Battle of Champaubert

At Champaubert, Napoleon surprised an isolated Russian corps under General Olsufiev. Thanks to rapid maneuver and surprise, he encircled and crushed the enemy. Nearly all Russian troops were killed or captured. Olsufiev himself was taken prisoner. This victory inaugurated a series of tactical coups that marked the Six Days' Campaign.

After La Rothière, the Allies had imprudently separated their armies. Napoleon, despite very inferior forces, decided to strike quickly and hard at isolated corps, relying on his knowledge of terrain and troop mobility. Champaubert, at the intersection of roads to Vitry and Montmirail, was held by a small Russian corps without immediate support.

Napoleon engaged his troops in pincers, with Ney and the Guard on the flanks while infantry attacked frontally. Surprise was total. The Russians, dispersed and unprepared, could not organize coherent defense. French artillery pounded the center before the final assault. Olsufiev initially refused to retreat, leading to his encirclement.

Destruction of Olsufiev's corps temporarily disorganized Blücher's left wing. Napoleon regained strategic initiative. The Allies, disconcerted by the violence of the French response, would lose several battles in the following days. Champaubert restored confidence in the French army and revived hope of victorious defense.