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. The Austrian army commander Prince Frederick of Hesse-Homburg soon pressed south toward Lyon. Mâcon is located 72 kilometres (45 mi) north of Lyon.

Battle of Mâcon (1814)
Part of the War of the Sixth Coalition
Date11 March 1814
Location
Mâcon, Saône-et-Loire, French Empire
Result Coalition victory
Belligerents
France Austria
Commanders and leaders
Louis Musnier Frederick Bianchi
Strength
6,000 8,000–14,740
Casualties and losses
683–1,300 killed, wounded, or captured
2 guns lost		 881–900 killed, wounded, or captured

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

References
  • Leggiere, Michael V. (2007). The Fall of Napoleon: The Allied Invasion of France 1813-1814. 1. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87542-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Nafziger, George (2015). The End of Empire: Napoleon's 1814 Campaign. Solihull, UK: Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1-909982-96-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Petre, F. Loraine (1994) [1914]. Napoleon at Bay: 1814. London: Lionel Leventhal Ltd. ISBN 1-85367-163-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

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