BATTLE // February 28, 1814

Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes

Name: Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes
Start: 1814-02-28
End: 1814-02-28
Location: Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes

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Overview

The Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes was fought between 14,500 French troops, including the Imperial Old Guard, led by Marshals Auguste de Marmont and Édouard Mortier, and 12,000 Prussians commanded by Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf and Friedrich von Katzler. On 28 February the French attacked and drove the Prussians to the north along the west bank of the river Ourcq. That evening and the next day Kleist tried to push the French back while Russian units under Peter Mikhailovich Kaptzevich tried to cross from the east to the west bank of the Ourcq; the Allies were unsuccessful. Gué-à-Tresmes is located where Route D405 crosses the Thérouanne stream about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northeast of Meaux.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes, fought on 28 February 1814, was part of the broader Allied advance on Paris during the final weeks of the War of the Sixth Coalition. A French force of roughly 14,500 troops, including the Imperial Old Guard and commanded by Marshals Marmont and Mortier, attacked 12,000 Prussians and drove them northward along the west bank of the Ourcq river. Allied attempts to reverse the outcome failed: Kleist's Prussians could not push the French back, and Russian forces under Kaptzevich were unable to cross from the east to the west bank of the Ourcq. The engagement inflicted over 1,000 casualties on the Prussians and temporarily checked the Allied convergence in this sector northeast of Meaux, demonstrating that French forces, despite their deteriorating strategic position, retained the capacity to mount effective offensive action and disrupt coordinated Allied maneuver during the campaign for France.

Tactics

The French opened by attacking and driving the Prussians northward along the west bank of the Ourcq river. That evening and into the following day, the Prussians attempted to recover their ground while Russian units under Kaptzevich sought to cross from the east to the west bank of the Ourcq to reinforce the effort. Both Allied attempts were repulsed. The engagement was centered on the crossing point where a road crosses the Thérouanne stream approximately ten kilometers northeast of Meaux, making control of that crossing a focal point of the fighting.