Battle of Saint - Dizier The Battle of Saint - Dizier was a battle during the War of the Sixth Coalition , fought on 26 March 1814 , and is notable as Napoleon ' s last victory before he abdicated . Context . Blücher and Schwarzenberg agreed to attack Napoleon from both sides with all their united forces , and thus , if possible , to put an end to the war with one blow . Blücher , therefore , marched from Rheims to Châlons , Schwarzenberg from Arcis - sur - Aube to Vitry , in search of Napoleon : instead of falling back before him at some distance from one another , and thus giving Napoleon plenty of room , as he had expected , they boldly formed a junction of their several divisions behind him . The Allies hoped that Napoleon might turn back when he found his expectations foiled , and that they would then fight him in the great plains between the Marne and the Aube , where the Allies could make use of their numerical superiority in cavalry against the very inferior French cavalry . But Napoleon was already on his way to Saint - Dizier , and had only left a small division behind him , which occupied the villages along the road , close to Vitry . On 24 March Schwarzenberg reached Vitry , meeting the King of Prussia and Tsar Alexander there . It was decided to march with the united force towards Paris and to leave the pursuit of Napoleon to the cavalry and horse artillery of General Wintzingerode , who was to harass Napoleon ' s troops . Taking into consideration all the circumstances of the case , it is impossible not to praise it for great boldness . Napoleon had nothing but chosen troops with him , and could form a junction with the numerous garrisons in his fortified towns . Maison , in the Netherlands , had already joined his forces to those of Carnot , who was then threatening Brussels , and might at any moment render assistance to Napoleon . Behind the Allies the whole country was in a state of insurrection , which would naturally be increased by the approach of Napoleon . Marshal Marshal Augereau was at the head of numerous forces at Lyon , and could send troops from thence . Meanwhile the Allied armies , plunged deeper and deeper into the heart of France , were separated from the sources whence they drew their supplies ; the Allies were in the midst of a desolated country , without any point upon which they could fall back for their supplies or support , and were shortly about to appear before the capital of the kingdom , the population of which were perfectly capable of giving employment to , and even destroying , a whole army . All this was sufficient to excite the greatest anxiety ; but in their determination the allies clearly took the right course , even had the results been less successful . Paris and Napoleon had now lost the importance which they mutually gave to one another . The large Allied armies broke up their quarters near the Aube and the Marne on 24 and 25 March , on their way to Paris . On the 25th , near Fere - Champenoise , they encountered the united troops of Marshals Marmont and Mortier , who were on their way from Soissons to join Napoleon . After a short but bloody engagement the two marshals were beaten , their troops destroyed , and the march on Paris was resumed . On the evening of 24 March Wintzingerode advanced with all his cavalry from Vitry towards Saint - Dizier , whither Napoleon had directed his march , true to his intention of drawing the allies away from Paris , and approaching his own fortresses . The command of the advance guard was entrusted to Tettenborn , who had five regiments of cossacks , one of hussars , and eight pieces of horse artillery under him . The French had withdrawn from the neighbourhood of Vitry during that afternoon , and the Allies only came up with them at nightfall in the village of Thieblemont , where they had some sharp skirmishing with the French infantry . On the following day the pursuit was continued with increased vigour , and the Allies overtook a still larger French division at Saint - Dizier , where a brisk engagement took place . The French held possession of Saint - Dizier with infantry , so as to cover the march of the other troops who were there recrossing and marching along the Marne . From the direction which these troops were taking , it appeared certain that Napoleon intended again to attack the main Allied armies ; he must , therefore , have received some intelligence of the direction they were taking towards Paris . On the other side of the river the Allies saw compact masses of troops coming straight towards them , having changed their line of march ; they advanced down to the banks , and then marched away up the heights on the left . Tettenborn immediately brought his guns close to the bank of the river , and commenced pouring a murderous fire of cannonballs and grenades upon the nearest French troops , which retreated into the woods with the loss of many men . As a regiment of cossacks now crossed the Marne , and threatened to cut off the troops in Saint - Dizier , these men , who had bravely stood their ground until now , likewise fled to the woods . However , the French were not long exposed to this fire , as a portion of their artillery , placed on the heights of Valcour , commanding the road which lay through a narrow gorge , soon silenced the Allied guns . The French held the heights of Valcour until evening , and then pursued their retreat towards Wassy . Tettenborn followed close at their heels , and drove them out of the village of Humbecourt , but found it impossible to penetrate further , as the adjoining villages were full of infantry , who offered the most obstinate resistance ; a sure sign that the main body of the French army was close by , with the result that the Allied troops could not approach any nearer . The skirmishing continued all the night , during which the Allies saw the whole surface of the country between them and Wassy lighted up with numerous watch - fires , which stretched a long way to the Allies ' right along the wood , almost reaching their headquarters . Tettenborn passed the night in Eclaron , while General Wintzingerode fixed his headquarters in Saint - Dizier , and sent a considerable number of troops from Vitry towards Montier - en - Der , so as to secure the Allied right flank . Course . Early on the morning of the 26th of March Tettenborn found the villages which the French held on the previous day by no means deserted : on the contrary , the French advanced against the Allies . The Allies could clearly perceive large masses of troops in the distance , drawing nearer every moment , followed by still greater numbers ; among them were considerable bodies of cavalry . The French , who were about 30 , 000 men , advanced against the Allies on all sides , forcing the cossacks to retreat : considerable bodies of cavalry showed themselves on both sides of the Allied force . On first seeing these masses of troops , Tettenborn assured Wintzingerode that the whole French army had turned and was marching against the Allies . The advance of the French was so rapid , and their numbers so great , that to form any plan was useless . The danger was imminent , the nature of the ground prevented the Allies using even one regiment of cossacks with any advantage , and all the French had to do to entirely cut off the Allied force would be to capture the village of Valcour in the Allied rear before the Allies did . Nothing , therefore , remained but to retreat immediately across the Marne , which Tettenborn did , remaining as long as he could on the left bank of the river , to give Wintzingerode time to take such measures as he might think necessary . Whilst Wintzingerode was still doubtful whether Napoleon was actually approaching with his whole force , and hesitated to give full credit to Tettenborn ' s statements , he saw General Tschernyscheff suddenly driven back from Montier - en - Der , while he himself was attacked at the same moment . The French poured their forces upon the enemy with incredible rapidity ; troop followed troop , the whole plain was covered , and in a few minutes the engagement commenced on all sides . A large number of guns were brought on the plain and pointed against Saint - Dizier . The country was flat , but cut up with vineyards and hedges , and too much hemmed in on all sides by woods and low bottoms for the Allies ' numerous cavalry to be used with any advantage . It was still possible by a rapid retreat to avoid an action which the Allies would be sure to lose . Tettenborn tried to impress this upon others ; but , unfortunately , 700 Russian chasseurs were stationed in Saint - Dizier ; and as these were the only infantry which Wintzingerode had with him , he delayed his retreat in the hope of saving them . He therefore ordered Tettenborn to defend the road to Vitry , while Wintzingerode maintained himself in Saint - Dizier , intending to fall back upon Bar - le - Duc in case of necessity . Meanwhile the French had crossed the Marne between Valcour and Saint - Dizier , with large bodies of cavalry , infantry , and some artillery , and advanced without impediment towards the road to Vitry : the guns planted on the heights of Valcour had protected this movement . The Russian cavalry and horse artillery were distributed in the plain behind this road ; in their rear was the wood , in their front the French , who poured a heavy fire into the Allied ranks . The baggage and led horses had not yet been sent to the rear , and caused considerable disorder . On one side of this road to the right , Tettenborn stood his ground with about 1000 horse , of which four squadrons were huzzars , the rest cossacks . A body of at least 10 , 000 French cavalry had already crossed the Marne , and had forced their way between Tettenborn and Wintzingerode . Tettenborn was in momentary expectation of seeing these masses suddenly deploy and throw his men into utter confusion . Meanwhile bodies of infantry and artillery continued to cross the river , and to form . It was no use for the Allies to think now of retreating , as the cavalry was close upon them ; a resolute front could scarcely check them , much less a retreating foe . Tettenborn , therefore , boldly formed his 1000 men into a compact body , with which he charged the masses of French with reckless courage , just as they were about to deploy . The huzzars and cossacks fell with the utmost intrepidity upon the French , and drove them before them : the first line was broken , then the second ; and the contest was most bloody . But fresh masses of French cavalry deployed on both sides of him ; more and more troops came from the back - ground , — the inequality of numbers was too great , and the greatest bravery of no avail . The Allied troops came within the range of the enemy ' s guns , broke and were put to the rout along the road to Vitry ; here the baggage and led horses , flying in all directions , caused indescribable confusion . Tettenborn , who with his officers had maintained the contest to the last , and had been in great personal danger , got his troops again into some order at the village of Perthe , skirmished a little with the French that same evening , and retreated during the night by Marolles to Vitry . His whole loss consisted of only forty men . The rest of Wintzingerode ' s cavalry , who were drawn up on the plains by Saint - Dizier , and who had waited till the French attacked them , without taking the initiative , had a far greater number of men killed , besides losing many cannon . After a heroic defence of Saint - Dizier , Wintzingerode left that town on the same evening and retreated to Bar - le - Duc , hotly pursued by the French , whom , however , he beat off when they pressed upon him too closely . Results . From the Allied point - of - view this battle , in spite of its unfavourable outcome , was most successful in its results : it led Napoleon into an error by which he lost three entire days , during all which time his capital was in imminent danger . Napoleon was convinced that Schwarzenberg ' s whole army was on his tracks , and Wintzingerode had taken care to strengthen this surmise by hiring rooms at Saint - Dizier for the Emperor of Russia and for the King of Prussia , and by giving out that his cavalry was merely the advanced guard of the main army . Napoleon , who learned all this from some of his devoted adherents in Saint - Dizier , halted at Vassy , recalled those troops which had already marched forward , and thought that he would fight a battle where the ground and the circumstances would be in his favour . Even on the day after this action Napoleon could not be brought to believe that he was mistaken , and had been striking at a shadow ; he persisted in advancing against Vitry , where the small garrison prepared to meet the storm . There , however , he suddenly learnt of Marmont ' s and Mortier ' s defeat at the Battle of Fère - Champenoise and the advance of the Allies upon Paris : he now hastily collected his weary , half - famished troops , and made forced marches by Troyes , Sens , and Fontainebleau , to relieve his threatened capital .