1.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
2.
French Army
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The French Army, officially the Land Army is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. Along with the French Air Force, the French Navy and the National Gendarmerie, the current Chief of Staff of the French Army is General Jean-Pierre Bosser, a direct subordinate of the Chief of the Defence Staff. All soldiers are considered professionals following the suspension of conscription, voted in parliament in 1997, as of 2014, the French Army employed 111,628 personnel. In addition, the element of the French Army consisted of 15,453 personnel of the Operational Reserve. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the Hundred Years War and these units of troops were raised by issuing ordonnances to govern their length of service, composition and payment. These Compagnies dordonnance formed the core of the Gendarme Cavalry into the sixteenth century, stationed throughout France and summoned into larger armies as needed. There was also made for Francs-archers units of bowmen and foot soldiers raised from the non-noble classes. The bulk of the infantry for warfare was still provided by urban or provincial militias, raised from an area or city to fight locally and named for their recruiting grounds. Gradually these units became more permanent, and in 1480s Swiss instructors were recruited and these men would be paid and contracted and receive training. Henry II further regularised the French army by forming standing Infantry regiments to replace the Militia structure, the first of these the Régiments de Picardie, Piémont, Navarre and Champagne were called the Les Vieux Corps. It was normal policy to disband regiments after a war was over as a cost saving measure with the Vieux Corps and the Kings own Household Troops the Maison du Roi being the only survivors. Regiments could be raised directly by the King and so called after the region in which they were raised, or by the nobility and so called after the noble or his appointed colonel. In 1684 there was a reorganisation of the French infantry and again in 1701 to fit in with Louis XIVs plans. This reshuffle created many of the regiments of the French Army and standardised their equipment. The army of the Sun King tended to wear coats with coloured linings. There were exceptions and the troops, recruited from outside France. In addition to these regiments of the line the Maison du Roi provided several elite units, the Swiss Guards, French Guards, the revolution split the army with the main mass losing most of its officers to aristocratic flight or guillotine and becoming demoralised and ineffective. The French Guard joined the revolt and the Swiss Guards were massacred during the storming of the Tuileries palace, under Napoleon I, the French Army conquered most of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars
3.
Troupes de marine
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The Troupe de marine are a corps of the French Army which regroups several specialties, infantry, artillery, armoured and airborne. Despite their designation, they are a part of the Army. The troupe de marine have been professionalized progressively since 1970, the Troupe de marine were formerly known as the Troupes Coloniales, with origin dating back to the Troupes de la marine. The French colonies were under the control of the Ministère de la Marine, accordingly and these companies were destined to embark on royal naval ships to service the naval artillery and participate to the boarding of naval ships engaged in combats at sea. Simultaneously, these companies were also in charge in guarding the sea ports. In the 18th century, they constituted the Compagnies Franches de la Marine who mainly swarmed essentially in Nouvelle France, an evolution was followed and which deemed more and more pronouncing vis-à-vis the ship boarding marines and their officers. A tentative close-up merger was attempted by two naval ship corps including their troops in 1786 with the companies of sailors, however the experience came to little conclusions. The Régiment Royal–La Marine and Régiment de lAmiral de France founded by Colbert dispersed their companies between Dunkerque, Le Havre, Brest, Rochefort and Toulon and they adorned for a first time the white and grey uniform with the blue vest. The four regiments of la marine were transferred from the secretariat of La Marine to that of the secretariat of La Guerre, such was put in effect to meet the successive military war demands of the reign of Louis XIV, wanting to control all French units. The regiments have left the French Navy conserved then, only that of a naval designation, the Marine Royale had proud allure in 1671, France was able to align 196 naval vessels. Colbert decided accordingly to create 100 companies of guardian-soldiers destined to defend the naval vessels, however, these men were redirected again towards the French Army by Louvois in 1673. Starting this date, the naval and marine officers were obliged to recruit themselves their crew, owing to the presence of « levées » on the war or commercial sea ports, similar to the « marine press », the officers garrisoned their naval ships with defenders. However, the system found its limits quickly, the recruits were often lacking discipline and experience. A vicious circle and a pride for the performing French naval, Compagnies franches de la Marine created in 1690. Each company was tasked to guard a military harbor and its immediate coastline, beginning in 1695, the Companies were organized in battalions around the major harbors. The Marine Companies and Battalions were suppressed in 1761, Corps dartillerie de Marine, created in 1692 to oversee the training and use of coastal artillery. The Corps was suppressed in 1761, the Infantry and Artillery Marine units were re-organized into a single marine corps by a short-lived merger in 1769. Some colonial units were created at the time, organized along the same lines of artillery and infantry units
4.
