schwarzenberg withdrew his army toward the area between Troyes and Arcis. The following day, Napoleon's advance guards drove Schwarzenberg's cavalry south toward Arcis, creating alarm among the Allied leaders. The Austro-Bavarian V Corps under [[Karl Philipp von Wrede]] was ordered to hold Arcis until the remainder of Schwarzenberg's army could retreat east from Troyes to [[Bar-sur-Aube]]. In the afternoon of 19 March, the French began to cross the River [[Aube (river)|Aube]] at [[Plancy-l'Abbaye]]. A cavalry division under [[Louis-Michel Letort de Lorville]] continued southwest to [[Méry-sur-Seine]] where it captured an Allied [[pontoon bridge|pontoon train]]. The French cavalry divisions of [[Remi Joseph Isidore Exelmans]] and [[Pierre David de Colbert-Chabanais]] moved east on the south bank of the Aube from Plancy to [[Pouan-les-Vallées]], halfway to Arcis.{{sfn|Petre|1994|pp=160–163}}

Schwarzenberg interpreted this information as an indication that Napoleon's main thrust was along the axis Plancy-Méry-Troyes. Believing that his communications were no longer threatened, he determined in the evening of 19 March to mass his army between Troyes and Arcis with the intention of advancing against the French. The Austrian army commander ordered Crown Prince [[William I of Württemberg|William of Württemberg]] to assume command of the Allied III, IV and VI Corps and move to [[Charmont-sous-Barbuise]], midway between Arcis and Troyes. The Guards and Reserve under [[Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly]] were directed to cross from the north to the south bank of the Aube and take a position at [[Mesnil-Lettre]]. On this day, MacDonald's army was moving east along the north bank of the Seine with its leading elements at [[Pont-sur-Seine]].{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=164}}

Napoleon believed that Schwarzenberg was in full retreat east to Bar-sur-Aube. In order to hurry the main Allied army on its way, the French emperor decided to move east on both the north and south banks of the Aube to seize Arcis. Once he gave the Allies a good shove, Napoleon planned to take the French army across the [[Marne (river)|Marne]] at [[Vitry-le-François]], march east and add the eastern garrisons to his army. The French emperor planned to add MacDonald's 30,000 troops and Marmont's 20,000 men to his army while on the march. Napoleon's assessment of the situation was correct until Schwarzenberg decided to assume the offensive late on 19 March.{{sfn|Petre|1994|pp=165–166}}