Editing Battle of Brienne (section)

===Forces===
{{main|Battle of La Rothière order of battle}}
[[File:PetreMap-28-Jan-1814.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|alt=Campaign map 28 January 1814|Positions, evening 28 January 1814]]
On 28 January, Napoleon advanced toward Brienne in three columns. [[Étienne Maurice Gérard]]'s right column marched south from [[Vitry-le-François]] and included the infantry divisions of [[Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard]] (of VI Corps) and [[Georges Joseph Dufour]] plus Cyrille Simon Picquet's cavalry. The center column was made up of the Imperial Guard and marched southwest from Saint-Dizier through [[Montier-en-Der]]. The left column, consisting of Victor and Milhaud, marched south to [[Wassy]] before turning west to join the center column at Montier-en-Der. Marmont was left with [[Joseph Lagrange (soldier)|Joseph Lagrange's]] infantry division and the I Cavalry Corps near [[Bar-le-Duc]] to hold off [[Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg]]'s Prussian I Corps. Napoleon sent messages to Mortier at Troyes, [[Étienne Tardif de Pommeroux de Bordesoulle]] at [[Arcis-sur-Aube]] and [[Pierre David de Colbert-Chabanais]] at [[Nogent-sur-Seine]] to cooperate with his plan. Russian [[Cossacks]] captured all three couriers and delivered their dispatches to Blücher. By the morning of 29 January, the Prussian field marshal was aware that Napoleon had gotten between him and Yorck and was approaching him from the northeast with 30,000–40,000 soldiers.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=19}}

The roads were in poor condition because of a thaw, but Napoleon's soldiers managed to slog through the mud to reach Montier-en-Der and Wassy by nightfall on 28 January. Blücher was in Brienne with [[Zakhar Dmitrievich Olsufiev]]'s infantry corps while [[Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken]]'s Russian [[army corps]] was farther west at [[Lesmont]]. The Allied VI Corps under [[Peter Wittgenstein]] was approaching [[Joinville, Haute-Marne|Joinville]] but its cavalry under [[Pyotr Petrovich Palen|Peter Petrovich Pahlen]] reached Brienne. Schwarzenberg's headquarters was located at [[Chaumont, Haute-Marne|Chaumont]]. The Allied V Corps under [[Karl Philipp von Wrede]] was between Chaumont and Saint-Dizier.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=20}} The Allied III Corps under [[Ignaz Gyulai]] and the IV Corps under [[William I of Württemberg|Crownprince Frederick William of Württemberg]] were near [[Bar-sur-Aube]]. The Allied I Corps under [[Hieronymus Karl Graf von Colloredo-Mansfeld]] was well to the south at [[Châtillon-sur-Seine]] and the Reserve under [[Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly]] was marching from Langres to Chaumont.{{sfn|Petre|1994|p=21}}