1st Armored Division (France)
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The 1st Armored Division is a unit of the French Army formed during World War II. Dissolved for a first time in 1946, the unit was recreated in 1948 and it was again dissolved in 1999 with the cadre of the professionalization of the French Military. The 1st Mechanised Brigade, created on July 1,1999, the 1re BM was again dissolved on July 21,2015. The 1st Division was recreated in 2016, the 1st Armored Division was created on May 1,1943. It was dissolved on March 31,1946, the 1st Armored Division was recreated in 1948. On July 1,1999, the 1st Mechanised Brigade inherited the traditions of the division, the 1st Mechanised Brigade was dissolved on July 21,2015. The 1st Division was recreated on July 1,2016 part of the Scorpion Force alongside the 3rd Division, the motto of the division, Nomine et Virtute Prima, translates literally to La première par le nom et la valeur in French, The first in designation and worth. The choice of the insignia, the cross of Saint Louis by général Jean Touzet du Vigier, comes from the place of formation of the unit, Tunisia, the division is known and referred to as division Saint-Louis. The division was cited three times at the orders of the forces during the Second World War. In 1943, a French armed force was formed in North Africa, the unit was equipped with modern equipment coming from the United States, and the program anticipated the constitution of several armed divisions. S. American norms, in three tactical groupments, baptized by the Americans as Combat Command, under these designations the three French divisions engaged in operations from 1944 to 1945. Within this context, the 1st Armored Division 1st DB was formed on May 1,1943, the division was heir to the Light Mechanic Brigade which combat engaged in Tunisia. On January 28,1943, général du Vigier took command of this unit in formation and he had left the command of the BLM to général Brossin de Saint-Didier and installed his command post in Mascara where the training center for armored brigades garrisoned. In the coming months of May 1943 joined transmission and services, in August, the train and a squadron group reinforced immediately. Then, the 2nd African Chasseur doubled to form 2nd Tank-Cuirassiers Regiment, the latter had just been promoted to a divisional general on August 25, and all the forces which were under his disposition were grouped around Mascara. The 2nd Zouaves Regiment disappeared and was replaced, as the infantry of the division, the division assumed position within the ranks of the 1st Army then designate as Army B and which would participate to the disembarking of Provence. The first embarking commenced in Oran and Mers-el-Kébir at the end of the month of July 1944, the Naval ships lifted anchors on August 10 and 11. The disembarking should have taken lieu between Saint-Tropez and Saint-Raphaël, at the dawn of August 15, an enormous naval fleet was assembled north-west of Corsica steering and heading north
5.
