Battle of Mâcon (1814)

The Battle of Mâcon (11 March 1814) saw a French division under Louis François Félix Musnier attack an Austrian corps led by Frederick Bianchi, Duke of Casalanza. The French enjoyed initial success but their numerical inferiority led to their defeat in this War of the Sixth Coalition clash. Mâcon is located 72 kilometres (45 mi) north of Lyon.

Battle of Mâcon (1814)
Part of the War of the Sixth Coalition
Vinzenz Ferrerius Friedrich Freiherr von Bianchi
Date 11 March 1814[1] Location Mâcon, Saône-et-Loire, French Empire 46°18′23″N 4°49′53″E Result Austrian victory[1]
Belligerents
France	Austria
Commanders and leaders
Louis Musnier	Frederick Bianchi
Strength
5,000[1]–6,000	8,000[1]–14,740
Casualties and losses
683–1,300[1] killed, wounded, or captured 2 guns lost	881–900[1] killed, wounded, or captured
Location within France

War of the Sixth Coalition:
Campaign in north-east France

200km
125miles

Paris

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Bar-sur-Aube

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  current battle

  Napoleon in command

  Napoleon not in command

Background

As Napoleon dueled with the main Allied armies of Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher to the east of Paris, a subsidiary campaign was fought near Lyon to the southeast. In January 1814 the Austrians overran much territory, but in mid-February the reinforced French forces under Marshal Pierre Augereau mounted a counteroffensive. Alarmed at the threat to his supply lines, Schwarzenberg sent heavy reinforcements to Prince Hesse-Homburg.

Battle

Augereau ordered Musnier to attack Mâcon and found his enemies were much stronger than he had thought.

Aftermath

The Austrian army commander Prince Frederick of Hesse-Homburg soon pressed south toward Lyon.

Notes

1. Bodart 1908, p. 477.

References

• Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 7 June 2021.

Further reading

• Leggiere, Michael V. (2007). The Fall of Napoleon: The Allied Invasion of France 1813-1814. Vol. 1. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87542-4.
• Nafziger, George (2015). The End of Empire: Napoleon's 1814 Campaign. Solihull, UK: Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1-909982-96-3.
• Petre, F. Loraine (1994) [1914]. Napoleon at Bay: 1814. London: Lionel Leventhal Ltd. ISBN 1-85367-163-0.
• Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.

External links

• Media related to Battle of Mâcon (1814) at Wikimedia Commons