Battle of Paris (1814)

For other uses, see Battle of Paris (disambiguation).

Battle of Paris
Part of the Campaign of France of the Sixth Coalition

The Barrier of Clichy. Defence of Paris, 30 March 1814 by Horace Vernet. In the centre, Marshal Moncey gives his orders to goldsmith Jean-Baptiste Odiot, colonel of the National Guard, for whom the painting was made.
Date30–31 March 1814[1]
Location
Paris, France
48°51′24″N 2°21′06″E / 48.8566°N 2.3518°E / 48.8566; 2.3518
Result Coalition victory
Territorial
changes
Belligerents
 France
Commanders and leaders
Tsar Alexander I
Karl Schwarzenberg
Frederick William III
Gebhard Blücher		 Joseph Bonaparte
Auguste de Marmont
Édouard Mortier
Bon-Adrien Moncey
Strength
29,000–42,000[1] Russia:
100,000
Austria:
15,000
Prussia:
40,000
Total:
100,000[1]–155,000
Casualties and losses
9,000[1]–18,000 5,000–9,300[1]
Location within France
War of the Sixth Coalition:
Campaign in north-east France
190km
118miles
22
Paris
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
10
9
9
8
7
6
6
5
4
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2
2
1
Bar-sur-Aube
  current battle
  Napoleon in command
  Napoleon not in command

The Battle of Paris or the Storming of Paris[2] (30–31 March 1814) saw the Allied forces of Russia, Austria, Prussia, and Württemberg attack Paris defended by troops of the First French Empire under Joseph Bonaparte. The French soldiers put up a stout resistance on 30 March but were steadily driven back by the overwhelmingly superior Allied forces. Faced with a hopeless situation, Marshals Auguste de Marmont and Édouard Mortier agreed to a cease fire with the Allies in the late afternoon. The French evacuated Paris on 31 March according to the terms of the convention reached with the Allied leaders Tsar Alexander I of Russia, King Frederick William III of Prussia, and Austrian Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg. This defeat marked the end the War of the Sixth Coalition and soon forced Emperor Napoleon to abdicate and go into exile.

Background

After being decisively defeated by the Coalition armies at the Battle of Leipzig on 16–19 October 1813, Napoleon with 60,000–70,000 French soldiers retreated across the Rhine River in November 1813. Garrisons numbering 100,000 men in the German fortresses would be lost to Napoleon in the 1814 campaign. All the former French allies in Germany such as the Kingdom of Bavaria now switched sides and joined the Coalition.[3] Napoleon spread out his weak forces in a thin cordon along the Rhine while trying to raise a new army to face the Coalition.[4] To oppose the numerically superior allies, Napoleon could deploy only 129,106 men on 1 December 1813.[5] Against this, the Allies had 156,868 men in the Army of Bohemia under Schwarzenberg, 77,100 soldiers in the Army of Silesia under Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, 30,000 Prussians under Lieutenant General (LG) Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow, and 36,000 Russians under LG Ferdinand von Wintzingerode.[6]

Three Coalition armies prepared to invade France. The Army of Bohemia deployed on the upper Rhine while assigning 12,000 men to occupy Switzerland. The Army of Silesia stood on the middle Rhine. Bülow and Wintzingerode of the North Army prepared to invade the Netherlands. The Army of Bohemia crossed the upper Rhine near Basel on 20 December 1813. The Army of Silesia under Blücher passed the middle Rhine on 1 January 1814. Wintzingerode crossed the lower Rhine on 6 January. At first, the French defenders made hardly any resistance at all. In addition to recruiting new soldiers, Napoleon transferred troops from the armies of Marshals Jean-de-Dieu Soult and Louis-Gabriel Suchet that were opposing the British, Portuguese, and Spanish armies in southwest France.[7]

Prelude

Campaign in northeastern France

Main article: Campaign in north-east France (1814)