Le Mans
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Le Mans is a city in France, on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department, Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region. Its inhabitants are called Manceaux and Mancelles, since 1923, the city has hosted the internationally famous 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance sports car race. First mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy, the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci, Le Mans is also known as Civitas Cenomanorum, or Cenomanus. Their city, seized by the Romans in 47 BC, was within the ancient Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis, a 3rd-century amphitheatre is still visible. The thermae were demolished during the crisis of the century when workers were mobilized to build the citys defensive walls. The ancient wall around Le Mans is one of the most complete circuits of Gallo-Roman city walls to survive, as the use of the French language replaced late Vulgar Latin in the area, Cenomanus, with dissimilation, became known as Celmans. Cel- was taken to be a form of the French word for this and that, and was replaced by le, gregory of Tours mentions a Frankish sub-king Rigomer, who was killed by King Clovis I in his campaign to unite the Frankish territories. As the principal city of Maine, Le Mans was the stage for struggles in the century between the counts of Anjou and the dukes of Normandy. When the Normans had control of Maine, William the Conqueror successfully invaded England, in 1069 the citizens of Maine revolted and expelled the Normans, resulting in Hugh V being proclaimed count of Maine. Geoffrey V of Anjou married Matilda of England in the cathedral and their son Henry II Plantagenet, king of England, was born here. The airfield was declared operational on 3 September and designated as A-35 and it was used by several American fighter and transport units until late November of that year in additional offensives across France, the airfield was closed. Le Mans has an old town and the Cathédrale St-Julien, dedicated to St Julian of Le Mans. Remnants of a Roman wall are visible in the old town and these walls are highlighted every summer evening in a light show that tells the history of the town. Arboretum de la Grand Prée Part of the former Cistercian abbey de lEpau, founded by Queen Berengaria, jardin des Plantes du Mans Musée de la reine Bérengère, a museum of Le Mans history located in a gothic manor house. Musée de Tessé, the arts museum of the city, displaying painting. Le Mans has an oceanic climate influenced by the mild Atlantic air travelling inland, summers are warm and occasionally hot, whereas winters are mild and cloudy. Precipitation is relatively uniform and moderate year round, at the 1999 French census, there were 293,159 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Le Mans, with 146,105 of these living in the city proper
6.
1st Marine Infantry Regiment
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The 1st Marine Infantry Regiment is a French regiment heir of the colonial infantry. Along with the 1st Marine Artillery Regiment 1e RAMa and the 2nd Marine Artillery Regiment 2e RAMa, the 1e RIMa is a light armoured unit, since 1986, alike with the régiment dinfanterie-chars de marine RICM. Heir to the Compagnie Ordinaire de la Mer created in 1622 by Richelieu, the regiment is heir to the 1st Free French Division and the battalion of the Parcific which combat engaged at Bir Hakeim. The Marine Infantry and Pacific Battalion was issued from the merger, on July 1942, of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion and the Pacific Battalion. 1813, German Campaign of 1813 October 16–19, Battle of Leipzig 1814, Campaign of France February 14,1918, Battle of Vauchamps In 1846, the regiment was present in the battle of Fatahua of December 17,1846. With the 4th Marching Marine Infantry Regiment of colonel dArbaud, the 1er formed the first brigade under the orders of général Reboul and this infantry division evolved at the corps of 12th Army Corps with commander-in-chief Lebrun. August 23 to August 26 - March towards the east August 31,1870 - Battle of Bazeilles During the Paris Commune in 1871, the 3e DIC, Generals Raffanel, Leblond, Goulet, Gadel, Puypéroux. Engaged in the sectors as the 2nd Colonial Infantry Division 2e DIC, to the first battle of Champagne. In 1916, in the first Battle of the Somme, Becquincourt, Dompierre, Assevilliers, Flaucourt, Belloy-en-Santerre, Villers-Carbonnel, Barlaux. February 1916 - November 1918, 17th Colonial Infantry Division, 17e D. I. C In 1917, to battle of Aisne, Bois de Mortier. In 1918, at the battle of Champagne, Montagne de Reims. Battle of Monastir April - May 1917, attacks on the belt of Cerna, the 3rd Colonial Division, général Falvy, consisted of the 1st, 21e, 23e R. I. C and 3e and 203e R. A. C. On June 14, the 1er and 23e RIC were engaged in the ravine which separated cote 304 from Mort Homme, at 0630, the cote was crowned, despite a relentless resistance, the armoured contingents crossed the bridge of Bethoncout in direction of Esnes. The bridge was blown-up in the evening and redressed in the same night, the 1st company of the 1e RIC of captain Bertrand counter-attacked. At 17 hours, attacks were ceased, at 19 hours, the French Marines gave their part to other engagements. The regiment was made compagnon de la Libération, June 28,1945, the regiment was found in A. F. N from 1952 to 1962. Garrisoned in several places, the regiment was part of the 9th Brigade, then 9e DIMa, the regiment was deployed to Lebanon at the corps of the Multinational Force in Lebanon in 1983, then United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon UNIFIL in 1984. In July 2009, the regiment joined the 3rd Mechanised Brigade which became designated in March 2014 as 3rd Light Armoured Brigade, the regiment has participated in all major operations of the French Army
7.
