- Battle of Paris (1814)
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Paris
caption=Russian army enters Paris in 1814
partof=theWar of the Sixth Coalition
campaign=
date=March 30 -31,1814
place=Paris ,France
result=Decisive Coalition victory
combatant1=flagicon|France French Empire
combatant2=flagicon|RussiaRussian Empire
commander1=Joseph Bonaparte ,Auguste Marmont
commander2=flagicon|Russia Alexander I
,
strength1=50,000
strength2=100,000
casualties1=4,000
casualties2=8,000|The Battle of Paris was fought during the
Napoleonic Wars in1814 . The French defeat led directly to the abdication ofNapoleon I .Background
In
1813 Napoleon I was retreating from his failed invasion ofRussia . Coalition armies were joined together and defeated the French at theBattle of Leipzig .Austrian Emperor , Francis I, was interested in seeking peace with the French but both Tsar Alexander I of Russia andFrederick William III of Prussia wished to invade France. Just as Napoleon had enteredMoscow , so did Tsar Alexander wish to enterParis . Until this battle no foreign army had entered Paris in nearly 400 years.Forces
The Austrian, Prussian and Russian armies were joined together and put under the command of
Field Marshall Prince Karl von Schwarzenberg, but the driving force behind the army was the Russian Tsar and King of Prussia moving with the army. The Coalition army totaled about 100,000 troops. Napoleon had left his brotherJoseph Bonaparte in defense of Paris with about 20,000 regular troops under MarshalAuguste Marmont along with an additional 30,000 National and Imperial Guards under Marshal'sBon Adrien Jeannot de Moncey andÉdouard Mortier .The Battle
The Coalitio army arrived outside Paris in late March. Nearing the city, Russian troops broke rank and ran forwards to get their first glimpse of Paris. Camping outside the city on the 29th the Coalition forces were to assault next morning. Early in the morning of
March 30 the Coalition attack began when the Russians attacked and drove back the Young Guard near Romainville in the center of the French lines. A few hours later the Prussians, under Blücher attacked north of the city and carried the French position around Aubervilliers, but did not press their attack. TheWürttemberg troops seized the positions at Saint-Maur to the southwest. The Russians attempted to press their attack but became caught up by trenches and artillery before falling back before a counterattack of theImperial Guard . They continued to hold back the Russians in the center until the Prussian forces appeared to their rear. The Russian forces then assailed the Montmartre Heights where Joseph's headquarters had been at the beginning of the battle. Control of the heights was severely contested, and Joseph fled the city. Marmont contacted the Coalition and reached a secret agreement with them. Shortly afterwards, he marched his soldiers to a position where they were quickly surrounded by Coalition troops; Marmont then surrendered, as had been agreed.The Surrender
The Russian Tsar sent an envoy to meet with the French to hasten the surrender. The Tsar offered generous terms to the French and declared himself to be bringing peace to France rather than its destruction. On
March 31 Talleyrand gave the key of the city to the Tsar. Later that day the Coalition armies entered the city with the Tsar at the head of the army followed by the King of Prussia and Schwarzenberg. Napoleon was outraged by the surrender of Paris. He was forced to abdicate a few days later onApril 6 .Links
* [http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/Paris_1814.htm Battle of Paris 1814, maps, illustrations]
ources
*"Compton's Home Library:" Battles of the World CD-ROM
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.