The First Battle of Bar-sur-Aube on 24 January 1814[8] was an indecisive clash between 20,000 French led by Mortier[9] and the Army of Bohemia's 3rd Corps under Feldzeugmeister (FZM) Ignaz Gyulai.[8] At this time, Napoleon arrived at the front and with 36,000 troops attacked Blucher's 28,000 men at the Battle of Brienne on 29 January.[10] The Allies defeated Napoleon by concentrating 80,000 men against 45,000 French at the Battle of La Rothière on 1 February.[11] Elated by their victory, the Allies decided to make a two-pronged advance toward Paris. Schwarzenberg's army moved toward Troyes along the Seine River, while farther north Blücher pressed forward toward Meaux along the Marne River.[12]

Napoleon turned against Blücher who had allowed his army to become so strung out, that his advance elements were 44 mi (71 km) ahead of his rearguard.[13] In the Six Days' Campaign between 10 and 14 February 1814, Napoleon mauled the Army of Silesia. During this period, Blücher's 56,000-strong army suffered 16,000 casualties and lost 47 guns, while French losses numbered only around 4,000.[14] Nevertheless, the Army of Silesia was soon reinforced to a total of 53,000 men.[15] While the Army of Silesia recovered from its drubbing, Napoleon turned against Schwarzenberg, whose advance elements were across the Seine.[16] On 17 February, Napoleon routed Schwarzenberg's advance guard at the Battle of Mormant and the next day beat Crown Prince William of Württemberg at the Battle of Montereau.[17] This caused Schwarzenberg to retreat and to call Blücher to join him.[18]

On 20 February, Schwarzenberg received news that Marshal Charles-Pierre Augereau's French army in the south was menacing Geneva and Besançon.[19] Earlier, the 2nd Corps was detached from the Army of Bohemia to support operations near Switzerland.[20] To face this new threat to his south flank, Schwarzenberg sent the 1st Corps to Dijon, reducing his army to 90,000 men. Together with Blücher, the Coalition still had 140,000 soldiers to face Napoleon with 75,000, but Schwarzenberg ordered another withdrawal.[21] However, Blücher moved northwest in another lunge at Paris after getting permission to separate from the Army of Bohemia.[22] Since only a scanty force under Marmont and Mortier stood between Blücher and Paris, on 26 February, Napoleon set out in pursuit of the Army of Silesia.[23]

There was a clash at the Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes at the end of February 1814.[24] Napoleon pursued Blücher north across the Aisne River[25] where the troops of Wintzingerode and Bülow joined the Army of Silesia. This reinforcement gave Blücher 110,000 troops against the 48,000 French opposed to him.[26] After the Battle of Craonne on 7 March,[27] Napoleon attacked Blücher at the Battle of Laon on 9–10 March and was defeated.[28] Next, Napoleon rapidly switched his forces to oppose an Allied corps under Guillaume Emmanuel Guignard, vicomte de Saint-Priest that had captured Reims. On 13 March, Napoleon's forces attacked the Allies in the Battle of Reims, killing Saint-Priest and routing his corps.[29]

While Napoleon was tilting with Blücher in the north, Schwarzenberg's host slowly advanced, beating the French at the Second Battle of Bar-sur-Aube on 26–27 February[30] and the Battle of Laubressel on 3–4 March.[31] Napoleon turned against Schwarzenburg, who paused his advance after hearing the news of Reims.[32] Thinking he had Schwarzenberg on the run, Napoleon found himself involved in the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube on 20–21 March when his normally cautious opponent decided to fight.[33] Enjoying a numerical superiority of 80,000 to only 28,000 French, the Allies defeated Napoleon, though they failed to pursue. The French emperor moved east to cut the Army of Bohemia's supply line and to add the garrisons of Verdun and Metz to his army.[34]

