Six Days Campaign

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Six Days Campaign Part of the War of the Sixth Coalition Date 10 February – 14 February 1814 Location Northeastern France Result Decisive French tactical victory, though strategically insignificant Belligerents First French Empire Prussia Russian Empire Commanders Napoleon Bonaparte Blücher Strength 31,000 (83,000 in theater) 57,000 (207,000 in theater) Casualties and losses 3,400 17,750

v • d • e War of the Sixth Coalition Lützen – Bautzen – Luckau - Großbeeren – Katzbach – Dresden – Kulm – Dennewitz – Göhrde – Leipzig – Hanau – Sehested – Brienne – La Rothière – Mincio – Six Days Campaign – Mormans – Montereau – Bar-sur-Aube – Craonne – Laon – Reims – Arcis-sur-Aube – La Fère-Champenoise – Saint-Dizier – Montmartre – Paris v • d • e Six Days Campaign Champaubert – Montmirail – Château-Thierry – Vauchamps

The Six Days Campaign (10 February - 14 February 1814) was a final series of victories by the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte as the Sixth Coalition closed in on Paris.

With an army of only 70,000, the Emperor was faced with at least half a million Allied troops advancing in several main armies commanded by Field Marshal Prince von Blücher and Field Marshal Prince zu Schwarzenberg amongst others.

The Six Days Campaign was fought from 10 February to 14 February during which time he inflicted four major defeats on Blücher's army in the Battle of Champaubert, the Battle of Montmirail, the Battle of Château-Thierry, and the Battle of Vauchamps. Napoleon managed to inflict 17,750 casualties on Blücher's force of 100,000 with his 30,000-man army, leading later historians and enthusiasts to claim that the Six Days was the Emperor's finest campaign.

However, the Emperor's victories were not significant enough to make any changes to the overall strategic picture, and Schwarzenberg's larger army still threatened Paris, which eventually fell in late March.

[edit] Battles of the Campaign

• Battle of Champaubert (10 February 1814) - 4,000 Russian casualties and Russian General Olsufiev taken prisoner, to approximately 200 French casualties ^[1].

• Battle of Montmirail (11 February 1814) – 4,000 Allied casualties, to 2,000 French casualties^[1].

• Battle of Château-Thierry (12 February 1814) – 1,250 Prussian, 1,500 Russian casualties and nine cannons lost, to approximately 600 French casualties^[1].

• Battle of Vauchamps (14 February 1814) – 7,000 Prussian casualties and 16 cannons lost, to approximately 600 French casualties^[1].

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Chandler, David. Dictionary of the Napoleonic wars, Wordsworth editions, 1999.pgs.87, 90, 286-87, 459.

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