4th Marine Infantry Regiment
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The 4th Marine Infantry Regiment was a French marine regiment of the troupes de marine within the French Army. Along with the 1st Marine Artillery Regiment 1er RAMa and 2nd Marine Artillery Regiment 2e RAMa, on June 14,2001, the GSMA of Mayotte, heir to the 4th Marine Infantry Regiment, received the color guard of the regimental colors. The origin of regiment is the Royal Marine founded by the Sun King Louis XIV in 1669. The 4th Marine Infantry Regiment was created from elements of the regiment of Brest, the 4th Marine Infantry Regiment of August 31,1854 until December 31,1900, traditional garrison of Tolulon. In 1857, the 4th Marine Infantry Regiment had 22 companies in Toulon,5 in the Reunion,5 in the Senegal, in 1870, 4th Marching Marine Infantry Regiment. On January 1,1901, became the 4th Colonial Infantry Regiment 4e RIC, in 1914, the regiment was part of the 2nd Colonial Division 2e DC under orders of général Leblois. At the end of the war, the regiment was part of the 16e DIC. 4th Colonial Infantry Regiment 4e RIC until April 30,1923, on May 1,1923, became 4th Colonial Tirailleurs Regiment 4e RTC by designation change. 4th Colonial Infantry Regiment on October 15,1939, recreated at Toulon for the campaign. The regiment was part of the 2nd Colonial Division, général Maignan, may 1,1947 to 31 March 1949, 4th Colonial Infantry Battalion 4e BIC. May 1,1949, 4th Colonial Infantry Regiment 4e RIC, November 30,1958, regiment at Toulon. December 1,1958 to January 31,1959, 4th Marine Infantry Regiment 4e RIMa, February 1,1959, 1st battalion of the 4th Marine Infantry Regiment. At the cease-fire on March 19,1962 in Algeria, the I/4e RIMa created among 91 other regiments, at Toulon on June 15,1962. June 16,1962, center of instruction of the 4th Marine Infantry Regiment June 30,1972, July 1,1977, 4th Marine Infantry Regiment 4e RIMa. July 14,1977, The regiment left the garrison at Toulon to join Fréjus, during garrison at Toulon, the regiment consisted of the Corniche Bournazel preparatory class to the Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint Cyr. The regiment was separated in two in 1980, one-half of the regiment joined Perpignan where they incorporated the forming effectifs of the 24th Marine Infantry Regiment 24e RIMa dissolved. The other half of the regiment was founded at the corps of the GITDM at Fréjus which became the depository of the colors of the 4th Marine Infantry Regiment 4e RIMa. On July 1,1986, the regiment at Perpignan and marines joined Fréjus while the 24th Marine Infantry Regiment reconstituted formation in the original garrison of the 24e RIMa. On June 30,1998, the regiment was dissolved after 144 years of presence, the 4th Marine Infantry Regiment illustrated capability first in Crimea participating to the siege of Sebastopol
8.
