Marmont's men, intoxicated with the news of
the success of the other divisions of the army, just as soon as they
were given the word, which was just as soon as Napoleon could bring up
their comrades, fell on Bluecher like a storm. They came in battle
contact in the village of Vauchamps. The fighting was of the most
desperate character. The battle was harder than all of the others put
together. Bavarians, Prussians, and Russians, fighting under the eye
of brave old Bluecher himself, who recklessly exposed his person on the
field, were tenacious and courageous to the highest degree, but the
tactics and dispositions of Napoleon, the spirit of his men, his own
equally reckless exposure of his person under fire, and a cavalry dash
at the allied rear at Janvilliers, finally turned the wavering tide of
battle. The allies began to retreat, the French followed.

The French pursued relentlessly, but with splendid skill and
determination Bluecher himself in command of the rearguard fought them
off. Napoleon had foreseen this. He had massed all the cavalry under
Grouchy and had sent them on a long round-about march across country to
get in Bluecher's rear. Just beyond Champaubert, in a dense wood in
front of the village of Etoges, the retreating allies found the road
barred by the cavalry. Grouchy had been provided with sufficient
artillery to enable him to hold the retreat in check; but the mud still
prevailed, many horses had been shot and killed, the peasants' horses
drawing the guns had been unable to keep pace with the necessarily
rapid movements of the cavalry, and the batteries had not come up. Nor
was there any supporting infantry. Indeed, the retreat of the
Prussians had been so sudden and so rapid that Grouchy's horse had been
hard put to it to intercept them.

The regiments leading the allied retreat were formed in squares, and
with musketry and cannon animated with the courage of despair, they
forced a passage through the charging, barring masses of the French
cavalry, not, however, without losing several of the squares in the
process. It was their only possible way to safety. As it was, Bluecher
himself narrowly escaped capture.

Napoleon's soldiers had fought five pitched battles in four days. As a
preparation, they had marched thirty miles, night and day, over
incredible roads. They were now utterly exhausted. They could do no
more. They must have a good rest. Bluecher's forces had been
scatter