Battle of Craonne

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Battle of Craonne
Part of the War of the Sixth Coalition
War memorial "des Marie-Louise et des Bleuets de 1914"
Date March 7, 1814 Location Craonne, France Result French victory
Belligerents
French Empire	Prussia
Commanders
Napoleon I, Michel Ney	Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Strength
37,000	85,000
Casualties and losses
5,400	5,000

The Battle of Craonne was fought on March 7, 1814, and resulted in a French victory under Napoleon I against Russians and Prussians under General Blücher.^[1]

Craonne is a village on the Chemin des Dames, in the département of Aisne.

Marshal Blucher had recovered from his earlier setbacks more quickly than Napoleon Bonaparte had hoped and so the French Emperor was forced to switch his attacks from Field Marshal Schwarzenberg back to the Prussian commander.

Moving with speed and aggression, the French pushed the Allies over the Aisne river and while Blucher planned his counter with some 85,000 men, Napoleon's 37,000 troops struck.

Napoleon's aim was to pin the Allies and then launch Marshal Ney, leading a mixed force heavily weighted towards cavalry, in a flanking move.

Unfortunately, for the French, the coordination was poorly timed and Ney not only suffered heavy casualties but the Allies managed to extricate themselves from a sticky situation.

Craonne cost Blucher 5,000 casualties, while Napoleon lost some 5,400.

The young French conscripted soldiers were called "Marie-Louise" (Napoleon's second wife name) because many were too young to have a beard.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Illustrated article on the Battle of Craonne at 'Battlefields Europe'

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