Battle of Courtrai (1814)

In late 1813, the Army of the North of about 120,000 men under Prince Jean Baptiste Bernadotte stood on the borders of the Low Countries.[2] The army included Russian and Prussian corps under the command of Ferdinand von Wintzingerode and Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow.[3] This represented the northern wing of an Allied invasion of the French Empire.[2] On 23 November 1813, Bülow's Prussian III Corps advance guard under Adolph Friedrich von Oppen crossed the border into the Netherlands.[4] The III Corps numbered 30,000 men and 96 field guns.[5] On 30 November in the Battle of Arnhem, Bülow defeated Henri François Marie Charpentier's division, inflicting 1,500 casualties on the French while suffering losses of 600 killed and wounded.[6] The Prussian general continued west and captured Utrecht on 2 December. Combined with a Dutch revolt, Bülow's invasion liberated north Holland from the First French Empire very quickly. On 4 December, they were joined by an 8,000-man British expedition led by Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch.[7] Despite this promising start, the Coalition effort in the Netherlands stalled when the Russian corps commander Ferdinand von Wintzingerode refused to cooperate with Bülow in December.[8]

On 21 December 1813, Emperor Napoleon appointed Nicolas Joseph Maison to replace his previous commander in the Netherlands, Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen. The emperor ordered that Antwerp be heavily fortified and that 30,000 French troops be assembled there. In fact, there were only 10,000 soldiers in Antwerp and Napoleon's plans proved unrealistic.[9] On 11 January 1814, Bülow scored a tactical victory over one of Maison's divisions in the Battle of Hoogstraten. Two days later the Prussians and a British brigade under Samuel Gibbs won a second clash over the French at Merksem.[10] However, the strength of Antwerp's defenses persuaded Bülow to leave an observation force and pull the bulk of his corps back to Breda. Graham had little choice but to follow suit.[11]

On 13 January, Wintzingerode's army corps began crossing the Rhine River. This move prompted Marshal Jacques MacDonald, who held the sector east of Maison, to withdraw to the south-west.[12] Wintzingerode advanced very slowly, ostensibly to wait for the arrival of the III German Corps of Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. On 1 February, Maison abandoned Brussels, leaving François Roguet's division and 8,000 additional troops to defend Antwerp. With his remaining 4,133 soldiers the French general retreated to Lille. Anxious to join the main armies of Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Bülow ordered a series of attacks on the fortress of Gorinchem, which were unsuccessful. The Prussian agreed to help Graham in a second attempt to seize Antwerp from 1–6 February; this failed and cost the Prussians 687 casualties. Bülow occupied Brussels on 8 February and then moved south on 18 February. Leaving one brigade behind, he marched toward Laon with the remainder of the III Prussian Corps.[13] Antoine-Guillaume Rampon surrendered Gorinchem to the Prussians on 7 February.[14]

Nicolas Maison

The 16th Military District, commanded by Antoine François Brenier de Montmorand was only able to provide 6,600 men for the army. The conscripts were poorly equipped and clothed and Maison found it necessary to use most of them to man garrisons, leaving only 1,100 troops to reinforce his field force. With his weak forces at Lille, Maison faced a three-pronged attack by Johann von Thielmann on 21 March 1814. After some brisk fighting, two columns forced a crossing of the Marque and thrust toward Lezennes. The Saxons were counter-attacked in front by Pierre Barrois' division while Jean-Baptiste Solignac's infantry division and the cavalry moved to Sainghin-en-Mélantois. With their left flank threatened, the Saxon columns pulled back behind the Marque. Bertrand Pierre Castex's Guard cavalry charged their enemies near Bouvines, capturing 60[15] and cutting down another 100. The Saxons withdrew to Tournai that evening where they joined a third column which had marched as far as Orchies before being blocked by the 75th Line Infantry Regiment and 200 French cavalry.[16]

Johann von Thielmann

By late March 1814, I Corps numbered 7,103 soldiers, including 5,611 infantry, 1,015 cavalry and 477 gunners.[15] Hoping to add more troops to his small corps, Maison ordered Antwerp's commander Lazare Carnot to hold Roguet's division ready to break out. When he heard that the Duke of Saxe-Weimar fully committed his forces to an attack on Maubeuge, Maison saw his opportunity. On 25 March, the I Corps sortied from Lille with Barrois' 2,971-strong 4th Young Guard Division, Solignac's 2,820-man infantry division, Castex's 990 cavalry and Henri Marie Lenoury with 477 artillerists and 21 guns. Early that day, Maison's force drove Major Friedrich von Hellwig's Freikorps from Menen (Menin). The French commander sent Raymond Pierre Penne's brigade east to Petegem so that the Allies might think his target was Oudenaarde. Penne's soldiers marched 38 miles (61 km) that day.[16]

On 26 March, Penne's brigade turned north and rejoined the main body of I Corps as its advanced guard. The French overran Deinze and appeared before Ghent at 2:00 pm, completely surprising its defenders, a Belgian regiment in the process of formation, 200 Don Cossacks and two artillery pieces.[16] The Cossacks courageously rode out to fight the French but were cut to pieces by the 2nd Guard Light Horse Lancer Regiment. The commander escaped but most of his irregulars were captured or killed. The French broke into the city and rounded up the would-be Belgian soldiers as prisoners of war. Maison wisely decided not to shoot the Belgians as traitors though they were still legally French citizens. Maison sent his chief of staff Colonel Villatte from Ghent to Antwerp escorted by 50 cavalrymen and one company of light infantry riding in wagons. That night Villatte reached Antwerp with orders for Carnot to release Roguet's division and whatever lancers and honor guards were available.[17]

On 27 March Roguet's division left Antwerp and marched to Gontrode near Ghent. Maison hoped to persuade the Coalition commanders that he intended to attack Brussels via Aalst when he only wanted to get back to Lille safely.[17] Altogether, 4,000 infantry, 260 cavalry and 14 guns were added to I Corps from the Antwerp garrison to increase its numbers to 9,700 foot soldiers, 1,360 horsemen and 35 cannon.[18] Napoleon's War Minister Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke hoped that Carnot might draw 3,000 marines and sailors from Edouard Thomas Burgues de Missiessy's French squadron that was bottled up in the Scheldt. When Thielmann found out about Maison's capture of Ghent, he concentrated 5,000 men in seven Saxon battalions at Oudenaarde.[17]

Thielmann correctly deduced that the French manoeuvrer was designed to reinforce I Corps. But his superior the Duke of Saxe-Weimar believed that Maison wanted to capture Brussels, a belief that the Frenchman encouraged by spreading false rumours among the Belgians. Saxe-Weimar shifted Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn's division from Leuven to Aalst where he concentrated 9,000 foot soldiers and 900 horsemen. Coalition detachments reoccupied Courtrai, Deinze and Harelbeke while Helwig's Freikorps was sent to observe Valenciennes and Condé-sur-l'Escaut. The real danger to Maison remained Thielmann who might cut off the French with his total force of 12,000 troops in 15 battalions and 500 cavalry. On 30 March, Maison abandoned Ghent, marching south-west along the Leie River with the main body of I Corps. To shield the movement, he sent Solignac's division and one squadron of the 2nd Guard Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment farther east to Petegem. At Deinze the main body brushed aside Major Puckler's small force and continued to Courtrai. The latter place was evacuated by some Prussian cavalry when the I Corps appeared.[18]

I Corps: General of Division Nicolas Joseph Maison (11,258, 21 guns)

• Source: Nafziger 2015, pp. 363, 368, 710–711

Saxon Division: General-Leutnant Johann von Thielmann (7,725, 7 guns)