The Battle of Craonne was a battle between an Imperial French army under Emperor Napoleon I opposing a combined army of Imperial Russians and Prussians led by Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. The War of the Sixth Coalition engagement began when the bulk of Napoleon's army tried to drive Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov's 22,000 Russians off the Chemin des Dames plateau to the west of Craonne. After a bitter struggle, Napoleon's attacks compelled Vorontsov's force to withdraw, but French casualties exceeded Russian losses. While the battle raged, Blücher's attempt to turn Napoleon's east flank ended in failure due to poor planning.
The battle of Craonne, by Theodore Jung
Russian General Fabian von Osten-Sacken
Russian General Louis Andrault de Langeron
Prussian General Ludwig Yorck
Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov
Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov was a Russian nobleman and field-marshal, renowned for his success in the Napoleonic Wars and most famous for his participation in the Caucasian War from 1844 to 1853.
Portrait of Vorontsov by George Dawe, c. 1820
Portrait of Prince Mikhail Vorontsov by Thomas Lawrence, 1821
Elizabeth Branicka Vorontsov, by George Hayter
Vorontsov's Moorish Castle in Alupka, Crimea (1828–46)