We’re well into the dog days of summer- but, each week does bring us closer to kickoff. However, to pass the time, we can consider the last gasp of the First French Empire. After failing to win, and then suffering a serious defeat, at the Battle of Leipzig, Napoleon fell back to France- while the Allies prepared for what they figured would be the final act of the play.
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A Short Winter
After Napoleon made it across the Rhine, the Allies decided to halt the campaign of 1813 and enter winter quarters. There was much to be done- the German states had to be rearranged properly, supplies brought up for the invasion of France, and many other steps. Metternich stepped in as the campaign came to a close, and offered Napoleon peace on fairly generous terms- Napoleon would remain as Emperor, but France would lose all territory gained since the Revolution. While he was warned that the Allies would never offer terms this generous again, Napoleon believed he could still win, and rejected the peace proposal.
Meanwhile, over the course of 1813, Wellington continued his efforts to cross from Spain into France. Napoleon sent Soult to try and hold the border, and, initially, the French had some success. However, Wellington was able to finally concentrate his army and defeat Soult, driving his way across the Pyrenees in October of 1813, and ending the year by taking Bayonne on the Atlantic coast. The next year, he planned a campaign for Toulouse and, perhaps, Paris. Napoleon attempted to secure this flank by offering to release Ferdinand, the Spanish King, later in return for peace now, but the Spanish government refused to go along with it.
Over the winter of 1813/14, the Swedes turned against the Danes, invading Norway and Holstein. While the Danes won some initial victories, the weight of the Swedish army, with the logistical support of their British and Prussian allies, threatened to overwhelm the Danes. Fearing the worst, the Danish government capitulated, giving Norway to Sweden. The Norweigians refused to go along with it, declaring their independence, leading to further Swedish military action. Eventually, in the summer of 1814, Norway and Sweden would agree to create separate kingdoms. However, the Norwegians accepted the King of Sweden as their king, who would rule both countries according to separate constitutions.
Over the course of the winter, Napoleon raised more troops, stripping the National Guard out of existence and drafting even more men into the army. In the end, he was able to get about 250,000 men total into service. He sent 100,000 men to the south to fight Wellington, 25,000 to the English Channel, 50,000 to Italy, and kept about 75,000 men for himself.
Against him he faced combined forces of about 600,000 men- 100,000 under Wellington, 100,000 in Italy, and 400,000 about to march on Paris as soon as the word came.
The Road to Paris
Word came quickly- within a week around January 1st, 1814, the Allies crossed the Rhine in strength. To the south, Schwarzenberg, commanding the Army of Bohemia of 200,000, crossed near Basel. In the center, Blucher, with 75,000 men in the Army of Silesia, crossed near Kolblenz. In the north, Bernadotte crossed into the Netherlands, commanding the Army of the North with 120,000 men, heading eventually for Picardy. Napoleon had little choice but to move quickly to try and avoid the junction of these armies, as had happened at Leipzig. He tracked Blucher down, fighting an unexpected battle in the end of January. While Napoleon won, Blucher, as usual, did not really care. He kept marching toward the junction. The Austrian Advance Guard supported Blucher, fighting a sharp battle a few days later and forcing Napoleon to retreat.
The weather and roads in northeaster France shut down campaigning for a few days, before Blucher decided to shift his action to the Marne River valley. This split the two main Allied armies in the region, and Napoleon took advantage of it. Moving more quickly than Blucher expected, he shifted down to the Marne, and concentrated his army as Blucher spread his out. Between February 10th and February 14th, Napoleon fought a series of battles against the scatted detachments of the Army of Silesia, culminating in the Battle of Vauchamps on February 14th. After a series of back and forth battles, Napoleon launched a shattering cavalry charge, forcing Blucher to retreat.
Napoleon then turned south to fight Schwarzenberg. During the last weeks of February, he inflicted a series of defeats against detachments of the Army of Bohemia, and the Austrians decided to withdraw rather than risk a pitched battle in unfavorable situations. With Schwarzenberg in retreat, Napoleon started a pursuit- however, just as he defeated the Austrians, Blucher went back on the march towards Paris, forcing Napoleon to return to the north, and face Blucher down again.
