The Battle of Brienne saw an Imperial French army led by Emperor Napoleon attack Prussian and Russian forces commanded by Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. After heavy fighting that went on into the night, the French seized a château, nearly capturing Blücher. However, the French were unable to dislodge the Russians from the town of Brienne-le-Château. Napoleon himself, making his first appearance on a battlefield in 1814, was also nearly captured. Very early the next morning, Blücher's troops quietly abandoned the town and retreated to the south, conceding the field to the French.
Napoleon was nearly taken by the Cossacks after the battle, but was saved by French general Gaspard Gourgaud.
Gebhard von Blücher
Napoleon in 1814
Fabian Osten-Sacken
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt, Graf (count), later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall. He earned his greatest recognition after leading his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
Gebhard von Blücher by Ernst Gebauer
Marschall Vorwärts by Emil Hünten (1863)
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher in Bautzen by Bogdan Willewalde (1885)
The Prussian attack on Plancenoit during the Battle of Waterloo, painted by Adolph Northen