Six Days' Campaign
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The Six Days Campaign (10–14 February 1814) was a final series of victories by the forces of Napoleon I of France 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. However, the main army, led by Schwarzenberg, was advancing slowly and with extreme caution. On the other hand, Blücher made a faster advance, but his Russo-Prussian troops were exhausted and many of his corps had scattered, which provided a good opportunity for a counterattack.
The Six Days Campaign was fought from 10 February to 15 February during which time Napoleon inflicted four 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 70,000 with his 40,000-man army.
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.
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]
