The Battle of Berry-au-Bac was fought on 5 March 1814 at Berry-au-Bac, northern France, between French cavalry under the command of Emperor Napoleon and the Cossacks of Russian general Ferdinand von Wintzingerode. During the engagement, the French captured Berry-au-Bac's bridge over the Aisne and repulsed the Russian cavalry, allowing the rest of Napoleon's troops to cross the river. The battle was part of the French campaign of the War of the Sixth Coalition.
Prelude
After the capitulation of the city of Soissons on 3 March, Prussian marshal Gebhard von Blücher, surrounded by Napoleon's army, managed with his men to escape annihilation. The Emperor, seeing that his maneuver had failed, nevertheless decided to pursue the Prussians and ordered General Nansouty to seize the bridge of Berry-au-Bac in order to allow the rest of the army to cross the Aisne river. Nansouty set out with his cavalry, consisting of the Polish Lancers of the Imperial Guard under General Pac and General Exelmans' division. On 5 March, the French arrived in front of the town defended by 2,000 Russian Cossacks of General Wintzingerode's army corps, who had positioned themselves in front of the bridge.
Battle
The Polish lancers, encouraged by Napoleon's presence on the battlefield, charged the Russians, who were quickly pushed back and forced to cross the bridge in disorder. Followed by the squadrons of Nansouty and Exelmans, General Pac's cavalry crossed the bridge at a gallop and set off in pursuit of the Cossacks. During hand-to-hand combat, chef d'escadron Ambroży Skarżyński wrestled a lance from a Russian cavalryman and used it to put several opponents out of combat, as did other Polish officers.
The fleeing Russians attempted to regroup beyond La Ville-aux-Bois, but were once more dispersed by the Imperial Guard cavalry and driven into Corbeny. During the combat, Nansouty's troops captured 200 Cossacks, two artillery pieces and the enemy's baggage.
Aftermath
Skarżyński was made a Baron of the Empire for his performance during the battle. The capture of Berry-au-Bac and its bridge allowed the corps of marshals Ney, Mortier, and Marmont to cross the Aisne and continue to pursue the retreating Prussian army. Blücher, informed of this movement, deployed his men to the Craonne plateau to stop the French, who faced him on 7 March and forced him to retreat again after the hard-fought Battle of Craonne.