Battle of Laon The Battle of Laon ( 9 – 10 March 1814 ) was the victory of Blücher ' s Prussian army over Napoleon ' s French army near Laon . Prelude . An Allied coalition attempted to complete the destruction of Napoleon ' s French Empire in 1814 . France had been defeated in Russia in 1812 and in Central Europe in 1813 . Napoleon ' s French Empire was now fighting for its survival . In the last week of February 1814 , about a month after the start of the Allied invasion , Blücher seized the initiative and advanced on Paris with his forces . Napoleon ' s two marshals in the immediate vicinity , Édouard Mortier and Auguste Marmont , were covering the city with two detached corps , but they only had 10 , 000 men and would be unable to hold out against Blücher ' s larger force . Napoleon hurried westwards to their rescue with around 30 , 000 troops , hoping to trap Blücher against the Marne river . Blücher unsuccessfully attacked Marmont and Mortier along the Ourcq river in late February and early March and ordered a retreat north to regroup when he heard of Napoleon ' s advance . Prussian troops crossed the swollen Aisne river and arrived at Soissons on 4 March . There they linked up with reinforcements that brought Blücher ' s total force to 100 , 000 . On 7 March , a clash ensued at the Battle of Craonne as Napoleon attacked westwards along the Chemin des Dames ( literally , the " ladies ' path " ) . Blücher ' s outflanking maneuver did not materialize in time and the Prussians were forced to withdraw towards Laon . Battlefield . Blücher chose to fight at Laon because it was an important road junction with a superb defensive position . Laon was located on a flat - topped hill with steep slopes that rose 330 feet above the surrounding area . The countryside to the north was flat and open , but the south contained rough and wooded terrain that made military maneuvers difficult . The villages of Ardon and Semilly at the foot of the hill served as good bastions for the Prussian and Russian forces . Preparations . Blücher now had about 90 , 000 troops and 176 guns . Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow ' s Prussian corps was assigned the defense of Laon itself . Blücher ' s western wing was covered by a Russian corps under Ferdinand von Wintzingerode while the eastern wing was defended by two Prussian corps under Generals Yorck and Kleist . Two Russian corps under Generals Langeron and Osten - Sacken stood in reserve . After Craonne , Napoleon had taken the bulk of his forces northeastwards towards Laon while detaching about 10 , 000 troops under Marmont to advance on Laon via the Berry - au - Bac road . Battle . Preliminary fighting on the evening of 8 March saw the French vanguard chase off a small Russian detachment from the village of Urcel on the Soissons road . In the early hours of 9 March , the French renewed their push along the road . At 5 : 30 a . m . , French dragoons arrived in front of Laon , but had lost the element of surprise and withdrew under heavy fire . From 7 : 00 a . m . onwards , the French repeatedly attacked the Allied positions at Ardon and Semilly . Some troops from the Young Guard even reached the top of the hill before being driven back . Blücher was suffering from a fever and could not direct affairs as closely as he was accustomed during previous engagements . By 11 : 00 a . m . , however , the fog had lifted and the Allied command staff had a clear view of the battlefield below . Blücher , ( because of poor intelligence sources ) , was operating under the impression that the French had 90 , 000 troops and was generally reluctant to have his troops launch any attacks . The Allies might have scored a decisive victory had they launched a full attack against Napoleon ' s 30 , 000 men , but the uncertainty about the situation led Blücher to commit only Winzingerode ' s corps against Napoleon ' s left flank . Winzigerode ' s attacks were feeble and easily repulsed by the French . Blücher now decided to isolate Napoleon ' s western forces from Marmont ' s column to the east . A convincing Allied attack captured the village of Ardon , but the victorious Prussian infantry brigade was ordered to halt because Blücher feared that French forces to the east would outflank them . Renewed French assaults late in the evening of the 9th led to the capture of Clacy , a village on Blücher ' s western flank . By the end of the first day of fighting , however , Laon still remained in Allied hands . Meanwhile , at around 5 : 00 p . m . on 9 March , Marmont ' s troops had attacked the village of Athies and driven off the Prussian advanced units . Marmont then sent 1 , 000 men under Colonel Fabvier westerwards to establish contact with Napoleon ' s main army . Blücher and Gneisenau ( Blücher ' s chief - of - staff ) , heard the fighting to the east and ordered a powerful counter - attack with two corps . The Allies slammed into Marmont ' s troops and drove them back . Marmont was saved by Colonel Charles Nicolas Fabvier , who returned on his own initiative with 1 , 000 troops to clear the road , and by 125 veterans of the Old Guard , who repelled the Allied cavalry trying to block the French from escaping . Marmont had taken a bad beating , losing 3 , 500 men and 45 guns . At midnight on the 10th , Blücher decided on a bold outflanking maneuver intended to crush the French . He was even more ill on the 10th ( Gneisenau was effectively in command ) , but the army still defended Laon . A few more French attacks throughout the day produced no results , and Napoleon retired his forces late at night . Aftermath . This setback did not by itself spell the end for Napoleon . Just a few days later the French crushed an isolated enemy corps at Rheims . Blücher ' s Army of Silesia remained inactive for a week after the victory . Nevertheless , the Allied stand had prevented Napoleon from driving them further north . The Allies were still in a position to advance on Paris , which they did at the end of March .