Battle of Limonest

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Battle of Limonest
Part of War of the Sixth Coalition
Charge du 13e régiment de cuirassiers à la bataille de Limonest, 20 mars 1814.png
Charge of the 13th Cuirassiers Regiment at the Battle of Limonest, 20 March 1814, by Theodore Jung
Date20 March 1814[1]
Location
Limonest, France
45°50′13″N 4°46′19″E / 45.83694°N 4.77194°E / 45.83694; 4.77194
Result Coalition victory[1]
Belligerents
Austrian Empire Austria
Flagge Großherzogtum Hessen ohne Wappen.svg Hesse-Darmstadt		 France France
Commanders and leaders
Austrian Empire Prince Frederick of Hessen-Homburg France Pierre Augereau
Units involved
Austrian Empire I Corps
Austrian Empire II Corps
Flagge Großherzogtum Hessen ohne Wappen.svg VI German Corps		 France Army of the Rhône
Strength
30,000[1]-53,000, 112 guns 20,000[1]-23,000, 36 guns
Casualties and losses
2,900[1]-3,000 1,000-2,000[1]
War of the Sixth Coalition:
Campaign in north-east France
[Interactive fullscreen map]
  current battle
  Napoleon in command
  Napoleon not in command

The Battle of Limonest (20 March 1814) saw 30,000-53,000 Austrian and Hessian troops led by Prince Frederick of Hessen-Homburg defeat 20,000-23,000 French troops under Marshal Pierre Augereau.[1]

Background[]

While Napoleon faced the main Allied armies of Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher to the east of Paris, a secondary campaign was conducted near Lyon to the south. In January 1814 the Austrians easily captured large swaths of territory, but failed to seize Lyon. By mid-February, a reinforced Augereau managed to recapture some towns, posing a threat. Anxious for his supply line back to Germany, Schwarzenberg sent Prince Hessen-Homburg large forces to protect his southern flank.

Battle[]

After some stiff fighting, the Allies forced the outnumbered French defenders to withdraw from a line of hills north of Lyon in this War of the Sixth Coalition action.

Aftermath[]

Lyon, in 1814 the second largest city in France, was abandoned to the Allies as a direct result of the defeat. With greatly superior forces, Hessen-Homburg pressed the French back in a series of battles and captured Lyon on 22 March.

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Bodart 1908, p. 478.

References[]

  • Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  • Leggiere, Michael V. (2007). The Fall of Napoleon: The Allied Invasion of France 1813-1814. Vol. 1. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87542-4.
  • Nafziger, George (2015). The End of Empire: Napoleon's 1814 Campaign. Solihull, UK: Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1-909982-96-3.
  • Petre, F. Loraine (1994) [1914]. Napoleon at Bay: 1814. London: Lionel Leventhal Ltd. ISBN 1-85367-163-0.
  • Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
  • Smith, Digby; Kudrna, Leopold. "Biographical Dictionary of all Austrian Generals during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792-1815: Friedrich Joseph Ludwig, Erbprinz zu Hessen-Homburg". napoleon-series.org. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  • Smith, Digby; Kudrna, Leopold. "Biographical Dictionary of all Austrian Generals during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792-1815: Philipp August Friedrich, Prinz Hessen-Homburg". napoleon-series.org. Retrieved 20 March 2016.

Further reading[]

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