On the 11th of February, 1814, Napoleon arrived before Montmirail. At
eleven o’clock the Allies formed themselves in battle array. The French
divisions arrived successively, and Napoleon wished to wait for the
whole, but at three o’clock, as night was approaching, he directed the
Duke of Treviso to boar down on Montmirail. General Friant with four
battalions of the old guard, received orders to attack the Farm of
l’Epine-au-Bois, a position on which depended the success of the day,
and which was defended by the Allies with forty pieces of cannon. To
render this attack more easy, Napoleon ordered General Nansouty to
extend his troops upon the right, to oblige the Allies to thin their
centre. At the same time the Russian and Prussian troops were charged
briskly in the centre by the old guard, commanded by Marshal Ney. The
_tirailleurs_ fled in dismay; and the artillery could no longer be used
with effect; but the fusilade became dreadful. This success, however,
was counterbalanced when the lancers, the old dragoons, and the
grenadiers of the guard arrived in the rear of the infantry, and
breaking their lines, threw them into disorder, and killed or made
prisoners the whole body. The Duke of Treviso seized upon the village of
Fontenelle, that of Marchais was attacked on both sides, and all the
inhabitants were either killed or taken prisoners. In less than a
quarter of an hour the most profound silence succeeded to the
fusilade.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF MONTMIRAIL.]