Siege of Antwerp (1814)

This article is about the battle in 1814 during the Napoleonic Wars. For other battles of the same name, see Siege of Antwerp.

The siege of Antwerp took place during the War of the Sixth Coalition and lasted from 14 January 1814 to 4 May 1814.

Siege of Antwerp (1814)
Part of the War of the Sixth Coalition
'The Allies Taking Possession of Antwerp in 1814'. By Mathieu Ignace van Brée
Date 14 January – 4 May 1814 Location Antwerp, then part of the French Empire (now Belgium) 51°13′04″N 04°24′01″E Result Coalition victory Garrison surrenders upon Napoleon's abdication
Belligerents
French Empire	United Kingdom Prussia
Commanders and leaders
Lazare Carnot	Thomas Graham von Gablenz
Strength
10,000	Jan–Feb: 8,000 Mar–May: 5,000
Casualties and losses
unknown	unknown

War of the Sixth Coalition:
Campaign Low Countries 1814

50km
30miles

Courtrai

4

Bergen op Zoom

3

Antwerp

Hoogstraten

1

  

The color black indicates the current battle.

Background

After the German campaign of 1813, Napoleon had to retreat back across the Rhine. Whereas the two armies of Blücher and Schwarzenberg invaded France and marched on Paris, a third allied army under Bernadotte entered the Low Countries.

In January 1814 Napoleon appointed the old republican Lazare Carnot as governor of Antwerp. The 10,000 men garrison was composed of troops from I Corps, and the Young Guard, including a 500-strong battalion of Irish troops.

Siege

After the French defeat at the Battle of Hoogstraten (11 January 1814), Carnot retreated to the fortified city and the Antwerp Citadel, which was then besieged first by British and up to the end by Prussian forces. The French garrison under Lazare Carnot, aided by a French naval flotilla under Missiessy, resisted the Allied siege and only surrendered the city after Louis XVIII of France signed an armistice upon Napoleon's abdication.

References

• Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 6 June 2021.

Further reading

• Gillet, Jean-Claude (2010). La Marine impériale : Le grand rêve de Napoléon. Bernard Giovanangeli Éditeur. ISBN 9782758700623.
• Smith, Digby (1998). The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book : Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792-1815. Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
• Tulard, Jean (1999). Napoléon. Fayard. ISBN 2-213-01813-8.
• Tulard, Jean (1999). Dictionnaire Napoléon, vol. A-H. Fayard. ISBN 2-213-60485-1.