Battle of Montmirail

Part III
Russian Accounts of the
Battle of Montmirail

The Six Days Campaign
of the 1814 Campaign in France

by Jean Lochet, Jean-Philippe Sanjet and George Nafziger

[14]

Frankly, we gave up any attempt, in spite of some similarities, to completely reconcile the French accounts [16] with those of the Russians. The end of the battle is especially troublesome. We let the readers draw their own conclusions.

Sacken had deployed the 7th and 18th Infantry Divisions on either side of l'Epine-aux- Bois and the 10th Infantry Division on their left. Further on their left, the 27th Infantry Division and Vassiltchkov's cavalry occupied the ground north of the highway from Chalons to Meaux.

All the infantry was in columns on two lines, the artillery was deployed in front of the first line. The artillery company of Position Battery #18 was in the interval between the 10th and 18th Infantry Divisions. Two other position batteries were in reserve.

Heidenreich's infantry crossed the ravine near La Haute-Epine and captured Marchais around 11 a.m. He occupied Marchais and extended his right flank south of the village up to a small wood. His artillery could not cross the ravine. It deployed along that ravine but could not participate in the fighting around Marchais.

Napoleon directed his main effort against the Russian left,
[17] to cut it off from Prussian reinforcements coming from Fontenelle. At 10 a.m.,
[18] Napoleon ordered a feint againstMarchais by Ricard's Division which engaged in a bayonet fight. Awaiting Michel's Old Guard Division from Marshal Mortier's command, Napoleon limited his actions to artillery fire.

Mortier's column appeared at Montmirail around 2 p.m.. Planning to hit hard at La HauteEpine and draw the Russian reserves, [19] Napoleon withdrew Ricard's Division and evacuated Pomesson in the Petit-Morin valley to lure the Russians there.

Marshal Ney, with Meunier's and Decouz's Young Guard Divisions, took position on Ricard's right. Nansouty deployed his cavalry on the right between the road to Viels- Maisons and the road to Fontenelle, threatening to turn Sacken's left. Still further on the right, two light infantry regiments occupied a wood near Plenoy.

Friant, with four battalions of the Old Guard, followed the highway to Meaux and prepared to attack La Haute-Epine. Defrance's seven squadrons of Guards of Honor covered Friant's right. At La Haute-Epine, Ney, with Friant's support, broke through the first Russian line. Sacken had to advance with his second line. He also sent his cavalry to his left to keep open his communications with the Prussians whose vanguard appeared at Fontenelle.

Napoleon, who had anticipated Sacken's maneuver, kept Nansouty's cavalry in front of Vassiltchkov and send General Guyot with the dragoons of the Guard to charge along the highway to Meaux. Guyot's charge was completely successful, but Vassiltchkov repulsed Nansouty and reopened communications with the Prussians.

After receiving the order to support Sacken, Yorck had to split his command. From Viffort he sent the 8th Prussian Brigade under Prince Wilhelm and all his 12-pdr guns north to prevent Macdonald from reaching Chateau- Thierry. Then he moved toward Fontenelle with his remaining two brigades under Pirch and Horn. Pirch's Brigade and twelve guns reached Fontenelle around 3.30 p.m. (Mikhailofsky says that Yorck, because of the bad road conditions, could not bring any artillery to Fontenelle and Sacken had to send him two of his batteries.)

Heavy combat developed there. Pirch was immediately sent from Fontenelle to the left on the road to Les Tourneaux farm. Marshal Mortier moved toward the Prussians with six Old Guard battalions from Michel's Division. Fierce combat continued until nightfall when the French repulsed the Prussians and took Fontenelle.

During the time the Prussians were engaged on the French right, Sacken disengaged his corps and slowly withdrew his right wing troops toward Viffort. Hedenreich's command (four regiments) clung to Marchais, but there the French also won a decisive success. To cut off the retreat to Viffort by Marchais' Russian defenders, Napoleon sent Defrance's cavalry by the highway to La Ferte. In the vicinity of l'Epine-aux-Bois, this cavalry turned left and attacked the retreating Russians. Two squadrons of Akhtyrsk Hussars repulsed the French cavalry attack.

The battle ended at nightfall. As the withdrawal reached the highway, Sacken ordered Vassiltchkov to cover the retreat with his cavalry. On the morning of the February 12, Sacken's command arrived at Viffort. Russian losses were 2,000 killed and wounded and 800 prisoners. Prussian losses were about 900 and French losses about 2,000.

Mikhailofsky has his own version -- difficult to reconcile -- of what took place at Montmirail. He says:

    "But considering that further resistance to an enemy superior in force would be in vain, and being at last convinced . . . that Napoleon in person commanded the troops, General Sacken decided to retire. As soon as the French perceived that he was evacuatingMarchais, they advanced against his center, with the intention of breaking his line of battle .... the French cavalry attacked with the greatest impetuosity; but having been charged and broken by Vassiltchkov, they did not venture to renew the attempt.... Our troops withdrew in order toward Viffort .... "

The Russian Retreat as per the Russian Accounts

The Russian accounts do not say much about the withdrawal of the Russian right engaged south of Marchais in the Petit-Morin valley. Those units under Prince Scherbatov must have had a difficult time retreating toward the highway to Chateau-Thierry. They had to make a flank march as Heidenreich was holding Marchais.