Cardinal Richelieu
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Cardinal Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu and Fronsac, commonly referred to as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman, nobleman, and statesman. He was consecrated as a bishop in 1607 and was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1616, Richelieu soon rose in both the Catholic Church and the French government, becoming a cardinal in 1622, and King Louis XIIIs chief minister in 1624. He remained in office until his death in 1642, he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin, Cardinal de Richelieu was often known by the title of the kings Chief Minister or First Minister. He sought to consolidate power and crush domestic factions. By restraining the power of the nobility, he transformed France into a strong and his chief foreign policy objective was to check the power of the Austro-Spanish Habsburg dynasty, and to ensure French dominance in the Thirty Years War that engulfed Europe. Although he was a cardinal, he did not hesitate to make alliances with Protestant rulers in attempting to achieve his goals. While a powerful figure, events like the Day of the Dupes show that in fact he very much depended on the kings confidence to keep this power. As alumnus of the University of Paris and headmaster of the Collège de Sorbonne, Richelieu was also famous for his patronage of the arts, most notably, he founded the Académie Française, the learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language. Richelieu is also known by the sobriquet lÉminence rouge, from the red shade of a cardinals clerical dress and this in part allowed the colony to eventually develop into the heartland of Francophone culture in North America. He is also a character in The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Born in Paris, Armand du Plessis was the fourth of five children, at the age of nine, young Richelieu was sent to the College of Navarre in Paris to study philosophy. Thereafter, he began to train for a military career and his private life seems to have been typical of a young officer of the era, in 1605, aged twenty, he was treated by Théodore de Mayerne for gonorrhea. King Henry III had rewarded Richelieus father for his participation in the Wars of Religion by granting his family the bishopric of Luçon. The family appropriated most of the revenues of the bishopric for private use, they were, however, challenged by clergymen, to protect the important source of revenue, Richelieus mother proposed to make her second son, Alphonse, the bishop of Luçon. Alphonse, who had no desire to become a bishop, became instead a Carthusian monk, thus, it became necessary that the younger Richelieu join the clergy. He had strong interests, and threw himself into studying for his new post. In 1606 King Henry IV nominated Richelieu to become Bishop of Luçon, as Richelieu had not yet reached the canonical minimum age, it was necessary that he journey to Rome for a special dispensation from the Pope. This secured, Richelieu was consecrated bishop in April 1607, soon after he returned to his diocese in 1608, Richelieu was heralded as a reformer
9.
Louis Philippe I
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Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 as the leader of the Orléanist party. He spent 21 years in exile after he left France in 1793 and he was proclaimed king in 1830 after his cousin Charles X was forced to abdicate in the wake of the events of the July Revolution of that year. His government, known as the July Monarchy, was dominated by members of a wealthy French elite and he followed conservative policies, especially under the influence of the French statesman François Guizot during the period 1840–48. He also promoted friendship with Britain and sponsored colonial expansion, notably the conquest of Algeria and his popularity faded as economic conditions in France deteriorated in 1847, and he was forced to abdicate after the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1848. He lived out his life in exile in Great Britain, Louis Philippe was born in the Palais Royal, the residence of the Orléans family in Paris, to Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, and Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon. As a member of the reigning House of Bourbon, he was a Prince of the Blood and his mother was an extremely wealthy heiress who was descended from Louis XIV of France through a legitimized line. Louis Philippe was the eldest of three sons and a daughter, a family that was to have erratic fortunes from the beginning of the French Revolution to the Bourbon Restoration. Louis Philippes father was exiled from the court, and the Orléans confined themselves to studies of the literature. Louis Philippe was tutored by the Countess of Genlis, beginning in 1782 and she instilled in him a fondness for liberal thought, it is probably during this period that Louis Philippe picked up his slightly Voltairean brand of Catholicism. When Louis Philippes grandfather died in 1785, his father succeeded him as Duke of Orléans, from October 1788 to October 1789, the Palais Royal was a meeting-place for the revolutionaries. Louis Philippe grew up in a period that changed Europe as a whole and, following his fathers support for the Revolution. In his diary, he reports that he took the initiative to join the Jacobin Club. In June 1791, Louis Philippe got his first opportunity to become involved in the affairs of France, in 1785, he had been given the hereditary appointment of Colonel of the 14th Regiment of Dragoons. With war on the horizon in 1791, all proprietary colonels were ordered to join their regiments, Louis Philippe showed himself to be a model officer, and he demonstrated his personal bravery in two famous instances. The young colonel broke through the crowd and extricated the two priests, who then fled, at a river crossing on the same day, another crowd threatened to harm the priests. Louis Philippe put himself between a peasant armed with a carbine and the priests, saving their lives, the next day, Louis Philippe dove into a river to save a drowning local engineer. For this action, he received a crown from the local municipality. His regiment was moved north to Flanders at the end of 1791 after the Declaration of Pillnitz, Louis Philippe served under his fathers crony, the Duke of Biron, along with several officers who later gained distinction in Napoleons empire and afterwards
10.