Napoleon caught up with the forces trying to delay Blucher on March 7th, and, on March 9th, launched an attack against Blucher’s army. He split his forces to advance more quickly, hoping to catch a flank of Blucher’s Army of Silesia. Blucher launched a flanking attack himself. Napoleon’s flanking force made it, Blucher’s did not. Rather than allow himself to be too greatly engaged, Blucher decided to retreat back towards Laon, where, on the 10th, he linked up with Bernadotte. The combined armies turned to face Napoleon, who had little choice but to retreat away from the junction.
Napoleon fell back to face the Austrians as they closed in on him. On the 20th of March, he encountered the Advanced Guard of the Army of Bohemia outside of Arcis-Sur-Aube. Thinking it was an isolated detachment, Napoleon attacked quickly, but the Austrians managed to hold him up the rest of the day. On the 21st, Schwarzenberg arrived with another 80,000 men on Napoleon’s flank, and launched a general attack at 5 to 1 odds, sweeping the French before him. Napoleon began a long retreat away from the Allies, while Schwarzenberg and Blucher linked up.
Meanwhile, in the south of France, Wellington moved towards Soult near Bayonne. He unexpectedly crossed the river separating the two, and then launched part of his army on a flank march to block Soult’s retreat. The two sides clashed on February 27th, and Wellington’s flank attack forced Soult to retreat towards Toulouse. The two clashed on the road to Toulouse in March, which forced the French to keep moving, In early April, Soult reached Toulouse, and began to fortify the city. Once again, Wellington launched a flank attack against Soult, who, this time, stood his ground and was swept out of his position in a series of attacks between April 10th-12.
The First Endgame.
After his retreat from Archis- Sur-Aube, Napoleon faced a choice. He could retreat on Paris, fortify the city, and, effectively, hold it hostage in order to negotiate a peace, hoping that the Allies would rather negotiate than settle down to a bloody siege. Alternatively, he could abandon Paris, retreat further into France, rally the French people, and launch a counter attack. Rather than make, effectively, a last stand in Paris, Napoleon opted for the second option. He sent a letter to Marie Louise, informing her of his plan to leave the city to the Allies and raise new forces, and asking her to call for guerilla forces to attack the Allied supply lines. However, this letter fell into Allied hands.
With intelligence on Napoleon’s plans, the Allies decided to march on Paris. A quick battle on the Montmarte Heights on March 29th ended with the surrender of the city the next day. On April 1st. Tallyrand, the most senior French official around (He had served every government in Paris since Louis XVI) negotiated with the Allies. The Allies wanted Napoleon out, and Tallyrand suggested restoring the Bourbon Dynasty and crowing Louis XVIII King of France, ruling with the support of the Bonapartist Senate. On April 3rd, the French Senate formally deposed Napoleon, and named Louis XVIII as King.
Napoleon, meanwhile, was rushing to Paris. He refused to accept his removal from the throne, and planned to fight it out. However, he had perhaps at tenth of the Coalition forces in Paris, and, he would have to attack the city. He attempted to negotiate, abdicating his throne in favor of his son, and naming his wife, Marie Louise as Regent. The Allies refused to accept this, and sent a force to Fountainbleau, where Napoleon and his force had halted, to, effectively, arrest Napoleon. Realizing the inevitable, Napoleon surrendered nearly unconditionally. He agree to abdicate and enter exile on the island of Elba in the Mediterranean, so long as his wife and son were granted land in Italy to support themselves, and Louis XVIII agreed to maintain an income for Josephine, his first wife. That done, he surrendered his men and went to Elba.
While Napoleon was handled, the war left behind many issues that needed resolution. Furthermore, there was a great desire to avoid further conflict, based either on further revolutions or because of fallout from the previous two decades of war and upheaval. Finally, having set up the Allies to win the war, Metternich wanted to win the peace for Austria, and put Austria at the center of European politics. That summer, he invited representatives of the belligerents against France to come to Vienna, to negotiate a grand settlement for a future European peace, much as had been done to end the 30 Years War nearly 170 years previously. While he didn’t invite the French, Tallyrand invited himself anyway.
Peace had finally come to Europe.
(Spoilers: Not quite.)
