Editing Battle of Champaubert (section)

==Prelude==

===Allied pursuit===
On 1 February 1814, Prussian field marshal [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher]] with 80,000 Allied troops from his own Army of Silesia and Austrian field marshal [[Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg]]'s [[Army of Bohemia]] defeated [[Napoleon]] and 45,000 French soldiers in the [[Battle of La Rothière]]. This setback seriously shook the French army's morale.{{sfn|Smith|1998|pp=491–493}} Each side suffered about 6,000 casualties but the Allies captured 50–60 artillery pieces. The Allies were delighted by their victory, though it might have been more complete if all their reserves had been committed to the battle.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=37}} At this time, the Allied generals made the questionable decision to separate their armies. Blücher's army would advance from [[Châlons-sur-Marne]] toward Meaux while Schwarzenberg's army operated on a more southerly route from [[Troyes]] toward [[Paris]].{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=43}}

On 3 February, Napoleon's army reached Troyes after completely breaking contact with the Allies the previous day. On 4 February, Schwarzenberg wrote his colleague Blücher that he was moving farther south in order to turn Napoleon's right flank.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=44}} The next day, Russian General [[Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly]] ordered Alexander Nikitich Seslavin's scouting force from Schwarzenberg's right flank to the left flank without notifying Blücher. Since the Prussian field marshal did not have a liaison officer with Seslavin's force he did not realize that no one was watching for French forces in the space on his left flank. Also on 5 February, Napoleon decided to abandon Troyes and fall back to [[Nogent-sur-Seine]]. He planned to contain Schwarzenberg with part of his army while attacking Blücher.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=46}}

[[File:Blücher (nach Gebauer).jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|alt=Painting of a white-haired, mustachioed man with a stern expression. He wears a dark blue military uniform with a large iron cross at his neck.|Gebhard von Blücher]]

Having prepared for a grand assault on Troyes, Schwarzenberg found the place empty of French troops on 7 February. He decided to let his troops rest for the next two days.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=47}} Meanwhile, Napoleon reorganized his cavalry into the [[I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée)|I Cavalry Corps]] under [[Étienne Tardif de Pommeroux de Bordesoulle]], [[II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée)|II Cavalry Corps]] led by [[Antoine-Louis Decrest de Saint-Germain]], [[V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée)|V Cavalry Corps]] commanded by [[Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud]], [[VI Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée)|VI Cavalry Corps]] directed by [[François Etienne de Kellermann]] and an independent division under [[Jean-Marie Defrance]]. The French emperor created a new [[VII Corps (Grande Armée)|VII Corps]] from two divisions transferred from the Spanish front and put Marshal [[Nicolas Oudinot]] in charge.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=52}}

At the end of January a 10,000–11,000-man French corps under Marshal [[Jacques MacDonald]] approached from the north.{{sfn|Petre|1994|pp=17–18}} Supposing that Schwarzenberg's maneuvers would draw Napoleon away from his Army of Silesia, Blücher focused on destroying MacDonald's corps. During the first week of February, the Prussian field marshal ordered [[Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg]]'s corps to pursue MacDonald along the main highway in the [[Marne (river)|Marne River]] valley. Hoping to trap the French corps, Blücher sent [[Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken]]'s corps along the more direct road through [[Montmirail, Marne|Montmirail]] and [[La Ferté-sous-Jouarre]]. Trying to accomplish two strategic goals at once, the Prussian army commander hung back to allow the newly arrived corps of [[Peter Mikhailovich Kaptzevich]] and [[Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf|Friedrich von Kleist]] to catch up with him. Blücher utilized [[Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev]]'s small corps to link the two parts of his army.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=94}}

On 8 February, Sacken's cavalry reached [[Viels-Maisons]] while his infantry was to the east at Montmirail. Olsufiev's corps was {{convert|12|mi|km|0}} farther east at [[Étoges]] while Blücher established his headquarters another {{convert|9|mi|km|0}} east at [[Vertus]]. Kaptzevich and Kleist were {{convert|16|mi|km|0}} east of their army commander in Châlons-sur-Marne. Yorck's corps was in the Marne valley at least {{convert|12|mi|km|0}} to the north, separated by bad roads. The Army of Silesia was now spread across a front of {{convert|44|mi|km|0}}. Blucher assumed that Seslavin would report any danger coming from the south. That night, when his [[Don Cossacks|Cossacks]] were driven out of [[Sézanne]], Sacken did not bother to report the incident to Blücher. In fact, it was Napoleon's leading corps under Marshal [[Auguste de Marmont]].{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=55}}

===French offensive===
[[File:Campaign of 1814 Map 10 Feb.png|thumb|right|upright=2.1|alt=Black and yellow map of the Campaign of 1814 in 1:2,000,000 scale with troop positions added|Napoleon attacks Olsufiev's isolated corps on 10 February 1814.]]

Napoleon left 39,000 troops to contain Schwarzenberg's Army of Bohemia. The formations were Oudinot's VII Corps, Marshal [[Claude Perrin Victor]]'s [[II Corps (Grande Armée)|II Corps]], [[Étienne Maurice Gérard]]'s Reserve of Paris, [[Henri Rottembourg]]'s Young Guard infantry division, Milhaud's V Cavalry Corps and smaller units. Napoleon's striking force numbered about 20,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 horsemen.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=53}} Another authority agreed that the French army numbered 30,000 men and added that it was supported by 120 guns.{{sfn|Chandler|1979|p=87}} The army was formed by Marshal [[Michel Ney]]'s two Young Guard infantry divisions, Marmont's [[VI Corps (Grande Armée)|VI Corps]], part of the [[Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)|Imperial Guard]] cavalry, I Cavalry Corps and Defrance's cavalry division. Bringing up the rear at Nogent was Marshal [[Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise]] with two Old Guard infantry divisions.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=53}}

On 9 February, MacDonald slipped across the Marne at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, just ahead of Sacken.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=55}} That day, Kaptzevich and Kleist rendezvoused with Blücher at Vertus, Olsufiev marched west to [[Champaubert]], Sacken reached La Ferté-sous-Jouarre and Yorck was at [[Château-Thierry]]. According to [[Karl Freiherr von Müffling]] of Blücher's staff, the Army of Silesia counted 57,000 men, including Sacken's 20,000, Yorck's 18,000 and Kaptzevich, Olsufiev and Kleist with a combined 19,000. Marmont's cavalry advance guard appeared at [[Talus-Saint-Prix]] on the [[Petit Morin]] River. Because the horsemen soon withdrew, Blücher's [[chief of staff]] [[August Neidhardt von Gneisenau]] believed they represented no danger. When Schwarzenberg asked the Prussian field marshal to support his right flank corps under [[Peter Wittgenstein]], Blücher ordered Kaptzevich and Kleist to march southwest to Sézanne the next day. Olsufiev was ordered to march south from Champaubert. That night, Blücher finally received news that Napoleon was at Sézanne.{{sfn|Petre|1994|pp=56–57}} Nevertheless, Gneisenau authorized Sacken to continue the pursuit of MacDonald to the west.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=58}}

Napoleon's soldiers plodded along roads deep in mud from days of rain. The men had to suffer hunger pangs when the provision wagons failed to turn up. The bogged artillery was only brought forward when the rural inhabitants in large numbers helped haul the guns through the mud. At first the French population had resigned itself to the Allied invasion, but after suffering at the hands of the Russians and Prussians, the people were eager to assist the army.{{sfn|Chandler|1966|p=969}} On 10 February, as Blücher accompanied the column of Kaptzevich and Kleist while it marched toward Sézanne, the sound of artillery began to rumble ominously to the right near Champaubert.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=58}}