attempt cossacks to capture napoleon brienne cossack January 29 1814 Russian Prussian
Battle of Brienne was fought on January 29, 1814, and resulted in a French victory under Napoleon Bonaparte against the Russians and Prussians under General Blücher. The battle followed on the heels of reverses suffered by the French in both 1812, which had gutted the strength of the French and the battles of 1813 where they fought against the Sixth Coalition, which had intentions of deposing Napoleon, dissolving the First French Empire and restoring the Bourbon monarchy to France. The battle took place near Brienne-le-Château, where Napoleon had studied in his early years. As the Allies advanced on France from three different directions, Napoleon Bonaparte planned to attack and defeat each in turn. The first battle of the Campaign for France came at Bonaparte's old stomping ground, Brienne, where he went to school. His first target was the spread-out force of some 25,000 Prussians under Field Marshal Blucher. To battle his old adversary, Bonaparte had 30,000 troops, but most of these were just out of the recruiting camps and had no wartime experience. The French emperor began the clash by pinning the enemy down while he organised a flanking attack. Marshal Grouchy's cavalry and horse artillery kept the Prussians occupied as marshals Ney and Victor secured both the town of Brienne and its chateau. During the heavy fighting Bonaparte was almost taken by Russian cossacks, and both Blucher and his second-in-command August von Gneisenau only just managed to elude French troops. Withdrawing to reorganise, Blucher left behind some 4000 casualties to France's 3000.
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