At a glance
- Napoleon attacks Blücher at his old school town
- Fighting runs on past midnight in the town and château
- Blücher and Gneisenau narrowly escape capture
- About 3,000 losses each side
- Tactically a draw; strategically, Napoleon misses his chance
The full account
Napoleon reached Châlons on 26 January. He learned that Blücher’s Army of Silesia was marching south-west to join Schwarzenberg, so he set out to catch it before the two Allied armies could combine. Berthier’s orders were intercepted by Cossacks, and Blücher found out only on the morning of the 29th that the Emperor was coming down on his rear.
The fighting began in the afternoon and went on into a winter night. Pahlen’s and Lanskoi’s cavalry caught Duhesme’s division in the flank and drove it back in confusion. Then one of Victor’s brigades, under General Chataux, found an unguarded road up to the château and stormed it. Blücher and Gneisenau, who had gone up to the château believing the day was over, came close to being captured.
Sacken retook most of the town after a house-to-house struggle that lasted until midnight, but the French kept the château. Each side lost about 3,000 men. During the night Blücher withdrew south towards La Rothière. Napoleon had won the ground but missed his main aim, which was to destroy Blücher before Schwarzenberg could arrive.
Why it mattered
Petre calls it "scarcely a tactical victory" and, strategically, "little short of a defeat". It drew the Allied armies together instead of keeping them apart.
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