When the force led by Marshals Marmont and Mortier moved east, Merlin formed its advance guard. On 23 March 1814 at Bergères, his troopers drove off an Allied foraging party, capturing 100 men and liberating 16 wagon loads of plunder. At the Battle of Fère-Champenoise on 25 March, Marmont and Mortier with 18,100 infantry, 4,350 cavalry and 84 guns found themselves facing 26,400 Allied cavalry and 128 guns. Merlin's division was involved in the fighting which ended in a serious French defeat. For the Battle of Paris on 30 March Merlin's division was reduced to 850 horsemen in the brigades of Pierre François Huber and Antoine Henri Latour-Foissac. Marmont and Mortier led 19,961 foot soldiers and 5,565 horsemen against 119,000 Allied infantry and 26,500 cavalry. Bordesoulle's corps and Louis Pierre Aimé Chastel's cavalry division were posted on the extreme right flank. After stiff fighting, Marmont and Mortier agreed to an armistice that would allow them to evacuate Paris.