Defenses of Paris

Since the disaster in Russia and the start of the war, the French populace had become increasingly war-weary.[35] Joseph Bonaparte was responsible for defending Paris, but because of his shortcomings, military organization and administration was poor. Marshal Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey was in charge of the National Guard. There were also some regular army units and Imperial Guard reserves. In January 1814, a plan was proposed to fortify Paris with earthworks, but it was rejected by Napoleon. Later, 56 wooden barricades were built to deter cavalry raids. These were armed with 40 4-pounders and 20 8-pounders. The rejected plan was revived, but Joseph insisted on delaying it until it could be approved by Napoleon. Because of this, Paris remained virtually unfortified.[36] Meanwhile, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was at Paris, intriguing against Napoleon.[37]

Tsar Alexander's initiative

The Allies captured an uncoded message from Napoleon to his empress. It read, "I have decided to move on to the Marne in order to push the enemy's armies farther from Paris and to draw myself nearer my fortresses."[38] An intercepted message from Chief of Police Jean René Savary to Napoleon stated that Paris' magazines were empty and its population was demanding peace. Tsar Alexander read the captured dispatches and realized that the proper objective was Paris. He asked the opinions of Generals Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly, Hans Karl von Diebitsch, and Karl Wilhelm von Toll. Barclay de Tolly wanted to follow Napoleon. Diebitsch wanted to send 40,000 or 50,000 men to Paris and follow Napoleon with the remainder. Toll argued for advancing on Paris while sending 10,000 of Wintzingerode's cavalry after Napoleon. Since Toll's opinion matched what Alexander believed, the King of Prussia and Schwarzenberg were convinced to accept this strategy. Orders were also sent to Blücher to cooperate in the march on Paris.[39]

The deception campaign worked. While the main Coalition army attacked Paris, Wintzingerode's unit hotly pursued Napoleon and his conscripted ragtag army to the southeast, until Napoleon's forces regrouped and counter-attacked. However, by the time Napoleon saw through the subterfuge, he was already too far away to the southeast of Paris, which was now faced with Coalition forces, and Napoleon would never reach Paris in time. Completely out of position, he could not participate in the upcoming battle and fall of Paris.

Forces

The Austrian, Prussian and Russian armies were joined and put under the command of Field Marshal Count Barclay de Tolly who would also be responsible for the taking of the city, but the driving force behind the army was the Tsar of Russia together with the King of Prussia, moving with the army. The Coalition army totaled about 150,000 troops, most of whom were seasoned veterans of the past campaigns. Napoleon had left his brother Joseph Bonaparte in defense of Paris with about 23,000 regular troops under Marshal Auguste Marmont, although many of them were young conscripts, along with an additional 6,000 National Guards and a small force of the Imperial Guard under Marshals Bon Adrien Jeannot de Moncey and Édouard Mortier. Assisting the French were the incomplete trenches and other defenses in and around the city.

Battle

The Coalition army arrived outside Paris in late March. Nearing the city, Russian troops broke rank and ran forward to get their first glimpse of the city. Camping outside the city on 29 March, the Coalition forces were to assault the city from its northern and eastern sides the next morning on 30 March. The battle started that same morning with intense artillery bombardment from the Coalition army. Early in the morning the Coalition attack began when the Russians attacked and drove back the French skirmishers near Belleville[40] before themselves driven back by French cavalry from the city's eastern suburbs. By 7:00 a.m. the Russians attacked the Young Guard near Romainville in the center of the French lines and after some time and hard fighting pushed them back. A few hours later the Prussians, under Blücher, attacked north of the city and carried the French position around Aubervilliers, but did not press their attack.

The Württemberg troops seized the positions at Saint-Maur to the southeast, with Austrian troops in support. The Russians attempted to press their attack but became caught up by trenches and artillery before falling back before a counterattack of the Imperial Guard. The Imperial Guard continued to hold back the Russians in the center until the Prussian forces appeared to their rear.

The Russian Imperial Guard and the Prussian Life Guards under Alexey P. Yermolov then assailed the Montmartre Heights in the city's northeast, where Joseph's headquarters had been at the beginning of the battle, which was defended by Brigadier-general Baron Christiani. Control of the heights was severely contested. The Prussian guardsmen suffered heavy losses, but the heights eventually remained in the Allied hands, there Yermolov placed an artillery battery. Joseph fled the city. Marmont contacted the Coalition and reached a secret agreement with them. Shortly afterwards, he marched his soldiers to a position where they were quickly surrounded by Coalition troops; Marmont then surrendered, as had been agreed.

