Battle of Laubressel
Battle of Laubressel | |||||||
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Part of the Campaign of France of the Sixth Coalition | |||||||
The battle of Laubressel, near Troyes | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
France |
Austria Bavaria Russia Württemberg | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Karl von Schwarzenberg Karl Philipp von Wrede Peter Wittgenstein Prince of Württemberg | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
20,000[1] | 32,000-50,000[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
3,000[1] killed, wounded, or captured 7–11 guns lost | 1,000[1]–1,500 killed, wounded, or captured | ||||||
The Battle of Laubressel (3 March 1814) saw the main Allied army of
After the French victory at the Battle of Montereau on 18 February, Schwarzenberg's army withdrew behind the river Aube. When Napoleon moved north against Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher's Army of Silesia, he left MacDonald and Oudinot to watch Schwarzenberg's army. After beating Oudinot at the Battle of Bar-sur-Aube, the Allies pressed the French back toward Troyes. At Laubressel, the Allies overpowered Oudinot's left wing. The Allies slowly pursued MacDonald's army, pressing it back to Provins before news of a victory by Napoleon brought Schwarzenberg's advance to a halt.
Background
French advance
On 18 February 1814,
At Troyes, Schwarzenberg's 90,000 troops and Blücher's 50,000 faced about 75,000 soldiers under Napoleon. Though he outnumbered the French emperor by nearly two-to-one, Schwarzenberg's intelligence services consistently overestimated enemy strength. His troops had worn-out uniforms and were short of food in an area that had been stripped of supplies by both armies. On 22 February the French probed the Allied positions from Méry to Troyes. Marshal
Disappointed that his Austrian colleague refused to give battle, Blücher asked for and received permission to operate independently. He hoped to rendezvous with two corps under
In its withdrawal, Schwarzenberg's main body passed through
Allied counteroffensive
Napoleon ordered MacDonald to take command of 42,000 troops opposing Schwarzenberg by defending behind the
The Austrian commander quickly guessed that Napoleon was not in front of him. On 27 February, Schwarzenberg defeated Oudinot in the Battle of Bar-sur-Aube when the French marshal deployed his troops in an exposed position on the east bank of the Aube. Though Oudinot was slightly superior in numbers, he was caught with most of his artillery and half his cavalry on the west bank of the river and brought only 18,000 troops into action, suffering 3,500 casualties.[9] Another authority stated that the French lost 2,600 killed and wounded and 500 men and two guns captured. The Allies sustained 1,250 Russian, 400 Bavarian and 250 Austrian casualties.[4]
The day after his defeat, Oudinot withdrew his troops to Vendœuvres, weakly pursued by the Allies. Unaware of Oudinot's setback, MacDonald advanced to
Feeling less anxious about his enemies, Schwarzenberg ordered an advance on Troyes for 2 March. That day, finding Gérard's troops holding the Guillotière Bridge, Pahlen moved north through the villages of
Battle
On 3 March at 1:00 pm, Schwarzenberg planned to launch a major attack on his adversaries from three sides. He ordered Wrede's corps to attack west down the highway from Vendœuvres to Troyes and to occupy the
In the morning, Wrede's corps was led by Anton von Rechberg's Bavarian division and Anton Leonhard von Hardegg's Austrian division. The rest of his troops were at Vendœuvres with orders to move through Montiéramey. Wittgenstein's infantry began marching from Piney toward Laubressel, via the villages of Rouilly-Sacey and Mesnil-Sellières. They were preceded by Pahlen's advanced guard which quickly bumped into Rottembourg's French troops.[13] Pahlen's infantry, supported by one cuirassier, one uhlan and one hussar regiment plus four field guns, began skirmishing with Rottembourg's troops. The rest of his cavalry circled to the north through Bouranton in an attempt to envelop the French left flank. Pahlen's cavalry reached the unguarded village of Thennelières in the French rear where it attacked a weakly escorted artillery park. Saint-Germain's cavalry appeared and recaptured most of the park but not before the Russian horsemen carried off 200 prisoners. Saint-Germain pushed Pahlen's cavalry back beyond Bouranton. Kellermann's corps moved up to Saint-Parres-aux-Tertres to replace the II Cavalry Corps.[14]