It's a wonder that Sacken was able to withdraw the troops he had so recklessly pushed forward on his right south of Marchais. The Russians at Marchais were almost cut off and the Sophia regiment had to force its way out with the bayonet.

Sacken's command withdrew to Viffort over trails rather than roads. After a week of torrential rain, these trails quickly became quagmires. Wading through deep mud, many of the men were obliged to cast off their shoes. [20]

Vassiltchkov was ordered to cover the retreat with his cavalry. Getting the artillery away through the almost impassable woods and morasses was a major problem. Fires were were lighted every 300 to 400 yards in order to guide the retreat through the night. These fires plus torches carried in each company enabled the Russian regiments to stay with their colors, and illuminated the difficult progression of the artillery.

The cavalry helped pull the heavy guns by fastening long lines to the field pieces. The hussars and dragoons, fifty men to each gun, dragged them forward. After a night of severe labor all the artillery, with the exception of eight damaged guns which had to be left behind, reached Viffort at day break. From there the retreat continued toward Chateau-Thierry.

Conclusions About the Battle of Montmirail

The Russian accounts admit only 2,000 killed and wounded plus 800 prisoners which appear to be underestimates of Sacken's losses. Chandler estimates the Russian losses at 4,000 total casualties out of 19,000 (including the Prussians), which is more in line with the intensity of the battle and the difficult retreat of the Russian right. Sacken's command would have suffered even greater losses if Napoleon had had more infantry to intercept the Russian right as it passed over the road from Montmirail to La Ferte-sousJouarre on its way to Viffort.

Since Napoleon was in need of a major victory to boost the morale of the French, there is little doubt that the Emperor inflated his success at Montmirail when in his dispatch to Joseph dated 8 p.m. on the 11th he wrote: "The Army of Silesia is no more." However, he certainly was not exaggerating when he continued with: "My foot Guard, dragoons and grenadiers performed miracles."

Montmirail was a victory won by Napoleon's superior tactical skill, and by French superiority in training and discipline. Sacken was soundly thrashed. Above all it had been the triumph of the Old Guard and Ricard's brave conscripts who left half of their number on the field.

Before the battle, the Grumblers had made fun of them. Now they cheered these youngsters, covered with mud and blood, who had valiantly faced the Russian veterans. [21] The survivors, full of enthusiasm, were comforted, fed, and adopted by the grenadiers who knew they could henceforth count on them.

Sacken suffered 4,000 casualties, or a little under 25 percent of the total Russian- Prussian forces engaged. The French suffered only half as many losses. In addition, the French captured 26 Russian and Prussian guns and about 200 wagons. Napoleon was also quite correct when he mentioned in his dispatch to Joseph: "These last two days have entirely altered the state of affairs." [22]

As a matter of fact, much of Blucher's enthusiasm and self-confidence evaporated with the news of the second Allied defeat at Montmirail.

The Events After the Battle of Montmirail

After the battle, one French division, laden with wounded, was sent back to Montmirail and was ordered to guard the prisoners. Napoleon and his staff, working in the attic of les Greneaux farm, made plans for the next move. The Emperor had every intention to reap the maximum advantage from his success at MontmirailMarchais. He ordered Marshal Marmont to move toward Vertus and establish contact with Blucher's main force there.

He renewed his order to Marshal Macdonald to capture Chateau-Thierry and deny the Allies the use of its bridge over the Marne. Then on the l2th, he planned to pursue Sacken and Yorck with everything available. He hoped to completely destroy these two commands, but everything depended on Macdonald capturing the bridge at Chateau-Thierry.

More Montmirail Part III

Footnotes


[15] The Russian account is a composite from Zvegintsov's L'Armee Russe and other sources.
[16] Unfortunately, Houssaye in 1814 describes the battle in only a few lines, simply acknowledging the Allied defeat.
[17] There is no evidence of that in the French accounts, as Napoleon had only very limited forces at the beginning of the battle.
[18] This time appears to be in error since, according to the same account, at 10 a.m. Sacken's vanguard made contact with the French advance guard at Viels-Maisons.
[19] According to the French accounts, Napoleon's plan was not to attract the Russian reserves to La Haute-Epine, but rather -- by this maneuver -- to draw away the Russian reserves from La Haute-Epine.
[20] Mikhailofsky, p.112.
[21] Napoleon said once: "Not only do you have to kill a Russian, you also have to make him fall!"
[22] Napoleon's Correspondence, Vol. No. 21231, pp. 150-151.

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