Battle of Vauchamps - Battle

Battle

Having begun to push back the feeble French forces from Marmont's VI's Corps the day before, Blücher occupied Champaubert early on 14 February, sending his vanguard forward, as far as the village of Fromentières and then Vauchamps. Marmont, commanding only the Lagrange division and 800 men from the Ricard division, had cautiously pulled his men back towards Montmirail, where he began to receive reinforcements. Towards 9 o'clock in the morning, Blücher set Zieten's brigade and some cavalry in motion from Vauchamps towards Montmirail. To their surprise, Marmont's men didn't give ground this time and vigorously counterattacked, pushing Zieten's advance guard back into the village of Vauchamps. The accompanying Prussian cavalry was dispersed by a violent French cannonade. With now both brigades of Ricard's division available, Marmont launched these men against the Prussian position at Vauchamps, with the 1st brigade on his right, advancing under the cover of the Beaumont forest, south of the Montmirail-Vauchamps road and the 2nd brigade on his left, north of the road, advancing frontally towards the position. Marmont also had with him his own escort cavalry squadron and four élite Imperial Guard duty squadrons from the Emperor's own escort, under general Lion. Marmont's leftmost brigade entered Vauchamps, but, with the village heavily invested with Zieten's Prussian defenders, the Frenchmen were soon repulsed, with the enemy in pursuit. Marshal Marmont then launched his five squadrons to the rescue and the cavalry promptly forced the Prussians back to the village, with one of their battalions taken prisoner, after taking refuge in an isolated farm.

Zieten then decided to pull back his forces towards the village of Fromentières. There, Zieten was joined by Generals Kleist and Kapsevitch, who, having heard the sound of the guns, had begun to move their respective Army Corps in that direction, coming from Champaubert. The French also moved forward, with Marmont's two divisions (Lagrange and Ricard) in pursuit of Zieten, along the road to Fromentières. Marmont was now supported on his left by General Grouchy, who had just arrived on the field of battle with the divisions of Saint-Germain and Doumerc, moving past the village of Janvilliers, in order to cut off Zieten's retreat. Further French reinforcements were now available, this time on Marmont's righ: the division of Leval, who had been steadily moving up the valley of the Petit Morin river, in a bid to outflank the Prussians. With the French Imperial Guard artillery now also deployed and firing at them, Zieten's Prussians drew back in good order, formed in squares to fend off Grouchy's cavalry. Towards 2 o'clock in the afternoon, after assessing the situation, Blücher realised that he was facing Napoleon himself and thus decided to immediately withdraw. He ordered all of his forces to retreat through Champaubert and directed a part of his artillery to safety, towards Étoges.