German Campaign of 1813
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The German Campaign was fought in 1813. This was the factor in the outbreak of the German Campaign the following year. The Spring Campaign between members of the Sixth Coalition and the First French Empire ended inconclusively with a summer truce. Via the Trachenberg Plan, developed during a period of ceasefire in the summer of 1813, in the following Autumn Campaign, Austria eventually sided with the coalition, thwarting Napoleons hopes of reaching a separate agreement with the major powers Austria and Russia. The Coalition allies now had a numerical superiority, which they eventually brought to bear on Napoleons main forces. The high point of allied strategy was the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813 and this completely broke Napoleons power to the east of the river Rhine. Napoleon was forced to abdicate and Louis XVIII regained the French Throne, the war came to a formal end with the Treaty of Paris in November 1814. They advocated limitations to the princes of Germany and a joint effort by all Germans to eject the French. From 1810 Arndt and Jahn asked high-ranking figures in Prussian society again and again to prepare such an uprising, Jahn himself organised the German League and made a major contribution to the founding of the Lützow Free Corps. These forerunners took part in the outbreak of hostilities in Germany, even before the German Campaign, there had been uprisings against the French troops occupying Germany – these had broken out from 1806 onwards in Hesse and in 1809 in the Tyrolean Rebellion. These uprisings intensified in the year under Wilhelm von Dörnberg, the initiator and commander-in-chief of the Hessian uprising. This was the factor in the outbreak of the German Campaign the following year. On 17 March 1813 – the day Alexander I of Russia arrived in the Hoflager of Frederick William III of Prussia – Prussia declared war on France. On 20 March 1813 the Schlesische privilegierte Zeitung newspaper published Fredericks speech entitled An Mein Volk, delivered on 17 March and calling for a war of liberation. Already busy with maintaining naval supremacy and fighting the Peninsular War, Great Britain did not take any part in the German campaign. The Convention of Tauroggen became the starting-point of Prussias regeneration, meanwhile Napoleon in Paris had been organizing a fresh army for the reconquest of Prussia. Levies were also made with rigorous severity in the states of the Rhine Confederation, on 25 April Napoleon reached Erfurt and assumed the chief command. On this day his troops stood in the following positions, meanwhile the Russians and Prussians had concentrated all available men and were moving on an almost parallel line, but somewhat to the south of the direction taken by the French
11.
Battle of Leipzig
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The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813, at Leipzig, Saxony. Napoleons army also contained Polish and Italian troops, as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine, the battle was the culmination of the 1813 German campaign and involved nearly 600,000 soldiers, making it the largest battle in Europe prior to World War I. Being decisively defeated for the first time in battle, Napoleon was compelled to return to France while the Coalition hurried to keep their momentum, Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled to Elba in May 1814. However, the Russian Tsar refused to even as the French occupied the city. With this string of defeats, the armies of France were in retreat on all fronts across Europe, anti-French forces joined Russia as its troops pursued the remnants of the virtually destroyed Grande Armée across central Europe. He sought to regain the offensive by re-establishing his hold in Germany, the victories led to a brief armistice. He then won a victory at the Battle of Dresden on 27 August. This policy led to victories at Großbeeren, Kulm, Katzbach, after these defeats, the French emperor could not easily follow up on his victory at Dresden. With the intention of knocking Prussia out of the war as soon as possible, Oudinot was defeated at the Battle of Großbeeren, just south of the city. With the intact Prussian force threatening from the north, Napoleon was compelled to withdraw westward and he deployed his army around the city, but concentrated his force from Taucha through Stötteritz, where he placed his command. The Prussians advanced from Wartenburg, the Austrians and Russians from Dresden, the coalition had some 380,000 troops along with 1,500 guns, consisting of 145,000 Russians,115,000 Austrians,90,000 Prussians, and 30,000 Swedes. This made Leipzig the largest battle of the Napoleonic wars, surpassing Borodino, Wagram, Jena and Auerstadt, Ulm, Napoleon conscripted these men to be readied for an even larger campaign against the newly formed Sixth Coalition and its forces stationed in Germany. While he won several battles, his army was being steadily depleted as Coalition commanders, closely following the Trachenberg Plan. The Swedes also had under their command a company of the British Rocket Brigade armed with Congreve rockets, despite being outnumbered, Napoleon planned to take the offensive between the Pleisse and the Parthe rivers. The position at Leipzig held several advantages for his army and his battle strategy, the rivers that converged there split the surrounding terrain into many separate sectors. The northern front was defended by Marshals Michel Ney and Auguste de Marmont, the artillery reserve and parks, ambulances, and baggage stood near Leipzig, which Napoleon made his supply base for the battle. The bridges on the Pleisse and White Elster rivers were defended by infantry, the main battery stood in reserve, and during battle was to be deployed on the Gallows Height. This battery was to be commanded by the artillery expert Antoine Drouot, the western flank of the French positions at Wachau and Liebertwolkwitz was defended by Prince Joseph Poniatowski and Marshal Pierre Augereau and his young French conscripts
12.
