9.3.1814 Battle of Laon

The Battle of Laon finally ended Napoleon's hope of turning the tide of war in his country's favour and defeating the enemy. But he suffered another heavy blow and had to retreat. The fatal clash took place on the 9th.

Napoleon could no longer prevent the joining of two armies, the Austrian under Field Marshal Schwarzenberg and the Prussian under Marshal Blücher. In addition, the French army suffered heavy losses during the campaign into Russia in 1812. Napoleon had about 40,000 exhausted men at his disposal. The Allies had more than twice as many men at their disposal.

Napoleon did manage to win a few partial battles at Chateau-Thierry and Montmirail in 1814, and some smallerskirmishes against Schwarzenberg at Montereau or Valjouen, but at the cost of further heavy losses and he could not avert the final defeat.

An ignominious defeat awaited him at the aforementioned Laon. Blücher marched to the spot before Napoleon, and concentrated his army on the southern outskirts of the town. He placed his artillery in areas from where he had good coverage of the roads leading to Soissons and Rheims. Kleist and Yorck with the larger infantry were sent to the east of the city. On the right was General Winzingerod's Russian cavalry. The troops of Prince Fabien von Osten-Sacken and Count Alexander de Langeron were held in reserve.

Napoleon attacked on the night of March 9. Napoleon's leading troops under Marshals Édouard Mortier and Michel Ney were ready to meet the enemy immediately. They attacked Étouvelles and Chivy. The cavalry attempted to capture Laon. At Étouvelles, they caught the Russian army asleep and took the village. But the French were unable to advance adequately at night, too, because they had trouble riding at a gallop. The Russians took advantage of this and took up a defensive position at Sémilly.

There was also continued fighting between the villages of Leuilly and Clacy. French Marshal Marmont attacked between the villages of Athies and Avergeny. As night approached, he let his tired soldiers camp and rest. Blücher's scouts informed him of the enemy's weakness the same evening. The Prussian marshal therefore called for an attack. Marmont had to flee to the forest of Avergny, where he rallied the other men. But it was not enough and he retreated as far south-east as Festieux. Marmont lost a third of his men and 45 guns.

Napoleon soon learned the fate of his corps and decided to hold his position. But on the morning of 10 March, the Russians attacked at Clacy and Napoleon had to withdraw. "In March 1814, Paris was occupied by Coalition troops. Bonaparte ended up on the island of Elba, the only territory left in his lifetime by the victors, where he was to guardthe rest of his life," says Vladimír Liška in his book The Greatest Scandals and Affairs in Czech History.


Sources:
https://battlefieldanomalies.com/
Vladimír Liška: The Biggest Scandals and Affairs in Czech History
https://warandsecurity.com/