Battle of Rocquencourt

Battle of Rocquencourt
Part of the Napoleonic Wars (Seventh Coalition 1815)
Commemorative plaque.
Date 1 July 1815 Location Rocquencourt–Le Chesnay, France Result French victory
Belligerents
First French Empire	Kingdom of Prussia
Commanders and leaders
Rémi Joseph Isidore Exelmans	Eston von Sohr

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 Colonel Eston von Sohr (who was severely wounded and taken prisoner during the skirmish).

While Marshal Davout negotiated a final armistice with Field Marshals Wellington (commander of the Anglo-Dutch army) and Blücher (commander of Prussian army), he ordered Exelmans to attack the Prussians at Versailles on 1 July 1815 to slow the Prussian advance and probably to show the coalition army commanders that the French army was still willing to fight if the terms of the armistice were not reasonable. 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; however, the main body of the Prussian army succeeded in reaching Saint-Germain.