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Battle of Bar-sur-Aube

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Battle of Bar-sur-Aube
Part of the War of the Sixth Coalition

The painting shows the movement of the Bavarian foot soldiers in the meeting of Bar-sur-Aube.
Date27 February 1814[1]
Location48°16′N 04°43′E / 48.267°N 4.717°E / 48.267; 4.717
Result Coalition victory[1]
Belligerents
First French Empire France Austrian Empire Austria
Kingdom of Bavaria Bavaria
Russian Empire Russia
Commanders and leaders
First French Empire Jacques MacDonald
First French Empire Nicolas Oudinot
First French Empire Étienne Maurice Gérard
Austrian Empire Karl von Schwarzenberg
Kingdom of Bavaria Karl Philipp von Wrede
Russian Empire Peter Wittgenstein
Strength
18,000–22,000[1]
60 guns
27,000[1]–30,000
70 guns
Casualties and losses
3,100[1] killed, wounded, or captured
2 guns lost
1,900[1] killed, wounded, or captured
Battle of Bar-sur-Aube is located in France
Battle of Bar-sur-Aube
Location within France
Map
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200km
125miles
Paris
22
Battle of Paris (1814) from 30 to 31 March 1814
21
Battle of Saint-Dizier on 26 March 1814
20
Battle of Fère-Champenoise on 25 March 1814
19
Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube from 20 to 21 March 1814
18
Battle of Limonest on 20 March 1814
17
Battle of Reims (1814) from 12 to 13 March 1814
16
Battle of Mâcon (1814) on 11 March 1814
15
Battle of Laon from 9 to 10 March 1814
14
Battle of Craonne on 7 March 1814
13
Battle of Laubressel on 3 March 1814
12
Battle of Saint-Julien (1814) on 1 March 1814
11
Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes on 28 February 1814
10
Battle of Montereau on 18 February 1814
9
Battle of Mormant on 17 February 1814
8
Battle of Vauchamps on 14 February 1814
7
Battle of Château-Thierry (1814) on 12 February 1814
6
Battle of Montmirail on 11 February 1814
5
Battle of Champaubert on 10 February 1814
4
Battle of Lesmont on 2 February 1814
3
Battle of La Rothière on 1 February 1814
2
Battle of Brienne on 29 January 1814
Bar-sur-Aube
1
First Battle of Bar-sur-Aube on 24 January 1814 Second Battle of Bar-sur-Aube on 27 February 1814
  current battle
  Napoleon in command
  Napoleon not in command

The Battle of Bar-sur-Aube was fought on 27 February 1814, between the First French Empire and the Austrian Empire. French forces were led by Jacques MacDonald, while the Austrians and their Bavarian allies, forming the Army of Bohemia, were led by Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg. The Austrians were victorious.

Background

[edit]

Napoleon I himself, having defeated the Allies at Montereau on 17 February, forcing them to retreat toward Troyes beyond the river Aube, had turned north to the valley of the Marne to try to impede the renewed drive toward Paris by the Army of Silesia (mostly Prussians) under Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher; the marshals he left behind were ordered to make it appear as though he was still with them. Schwarzenberg tested that assumption by advancing upon Bar-sur-Aube (in part because Alexander I of Russia and Frederick William III of Prussia wanted him to do so), and on the twenty-sixth Napoleon ordered Oudinot to follow Schwarzenberg to the town, near Troyes.[2]

Battle

[edit]

When it was learned that Napoleon was preparing to attack the Army of Silesia, Schwarzenberg took the opportunity to strike first at Oudinot with a Russian corps under General Peter Wittgenstein and a Bavarian corps under General Karl von Wrede. Although MacDonald enjoyed a measure of numerical superiority at the outset, many of his troops were cut off from the main theater of the battle by their deployment astride the Aube and were therefore unable to participate, much of the French artillery being stuck on the wrong side of the river.[2]

The French forces, numbering around 30,000, suffered casualties of 3,100 men, which represents a loss of approximately 10.33% of their strength. On the other side, the allied forces, also numbering around 30,000, incurred 1,900 casualties, or 6.33% of their force. These figures underscore the intensity of the battle and the higher relative losses suffered by the French forces compared to their opponents.[3]

Aftermath

[edit]

MacDonald was forced to retreat over the Aube, but he continued retreating for the next few days, pursued by the Allies and leaving Schwarzenberg in an advantageous position, able to concentrate his forces at Troyes as well as to take possession of the river crossings of the Seine.[2]

A Russian cavalry officer, Eduardo von Lowenstern, witnessed the revenge the Bavarians took on the town for the loss of a battalion: “The houses were being stormed. Women and old people murdered, children thrown from the second floor onto the paving and smashed.”[4]

In the north-east of Paris a Prussian army went into the Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f Bodart 1908, p. 474.
  2. ^ a b c Hale 2006, pp. 114–115.
  3. ^ "Clash of Steel, Battle database - Bar-sur-Aube". www.clash-of-steel.co.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  4. ^ Mikaberidze 2013, p. 114.

References

[edit]
  • Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  • Hale, Korcaighe P. (2006). "Battle of Bar-sur-Aube". In Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (ed.). The Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1851096466.
  • Mikaberidze, Alexander (2013). Russian Eyewitness Accounts of the Campaign of 1814.
[edit]
Preceded by
Battle of Orthez
Napoleonic Wars
Battle of Bar-sur-Aube
Succeeded by
Battle of Laon