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	Pyrrhic 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

v • d • e War of the Sixth Coalition

Lützen – Bautzen – Großbeeren – Katzbach – Dresden – Kulm – Dennewitz – Leipzig – Hanau – Sehested – Brienne – La Rothière – Mincio – Six Days Campaign – Mormans – Montereau – Bar-sur-Aube – Craonne – Laon – Reims – Arcis-sur-Aube – La Fère-Champenoise – Montmartre – Paris

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.

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.