The Battle of Craonne (7 March 1814) was fought between an Imperial French army under Emperor Napoleon I opposing a combined army of Imperial Russians and Prussians led by Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. The War of the Sixth Coalition engagement began when the bulk of Napoleon's army tried to drive Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov's 22,000 Russians off the Chemin des Dames plateau to the west of Craonne. After a bitter struggle, Napoleon's attacks compelled Vorontsov's force to withdraw, but French casualties exceeded Russian losses. While the battle raged, Blücher's attempt to turn Napoleon's east flank ended in failure due to poor planning.
In late February 1814, Blücher's army separated from the main Allied army of Austrian field marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg, moving northwest and making a dash at Paris. Napoleon left Marshal Jacques MacDonald with one army to observe Schwarzenberg and started after Blücher with another army. Blücher evaded Napoleon's attempt to trap him and retreated north toward Laon, picking up reinforcements as he went. Russian forces under Ferdinand von Wintzingerode and a Prussian corps led by Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow would soon give Blücher a huge numerical advantage over the French. Napoleon came into contact with Vorontsov's corps on the evening of 6 March, believing that he had Blücher on the run. The next contest would be the Battle of Laon on 9–10 March.
Craonne is located southeast of Laon and about northeast of Paris.
Background Operations On 22 February 1814, Schwarzenberg with nearly 150,000 Allied troops faced Napoleon with half that number at Troyes. Because bad news arrived from the south and the Allied army was poorly supplied, but mainly because he believed that he was outnumbered, Schwarzenberg ordered a retreat that evening. Disappointed that no battle was going to be fought, Blücher proposed that his army separate from the main army and operate to the north. To this Schwarzenberg agreed and Blücher's 53,000 soldiers began moving northwest. When he realized that the Prussian field marshal's army was headed for Paris, Napoleon left 42,000 troops under Marshal Jacques MacDonald to contain Schwarzenberg and marched after Blücher with 35,000 men. An additional 10,000 soldiers under Marshals Auguste de Marmont and Édouard Mortier stood between the Prussian field marshal and Paris.
Marmont and Mortier blocked Blücher's advance on 28 February when they defeated Friedrich von Kleist's corps in the Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes. The following day, Blücher again failed to push the reinforced French out of his path, but time had run out. On 2 March the Prussian field marshal realized that Napoleon was following him and decided to retreat to the north bank of the Ourcq River. He knew that Wintzingerode's Russians and Bülow's Prussians were nearby and hoped to join them soon. The premature surrender of Soissons allowed Blücher to more easily cross to the north bank of the Aisne River on 3–4 March. By this time Napoleon knew that Wintzingerode had joined Blücher, giving him at least 70,000 men to oppose 48,000 French troops. However, the French emperor believed that Bülow was still well to the north near Avesnes-sur-Helpe.
Pre-battle maneuvers In fact, Blücher may have had as many as 110,000 troops by this time. They were distributed as follows – Russians: Wintzingerode (30,000), Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron (26,000), Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken (13,700); Prussians: Bülow (16,900), Kleist (10,600), Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg (13,500). For his part, Napoleon had 34,233 troops on 2 March while Marmont and Mortier had been reinforced to 17,000 men but lost possibly 3,000 casualties in the week before Craonne. Yet, Napoleon hoped to get to Laon before Blücher's army arrived there. On 5 March, Napoleon was at Fismes from where he hoped to move straight north to Laon. Since he lacked a pontoon bridge to cross the Aisne, the French emperor directed his forces to move northeast to Berry-au-Bac where there was a stone bridge. Berry-au-Bac was on the direct road from Reims to Laon. On this day, Napoleon ordered Jan Willem Janssens at Mézières to gather up the Ardennes garrisons and operate in Blücher's rear areas. Janssens promptly obeyed and the movements of his troops threw a scare into the Allies.
At 5:00 am on 5 March, Guard cavalry divisions under Pierre David de Colbert-Chabanais and Louis Marie Levesque de Laferrière surprised and captured Reims and its Allied garrison. Napoleon ordered Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty to seize Berry-au-Bac with a cavalry force consisting of Rémi Joseph Isidore Exelmans' division and Louis Michel Pac's brigade. At the Battle of Berry-au-Bac, Nansouty's troopers overran some Russian cavalry and captured 200 men and two guns, but the main prize was their seizure of the bridge. Louis Friant's 1st Old Guard Division and Claude Marie Meunier's 1st Young Guard Division crossed and occupied positions as far north as Corbeny. From 3:00–6:00 pm on 5 March, Marmont and Mortier tried to capture Soissons from its Russian garrison, but were repulsed. The Russians sustained 1,056 casualties, while the French lost 800–900 men. Another source calculated French losses as 1,500 men.
Blücher realized that Napoleon was trying to reach Laon by the Reims road. He sent Bülow and his wagon trains back to Laon. The Prussian commander began to shift his other forces to the northeast. By 6 March Napoleon had 30,500 men near Berry-au-Bac. He planned to send an advanced guard north toward Festieux, but needed to make sure of Blücher's intentions. During the day of 6 March, Meunier's division encountered Russian forces near Vauclair Abbey (Vauclerc) while two battalions of the Old Guard were needed to flush out Craonne's Russian defenders. At first Blücher directed his army to concentrate near Craonne, but he decided that position was too cramped for his 90,000 men. He also heard that French cavalry were advancing north on the Reims road. Changing plans, Blücher planned to assemble 10,000 cavalry and 60 horse artillery guns under Wintzingerode and send it toward Festieux. Wintzingerode's force consisted of 5,500 of his own horsemen plus all of the reserve cavalry belonging to Langeron and Yorck. Blücher ordered Wintzingerode's infantry, commanded by Vorontsov, to remain behind and directly oppose Napoleon's army.
