The Gardes d'Honneur and
Charge of the 3rd Regt
at Reims, 13th March 1814
Introduction
by Andrew Field
 |
1814
Jean-Marie-Antoine, Comte Defrance Gènéral de Division, Commandant la division de Gardes d’honneur en 1814 However, if the Allies felt this victory would see them into Paris they had again underestimated the French Emperor: rallying his meagre forces he humiliated the widely spread corps of Blücher’s Silesian Army at Champaubert, Montmirail, Chateau-Thierry and Vauchamps (10-14 Feb). Turning then on Schwarzenberg’s Army of Bohemia he also manoeuvred them into retreat after the victory of Montereau (18 Feb). By the 26th Feb the Army of Bohemia was heading back towards Langres; it was now time to turn once more on Blücher. 11th March Napoleon rode into Soissons followed by his demoralized army, smarting from the mauling that Blücher had handed out to them at Craonne and Laon. These battles, fought within two days of each other, had cost Napoleon about 12,000 men killed, wounded or prisoner and many others had deserted. Marmont’s corps (VIth) had suffered particularly at Laon losing all its artillery: it had withdrawn from that battle to Fismes where Marmont had much work to do to reorganise it. There is little doubt that a vigorous pursuit by the Army of Silesia would have spelt an early end to Napoleon’s defence of France. Luckily for the Emperor, Blücher had been struck down by illness and disagreements in the allied command gave him the time he needed to conduct a relatively unimpeded retreat to Soissons. But Napoleon had plenty of other things to worry about. News came in constantly from Paris: further south Macdonald was in retreat before Schwarzenberg’s Bohemian Army, Soult had been pushed back on Toulouse and Augereau on Lyon; from every direction the news seemed to be bad. With his usual energy however, resistance. Receiving a substantial reinforcement from Paris, although not enough to make good all his recent losses, the French Emperor quickly reorganised and revitalised his army in a way that only he seemed to be able. On the 12th March came news that Reims had finally fallen to the French Émigré General St Priest after an abortive attempt on the 7th. He had been ordered to take it with his joint Russian and Prussian corps of 14,000 men so that the communications between Blücher and Schwarzenberg, who was then at Troyes, could be established. Despite this city being 40 miles away, Napoleon spotted an opportunity to gain a success that would further improve the morale of both his army and an increasingly frantic Paris. His plan was to leave Mortier with about 12,000 men to cover his flank against Blücher and to move with 24,000 men, of which 7 to 8,000 were cavalry, and 100 guns on Reims. His advance guard was to be Marmont’s battered corps; this Marshal was ordered to take Defrance’s division of Gardes d’Honneur under command as it had recently withdrawn from Reims when St Priest took the city. St Priest had first threatened Reims on the 7th March. With a small, inadequate garrison Napoleon had sent Defrance’s small division to its support. Although St Priest did not have his whole corps available, he had more than sufficient strength to take the town. However, he was not sure of the strength of the garrison and the appearance of the Gardes d’Honneur convinced him that a larger force was on the way and he gave up his attempt. The Gardes contributed to this withdrawal in no small part with a successful charge against the Russian cavalry covering force, despite being significantly outnumbered. The inhabitants warmly welcomed the division when it entered the city. Because of this action Defrance’s division had took no part in the debacles at Craonne and Laon. More Gardes d'Honneur
Gardes d'Honneur 1813-1814 The Situation at Reims The Charge of the 3rd Gardes d'Honneur Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #62 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |
The Allies had crossed the Rhine and were treading the sacred soil of France. Gathering together his small and ad hoc army, Napoleon had attempted to prevent the union of the enemy’s two main armies, but at Brienne he was repulsed and at La Rothière he had tasted the bitter pill of defeat.