When Napoleon heard that Saint-Priest captured Reims he realized that he might score a cheap victory over the Allies. A success at Reims would cut the link between the army Blücher to the north and Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg's Allied army to the south. The war was going badly for Napoleon. Marshal Jacques MacDonald was falling back before Schwarzenberg, Eugène de Beauharnais was in a tight spot in Italy, Marshal Pierre Augereau was losing territory in the south. The political situation also appeared dire. The Allies were negotiating the Treaty of Chaumont in order to more closely bind their alliance against the French emperor and the French people were tired of the war. Napoleon needed a quick victory to restore his reputation. The emperor wrote, "My intention being to attack Saint-Priest near Reims tomorrow, to defeat him and reoccupy the town".