At 3:00 pm Wittgenstein launched a two-pronged attack after he heard Wrede's guns begin bombarding the French positions. On the right, Duke Eugen of Württemberg led the Russian II Infantry Corps against Bouranton while on the left Andrei Ivanovich Gorchakov led the I Infantry Corps against Laubressel. The attack consisted of battalion columns led by skirmishers and well-supported by artillery. Eugen's 3rd Division easily took Bouranton and moved toward Thennelière, only to be counterattacked by Kellermann's cavalry, which had joined the fighting. Eugen's 4th Division had difficulty fighting its way up the vineyard-covered Laubressel slopes. After reaching the crest, the 4th Division had to withstand attacks by Saint-Germain's cavalry. Rottembourg's infantry were only supported by six artillery pieces and suffered losses from the 32 Russian field guns deployed against them.[14]
Wrede sent four or five Bavarian battalions across the Barce near Courteranges. They moved through the woods to link up with Wittgenstein's Russians. With the Russians pushing Rottembourg off the Laubressel plateau, Oudinot issued orders to retreat. Gorchakov's advance had been slowed by the presence of 20 French cavalry squadrons, but now the Russian Kaluga Regiment launched an assault without orders. With King Frederick William III of Prussia watching, they took the heights in a rush. At the same time Antoine Alexandre de Bélair's brigade of the II Corps 2nd Division was hit by two Russian regiments in front and two more from the flank. Bélair's brigade dissolved and fled to the rear.[15]
Seeing his flank turned, Gérard gave instructions for a retreat. Apparently Jarry was acting commander of the II Corps 2nd Division, because he and Rottembourg joined their divisions and made an orderly withdrawal after abandoning Laubressel. Their movement was supported by cavalry and artillery. Wrede chose this moment to directly assault the Guillotière Bridge with four Bavarian battalions while shifting other troops to his left. In the confusion, Duhesme missed the first orders to pull back and was nearly surrounded by enemies when Gérard sent them a second time. Hounded by the Austrian Knesevich Dragoons Nr. 3 and the Szekler Hussars Nr. 11, Duhesme's troops nevertheless fought their way back to Saint-Parres-aux-Tertres after suffering 400 casualties and losing two guns. The Crown Prince remained inactive on the left, allowing Molitor's XI Corps and Milhaud's cavalry to fall back without interference.[15]
Results
One source gave French losses as 2,600 killed and wounded and 460 captured while the Russians lost 1,200 and the Bavarians 300. Another source stated the Allies captured 1,500 French soldiers and seven guns, while sustaining about 1,000 casualties.[15] A third source estimated that the French lost 1,000 killed and wounded plus 2,000 soldiers and 11 guns captured out of 20,000 troops engaged. The Allies lost 1,000 killed and wounded out of 32,000 troops engaged.[16] MacDonald, who was sick, had only 21,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry to face the much larger Allied army. He determined to retreat in a deliberate manner so that his wagon trains could keep up.[17]
Anxious that Napoleon might suddenly show up, Schwarzenberg ordered Wittgenstein and Wrede to attack the city at once. Gérard held out on the east bank of the Seine until 11:00 am when he withdrew into Troyes. The Allies fought their way into the suburbs but were stopped at the city walls.[17] They brought up howitzers and began shelling Troyes. During a lull in the bombardment the French garrison slipped out and joined MacDonald's retreating army. Oudinot did not think a strong rearguard was needed in La Chapelle-Saint-Luc. Consequently, the Bavarian cavalry suddenly appeared behind Kellermann's cavalry, throwing it into panic. Luckily for the French, when VI Cavalry Corps stampeded their infantry held steady, but 400 prisoners were swept up by the Allies.[18]
