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The Battle of Montmirail was fought on the 11th of February 1814, the very next day after Napoleon's victory at Champaubert. It was fought by Napoleon to capitilise on the victory he had won over General Olsuffiev's Russian corps the previous day and by moving quickly, to retain the initiatve he had won by placing himself astride the Army of Silesia's communications.

Prelude

After his destruction of General Olsuffiev's Russian corps at the Battle of Champaubert , Napoleon now occupied the perfect 'Central Position' and was ideally placed to move either against General's Yorck and Sacken to the west who were chasing Marshal Macdonald, or to move against Marshal Blucher, the 'Old Forward' himself, who lie to his other side to the east

Napoleon chose to move against Sacken's Russian corps and Yorck's Prussians in the west, since he surmised that if he dashed at Blucher, the old Prussian would merely withdraw before him upon his supply lines and his blow would fall upon empty air, whilst Sacken and Yorck meanwhile would simply make good their escape over the River Marne. In that event, his initiative he had won would be lost.

" I shall march to defeat Sacken at Montmirail tommorow," Napoleon confided. Therefore, having made his decision to eliminate the enemy forces lying west, Napoleon ordered Marshal Marmont with 4, 000 men to stay put at Champaubert to watch Blucher. To Macdonald, retreating towards Meaux, he instructed to hold fast and to resume the offensive, moving to capture Chateau Thierry and deny the enemy an escape route over the Marne. Sending orders to both Oudinot and Mortier to be ready to march to the sound of the guns, Napoleon then led the rest of his army through the night and the deep mud to Montmirail.

Blucher meanwhile had recoiled backwards, sending out orders to both Sacken and Yorck to concentrate as soon as possible at Montmirail in order to attempt to force a way through Napoleon's forces and reestablish contact with him.

Sacken, with 18,000 men and 90 guns, obeying Blucher's orders to the letter was retracing his steps back to Montmirail, as rain fell from a heavy, dark sky. By 10:30 am on the 11th, he reached the village of Viels-Maison,s, six miles west of Montmirail and his cavalry advance guard was able to confirm that Montmirail lying ahead was held by the French. Still perservering eastwards and hoping to link up with Yorck's Prussians, Sacken ran into ever increasing resistance as his army approached the village of Marchais and it was evident a major battle would have to be fought in order to fight his way through.

Napoleon, owing to the attrocious weather which had made movement over the countryside difficult, had just 10,500 troops with him and 36 guns with which to halt Sacken's thrust eastwards. He knew he was taking a very large gamble against such odds, for he was outnumbered by almost 8,000 men. In addition, should Yorck march to the sound of the guns as he expected him too, the odds would likely tip decisively in the Allies favour. He hoped that Mortier would arrive in time with reinforcements to readress the balance, but owing to the weather he was still doubtful if they could arrive in time. A defeat for Napoleon could not be discounted at this time, but with France in the hour of crisis, there was a need for decisive action.

Battle

Napoleon, owing to the attrocious weather which had made movement over the countryside difficult, had just 10,500 troops with him and 36 guns with which to halt Sacken's thrust eastwards. He knew he was taking a very large gamble against such odds, for he was outnumbered by almost 8,000 men. In addition, should Yorck march to the sound of the guns as he expected him too, the odds would likely tip decisively in the Allies favour. He hoped that Mortier would arrive in time with reinforcements to readress the balance, but owing to the weather he was still doubtful if they could arrive in time.

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