Battle of Mâcon

Overview

The Battle of Mâcon saw an Imperial French division under Louis François Félix Musnier attack an Austrian corps led by Frederick Bianchi. The French enjoyed initial success, but their numerical inferiority led to their defeat in this War of the Sixth Coalition engagement. This was followed by the Battle of Saint-Georges in which the French were again forced to retreat by the Allied Army of the South commanded by General der Kavallerie Prince Frederick of Hesse-Homburg.

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

Significance

At Mâcon on 1 January 1814, a French division under Louis Musnier attacked an Austrian corps led by Frederick Bianchi. Despite achieving initial success, French numerical inferiority — facing between 8,000 and 16,550 Austrian troops with a force of only 5,000 to 6,000 men — resulted in a French defeat and 1,300 casualties. The engagement was one of a sequence of reverses inflicted on French forces in the south during the War of the Sixth Coalition's final campaign on French soil. It was followed immediately by the Battle of Saint-Georges, where the Allied Army of the South under Prince Frederick of Hesse-Homburg again forced the French to retreat, indicating sustained Austrian pressure along this axis and the inability of local French commanders under Augereau to stabilize the front.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (5)