Six Day Campaign

The Six Days Campaign was a series of critical battles fought during the War of the Sixth Coalition in the final defense of France by Napoleon Bonaparte during the Allied advance on Paris in early 1814. These battles pitted the depleted remnants of the Grande Armée, with only 70,000 men, against at least half a million soldiers from the Allied armies commanded by Marshals Von Blücher and Prince Karl of Schwarzenberg, among others.

Historical context

'The Six Day Campaign' It lasted from February 10 to February 16, during which time French troops managed to inflict severe defeats on Blücher's army at Champaubert, Montmirail, Château-Thierry and Vauchamps, in the northern regions of France.

Napoleon Bonaparte was in charge of personally leading the French troops in this campaign, causing almost 17,700 casualties to the 100,000 men that made up the Russo-Prussian forces under the command of General Gebhard von Blücher. For this, Bonaparte had only 30,000 soldiers under his effective command, and suffered only about 3,400 casualties, which is why this campaign is considered the best tactical demonstration of Napoleon's military talent throughout all the Napoleonic Wars.

Despite the brilliance of these French victories, and the great tactical skill exhibited by Napoleon in this campaign (due to the casualties caused to the enemy, the few casualties suffered, and the short duration of the fighting), these triumphs were useless for stop the allied offensive. Napoleonic France had already lost a large number of soldiers in the campaigns of 1812 and 1813, while French economic resources were then greatly reduced to continue the fight effectively.

In fact, at the beginning of 1814 the Prussian, Austrian, and Russian armies under the command of Prince Schwarzenberg were already threatening the surroundings of Paris itself, while the French capacity to supply troops and weapons to the Napoleonic army was almost exhausted after years of incessant war, so the final defeat of France was already inevitable.

Campaign Battles

• Battle of Champaubert (10 February 1814) - 4000 Russian casualties, General Russian Olsufiev is apprehended by the French. In contrast, French troops suffer 200 casualties in total.

• Battle of Montmirail (11 February 1814) – 4000 Russian-Prussian casualties, compared to 2000 French casualties.

• Château-Thierry Battle (12 February 1814) – 1250 Prussian casualties, 1500 Russian casualties, 9 Russian cannons captured, compared to about 600 French casualties.

• Vauchamps Battle (14 February 1814) – 7000 Prussian casualties, and 16 Prussian cannons captured, at 600 French casualties.

Related bibliography of the series «The Napoleonic Wars»

In Spanish

• Trafalgar campaign (1804-1805): Corpus documentary. González-Aller Hierro, José Ignacio. Madrid: Ministry of Defence. Publications Center. ISBN 84-9781-136-4
• Austerlitz 1805: the battle of the three emperors. Chandler, David. Madrid: Editions del Prado, S.A. ISBN 84-7838-491-X
• Jena 1806. Chandler, David. Madrid: Editions del Prado, S.A. ISBN 84-7838-982-2
• Borodino 1812: the last lights of the empire. Gracia Yagüe, José Carlos; Bobi Miguel, María del Carmen. Madrid: Delta Editions. ISBN 84-609-5011-5
• Waterloo 1815: the birth of modern Europe. Wootten, Geofrey. Editions of the Prado, S.A. ISBN 84-7838-481-2
• The campaigns of Napoleon: an emperor on the battlefield: from Tolon to Waterloo (1796-1815). Chandler, David. Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros S.L. ISBN 84-9734-335-2
• The Great Armée: Introduction to the Army of Napoleon. Martin Mas, Michelangelo. Alpedrete: Andrea Press. ISBN 84-96527-43-3
• One hundred days: the end of the Napoleonic era. Dominique de Villepin. Unpublished Editions. ISBN 84-96364-01-1

In English

• The Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Asprey, Robert. New York: Basic Books. 2000 ISBN 0-465-04879-X
• Napoleon. Cronin, Vincent. London: HarperCollins. 1994. ISBN 0-00-637521-9
• The Cassel Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. Pope, Stephen. Cassel. 1999. ISBN 0-304-35229-2
• Napoleon Bonaparte: A Life. Schom, Alan. 1998. Perennial. ISBN 0-06-092958-8
• 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow. Zamoyski, Adam. 2004. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-718489-1