Allied corps commanders
French corps commanders
Forces French order of battle +French Army at Craonne, 7 March 1814Napoleon I Corps Division Strength Brigade Units Ney's CorpsMarshal Michel Ney 9th Infantry Division:General of DivisionPierre François Xavier Boyer 1,886 General of BrigadeAntoine Gruyer 2nd Light Infantry Regiment, 1st, 2nd, 6th Battalions 24th Line Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion 36th Line Infantry Regiment, 6th Battalion 122nd Line Infantry Regiment, 1st, 4th Battalions General of BrigadeDavid Hendrik Chassé Brigade detached to VII Corps Artillery8 6-pound cannons4 howitzers 5th Foot Artillery Regiment, 22nd Company 8th Foot Artillery Regiment, 10th Company 4th and 9th (bis) Train Battalions, 2nd Companies 1st Young Guard Division:General of DivisionClaude Marie Meunier 865 Brigade: Unknown 1st Voltigeur Regiment 2nd Voltigeur Regiment Brigade: Unknown 3rd Voltigeur Regiment 4th Voltigeur Regiment 2nd Young Guard Division:General of DivisionPhilibert Jean-Baptiste Curial 1,022 Brigade: Unknown 5th Voltigeur Regiment 6th Voltigeur Regiment Brigade: Unknown 7th Voltigeur Regiment 8th Voltigeur Regiment Victor's CorpsMarshal Claude Perrin VictorGeneral of DivisionHenri François Charpentier7th Young Guard Division:General of DivisionHenri François Charpentier 3,600 Brigades: Unknown 3rd and 4th Tirailleur Regiments, 3rd Battalions 10th, 11th and 12th Tirailleur Regiments, 3rd Battalions 3rd and 4th Voltigeur Regiments, 3rd Battalions 5th and 6th Voltigeur Regiments, 3rd Battalions 7th, 8th and 11th Voltigeur Regiments, 3rd Battalions 2nd Provisional Young Guard Division:General of DivisionJoseph Boyer de Rébeval 3,800 General of BrigadeAuguste Julien Bigarré Infantry units unknown General of BrigadeJacques Le Capitaine Infantry units unknown Artillery 1st Foot Artillery Regiment, 14th Company 7th Foot Artillery Regiment, 8th Company 14th Train Battalion, 5th Company Grouchy's CorpsGeneral of DivisionEmmanuel de GrouchyGeneral of DivisionAugustin-Daniel Belliard 3rd Guard Cavalry Division:General of DivisionLouis Marie Levesque-Laferrière 1,250 General of BrigadeJean Dieudonné Lion Guard Chasseurs a Cheval Regiment Empress Dragoon Regiment General of BrigadeLouis-Michel Letort de Lorville Guard Horse Grenadier Regiment 6th Heavy Cavalry Division:General of DivisionNicolas-François Roussel d'Hurbal 2,200 General of BrigadeLouis Ernest Joseph Sparre 5th Dragoon Regiment 12th Dragoon Regiment General of BrigadeAndré Rigaud 21st Dragoon Regiment 26th Dragoon Regiment Artillery 2nd and 3rd Horse Artillery Regiments, 3rd Companies 1/2nd (bis), 2/5th and 5/6th Train Battalions Nansouty's CorpsGeneral of DivisionÉtienne Antoine Champion de Nansouty Cavalry Division:General of DivisionRémi Joseph Isidore Exelmans 1,350 Brigades: Unknown Cavalry units unknown Cavalry Brigade:General of BrigadeLouis Michel Pac 450 Brigades: None 3rd Hussar Regiment 14th, 26th and 27th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments ReserveMarshal Édouard Mortier 1st Old Guard Division:General of DivisionLouis Friant 3,800 General of BrigadePierre Cambronne 1st Guard Foot Chasseur Regiment, 1st and 2nd Battalions 2nd Guard Foot Chasseur Regiment, 1st and 2nd Battalions General of BrigadeJean-Martin Petit 1st Guard Foot Grenadier Regiment, 1st and 2nd Battalions 2nd Guard Foot Grenadier Regiment, 1st and 2nd Battalions Attached units Guard Sapper Battalion, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Companies Guard Marine Battalion, 3rd Company Guard Engineering Train 2nd Old Guard Division:General of BrigadeCharles-Joseph Christiani 3,300 General of BrigadeChristiani Fusilier Chasseur Regiment Fusilier Grenadier Regiment Vélites of Turin General of BrigadeJean Louis Gros Flanquer Chasseur Regiment Flanquer Grenadier Regiment Vélites of Florence Artillery 3rd Foot Artillery Regiment, 25th Company 7th Horse Artillery Regiment, 2nd Company 2/7th (bis), 3/9th (bis) and 2/13th Train Battalions 3rd Provisional Young Guard Division:General of BrigadePaul-Jean-Baptiste Poret de Morvan 4,800 Brigades: Unknown Infantry units unknown 1st Guard Cavalry Division:General of DivisionPierre David de Colbert-Chabanais 1,100 Brigades: Unknown 2nd Guard Éclaireur Regiment 2nd Guard Chevau-Léger Lancer Regiment Guard Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment Empress Dragoon Regiment Guard Horse Grenadier Regiment Horse Artillery Army Total 23,573 infantry, 6,350 cavalry 29,923
Russian order of battle