Battle Of La Rothière

The Battle of La Rothière (1 February 1814) saw the Coalition forces of the Austrian Empire, Russian Empire, Kingdom of Prussia, Kingdom of Bavaria, and Kingdom of Württemberg attack a French army led by Emperor Napoleon. The main Coalition army was under the command of Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg but Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher was given tactical control of the fighting. The Allies defeated the outnumbered and overextended French during a snowfall.

After clashing with Blücher's forces in the Battle of Brienne on 29 January, Napoleon lingered in the area too long. When the Coalition army attacked, Napoleon's troops were poorly positioned to defend themselves and it was too late to avoid battle. Nevertheless, the French army fought hard and managed to hold its ground until it could retreat under cover of darkness.

Background

Strategic situation

After being disastrously defeated by the Coalition armies at the Battle of Leipzig, Napoleon with 60,000–70,000 French soldiers retreated across the Rhine River in November 1813. Napoleon garrisoned the various fortresses in Germany with 100,000 soldiers and these would be lost to him in the 1814 campaign. Furthermore, former French allies like Bavaria and other German states switched sides and joined the Coalition. Napoleon spread out his scanty forces in a thin line along the Rhine. Meanwhile, the French emperor tried to organize a new army to face the Coalition hosts. To oppose the numerically superior allies, Napoleon could deploy only 129,106 men on 1 December 1813.

In late 1813, three Coalition armies were poised to invade France. The Army of Bohemia under Field Marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg crossed the upper Rhine near Basel in Switzerland on 20 December 1813. The Army of Silesia under Blücher crossed the middle Rhine on 1 January 1814. General Ferdinand von Wintzingerode crossed the lower Rhine on 6 January. On 1 January 1814, the Army of Bohemia numbered 156,868 men and the Army of Silesia counted 77,100 soldiers. From the North Army, Wintzingerode directed 36,000 Russians and General Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow controlled 30,000 Prussians.

Operations

At first, the French retreated rapidly and offered little resistance to the Allied invasion. The First Battle of Bar-sur-Aube on 24 January 1814 was the first significant clash. In this battle, Marshal Édouard Mortier, Duke of Treviso with 20,000 men fought with part of the Army of Bohemia before retreating to Troyes. Napoleon reached the theater of action on 26 January and assumed command of the 41,303 available soldiers. His intention was to attack Blücher's army while it was separated from a Prussian corps led by Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg. The result was the Battle of Brienne on 29 January 1814. During the battle, Blücher was nearly captured by a sudden rush of French troops. Learning that the French emperor in person was at hand, Blücher accordingly fell back the next morning to a strong position covering the exits from the Bar-sur-Aube defile.

Historian David G. Chandler regarded the Battle of Brienne as inconclusive. As Francis Loraine Petre noted, Napoleon failed to destroy Blücher's army before Schwarzenberg's army could come to its assistance. On 30 January, Blücher took up a position at Trannes, south of Brienne, and stayed there the following day. Napoleon remained fixed in position on 30 and 31 January. The French emperor mistakenly concluded that the Allies were intent on keeping him stationary at Brienne, while their main effort was directed at Troyes. On the morning of 1 February, Napoleon directed Marshal Michel Ney to march from Brienne to Troyes. However, at noon, movements by Blücher indicated that an Allied attack might be coming.

On 29 January, Schwarzenberg held a council of war