ORDER OF BATTLE // January 24, 1814
First Battle of Bar-sur-Aube
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 28,000–29,200 estimated
France
13,000–14,200
Medium-confidence figure
Austria
15,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
At Bar-sur-Aube on 24 January 1814, a French Imperial Guard corps under Mortier engaged converging Austrian and Württemberg forces as the Sixth Coalition pressed into northeastern France toward the French interior. Mortier's corps, outnumbered and facing simultaneous pressure from Gyulai's Austrians and the Crown Prince of Württemberg's corps, held its defensive positions through sustained fighting before withdrawing under cover of night. The retreat to Troyes, 53 kilometres to the west, ceded the Bar-sur-Aube position to the Coalition and continued the general contraction of French operational lines in the 1814 campaign. French casualties of roughly 1,700 against Coalition losses of 1,000–1,400 indicated the cost of the rearguard defense, and the loss of elite Imperial Guard strength at this stage of the campaign carried particular operational weight given Napoleon's strained manpower reserves.
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