1814 - Reeling from their disastrous defeat at Leipzig the previous year, Napoleon and his army crossed the Rhine back into France. The Emperor hoped this great river barrier would provide him sufficient time to raise a new army. But, just as the Marie Louises, as these conscripts were known, began to arrive at the front from their various staging areas, the Prussians, under their stalwart Prince Blücher, crossed that great river with surprising ease.