Six Days' Campaign

Six Days' Campaign

The Six Days Campaign (10–14 February 1814) was a final series of victories by the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte as the Sixth Coalition closed in on Paris.

With an army of only 70,000, the Emperor was faced with at least half a million Allied troops advancing in several main armies commanded by Field Marshal Prince von Blücher and Field Marshal Prince zu Schwarzenberg amongst others.

The Six Days Campaign was fought from 10 February to 15 February during which time he inflicted four major defeats on Blücher's army in the Battle of Champaubert, the Battle of Montmirail, the Battle of Château-Thierry, and the Battle of Vauchamps. Napoleon managed to inflict 17,750 casualties on Blücher's force of 120,000 with his 30,000-man army, leading historians and enthusiasts to claim that the Six Days was the Emperor's finest campaign.

However, the Emperor's victories were not significant enough to make any changes to the overall strategic picture, and Schwarzenberg's larger army still threatened Paris, which eventually fell in late March.