That evening and the next day Kleist tried to push the French back while Russian units under Peter Mikhailovich Kaptzevich tried to cross from the east to the west bank of the Ourcq; the Allies were unsuccessful.

In late February, Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher's Allied Army of Silesia advanced west toward Paris, pressing a badly outnumbered French force before it.

When Kleist's Prussian II Corps took a menacing position on the north bank of the river Marne near Meaux, the French attacked and pushed their adversaries back.

When he learned that Napoleon's army was fast approaching from the southeast, Blücher abandoned the effort to force a way past Marmont and Mortier and began retreating to the north.

On 18 February 1814, Napoleon mauled a Coalition corps led by Crown Prince Fredrick William of Württemberg in the Battle of Montereau.

After this defeat the Austrian field marshal Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg ordered the Army of Bohemia to withdraw to Troyes.

Schwarzenberg requested that his ally Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher help defend his northern flank at Méry-sur-Seine; the Prussian general immediately marched to his aid.

With Marshal Pierre Augereau threatening to retake Chalon-sur-Saône and Jean Gabriel Marchand marching on Geneva, Schwarzenberg detached Vincenzo Federico Bianchi and the Austrian I Corps plus other troops.

That day, Marshal Nicolas Oudinot's infantry cleared Méry of enemy troops and gained a foothold on the far bank, but they proved unable to hold their bridgehead against Coalition counterattacks.

[3] That evening Schwarzenberg ordered his army to withdraw behind the river Seine, except for Ignaz Gyulai's III Corps, which was directed to move southeast to Bar-sur-Seine.

[4] With 53,000 troops,[5] Blücher's Army of Silesia began moving north on the morning of 24 February, destroying the bridges at Arcis-sur-Aube and Plancy-l'Abbaye behind it.

[10] Forming the rearguard, Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard's 8th Infantry Division and Jean-Pierre Doumerc's cavalry[11] repulsed Fabian Gottlieb von Osten-Sacken's pursuing troops and burned the bridge at Trilport.

Marmont quickly gathered up the nearest available body of French soldiers and led them in an attack that drove the Russians back to the bridge.

With Allied forces at large in the area, Vincent's soldiers abandoned the main roads and moved across country to reach Lizy-sur-Ourcq.

In doing so, Vincent avoided Friedrich von Katzler's Prussian advanced guard which counted three cavalry regiments, three fusilier (light infantry) and two grenadier battalions, two jäger companies and a half-battery of artillery.

Behind him, Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf's Prussian II Corps crossed to the north bank of the Marne.

Soon afterward, the 3,600-man 3rd Provisional Guard Infantry Division under Paul-Jean-Baptiste Poret de Morvan was organized and sent, together with 800 cavalry and 48 artillery pieces.

On 26 February Napoleon reinforced Ney with Nicolas-François Roussel d'Hurbal's cavalry division and Pierre Boyer's infantry brigade.

[13] On the morning of 27 February, Napoleon finally received conclusive reports that Blücher's army was advancing on Paris and had gained a 3-day head start.

Since Sacken had pulled back from Meaux, Marmont and Mortier deduced that Blücher intended to envelop their left flank near Lizy.

The Prussian 9th Brigade made a stand at Le Plessis-Placy and a charge by one squadron of the Silesian Uhlans managed to stop two pursuing French battalions.

[12] Recalling his drubbing in the Six Days' Campaign at the beginning of February, the Prussian field marshal immediately began transferring his army to the north bank of the Marne.

[20] By 10:00 am that morning, Blücher's rear guard cavalry under Fyodor Karlovich Korf safely crossed to the north bank of the Marne.

Sacken at Lizy-sur-Ourcq would cover the shift while the Army of Silesia's wagon and pontoon trains were ordered northeast to Gandelu, in case a retreat to Oulchy-le-Château became necessary.

[22] That night Poret de Morvan's division marched into the French camp accompanied by the rumble of 48 guns and loud cheers.