In Troyes, the Allies went on a 2-day orgy of pillage and violence. After they recovered from this, Wittgenstein and Wrede headed out after the French while the Crown Prince and Gyulai advanced toward Sens.[18] Schwarzenberg himself stayed in Troyes until 12 March. By 16 March the Allies had pushed MacDonald's army back to Provins. That day Schwarzenberg found out about Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Reims and the French capture of Châlons-sur-Marne and his advance stopped.[19]
Forces
French order of battle
Corps | Division | Inf/Cav (Sporschil)[13] | Inf/Cav (Fr. Archives)[20] | Gunners (Fr. Arch.)[20] | Guns (Fr. Arch.)[20] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
II Corps: Étienne Maurice Gérard |
Guillaume Philibert Duhesme | 1,970 | 1,883[21] | 128[21] | 6[21] |
Jacques Félix de La Hamelinaye | 1,800 | 1,027[21] | 134[21] | 6[21] | |
Corps Artillery | - | - | 476[21] | 11[21] | |
VII Corps: Nicolas Oudinot |
Henri Rottembourg | 2,628 | 2,496 | 129 | 8 |
Jean François Leval | 4,365 | 4,021 | 249 | ? | |
David Hendrik Chassé | 2,515 | 2,215 | 265 | 12 | |
Michel-Marie Pacthod | 4,027 | 4,027 | 177 | 6 | |
Corps Artillery | - | - | 304 | 18 | |
XI Corps: Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor |
Joseph Jean Baptiste Albert | 1,520 | 3,357 | 321 | - |
Michel Sylvestre Brayer | 1,370 | 2,134 | 264 | - | |
François Pierre Joseph Amey | 2,681 | 772 | 70 | - | |
Corps Cavalry: 13th Hussars | - | 301 | - | - | |
Corps Artillery | - | - | 1,305[note 1] | 48 | |
II Cavalry Corps: Antoine-Louis de Saint-Germain |
Antoine Maurin | 1,325 | 1,082 | 106 | 4 |
Jacques-Antoine-Adrien Delort | 1,270 | 704 | 143 | 6 | |
V Cavalry Corps: Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud |
Hippolyte Piré | 1,421 | 1,421 | - | - |
André Briche | 1,700 | 1,700 | - | - | |
Samuel-François Lhéritier | 1,269 | 1,269 | - | - | |
Corps Artillery | - | - | 265 | 14 | |
VI Cavalry Corps: François Etienne de Kellermann
|
Charles Claude Jacquinot | 1,258 | 1,665[22] | - | - |
Anne-François-Charles Trelliard | 1,747 | 2,028 | 195 | 6 |
Coalition order of battle
Corps | Division | Guns |
---|---|---|
III Corps: Ignaz Gyulai 10,000 |
1st Division: Louis Charles Folliot de Crenneville | 6 |
2nd Division: Johann Karl Hennequin de Fresnel | 16 | |
3rd Division: Prince Louis of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein | 16 | |
Corps Artillery | 18 | |
IV Corps: Crown Prince of Württemberg 15,000 |
Cavalry Division: Prince Adam of Württemberg | 12 |
1st Division: Christian Gottgetreu von Koch | 12 | |
2nd Division: Christoph Friedrich von Döring | 12 | |
Corps Artillery | 6 | |
V Corps: Karl Philipp von Wrede[24] 20,000 |
1st Bavarian Division: Anton von Rechberg | 14 |
2nd Bavarian Division: Karl von Becker | 14 | |
3rd Bavarian Division: Peter de Lamotte | 14 | |
1st Austrian Division: Anton Leonhard von Hardegg | 6 | |
2nd Austrian Division: Ignaz Splény de Miháldi | 18 | |
Corps Artillery | 38 | |
VI Corps: Peter Wittgenstein 14,000 |
I Infantry Corps: Andrei Ivanovich Gorchakov | 36 |
II Infantry Corps: Duke Eugen of Württemberg | 36 | |
Cavalry Corps: Peter Petrovich Pahlen |
- | |
Corps Artillery | 24 |
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ This total may include gunners attached to the divisions.
Citations
- ^ a b c d e Bodart 1908, p. 475.
- ^ Petre 1994, pp. 86–87.
- ^ a b Petre 1994, pp. 88–89.
- ^ a b c Smith 1998, pp. 499–500.
- ^ Petre 1994, pp. 90–91.
- ^ Petre 1994, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Petre 1994, pp. 98–99.
- ^ Petre 1994, pp. 100–101.
- ^ Petre 1994, pp. 156–158.
- ^ Nafziger 2015, pp. 289–290.
- ^ a b Nafziger 2015, p. 291.
- ^ Nafziger 2015, p. 292.
- ^ a b c Nafziger 2015, p. 293.
- ^ a b Nafziger 2015, p. 294.
- ^ a b c Nafziger 2015, p. 295.
- ^ Smith 1998, pp. 506–507.
- ^ a b Nafziger 2015, p. 296.
- ^ a b Nafziger 2015, p. 297.
- ^ Petre 1994, pp. 158–159.
- ^ a b c Nafziger 2015, pp. 648–654.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nafziger 2015, pp. 724–726.
- ^ Nafziger 2015, p. 628.
- ^ Nafziger 2015, pp. 698–705.
- ^ Nafziger 2015, pp. 557–558.
References
- Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-909982-96-3.
- ISBN 1-85367-163-0.
- ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
External links
- Media related to Battle of Laubressel at Wikimedia Commons