Battle of Rocquencourt

Battle of Rocquencourt
Part of the Napoleonic Wars (Seventh Coalition 1815)
Combats de Rocquencourt
Date 1 July 1815 Location Rocquencourt–Le Chesnay, France 48°49′16″N 2°07′52″E / 48.8211°N 2.1311°E / 48.8211; 2.1311 Result French victory
Belligerents
French Empire	Kingdom of Prussia
Commanders and leaders
Louis-Nicolas Davout Rémi Joseph Isidore Exelmans	Eston von Sohr (POW)
Strength
3,000 blocking cavalry 1 cavalry division three infantry battalions(from the 33rd Regiment)[1]	600–700 officers and light cavalry troopers[2]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	10 officers and 400–500 troopers[2]

The Battle of Rocquencourt was a cavalry skirmish fought on 1 July 1815 in and around the villages of Rocquencourt and Le Chesnay. French dragoons supported by infantry and commanded by General Exelmans destroyed a Prussian brigade of hussars under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Eston von Sohr (who was severely wounded and taken prisoner during the skirmish).

Prussian cavalry detachment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Sohr ventured too far in advance of the main body of the Prussian army with the intention of reaching the Orléans road from Paris; where his detachment was to interrupt traffic on the road, and increase the confusion already produced in that quarter by the fugitives from the capital. However, when the Prussian detachment was in the vicinity of Rocquencourt it was ambushed by a superior French force. Under attack the Prussians retreated from Versailles and headed east, but were blocked by the French at Vélizy. They failed to re-enter Versailles and headed for Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Their first squadron came under fire at the entrance of Rocquencourt and attempted to escape through the fields. They were forced into a small, narrow street in Le Chesnay and killed or captured. Just before nightfall the same day, the advanced guard of the Prussian III Corps, having heard of the destruction of Sohr's detachment, succeeded in recapturing Rocquencourt and bivouacked there.