Battle of Leipzig

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Leipzig

Map of battle by 18 October 1813, from Meyers Encyclopaedia

Date	16 October – 19 October 1813
Location	Leipzig, Saxony
Result	Decisive Allied victory

Combatants

France

Duchy of Warsaw
Confederation of the Rhine:

Saxony
and others

Austria

Prussia

Russia

Sweden

Commanders

Napoleon I of France

Jozef Antoni Poniatowski†

Frederick Augustus of Saxony

Prince of Schwarzenberg

Gebhard von Blücher

Prince Charles of Sweden

Strength

191,000

330,000

Casualties

38,000 dead or wounded
30,000 captured

52,000 dead or wounded

War of the Sixth Coalition
Lützen – Bautzen – Großbeeren – Katzbach – Dresden – Kulm – Dennewitz – Leipzig – Hanau – La Rothière – Champaubert – Montmirail – Château-Thierry – Vauchamps – Montereau – Craonne – Laon – Arcis-sur-Aube – Paris

The Battle of the Nations or Battle of Leipzig (German: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, 16–19 October 1813) is considered the largest conflict in Europe before World War I, with over 500,000 troops involved. It was also the most decisive defeat suffered by Napoleon Bonaparte in the Napoleonic Wars. The Völkerschlacht was fought on German soil and involved German troops on both sides, as a large proportion of Napoleon's troops actually came from the German Confederation of the Rhine.

1 Prelude
2 The battle
3 The aftermath
4 External links

[edit] Prelude

Following Napoleon's disastrous campaign in Russia and his defeats in the Peninsular War, the anti-French forces had cautiously regrouped as the Sixth Coalition, comprising Britain, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Prussia, Austria, Sweden and certain smaller German states. In total, the Coalition could put into the field well over a million troops — indeed by the time of Leipzig, total Allied armies east of the Rhine probably exceeded a million. By contrast Napoleon's forces had dwindled to just a few hundred thousand.

Napoleon sought to re-establish his hold in Germany, winning two hard-fought victories, at Lützen on 2 May and Bautzen on 20–21 May, over Russo-Prussian forces. The victories led to a brief armistice. The Coalition forces, under the command of Gebhard von Blücher, Crown Prince Charles of Sweden and Karl von Schwarzenberg, followed the strategy outlined in the Trachenburg Plan to avoid clashes with Napoleon but to seek confrontations with his marshals, which led to victories at Grossbeeren, Kulm, Katzbach and at Dennewitz.

Marshal Nicolas Oudinot failed to capture Berlin with his army of 120,000 and Napoleon was forced to withdraw westwards due to the threat to the north, crossing the Elbe in late September and organizing his forces around Leipzig to protect his supply lines and meet the Allies. Napoleon arranged his army around Leipzig, but concentrated his force from Taucha through Stötteritz (where Napoleon placed his command). The Prussians advanced from Wartenburg, the Austrians and Russians from Dresden and the Swedish force from the north. In total, the French had around 190,000 soldiers and the Allies almost 330,000 with both sides having significant artillery — in total there were over two and a half thousand pieces of ordnance on the field.

[edit] The battle

Napoleon and Poniatowski at Leipzig, painted by January Suchodolski

Battle of Leipzig by Vladimir Moshkov; painted in 1815

The battle began on 16 October with an attack by 78,000 Allied troops from the south and 54,000 from the north, with Napoleon using the bulk of his army in the south. The allied offensives achieved little and were soon forced back, but Napoleon's outnumbered forces were unable to break the allied lines, resulting in a hard fought stalemate.

The following day both forces merely skirmished as reinforcements arrived and were organized. The French however received only 14,000 additional troops, whereas 145,000 arrived for the Allies, greatly increasing their strength.

On the 18th the Allies launched a huge assault from all sides. In over nine hours of fighting, in which both sides suffered heavy casualties and only the bravery of the French troops prevented a breakthrough, the French were slowly forced back towards Leipzig. Napoleon saw that the battle was a lost cause and on the night of the 18th–19th began to withdraw the majority of his army across the river Elster. The retreat went well until early afternoon when the single bridge was mistakenly destroyed, leaving the French rear guard to be caught by the Allies or to drown while trying to swim the river.

[edit] The aftermath

Völkerschlachtdenkmal: Memorial to the Battle of the Nations, Leipzig

Total casualties are uncertain, estimates range from 80,000 to 110,000 killed or wounded from both sides.

Taking an estimate of 95,000 total, the Coalition lost 55,000. Napoleon's side lost 40,000, with around 30,000 taken as prisoners or left behind in hospitals. Amongst the casualties was the French marshal, Józef Antoni Poniatowski (a nephew to the last king of Poland, Stanislaw August Poniatowski), who had only received his marshal's baton the previous day.

The battle ended the First French Empire's presence east of the Rhine and brought the liberated German states over to the Coalition.

In addition to the 91 m high Völkerschlachtdenkmal, the course of the battle in the city of Leipzig is marked by numerous monuments and the 45 Apel-stones that mark important lines of the French and allied troops.