N & E
Napoléon & Empire

Battle of La Rothière

Date and place

  • February 1st, 1814 at La Rothière, Aube department, in Champagne, France (now part of the Grand-Est region)..

Involved forces

  • French army (36,000 men) under Emperor Napoleon the First.  
  • Prussian army (150,000 men) under Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher.  

Casualties and losses

  • French army: 6 to 8,000 men killed, lost, injured or prisoners.  
  • Allied army: 6 to 8,000 men killed, lost or injured.  

Aerial panorama of La Rothière battlefield


The general situation

The day after the battle of Brienne (January 29, 1814), Napoleon remained in the town Brienne-le-Château with the corps of Marshals Michel Ney and Victor, and that of General Étienne Maurice Gérard Étienne Maurice Gérard.

Although his intention was to march west-southwest towards Troyes Troyes to attack Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg, he had to wait for the reconstruction of the Lesmont Lesmont bridge The Lesmont bridge over the river Aube over the river Aube and the arrival of Marshal Auguste Viesse de Marmont, whom any hasty retreat of the main army would deliver to the allies.

The Emperor therefore took up a defensive position, hoping to withdraw before being attacked. His wide-ranging positions prevented the enemy from gaining access to the Brienne plain The battlefield near Brienne, where they could exploit their numerical superiority to the full.

The Brienne plain in winter
The Brienne plain in wintertime

The layout of the armies

French Army

The French were arranged as follows:

  1. General Gérard commanded the 7,000-strong French right wing. It was located on the right bank of the river Aube L'Aube, west of La Rothière La Rothière, between Dienville Dienville and Unienville Unienville.
  2. Marshal Victor was in the center with just over 11,000 men. His divisions occupied the villages of La Gibrie [La Giberie] La Giberie, Chauménil [Chaumesnil] Chaumesnil, Petit-Ménil [Petit-Mesnil] Petit-Mesnil and La Rothière, with Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty's cavalry blocking the interval between the last two.
  3. Marshal Marmont, once arrived, would form the left wing with his 6,500 men.
  4. A reserve of 7,500 soldiers, under Marshal Ney, was established around Surroundings of La Rothière the Beugné (or Bugney) farm [no longer existing today] Place where the Beugné farm was. One of its cavalry divisions was overseeing the reconstruction of the Lesmont bridge.
  5. The cavalry reserves were stationed in the third line, under the command of General Emmanuel de Grouchy.
  6. Marshal Nicolas Oudinot was positioned in front of Brienne-la-Vieille.
The church of Brienne-la-Vieille
The church of Brienne-la-Vieille, northwest of the battlefield

Coalition army

Opposite, Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher's vastly superior forces were organized into three main groups:

  1. The left, 20,000 strong, was commanded by General Ignácz Gyulay Ignácz Gyulay. It was behind Trannes Trannes and would march on Dienville.
  2. General Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken was in charge of the center. 23,000 of his men were tasked with attacking La Rothière, supported by General Zakahr Dmitrievich Olsufiev (Захар Дмитриевич ОлсуфьевZakahr Dmitrievich Olsufiev and a further 23,500 soldiers.
  3. 4,500 Cossacks ensured the junction with the right.
  4. The right was led by Frederick William, Royal Prince of Württemberg (Wilhelm Friedrich Karl von Württemberg) Wilhelm Friedrich Karl von Württemberg, who held 12,500 men behind Eclance Eclance, waiting to attack Petit-Mesnil.
  5. The reserve comprised no less than 12,000 men and was held to the right of Bossancourt Bossancourt.
  6. A second reserve of 53,000 men was available, but took no part in the battle. It was made up of the troops of russian General Mikhaïl Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly (Михаи́л Богда́нович Баркла́й-де-То́лли), spread out between Trannes and Bar-sur-Aube Bar-sur-Aube, and those of General Hieronymus von Colloredo-Mansfeld Hieronymus von Colloredo-Mansfeld, whose orders were to advance along the road from Dienville to Troyes. Fortunately for the French, he did not arrive at Vendeuvre-sur-Barse Vendeuvre-sur-Barse until around 2 p.m. on February 1, too late to carry out the prescribed movement in good time.

All these troops were concentrated in the Trannes defile, which prevented them from attacking together.

The battle

January 30 passed, then January 31. All remained calm.

On February 1st, the weather was miserable. It had been freezing all night and the snow was now falling in heavy flakes. The ground, soaked by the heavy rains of the previous days, has been ploughed by troops and vehicles. A major Allied offensive seemed increasingly unlikely as the hours passed.

When the morning ended with no movement reported from the allies, Napoleon could believe for a moment that his wish would come true. Marmont had arrived in Morvilliers Morvilliers at around 10 a.m. from Montier-en-Der Montier-en-Der, and had taken up his planned positions: some of his troops at La Chaise La Chaise, on the road to Soulaines A pond between La Chaise / Soulaisnes Forest of Soulaisnes, and others near him in and around Morvilliers. It was time for retreating.

La Rothière: the battlefield near Morvilliers
The battlefield near Morvilliers

So, at 11 a.m., the Emperor gave the order to retreat. Ney set off for Lesmont, with the other corps preparing to follow. It was now midday. Blücher chose this moment to engage the enemy.

Picture - "Battle of La Rothière". Engraved by François Pierdon after a drawing by Henri-Felix-Emmanuel Philippoteaux.

Napoleonic Battles - Picture of the battle of La Rothière -

Photos Credits

 Photo of Lionel A. Bouchon Photos by Lionel A. Bouchon.
 Photo of Marie-Albe Grau Photos by Marie-Albe Grau.
 Photo of Floriane Grau Photos by Floriane Grau.
 Photo of Michèle Grau-Ghelardi Photos by Michèle Grau-Ghelardi.
 Photo of Didier Grau Photos by Didier Grau.
 Photo of various authors Photos made by people outside the Napoleon & Empire association.

Video credits

The shots are by Didier Grau, the editing by Lionel A. Bouchon