Aftermath

Alexander sent an envoy to meet with the French to hasten the surrender. He offered generous terms to the French and, although willing to avenge the destruction of Moscow more than a year earlier, declared himself to be bringing peace to France rather than its destruction. On 31 March Talleyrand gave the key of the city to the Tsar. Later that day the Coalition armies triumphantly entered the city with the Tsar at the head of the army followed by the King of Prussia and Prince Schwarzenberg. On 2 April the Senate passed the Acte de déchéance de l'Empereur ("Emperor's Demise Act"), which declared Napoleon deposed.

Napoleon had advanced as far as Fontainebleau when he heard that Paris had surrendered. Outraged, he wanted to march on the capital, but his marshals would not fight for him and repeatedly urged him to surrender. He abdicated in favour of his son on 4 April. The Allies rejected this out of hand, forcing Napoleon to abdicate unconditionally on 6 April.

The terms of his abdication, which included his exile to the Isle of Elba, were settled in the Treaty of Fontainebleau on 11 April 1814. A reluctant Napoleon ratified it two days later.

The War of the Sixth Coalition was over but the Hundred Days started on 20 March 1815 in Paris.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Bodart 1908, p. 480.
  2. ^ Velichko et al. 1912.
  3. ^ Petre 1994, pp. 1–2.
  4. ^ Petre 1994, p. 10.
  5. ^ Nafziger 2015, p. 19.
  6. ^ Nafziger 2015, pp. 26–27.
  7. ^ Petre 1994, pp. 9–10.
  8. ^ a b Smith 1998, p. 490.
  9. ^ Petre 1994, p. 18.
  10. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 490–491.
  11. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 491–492.
  12. ^ Chandler 1966, pp. 964–965.
  13. ^ Petre 1994, p. 55.
  14. ^ Petre 1994, p. 71.
  15. ^ Petre 1994, p. 75.
  16. ^ Petre 1994, pp. 80–81.
  17. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 498–499.
  18. ^ Petre 1994, p. 86.
  19. ^ Petre 1994, p. 87.
  20. ^ Petre 1994, p. 21n.
  21. ^ Petre 1994, pp. 88–89.
  22. ^ Petre 1994, p. 91.
  23. ^ Petre 1994, p. 97.
  24. ^ Smith 1998, p. 505.
  25. ^ Petre 1994, p. 107.
  26. ^ Petre 1994, p. 116.
  27. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 507–508.
  28. ^ Smith 1998, p. 510.
  29. ^ Petre 1994, pp. 149–150.
  30. ^ Smith 1998, p. 500.
  31. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 506–507.
  32. ^ Petre 1994, p. 160.
  33. ^ Petre 1994, pp. 168–169.
  34. ^ Chandler 1966, pp. 997–999.
  35. ^ Merriman 1996, p. 579.
  36. ^ Nafziger 2015, pp. 427–428.
  37. ^ Chandler 1966, p. 1000.
  38. ^ Chandler 1966, p. 999.
  39. ^ Petre 1994, pp. 187–189.
  40. ^ Mikhailofsky-Danilefsky 1839, p. 356.

References

  • Bodart, Gaston (1908). "Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618–1905)" (in German). Vienna: C. W. Stern. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  • Chandler, David G. (1966). The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York, N.Y.: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-523660-1.
  • Nafziger, George (2015). The End of Empire: Napoleon's 1814 Campaign. Solihull, UK: Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1-909982-96-3.
  • Petre, F. Loraine (1994) [1914]. Napoleon at Bay. Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books. ISBN 1-85367-163-0.
  • Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.

Further reading

Preceded by
Battle of Saint-Dizier 		Napoleonic Wars
Battle of Paris (1814) 		Succeeded by
Battle of Toulouse (1814)
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