Campaign in north-east France (1814)
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The 1814 campaign in north-east France was Napoleons final campaign of the War of the Sixth Coalition. Following their victory at Leipzig, Russian, Austrian and other German armies of the Sixth Coalition invaded France, despite the disproportionate forces in favour of the Coalition, Napoleon managed to inflict many defeats, especially during the Six Days Campaign. However, the Coalition kept advancing towards Paris, which capitulated in late March 1814, following defeats in the Wars of the Fourth and Fifth Coalitions, Prussia and Austria were forcibly allied with France during the Russian Campaign. When this campaign resulted in the destruction of Napoleons Grande Armée, the retreat from Russia turned into a new war on German soil, where Napoleon was decisively defeated at Leipzig. Most European countries then turned against Napoleon and started to invade France, when the last of the French troops had crossed to the western bank of the Rhine, divided counsels made their appearance at the headquarters of the Coalition members. The Army of Silesia, with 50, 000–75,000 Prussians and Russians under Prince Blücher, to meet these forces Napoleon, by the senatus consultum of 9 October 1813, had to draft anticipatively the conscripts from 1814 and 1815. These very young and inexperienced recruits formed the bulk of the new French Army and were nicknamed the Marie-Louise, hence less than 80,000 remained available for the east and north-eastern frontier. If, however, he was weak in numbers, he was now operating in a friendly country. Napoleon attempted to counter the incursion of the Army of Silesia shortly after their crossing but arrived too late, and engaged in pursuit. On 25 January Blücher entered Nancy, and, moving rapidly up the valley of the Moselle, was in communication with the Austrian advanced guard near La Rothière on the afternoon 28 January, on 29 January Napoleon caught up with Blücher and attacked. Blüchers headquarters were surprised and he himself captured by a sudden rush of French troops. Blücher accordingly fell back a few miles next morning to a position covering the exits from the Bar-sur-Aube defile. At nightfall the fighting ceased and the retired to Lesmont. Owing to the state of the roads, or perhaps to the extraordinary lethargy which always characterized Schwarzenbergs headquarters, in the night his headquarters were again surprised, and Blücher learnt that Napoleon himself with his main body was in full march to fall on his scattered detachments. At the same time he heard that Pahlens Cossacks had been withdrawn forty-eight hours previously and he himself retreated towards Étoges endeavouring to rally his scattered detachments. Napoleon was too quick for Blücher, he decimated Lieutenant General Olssufievs Russian IX Corps at the Battle of Champaubert and this placed his army between Blüchers vanguard and his main body. Napoleon turned his attention to the vanguard and defeated Osten-Sacken and Yorck at Montmirail on 11 February, Napoleon then turned on the main body of the Army of Silesia and on 14 February defeated Blücher in Battle of Vauchamps near Étoges, pursuing the latter towards Vertus. These disasters compelled the retreat of the whole Silesian army, and Napoleon, leaving detachments with marshals Mortier and Marmont to deal with them, hurried back to Troyes
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